Tailor: Chapter 1
“Hello? Is anyone in?” Gem called out, looking around the shop that he is currently in.
He wondered aimlessly around town for a couple of hours before finally deciding to work in the clothes shop. This decision was not entirely motivated by interest; rather, it was because all other shops are already packed with newbies.
This was the first empty shop he came across.
Swiping his finger across a random surface, Gem made a face when he felt the thick layer of dust that had already settled on the shelf. ‘No wonder the shop’s completely empty. This place is practically a garbage dump!’
Scanning the room, Gem spotted no less than five needles, three rolls of cloth and four dummies strewn haphazardly on the ground. He grimaced.
“What do you want! The blacksmith shop is down the street, get out!” A rough voice bellowed loudly from further within the shop.
‘What the hell crawled up his ass and died?’ That thought flew across his mind, but Gem suppressed the urge to say it out loud and instead replied, “Sir? I’m looking for a job if you would have me. I’m willing to run errands or help out in the shop!”
Loud thumping noises came closer before he could finally see the silhouette of the shopkeeper. And boy was he glad that he kept his mouth shut. The shopkeeper towered over him by at least a head, and had a face most babies would cry at.
Three scars marked his face, starting from his right temple and went all the way past his nose; it was as if an animal clawed up his face while he wasn’t looking. His beard was shaggy and clearly unshaved, while his clothes looked as if it had seen better days… A decade ago.
‘This is the owner of a clothes shop? You would think that he would take better care of his clothes…’
“You’re thinking that a tailor should have taken better care of his clothes aren’t you!” The owner bellowed, spittle flying everywhere.
Stunned, Gem just stumbled backwards and looked at him with wide eyes. ‘How did he know what I was thinking?’
“And now you are wondering how I am able to read your mind, aren’t you!” The frown on his face became a lot more prominent, to the point where Gem feared that he might not live past this conversation.
‘Oh gods… I didn’t think it was possible to be brutally murdered by a NPC. I don’t want to die like this! Who has ever heard of a player getting murdered while looking for a job?! I would be the laughing stock of the forums! …Wou—would the guards even come?’
Gem mentally cringed, a thousand and one thoughts flashing through his mind. He wants to run for his life and escape from this nutcase of an NPC, yet his body stayed frozen. The pressure emitted by the owner’s presence alone was enough to lock all his muscles, leaving him to stare at the owner, terrified.
Suddenly, the guy in front of him just deflated and rapidly burst into tears, brawling loudly in the middle of the shop.
‘… What the heck is going on here?!’
“All you people only care about is armors, weapons and shields! No one needs normal clothes anymore! All you guys do is hunt, hunt, HUNT!” The owner cried out, one hand smacking loudly against the flooring.
Apparently reaching the peak of his distress, he continued on, loudly. “YOU ARE ONLY HERE TO MAKE FUN OF POOR LITTLE BRIAN!”
An arm quickly swiped across the area right above Gem’s head, causing a ‘swoosh-ing’ sound to echo in his ears, making him painfully aware of how easy it would be for Brian to break his neck.
‘Little… will not be a word I would use to describe this guy. Ever.’
Speechless, Gem could only sit and stare at the scene before him, his limbs still trembling from the scare. Internally, he prayed that no one would walk into shop and see this scene before him; he would never be able to live it down.
‘I am starting to think that I would have been better off dead…’
“Umm…” Looking around helplessly, Gem grabbed what looked to be a towel off the ground and offered it to the crying man, “…here you go?”
Sniffling, Brian took the towel and blew into it noisily, “…Thank you. So, what do you want?”
Opening and closing his mouth silently, Gem wondered if it was wise to get a job at this place.
‘On second thought, why not?’ he thought hysterically when he caught the glare Brian was shooting at him.
“I’m looking for a part-time job... erm, sir,” Gem blurted out. His heart feeling as if it’s pounding a hundred times per minute.
