NOVEL NEXT 1.15 – Shopping
"Psst, Sasha. Is tipping a thing here?"
It was such an odd question that the Succubus had to answer it slowly.
"Sure?"
"I mean like, is it expected?"
"No? Why would it be—it's a tip. If the service was good, then you might leave one."
"Okay, thanks Sasha!"
Maple ducked back to their table and Sasha was left scratching her head.
Still, as an American, it would have felt rude to not leave something, so she added one copper to their total. And that made her think of the implications of leaving a single penny as a tip back home, so she added another.
Emma looked at her like she didn't know how to count, but shrugged when she explained. The Slime herself was only loosely familiar with most of the customs and norms that went with civilization.
Maple had asked once why she did know some things though, and about her past in general, but the best she ever got was: Long story. Maybe later.
The sun had barely risen, so they killed a little more time sitting around at the inn before finally heading out. Maple brushed her teeth, and Emma decided she wanted to try it too this time. Even though the Slime didn't have any actual teeth to worry about, Maple let her use her toothbrush.
It hurt to walk, but thankfully, they didn't need to go far. What a difference it made to live somewhere designed for foot traffic. Oh wagons still made it into the city, but they were confined to the larger streets made to accommodate them. If you wanted to, you could mostly avoid them altogether.
The city was dense, but unlike how Maple imagined somewhere like New York, there were no swarms of people you could barely walk through. Instead she saw shopkeepers and folk enjoying their day greeting the passerby they knew.
This was likely because, again unlike somewhere like New York, most of the buildings were a single story. The tallest of them rarely went above three. Maple's impression was that it was a big city, but with a small town feel.
There was a renaissance festival vibe to the whole of it, while the market districts almost felt like walking through an open-air mall.
The former was partly from the things people wore. Some openly carried swords or bows. They didn't brandish their weapons, and certainly didn't wield them, but they were sheathed and attached to their waist or back.
The other oddity was the prevalence of leather in everything from clothing to pouches and water bags.
She did notice people doing double-takes when they passed. Even without her backpack, she felt her jeans and t-shirt stood out. Or maybe the looks were just because she was a Human? There seemed to be a thing about that.
They weren't hostile about it at least, and several people working at stands called out to them.
"Roasted almonds! Only 3 copper a bag."
"Hats! Get your hats here! How about you? Keep the sun from evaporating your gelatinous lady friend? Go ahead, try it on."
"Oh, uh—"
Emma had already taken the bait and approached the hat stand run by a Gnoll man. He handed her a hat that looked exactly like a white cowboy hat. Maple watched her put it on and then turn to her for an opinion.
"Oh, don't get that. It looks silly."
The shopkeeper gave Maple an offended look and pulled out a second hat he was ready to offer.
Before he could, Emma posed for Maple. She tipped the cowboy hat down at her while nodding. As if to say howdy Miss
. Maple lost it."Hahaha, it's ridiculous. Really, you look like a cowgirl or something."
The Gnoll glared daggers at Maple.
"[Rancher] is an honest profession, Miss Human. And that hat there is good quality. Why, I used to wear one just like it myself."
Maple turned and was mumbling something like an apology to the offended shopkeeper, but he paid it no mind once it became clear Emma wanted to buy it.
That it had made her Human laugh was what sealed the deal. She was still smiling over that as she paid the five silver it cost, for the first piece of clothing she'd ever owned.
They continued on and Maple could hardly believe the Slime had actually bought it. Though it was already growing on her. The white felt wasn't a terrible combo with her translucent blue body. Maple just couldn't stop imagining her with a lasso on her back and twin revolvers at her waist while roaming the desert on horseback.
Slipperiest Slime in the west—would she be cleaning up crime, or cleaning out banks?
"Okay, it's not that bad. Just as long as you like it?"
Emma nodded happily. It actually was nice for keeping the sun off her head.
The next place they stopped was a large shaded area selling clothes. Private tent booths were even set up to allow customers to try them on. It wasn't organized very well, so between having to find stuff made for humanoid women and then narrow that down further to stuff actually in her size—it took a while.
It wasn't that she was picky, either. Her plain t-shirt and jeans had been just fine all this time, so eventually she was just adding all the things that did actually fit and weren't truly awful to the wooden basket.
Emma tried on clothes too, mostly just for fun and to show off to Maple. She was able to make her body fit any clothing she wanted.
Her trouble came only from having to match the sizes up. Maple laughed when she came out with huge pants Maple thought might have been made for a Giant, and paired it with a teeny-tiny top.
Does this make my butt look big?
When all was said and done, Maple was down an entire gold coin and got back a handful of silver and copper ones plus a wardrobe's worth of clothing. Underwear, socks, shirts, pants. She also picked out a slightly more formal looking dress she figured she'd wear while trying to find a job.
