Shopping Part 1

Joshua awoke the next morning and could not find his mother in the house. She had already left with her gold coin that he had given her the night before. As he walked past the table, he found a piece of bread that she had left for him, and a note scribbled on a piece of paper.

'I have gone to buy us a new home. Meet me this evening at the fountain. Love Mom.'

Joshua ate his bread and made his way out to town. His first stop was the bank. He did not want to carry all his money around with him. The threat of being robbed was real. He did not have the skills necessary to detect a subtle pick pocket and the thought of being broke again bothered him more than he liked.

He walked around the city until he found the counting house he was looking for. It was a large building with a massive iron vault and iron bars for extra security. He was overjoyed that such an institution existed in this world. He found a teller with no one in line and approached.

The teller looked upon his grungy appearance and winced at his unwashed odor. She held her nose and greeted him. "We do not offer loans to rats such as you." She said snidely.

"I am not looking for a loan." Joshua said. "I would like to set up an account please."

"Sir, we are a fine establishment for the nobles of the kingdom." She said. "Someone of your standing would not have the minimum sum required to even open an account. Now please leave before I call the guards and have you removed for disturbing the peace."

"How much?" Joshua asked.

"How much is what?" The teller replied.

"To open an account? How much do I need?" Joshua asked again.

She rolled her eyes before answering, becoming ever the more annoyed at this peasant wasting her time. "You need at least five gold coins." She said. "How, if that is all, please leave."

Joshua put his nine gold coins on the counter in front of her. "I would like to open an account." He said again, this time with a smile. He was deriving enjoyment from showing her how wrong she was about him.

She was lost for words and just stared blankly at the nine golden coins.

The manager of the counting house walked over, overhearing her complaints earlier and seeing that Joshua had still not left. As he walked over, he saw the coins and was shocked.

"I am so sorry for the misunderstanding sir." The manager said. "Your appearance and shall we say essence have caused us to mistake you for a lowly peasant, my apologies. Now just come with me and I will set you up with a new account."

The manager took Joshua over to his desk and pulled his chair out for him. After getting Joshua situated the manager sat down on the other end. "Now I will just need your ID plate and I will get you all sorted." The manager said.

Joshua pulled out his ID plate and handed it to the manager. The manager then took it and placed it into a device that was sitting on his desk. A small buzzing noise was heard, and a dim light appeared from the slot. After a few moments the ID card popped out and the manager handed it back to Joshua.

"Alright." The manager said, looking over the ID plate. In the formerly blank right corner of the status plate a symbol was now engraved onto it. "Looks like it was successful. You will now be able to use your ID card to make purchases at shops within the kingdom's banking network."

"Like a magical ATM card." Joshua said excitedly.

"I don't know what that is?" The manager questioned. "Regardless, please bear in mind that you are required to make deposits of at least five large silver every month or you will be fined one gold coin. If you have less than a gold coin in your account, all funds will be removed, and your account will be closed."

"I understand." Joshua said. "Thank you, I have some shopping to do now."

"Before you go sir, may I ask why you are dressed in such a detestable manner?" The manager asked.

"Oh, because it's the only clothes I own." Joshua said as he got up and left, leaving the manager in shock. As he walked out, he noticed a woman yelling at the teller that was talking with him earlier. She was still in a state of shock and unresponsive. The woman yelling did not enjoy being ignored.

Joshua never thought about his smell, but he honestly didn't know if he had ever bathed. He searched his memories and could not find one. The best they could do was splash themselves with the left-over water used to wash the lord's clothes. He decided his next stop would be to buy clothes and then head to the bath house.

He wanted cloth attire that he would affix leather panels to for protection. He knew this would give him a good level of mobility and protection. He made his way through town until he found a tailor's shop.

As he entered the shop, he did not see any premade clothing, only bolts of fabric and linens. [Mass production of common sizes must not be a thing yet.] He thought to himself. [This must be why clothing is so expensive that I only have one outfit. If I made a shop that produced clothing in premade sizes in mass, I could make a fortune.]

In addition to the role-playing games that he enjoyed, Joshua loved city building and economic games just as much. He loved games where making a massive profit was possible.

"Hello." The man behind the counter said. "Welcome to the finest stitch, are you here to drop something off for your master? Or perhaps a pick-up?" He looked through a list. "No, I have no pick-ups scheduled today, and you aren't carrying any items. You must be a male servant freshly turned of age seeking new work and opportunities. Well spin around let me have a good look at you."

"Actually, I am here to place an order." Joshua said. "Although you were spot on about being kicked out. How did you know that?"

"It is so common here; it would just make you sad." He said. "All these beautiful young men, just thrust out of their homes, away from the only people to have ever cared for them. But luckily, I am here for them, to get them on their feet and find them work. I am pretty famous in most circles for my charity work, I am surprised you didn't hear about me."

"Oh, I became an adventurer on my first day as an adult." Joshua explained. "If I hadn't been so fortunate, I probably would have heard of you."

"Oh, you're that boy that slew the demon of the forest." The tailor said. "I heard he was a young peasant but didn't really believe it. Well, I know you got a massive reward from that, but I will still give you a discount. Just looking at you in those horrid garments is enough to make me cry. If your smell wasn't already doing that.

Anton! Anton dearest please man the sales floor while I tend to our newest customer."

A young man appeared from the back, looking to be around Joshua's age. "Of course, master." He said.

"That's a good boy." The tailor said. "Now come follow me. Let's get you measured and cleaned up. Can't have the new hero of the town be dressing like a dirt farmer."