The walk back was slow and casual. He had seen a few differing levels of civilization. A small city, and a couple of towns. Maybe, he could have a shopping spree. Dahe grinned as he walked along, imagining what wondrous items he could find. ‘After all, every otherworld story needs a shopping spree.’

He redirected himself towards the small town he noticed on the way. It was marked on his map from the sect, so he detoured there.

‘Maybe they have food.’ he thought, a grin appearing on his face.

He walked into the small town with a quick stride. Looking around quickly, he couldn’t find anything that stuck out.

It seemed a simple little town, not a lot of variety. So he instead went looking for the inn. Figuring that the innkeeper would know what was even slightly interesting in this little town.

At the inn, the comfortable place Inn, he found out the name of the town. Binyi. From the Innkeeper, a stout fellow, who was surprisingly not fat. Too many fictional innkeepers had given Dahe the false impression that innkeepers were supposed to be fat.

There were a few stores that sold ordinary goods, a blacksmith or two, and there was a store that sold jewelry. After receiving directions from the innkeeper, who was surprised he didn’t need to write anything down, he set out. A food stall was the first place to go. It was called Sachi, it was a simple dough fried in honey, with some sugar and cream sprinkled on top. Dahe was surprised they had sugar. ‘I guess I shouldn’t be. Sugar comes from plants. And people who deal with plants will come across sugar’. He ordered a large pile, and the owner balked at first, but then at the sight of a silver livery, he agreed. Leaving the coin, he’d told the owner he’d be back to get his order.

Dahe found the street with the supply shop. After walking in, he saw it had a variety of goods useful for farmers and townsfolk. However, it could also be useful to someone on an adventure.

As he started poking through Dahe’s inner hoarder emerged, and he found himself buying a series of gloves and shoes in different sizes, in case he had to take care of different people. Some plain clothes that he could wear, to disguise himself as a commoner. Ropes, fishing lines, hooks, even some raw materials. By the end of it He owed the store owner several shirts, as the silver livery was called. The store owner even gave him a deep bow as he walked out of the store.

Dahe stored the goods in his public storage bag and followed the directions to the next store. He decided to save the jewelry store for last.

The weapons on the wall were interesting. Many of them were similar but variations on a theme. ‘I suppose it’s to better fit someone with shorter or longer reach, or bigger or smaller hands.’ Dahe thought.

But his eyes were drawn to the polearms. The spears especially. Going to one in particular, it seemed to have the right height. However, the construction, while good, didn’t amaze Dahe, and he decided to keep relying on his goddess-given spear, until he found something better.

He gave the owner a friendly nod, and departed.

Checking back at the Sachi stand, the owner had made a large pile, and Dahe slapped down another shirt before scooping up the Sachi and walking away. Once he was around a corner he deposited most of it in his private bag, so that it would maintain that exact moment for as long as it stayed in his bag.

There wasn’t much else to see there, so before heading off to the nearby city of Xiamen, he headed into the jewelry store.

Though the selection was respectable for a small town, it was nothing in Dahe’s eyes. He had seen plenty, through actual jewelry stores or online shopping. However, there were a few pieces he thought were interesting, so he simply bought them without haggling.

After taking a final tour around the town he headed back to the inn. He took a room and stayed there until morning, enjoying himself in his mental palace.

At nearly first light he left the inn. He turned down the breakfast, which wasn’t appetizing, and headed towards the nearby city, Xiamen.

It took him a few days at his walking pace, to finally reach Xiamen. This city had much higher walls than Binyi. There was a gentle flow of people walking in and out of the gate. He took out his commoner clothes before walking through the gates.

As he passed through, he asked a guard where he could find the best hotel in the city. The guard looked unconvinced, and looked at his clothes. Dahe waved away his concerns, “I’m wealthy but I don’t want to get robbed.”

The guard accepted the reasoning and gave him directions. Dahe thanked him and went on his way.

Strolling through this city, he noticed that it tended to use space efficiently. Most buildings had two or three stories, and the streets were well organized. It seemed relatively clean. Dahe had a smile on his face as he walked through the city.

Arriving at the Featherbed Hotel, he walked in and found the front desk. “I’ll have a room, preferably on the top floor, maybe a bit fancy.”

The clerk looked at him with some misgiving. “Yes, sir. We have a variety of rates for rooms. For our standard rooms on lower floors, two liveries a day is our normal fee, and for our higher priced rooms, it can be four or five a day depending on which one you pick.”

Dahe smiled. The clerk was able to get across their prices without being rude. He supposed that living in a world with super powered beings, politeness would be the default. And it was important to never underestimate someone.

“Very well. I want to look at your rooms.” he placed a gold duck on the desk. The clerk’s eyes widened slightly, before she bowed and called for someone to show him the rooms. Dahe followed the young guide upstairs. There were a few rooms, but one had a good view of the street, and had lovely wood furniture. He told the guide he would be taking that room. The guide handed over a key and backed out of the door while bowing.

Walking downstairs he went to the desk again. “I hope to look around the city. Buy some things. Perhaps new clothes.” The clerk was quite helpful. There was actually a premade map ready for visitors. Deciding to look around for a bit, before evening, he headed out.

The first thing he wanted to do was go clothes shopping. Indicated on the map was a clothes store that sold clothes for middle to high level people. From wealthy craftsmen and merchants to lords. He walked in, and caught a store clerk glancing at the paper in his hand. ‘Huh. it seems it almost works as an unofficial verification.’

The store clerk walked up to him and gave a simple bow. “What can I do for you, young sir?”

Dahe looked around, seeing many different kinds of clothes. “I’m looking for a variety, a variety of clothes for a variety of situations.”

Cue the Pretty Woman montage. Dahe looked through different designs and styles of clothes. Giving his opinion on colors and fabrics and cuts. With this information, the store clerk was able to bring him a selection of tasteful clothes that he could wear for nice occasions, like a fancy restaurant, or at a gathering of nobility. He ordered plenty of sets and even some spares. He was planning on putting them in his private storage bag, to preserve them, but to also make sure he wasn’t robbed.

The clothes still needed to be tailored, so after he was measured he left to go back to the hotel. He had a splendid dinner, before slipping into a comfortable bed. Before falling asleep he made a mental note. Find out where they make comfortable beds and buy some.