Chapter 21: More Shopping

Millie led me to an area with towels, tarps, tablecloths and various other textiles not starting with the letter ‘T’. It appeared that for many things in the triple G (Goode’s General Goods) there were 3 classes of items: Basic and cheap, things made of strange or monstrous materials at mid ranged prices, and fancy items that might be magical in some way or just really fancy.

Towels, for instance, came in simple undyed woven rectangles ranging in size from 20cm squared to 2 meters by 1 meter. Those were cheap at 1 brass for the smallest and 2 dollars for the biggest. For 3 dollars you can get a clever strap of grey monster material that absorbs twice as much as one of the big towels, but with some ‘simple’, according to Millie, mana control it will dry in a few seconds. More expensive towels were largely represented by a sample book with only a few on the shelf, dyed and monogrammed, or with anti-staining features, they ran from 5 to 25 dollars if the sample book was to be believed.

Tooth care was likewise oddly distributed along the economic range, a tooth and tongue scraper carved from wood was only a brass and could be bought paired with a month of tooth powder for 3 brass. A brush was a dollar and toothpaste was similarly priced. A mouth slime was 5 dollars, but could last for decades if used at least twice per day, eating foreign objects in the mouth and between teeth then spat back into its flask. It also left the breath smelling like a cross between ginger and rosewater. A pair of fancy brushes that vibrated and apparently ‘magicked’ their way about the user’s mouth were twice that price, or more depending on the materials used. Despite the downside of slurping in and spitting out a living slime being, I leaned heavily in that direction.

Tentatively mentally selecting the slime and the auto drying towel, Millie brought me over to the case with the knives. Even the least expensive day to day knife with an edge was 4 dollars, and it didn’t look particularly sharp or sturdy. There was a multi-tool that had a knife, leather punch, mini saw and fire starter, but it was 35 dollars and all the tools were probably worse and more expensive than buying them individually.

Highly tempted by a translucent blade that Millie said was made of crystalized bone of some sort for 20 dollars, I realized I really wasn’t sure I even needed a knife, and if I did, what kind would be best. Sensing my change in attitude Millie scrambled to salvage the situation.

“It’s a pretty knife, and the edge will stay sharp very well, Monday March.”

“But you said it’s crystal, isn’t crystal brittle?”

“Crystalized bone!”

“Isn’t bone brittle too?” Uncertain how I knew the tensile strength of crystals and bones, I still felt pretty certain that this could be an issue, and Millie didn’t seem to be denying it either.

“Well, it may not be as tough as some other stuff, but it is very sharp and will last if you are careful.” Millie sounded quite certain.

“Sorry Millie, maybe tomorrow? I don’t need it right now, but I’ll happily buy the monster towel, mouth slime and 2 chunks of the soap we were talking about.”

The smaller girl deflated a little bit, but her pigtails bounced as she went to gather the items we discussed. “Okay, but if you come back for a knife, or anything, just ask for me!”

Exchanging an empty silver coin for an empty copper one and my new items I asked Millie if I could come back tomorrow if I had any trouble with the towel. She looked at me funny so I had to explain, “I’m not supposed to try and do anything with mana until tomorrow, but I watched what you did, so hopefully it will be okay.”

Millie still seemed confused, but agreed, and we talked for a couple more minutes before Ann’s voice tickled in my ears, calling me over to the big door by where we came into the store.

Wishing Millie a good day, I headed off. As I approached I could hear a man’s voice. “...told you Ann, everything’s there and it’s the 1st, so the cart’s busy, but we will get it over to the PnP before dark.”

Less whispery, but still airy, Ann’s voice whipped about. “No need, Benjamin Franklin Goode, I brought a porter to save you the trouble.” I could see a different smile on Ann, thin and tight, directed at a thin man with wispy pale hair.

He had wet lips, brown tidy clothes and a twitchy smile. Licking his lips he replied, “No need for that, Ann. Delivery is included, after all. All part of good service.”

