I am not ashamed to say, or maybe just think, I overslept the next day. Not that I had a reliable way t tell time, but it felt like more than a few hours after sunrise. I quickly did my business, washed up, stretched all my joints and muscles as well as I could and went to have a late breakfast. The fact I overslept was telling of how relaxed and safe I felt after entering a town. It also could not be repeated, because it is a waste of precious time I could be using to gain information and figuring a way to go home. The government official woman suggested I can’t return by other means and I would certainly be working towards obtaining the Different Dimension Containment Machine, but I also wanted to look into other methods just to make sure. A second opinion of a specialist never hurt anyone, right?
The breakfast is something I actually recognize this time, eggs and bacon, except the eggs are probably from unknown species of bird or a lizard and the meat is for sure not from a regular pig. Probably isn’t even called bacon, but the taste is similar enough to eggs and bacon, that I don’t complain about such small details. And I don’t have an allergic reaction to them immediately, which is also a bonus.
I pay with some copper coins from a coin pouch and leave the inn. It is time to shop for some new clothes, a watch, no, a time piece, exchange my dungeon loot for money and finally, find a library to learn more about this world, skills, occupations, items and more. My entire day seems to be filled, so better get to it. Actually, where do I exchange loot for money? The Adventurers Guild or the Merchants Guild? Or do I just sell it all to a shop?
The roads in town aren’t too crowded at this time of the day and I easily make my way around. My first stop is a clothing shop marked on the map and I spend a good amount of time browsing theirs articles and no, it is not because I am a woman and we take our time shopping, but because they have such a variety. It looks like they don’t have T-shirts invented yet, or they are sold somewhere more specialized, but there are good amount of shirts made from different materials and for different occasions. I choose 2 plain ones made from something like cotton or wool, because I couldn’t afford ones made from spider silk or enchanted, even thought I really wanted them. Clothes that stay clean and repair themselves. I would think they wouldn't sell something that eliminates the need for buying new clothes and lose on future business, but there is probably a reason and a system that ensures they don't lose clients.
Next I find some sturdy looking, black leather pants that would probably be a snug fit and get another 2 pairs of them. The last thing I find that interests me is a belt like contraption. It is a normal leather belt with a buckle in the front, but also buckles at the sides with 2 extra belts attached that hang a little lower on the hip. When everything is fastened it looks like you are wearing 3 belts, with the side ones making an X mark in the front and back. It is ideal to hang all my deck Holsters and the Binder, plus some pouches and maybe a sheath. My entire order came up to 3 silver and 50 coppers. That means 100 copper coins equal 1 silver. As for their equivalent in modern currency, fuck that mathematics. First, something produced before and after industrialization can vary vastly in price, taxing can be different from region to region, labor costs are different than my world and there are so much more variables. Something that costs 5 dollars in my world could be 5 silver and something that costs 500 dollars, could be valued at 50 coppers. So how the fuck do transported and reincarnated individuals in fiction compare modern currencies to fantasy world ones is beyond me.
My next stop is a lingerie shop a few buildings over and here I really have trouble choosing what to buy, and this time it is because noting really spoke to me as a product. Most upper body lingerie don’t look like they would provide the support needed during exercises and fast movements and ones that did, did so by pressing against the breasts and squashing them, which is bad for the body. Sure I can heal myself and my improved physique could probably endure fighting without a supporting bra, but I don't want to risk it. And I am not even going to mention the corsets that I found. I think the absence of stretchy materials and rubber for bands is the reason for the limited choice in supportive underwear. For now I buy 2 pairs of pumpkin underwear to have something to change into until I find a more adequate solution to my clothing problems and give up on finding a bra. The purchase costs me 40 coppers.
I don’t stop to buy new boots, because the ones from the dungeon look to be a perfect fit and are kind of to my liking. So I return to the inn for lunch, order a stew from the menu and eat my fill. It tastes a little sweet, probably from the vegetables, but the savory chinks of meat and something a little starchy balance the flavor nicely. Food is a great thing, especially when seasoned right. After paying, I go to my room and change into my new, clean clothes. The pumpkin panties leave a little too much room, but with a little folding and the tight leather pants over them that problem is solved. The shirt is actually very comfortable and roomy. The enchanted coat is still clean and I don’t think it could become dirty, so I put it back on. I attach my 3 Deck Holsters to the right side of the new belt and the binder on the left and behind me, then I place the belt on me. Everything feels comfortable and easy to move in, at least more than I expected from not fitted clothes, so I try various twists and turns of my body and leave the inn again. I would still visit a proper tailor as soon as I get my hands on some stable income and buy order made clothes I would personally design if I have to.
