After massaging their ears for a few seconds to relieve the ringing left by the shrill whistle, Karen and Ryuji heard the sound of several sets of feet hurrying to their location. Suddenly out of all corners of the shop came a half dozen short-statured women or girls with the same huge eyes. Brant with the same glint in his eyes half turned to the crowd of ladies and announced in a somewhat mocking tone. “I think that his lordship *A sudden snort of laughter interrupted his words* has volunteered to try out your latest fashion creations. Be sure that he looks fit for the ball.”
Turning back to Ryuji and Karen he kept the same grin on his lips as he spoke to them. “This is my family, my wife, my younger sister, and my four girls. Have fun, your lordship. *at the word he gave an overly deep bow before looking back at them* If you make it through trying on all of their new design ideas, I’ll give you a half-off discount on the suits you buy this time.” After saying his piece he winked and walked away as the girls closed in from all directions. Ryuji looked to Karen for help but she was too busy stifling a fit of laughter.
A little over an hour, and many traumatically embarrassing moments later, he had purchased five outfits and spares. Despite the girls being a bit overzealous in undressing him, nude even, he did quite like several of their designs and purchased those along with the original suit. True to his word, the proprietor gave him a fifty percent discount on all of his outfits. Ryuji figured it was probably worth it to him to get them a good model to try their crafts on but he really didn’t mind.
Ryuji and Karen also had a good laugh at the looks on their faces once they totaled out his purchases. The wife or perhaps the sister, one of the older two ladies anyway, finished adding all of his items up on a piece of scrap cloth using a coal pencil. As she looked at the total, she got a bit of a worried look on her face, then she faced Ryuji and voiced her concerns. “I have your total, sir. The five suits, two extra shirts, and ten underpants come to two small gold, one small silver, and three small copper. That’s after the discount but perhaps I could get my husband to reduce it a little more since you’re buying so much at once.
One of the daughters proposed that he could pay it out in installments, while the other older lady was grimacing at the bad business practice. She spoke up and insisted that they had to have it all before they could hand over the product but that they didn’t have to have but a bit of it to get started. Ryuji, for his part, had expected the clothing to be a tad expensive but perhaps not that much. The price still wasn’t enough to make him worried. All six of the ladies' jaws dropped open when he blithely pulled out the full amount and handed it right over.
Their surprise was tempered with confusion when they discovered he had handed over three small gold. As the lady holding the money looked way up at him, she seemed about to protest his miscount of the money. He was ready and told her that the other gold was for their help and creativity and he appreciated the discount but that they really shouldn’t sell their wares short. They beamed and promised to have his order finished in a few days' time and would deliver him a couple sets as early as tomorrow evening at his room in the inn.
After leaving the menswear store, Ryuji wanted to take Karen to get a dress but she insisted that they go to the weaponsmithing shop first. Her reasoning was that it was very close by. While he really wanted to get her something he also figured that she wanted to show him to different places so he wasn’t going to argue with her. He did, however, feel a bit of hesitation in taking her advice on adventuring gear.
No, no, no, he had to remind himself yet again that it was mercenary gear, the concept of adventuring was a concept for manga and anime but this was reality, and people who were hired to do dangerous odd jobs were mercenaries. He had found out from Dorn that odd job workers around town that did things like sweep, carry packages around, or unload wagons were called ready laborers or ready hands while those that went out and did the hard or dangerous tasks like fighting or guarding were called mercenaries. Each type had its own guild and guildhall too.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ryuji had half considered joining the ready-hand guild as a means of legitimizing his earnings but he decided he would start a couple businesses or invest in some that were already operating to funnel cash into and build them up so he could launder his money and avoid suspicion. He had reached the conclusion earlier that he should probably do both. Investing in a few businesses first, then starting several afterward so he would have the most options. As long as he kept a fake log of his profits and made sure to pay taxes or tolls or whatever they were called here he was sure to be okay.
Miyako was frantic, she knew that she had just spotted the tall handsome elf guy. This time she absolutely knew it was him and he definitely had a girl with him. Her heart ached a little at the lost chance to snag a handsome guy like him but she still wanted his advice on convincing Dorn to teach her magic. Miyako hadn’t gotten a good look at the girl because she was too busy trying to make sure it was the guy she was after in the distance. They were a good way ahead of her on one of the main avenues of the city so it was hard to get a clear look at them or even keep decent track of them. They, fortunately, didn’t seem to be in a big hurry or it would be impossible to track them in this crowd. Then the crowd opened a bit and they were gone! Oh no, she thought, did they stop somewhere? I’ll never get to talk to him at this rate!
The ramblings of his inner thoughts came to a close as Karen spoke up. “This is the shop of a friend of mine named Brogan Hammerhand. He’s a little gruff but that’s just how dwarves are you know. You get used to them after a while and if they decide they like you there’s no more reliable friend to have. He’s helped me out of a pinch a few times before.
As they entered a couple of the staff looked up and recognition dawned on their faces. Both of them were young boys around fourteen or fifteen and both were human or looked to be anyway. One of them rushed over to them while the other rushed into the back of the shop through a doorway behind the counter. Ryuji could hear him descending stairs and now that he was paying attention, he could hear the ringing of hammer beats on metal coming from the floorboards. The smithy must be in the basement, how very practical for a dwarf!
As Karen was busy exchanging greetings and pleasantries with the young boy Ryuji was busy looking around the store. He had to admit that his expectations of her knowledge about good mercenary gear, or at least where to get it, seemed to be right on the mark. This store with heavy iron grates for windows let light spill across a dizzying array of weapons. He had no idea of their practicality or quality but it was certainly an impressive arsenal of what looked to be both iron and steel weapons. There were even a few that seemed to glow a bit in the dim light of the store. Ryuji wasn’t sure if those were magical or just very shiny but they were certainly impressive, at least to his untrained eyes.
After a span of less than a minute, Ryuji could hear a heavier set of footfalls pounding up the steps at a fairly rapid pace. A moment later a somewhat young-looking dwarf popped out of the doorway and darted over to where he and Karen stood. He was wearing a heavy leather apron with pockets full of tools over a pair of cotton trousers and a long sleeve cotton shirt in a natural tan color. He also wore a sweat-stained cotton bandana over his hair and one other thing.
The article of clothing that caught Ryuji’s eye was a small leather apron-like item worn over his chin and beard and strapped behind his head. To Ryuji, this was something that brought the absolute reality of this world into focus. There might be dwarves and they might be good smiths but that didn’t make their beards fire-proof. They had to protect their hair just like anybody else if they wanted to keep it from being burnt off at the forge.
The young dwarf with fiery red hair spilling out the back of his bandanna, who was apparently Brogan, rushed over in front of Karen and stammered out a greeting of sorts. “Lass, it’s you! I havna’ heard from ya in months! I feared that ye had met an untimely end or that ye had gone and left tha’ city fer good. We were worried about ye, where’ve ye been?”
Karen looked decidedly embarrassed by the sudden display of concern and made her hasty reply while Ryuji was left to wonder about the relationship that she had with the young dwarf. “Whoa, whoa, wait a span, would you? I met a bit of trouble and I’ve been working at the Sleeping Tree since then. But that’s not why I’m here today. I brought you a customer, his name’s Ree’oohgee. He needs a weapon but he isn’t skilled in the use of any. I thought you might sell him one of the lighter swords or something that he can at least swing fairly easily.”