บท 19: Shopping Spree!
Finding ourselves in a tailor shop just down the main street a few hundred metres from the Guild, I realize just how different this shopping experience is from what I am used to receiving in my world. Rather than being filled with racks upon racks of prefabricated clothing, only a small section of the shop held such clothing. The majority of the shop was filled with examples of different types of cloth, thread, adornments and sample garments. I sat and waited while, by my command, the seamstresses were currently taking care of Lona in the curtained-off fitting room.
They would occasionally come out to grab some pre-made pieces for her to try on, stopping by me to get my approval for the colours and styles. Luna had requested my help with such as she had never had the opportunity to buy herself clothes. "Plus, I want the clothes to be what you like, Master. Is that okay?" She had explained, crushing any chance I had of saying no by flawlessly pulling off the legendary puppy dog eyes. I got a little embarrassing when they swung by with some of the underwear of this world. They did not have plain panties for women here, as the style was more similar to the lacy lingerie of Earth.
I picked a few sets of blue and white ones for her. As for everyday wear, a couple of sleeveless shirts and shorts were what Luna said she used to love wearing when she lived with her parents. I also got them to make her try on some light sundresses for relaxing. While they picked through the few dresses they had on hand, I spotted a short pleated skirt with a plaid design on it. It was quickly added to the pile. Next, one of the ladies brought me a series of books of clothing designs and fabric types to start looking through as they measured Luna and hemmed the clothes we were picking up for her today.
After finishing up with Luna, I left her to pick what she wanted from the catalogue as I was whisked into the fitting room. The ladies brought the selection of pre-fit clothes I had chosen. I choose cotton tops that looked like loose-fitting sleeveless hoodies, which were comfortable and had the added benefit of showing off my impressively toned arms. On my lower half, I got sweatpant-like bottoms that reminded me almost of Arabian-style pants. For my undergarments, they had boxer briefs that fit well and cupped the essential things properly. The seamstresses stayed in the room, helping me dress and hemming the clothes on the spot. Everyone present in the fitting room, myself included, received quite a shock when the ladies first stripped all my clothes off. There was a large standing mirror in front of me that allowed me to see my new upgraded form as my clothes were removed.
I had not correctly yet seen my reflection, only glimpsing it twice. Once in the lake, but that was just my waist up, and then a second time when the wardrobe provided me equipment. At the time with the wardrobe, I did not see my fully nude form, as the door was open when I changed. Plus, the few times I had changed clothes or answered the call of nature, I was getting things done in a hurry.
Now, as I stood before the mirror nude, the four of us in the enclosed space all saw just what upgrades I was packing. I stared between it and the forearm of the smallest of the women surrounding me, marvelling at the similarity in their size. The women did not notice my eyes flicking between the two objects as they were currently staring at my groin in awe. Damn, Jupiter, well done.
Noticing one of the women, her mouth still agape, slowly reaching a trembling hand out towards the object of interest, I cleared my throat. The sudden noise caused the three women to jump. They all glanced at each other before furiously apologizing for their improper conduct in front of a customer. Waving off their apologies, I asked them to resume their work. After fitting the clothes and having my (clothing) measurements taken, I switched back to my armour. I picked some additional articles and fabrics from the catalogues for myself before proceeding to pay. "That will be 92 silver and 16 copper, Milord." The youngest seamstress asked, still able to look me in the eyes as she had not been present in the room at the time. "Here you go, keep the change," I smiled at the ladies as I handed them a gold coin before departing with our bags. Now outside, we heard squeals of excitement over my apparent generosity.
"You will understand when we book a room, Master," Luna answered my confused look. We quickly stopped by a general goods store to get some toiletries before heading to the big hotel building from before.
As we arrived in front of the hotel's front doors, I read the name on the door plaque. "The Blessed Mountain Resort and Spa. Hmm, sounds nice, right, Master?" Luna asked me, carrying half of our bags from shopping. "It certainly does; I'm pumped for the hot springs."