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Blowing into the towel once more time, Brian stumbled to his feet and threw the now-dirty towel at him. “You, go clean up the shop.”
Blinking at the retreating figure and holding onto the towel using just his fingertips, Gem felt a sense of doom settle upon him.
‘Wait, what? That’s it?! What about my pay? Or the duration of the contract! …Brian? Hey Brian! …I knew I should have gone chicken plucking at the restaurant.’
0o0o0o0o0
Crawling out of the capsule, he frowned. He could still feel the throbbing aches in his muscles that were caused by cleaning and dusting the entire shop.
‘How many years did that bi-polar ass leave his shop in that state? And, ouch! My arms hurt,’ he mentally grumbled before he heard continuous knocking coming from the other side of the door.
“Oi, Kaito! Dinner’s ready! Come get some before there’s nothing left brat! “
‘Urgh! Annoying older brothers… How I wish I could have a younger sibling to spoil…’
“I got it already, I’m coming! And you better leave some food for me!” Kaito yelled back in reply, quickly shutting down the capsule’s systems before rushing out of the room.
Flopping into his seat, he murmured a near-silent ‘itadakimasu’, before digging into his food. Feeling awkward at the sudden silence enveloping the table, he looked up, mouth full of rice. “What?”
Raising an eyebrow, his mother stared at him, completely un-amused, “So you’ve finally decided to stop playing that game of yours and join the rest of the family?”
Pointedly ignoring the simultaneous ‘Oooooh’ that came from his brothers, Kaito just shrugged, “I was excited about the game mother. It’s not like I’ve anything to do right now. It’s summer break!”
“Ohohoho, Kai-chan made mum mad~” His second oldest brother, Junya sang annoyingly, an irritating smirk lingering on the edge of his lips.
‘You jerk… You’re only trying to egg her on…’ Kaito narrowed his eyes and shot Junya a glare.
Not that his oldest brother, Takato was any better though. He knew it was Takato who had informed his mother about his gaming habits. How else could she have found out?
“Junya! Quiet,” his father ordered.
‘Thank god for my dad…’ Kaito flashed Junya a triumphant grin.
Turning to his mother, his father continued, “Megumi, let Kaito play his games for now. I’m sure he knows when to draw the line and focus on his studies, don’t you, Kaito?”
Stern eyes stared at him from behind the thick glasses his father wore.
Kaito nodded, biting his lips and unwilling to say anymore.
“Good. And you two, stop teasing your younger brother and concentrate on your studies!” his father barked out, rounding on his two brothers.
“Of course, father,”
“Yes dad…”
The subject was readily dropped after that and the conversation quickly drifted to other topics.
0o0o0o0o0
Picking up his phone, Kaito dialed an all-too-familiar number.
“Hello?”
“Kaito?”
“Yup. Guess what?”
“Huh? What is it?”
“I got my Royal Road Capsule!”
“…No way! Are you serious?”
“Uh-huh! Completely serious. I just started, by the way.”
“Oh, wow. Congrats! Guess all those part time jobs paid off huh.”
“Haha, yea. I told you that you should have started working the same time I did. Maybe then we could have started together!”
“Impossible, I would have flunked my finals if I did something like that.”
“But you could have been playing Royal Road with me right now.”
“No, I would have been murdered by my parents if I brought home a failing grade. And then I would be too busy being dead to do anything else.”
“Heh, that’s true...”
“…Hmm… Anyway, wait for me, okay? Don’t you dare rush off without me!”
“Got it man, relax. I’ll be part-timing around town for at least another month.”
“Okay okay, two more months before I earn enough to get that capsule… Damn, I can’t wait.”
“Me too… Oh yea, I got to go now, talk to you later.”
“Okay. Bye.”
*click*
0o0o0o0o0
Glossary:
Itadakimasu: Something Japanese people say before they start their meal. Translated to English, it roughly means “Let’s eat!”
-chan: A suffix, usually used to address females. It can also be used to address young boys. But usually, when it’s used on guys, it has negative/condescending connotations.