“Ah, but the last 2 months have had issues with the delivery, so no need to take the risk. Seeing, of course, that I am already here and prepared to take the items for the agreed upon price.” The tight smile remained, yet the warmth I’d previously seen in her silver eyes was completely absent.

“Now Ann, we sorted all that out, no extra charge or anything. I even threw in that extra dozen eggs.” He wheedled.

“Certainly, Benjamin Franklin Goode, after 5 hours spent with you going over the mistaken orders. Many of those hours were filled with compliments towards my appearance and capabilities, yet no actual effort was spent to find out what had caused the mistakes. For those hours I received a dozen eggs, an apology and no admission of wrongdoing by your company or the driver.” The tight smile remained, the eyes were now slightly more narrow and looked to be pinning the brown clad man in place.

“But Ann…” He broke off as I stood by Ann and pulled the bags out of my pack.

Putting my new pack back over my shoulders, I eyed the stack of filled sacks and boxes that were waiting to be transported. I set 2 bags down on the floor, opening and spreading them so I could start transferring the stack into the bags.

Seeming to find some confidence while watching me bag the purchases, the shop owner started talking again with a hint of bravado. “Ann, we wouldn’t want the poor thing to strain themselves would we? Those thin arms and legs will certainly suffer. Let me wait for the cart and we will deliver it first thing, I promise.”

Her voice continuing to whip around the three of us, Ann retorted, “Benjamin Franklin Goode, I am excluding Millie so you can save face, but not my porter, so I have a witness. I have told you twice that while I am indeed looking for a romantic partner, you have been considered, and I am not interested. Further attempts to gain additional time to anno… pardon me. Further efforts to gain additional time in my presence to woo me will not be appreciated and, if they impact our business relationship, may remind me to caution others who do business with you to more carefully examine their dealings so as to ensure the fair exchange of goods and services.”

‘Oh that explains something.’ I thought.

I glanced up from my bagging to see his response. I wasn’t disappointed. His brow wrinkled and eyes darted around and landed on my work before he changed the subject. “You cannot honestly think she will be able to deliver this all at once without a cart. It is a waste of your time and money.” The words that filtered into my ears from him were labeled smug, condescending, infuriating. I felt the same pressure as when being spoken to by the Granny at the bath.

“If you want to belittle me, it would be best to not do so while I can hear you.” I stood to my full height and looked down at him. While taller than Ann, Goode was not of particularly exceptional height. “I believe that I can do what I have sold my services to do. In truth, I believe that I can carry all of this with no rest and without setting this down directly to the Pillow and Pie.”

“Pfft, no way, I’d like to see it! Even if you have some interesting bloodline, I bet you can’t.” In my peripheral vision, I could see that my blue skinned innkeep was about to say something but gestured to her to stop.

“Bet? How much?” I prodded.

“Hah! More than you’ve seen!” Oh that bluster and oily bravado.

“Ah, so more than 10 dollars?” I said, trying to seem depressed.

“Of course, small change, I deal in gold coins every week you fool.” Goode escalated from bravado to braggadocio. I’m still not certain how attempting to belittle me in front of Ann was supposed to win her favor, but that didn't slow him.

‘Perfect,’ I thought. “More than 50?!”

His chin raised so he could still look down his nose up at me. “Of course, you have no idea of real business! 50 dollars is nothing!”

Raising my voice to make sure that Millie, who I was pretty certain was just around the nearest shelves, could hear I spoke with a smile. “Okay, 50 dollars it is, Benjamin Franklin Goode. I bet Shopkeeper Goode 50 dollars that I can carry all these items to the Pillow and Pie without resting or setting any of it down until I get there. Ann, please hold my bet for me. Millie, can you make sure I don’t cheat?” Pulling my pack back around I dug out 5 coins from my pack I still had on me and handed them over to Ann, whispering. “The other silver is in my room, if you can cover for me. I think you want this to happen.” By the time I finished I could see Millie peering around one of the shelves.

Ann simply nodded at me with her warmest smile yet.