It was all stuffed into a cloth sack they'd charged her some additional coppers for. It would at least be useful for carrying laundry in the future. That is, if Emma didn't just end up washing everything still anyway.
An expense that large, and without any income yet, was painful—but necessary. It felt necessary, at least. Maybe she could have gotten by a while longer if she'd just got some underwear and socks, but she'd been here how long with only a single set of clothes? This was a totally fine and justifiable expense.
They were slowly making their way in the direction of Maple's date while shopping and taking the city in. They were also keeping their eyes open for job prospects and spotted a few help wanted signs, but not for any places Emma wanted to work.
The Soap Slime had insisted on finding somewhere that served food. It was all part of her grand scheme to get free leftovers in the form of crumbs and waste, which she would happily 'clean'.
When Maple had found that out, she couldn't help but mention that in her world such jobs also usually let you take real leftovers home. Or even give out free food to friends, on occasion. And the Slime's resolve was solidified.
So they were passively watching out for inns and restaurants, and the like, but what caught their eye next was a windowless shop with an illustration of a potion on its sign.
"Probably an alchemist's shop? Do you think we could buy a health potion? That'd be good to have, I think. Just in case."
It'd been mentioned to Maple that most people in this world kept one on-hand. They were akin to first aid kits from her world—but ridiculously better. One little vial of liquid would literally save your life with little followup needed in most cases.
All the more important in a world without a robust medical system. There were [Healers], of course, and for some things you would need someone like that, potion or not. But there was no number to call to have someone take you to a hospital in an emergency.
A potion made up for that, and was insurance. Insurance that didn't make you pay a deductible on top of its cost for using it, nor deny you for having a 'pre-existing condition'. Maple and Emma headed to the door—
"Monsters! Get the Watch!"
A crowd was screaming and running away from—something. The commotion was a fair distance away from Emma and Maple, but a crowd was running toward them. They backed up a few steps.
Whistles began to sound from that direction. Maple turned around ready to get away from whatever was going on, Emma's hand in hers, and then someone slammed into her. She almost went over, but Emma sucked her arm in to her elbow and pulled her upright.
"Whoah—"
"City Watch, sorry—Wait, Maple? Sorry—I need to see what's going on!"
The duo stared after the furry Gnoll in street clothes racing toward the danger.
"Was that Bailey?"
He pulled out a small pocket knife as he ran. He wasn't wearing the guard uniform or the gear he had been when they'd first met. Maple wasn't foolish enough to run after him, but...
She glanced at Emma and they made their way slowly toward the commotion while dodging fleeing people. She shouted at a Half-Elf hurrying past.
"What's going on?!"
"Undead rats! From the sewer. Nasty things. I wouldn't go that way, if I were you."
Rats? Eugh.
And then it became clear the Half-Elf man, and the rest of the crowd, weren't fleeing in terror of mortal danger—well, some of them were. But the ones who knew what they were running from were mostly fleeing in disgust.
They advanced further and finally spotted one running after the crowd. It was the size of a pug, covered in ick, and its left side was rotting, exposing its ribs. Maggots fell out in a trail behind it.
"Oh my god, it's huge—"
Maple retched as the smell hit her. Even Emma who cleaned anything and ate bugs looked queasy.
The undead giant rat hadn't stopped running. In fact, it decided the stationary couple was an easier target than the ones running away and angled toward them. Maple looked up from gagging and—
"Eek!"
She half-turned, but then realized it was too late to run.
She pulled her leg back for a kick. When it was a few feet away she released and punted it.
Half of it exploded, covering her shoe and leg in gore and maggots. The other half went flying through the air. Emma took a few steps back, pulling at Maple's arm.
"Ewwww—"
"AAHHHHH—GET IT OFF! BRUHHFT—"
The other half of the rat hit a humanoid lady square in the chest, and then stuck there. Maggots were falling into her low cut shirt. Her screaming was cut off by the sound of puking.
"Oh no..."
Maple's first thought was to run before the woman got a good look at who'd kicked the rat at her, by complete accident she would emphasize, but who could actually do that?
Before a second thought could occur to her, she ran over with Emma. More rats were coming and the unfortunate woman was a sitting duck.
Or cat, rather. On her head were a pair of fluffy cat ears, with extra long tips of black fur. A short tail with reddish brown fur was curled up between her legs.
"More rats are coming, we have to get out of here!"
The cat lady was still retching as Maple pulled her by the arm. The three of them ran back the way they'd came. They passed guards and adventurers who then began exterminating the rats following them.
She looked faint once they'd stopped running. Most of the maggots had fallen off—or were wriggling too deep inside her shirt to get rid of right there—but the rotting juices were soaked into her clothes.
Maple moved a hand to brush some of the...chunks off the woman, but couldn't bring herself to actually touch any of it. She looked around for a source of water. Emma was in the corner of her eye. She couldn't ask her to...right?