We walked through the doors into a front lobby that reminded me of a ski lodge chalet. The walls were stacked logs, and the fireplace was hewn from large stone slabs. Throughout the room, there was plenty of seating for visitors to sit and have conversations. Tucked away in one corner was a desk with 'Guild Concierge' emblazoned on the front. A small sign stating 'Back in a Bit' was on the desk, explaining the lack of a concierge being present.
"I have never been in a hot spring, Master. Are they nice?" Luna inquired. Before I could answer, a youthful voice said, "I see we have ourselves a virgin. You came to the right place to have your first!" We looked to the staircase from which the voice originated. Standing on the landing, hands on her hips, a grin plastered on her face bright young face, was a short pigtailed girl of about twelve years. "Wha-?" blushed Luna. Tearing down the stairs, the girl grabbed Luna by both hands and dragged her to the front desk. Letting go of Luna, she snatched a pamphlet from the table behind the desk and placed it into Luna's grip. "Here are all of the rates for the different hot springs we offer. You and your mister can get all cozy in a private bath." The young girl put on a sultry voice as she winked at Luna.
"Ahem, before that, we need to book some overnight accommodations. Uhm, young miss?" The girl paused her excited sales pitch to look me in the eyes as she realized that she had yet to introduce herself. Bouncing into the air, she pulled off a deep bow. "Greetings and apologies for the late introduction. I am Emma Stockton, the junior desk clerk for the Blessed Mountain Resort and Spa. My Ma and Pa run this place for the Guild. Pa is cooking dinner, and Ma is serving it. Let's get you a room. For two, I presume? I got the best one in the place available. It is a bit pricey at ten copper a night or a silver for two weeks, whaddya say?"
Allowing my brain some time to attempt to catch up, I said, "Sure, we will take it for the two weeks, plus breakfast and supper each day. Is this enough to cover it and a good tip?" I placed two silvers on the counter. Eyes going wide, Emma nodded furiously. She guided us to the dining room and took our possessions to our room for us. While we are sitting in the dining room, a server came out from the kitchen to bring us that evening's meal.
The meal was brought to us by a woman in her early thirties. She was wearing what's looked like a traditional green and white barmaid dress and apron combo, with a very similar face to young Emma out front combined with a plump, well endowed motherly body. She delivered several plates of food to our table. We were each given a serving of mixed greens salad, freshly baked biscuits, stew, a steak and a large pitcher of cider. "Greetings folks, I'm Marcy. I'm gonna assume my little angel, Emma, already got you folks set up with a room. Here is what we have tonight."
I smiled at Marcy, "I am John, and this is Luna. We will be in your care." Giving me a gentle smile back, Marcy shook my outstretched hand. After making sure we had all our food, Marcy headed to another table to clean up after the previous patrons had finished eating. She used the serving tray she had brought out our dishes on to gather up all the empty dishware from the table. I had been sipping at my ale and chewing on a biscuit while watching. Looking over at Luna, she was already halfway done her meal, with only the salad and ale untouched so far.
I realized I had not acquired extra servings for Luna as I saw the food in front of us. As Marcy walked by, I flagged her down. "Could we have a couple more servings each tonight? Oh, and also with future meals? I forgot to mention it to Emma. We will be here for two weeks, does this cover it?" I asked, tucking a silver into the pouch on her apron. "Of course, sir!" She guaranteed, happy over the healthy tip.
As we ate, we listened to the conversations of those around us. We heard chatter about the best deals in town, how long some merchants had been away from their family, bandits attacking traveller between Moero and Regrad and more of the same kind of idle gossip. We did pay quite close attention when we heard one man talk about the rising aggressions with the Beast Kingdom.
"I am on my way from the capital to Buildport on behest of the General of the North. They don't think the Beast Kingdom will stay on their side of the forest for much longer. War is coming..."
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