This time I find a store that sells adventuring items and I start browsing for useful and interesting things. Most are things with equivalents in my world, just some more magical than others. There is full description and explanation of the items on paper behind the product itself.
There are 2 types of fire starters, one that uses flint or something similar and another reminiscing of a lighter using fire stone dust as fuel. I would guess one is for mundane people that don't use any magic and the other is for ones that don't know any spells, but have Magic. There is a compass, or as it is named here a direction finder, using a lode stone. They even have a pocket time piece. Something that surprised me when I found it is a torch, both mundane one and one that has a Magic Stone on the tip. I thought with all the enchanted items, they wouold have something more developed that a torch. Other interesting objects I find and probably can’t afford are set of barrier stones, enchanted packs and satchels, water canteen and water skin as well as some more mundane variants. What I am certainly going to buy is a sleeping bag, knife sheath, dry rations, meat, fish and noodles, the direction finder, time piece, fire starter, the not magical one and a pan. Definitely buying a pan, because I don’t know when next I will find a suitable helmet for cooking in. Just you wait shop, when I have enough money, no interesting item will be safe from me. Mark my words. I will be back.
“New to adventuring?” The shop keeper asks me as soon as he sees all the items I am buying.
“Had to unexpectedly leave home and now I have to replenish some tools for traveling.” I answer vaguely, but truthfully enough. In this world I will strive to not lie outright, because I can never know if my conversation partner has a lie detection skill or some kind of intuition for such things. I pay for my purchases, plus some rope to secure some of the bulkier stuff to my backpack. After everything I am 1 gold and 3 silvers poorer, but am well supplied and ready for most situations. My next stop is arguably the most important place for the moment, the public library.
The building of the library is one of the bigger ones in town, being 3 stories above ground and once I enter inside I also see some stair leading down at the staircase, so there are probably some underground floors too. The librarian, a stern looking older woman wearing glasses, I know, totally cliché librarian look, but that is what she looks like, asks me for my ID to check for library registration, insurance and other administrative bullshit. I give her my new ID and pay the needed fees to be able to read freely. She slots a small square with a crystal on my ID and returns it to me, then asks what I am looking for.
“What are you interested to read at our fine library this day?”
“First I would like to ask if I can purchase 2 blank books from you, one for journal entries and the other for notes and other stuff. Preferably hard cover, yey big?” I explain, while miming with my fingers roughly what dimensions the books should be. The librarian goes in a back room behind her counter and after a minute returns with 2 leather bound books. They fit perfectly what I wanted, so I pay for them and then continue the conversation. “I am new to the area, so everything about the common sense of the locals, taboos and forbidden practices, popular, rare, hidden and obscure occupations and skills. My previous place of living didn’t have literature on these subjects ‘that wasn’t fiction’ I could reference to. Then if I have time after that, I would love to read about magic affinities. Oh, could I purchase a magic language primer, dictionary and other books for learning it from here, or do I have to visit somewhere specialized, like a magic school or college or something?”
The librarian gave me a pointed look as if I have just fallen from the sky, then went back to the room and 2 minutes later returned with more books. I take a quick look at the titles, things like "Beginner's guide to spell casting""Simple everyday spells""Earth, fire, water, wind, light and dark spells for beginners" and one that almost made me sputter "If you can't learn these spells, you are dumber than a goblin and just have to give up on magic". I paid for them too and after she put the money in a register looking machine, she got back to me. “Will there be anything else you would like to purchase? Then follow me and I will show you to the books you want to read.”
The librarian drags me around the shelf of books and start pulling tomes from some of them. It looks like she has the entire place memorized. Then, she leads me to an empty table and leaves me to read in piece. Now, let’s see what this world is all about. I open the first book on the pile and start reading.
