Chapter 9: Clothes and a Job

"Dusk."

I don't know why I said Dusk, but it felt right. It certainly wasn't what my name had been in my last life, and even if I could remember what my name had been, I don't think I would be attached to it as I didn't have anyone to call me by it, nor was it given to me by my parents. This name felt special to me, and I don't know why. 

This whole encounter had been a strange one. It had been my first time seeing another intelligent species, and so far I had found it to be quite a peculiar and amusing experience. When I detected the caravan approaching, I considered a lot of different things, like trying to look human, hiding, attacking, and more, but in the end, I decided to just not do anything at all and see how they reacted. 

I may have gotten impatient when they stopped, but I guess everything turned out fine. I got myself some clothes and a ride to the nearest city, so that would be fine. It also seemed like Harland here had some idea of what I was, so either there were more members of my species, or he was mistaking me for something else. 

Regardless, it was a misunderstanding that I had no intention of resolving. 

Harland put down the leather reins of the caravan and began walking around to the back, motioning for me to follow. I noticed that he pointedly did not turn his back to me the entire time, which I still found amusing. I didn't think I was that much physically stronger than him, but I guess my appearance was keeping him on edge. Or the fact that I had been eating what he called goblins. 

On second thought, it was definitely the goblins. 

He brought me around to the back of the caravan and flung the creaky door wide open, revealing a messy sprawl of crates and boxes, tied to the walls and floor by thin ropes. He clambered up and inside of the caravan before looking back out at me. 

"So, Mr. Dusk, is there anything I should know about that golem body of yours so I could recommend some suitable..."

So it was the latter. I don't know what a 'golem' is, but I'll just go with it for now. Why did he pause though? Did I do something wrong?

"I see that your mouth can disappear. Anything else I should know? Any places that you would want to keep free?"

Oh shit, I guess I let my mouth de-manifest. I would have to work on that in the future.

"Something that covers most of my features will do, no need to be extravagant. Maybe a mask or something."

Harland turned back inside without a word and closed the door. The glow that I had detected earlier was still quite strong, but it was not impossible to see through, and I could still make out what he was doing. It seemed he was truly going through the boxes and pulling out clothes, which is fortunate because it means that I won't have to-

"Kill him"

I flinched for a second before calming back down. In the week since I awoke, I had continued to hear the voice. Although my brain was thoroughly convinced that a real person was saying these things, I had to acknowledge at some point that I was probably just hearing things. The system had already said that there were no actual sounds, so it was most likely just in my head. 

Is that something that comes with the job description? I'm quite confident that I didn't hear any voices in my previous life. It was a bit unsettling, but I could handle it. For the most part. It still made me extremely uncomfortable, but I was doing my best to not overreact anymore. This is something that I 100% need to get in control of before I try to blend in with people, because I can't just be going into fight or flight mode at random times. 

Harland stepped out of the caravan with a medium-sized crate in his hands. He looked me in the eyes, and after blinking a few times and a bit of thought, he said:

"I don't seem to have any cheap throwaway clothing. I can give you a pair that I have, but I would expect you to pay it off, either by working for me or finding some money, I don't care how."

Ooh, would you look at that, he's got some backbone after all. I wonder what spurred this on though. Did he grab some sort of weapon while I was distracted?

"Sure, sounds good enough for me. What work would you have me do?"

"I'm sure you have already noticed, but I am a smuggler. I think that having a companion that can change their form is quite a useful disguise, as you might guess."

I did not know that he was a smuggler, but I tried to keep a blank face. I say that like I had to do something, but I didn't. My face is literally blank. I hate puns. Wait a second,

"How did you know I could-"

Harland quirked an eye at me, looking somewhat amused.

"The mouth you formed just now was completely different than the one you had while eating, as this one looks much more human and has less sharp teeth. You also had eyes when I walked out of the caravan."

Did I? How would I not have noticed that I had formed eyes-

Oh. Oooooooh. He looked me in the EYES when he stepped out of the caravan. Damn. I really need to get this under control, huh. I guess I have been subconsciously using my Awoken Flesh a lot more than I had thought, though it makes sense. I had noticed that I had been instinctively using some of my innate skills and abilities without putting much thought into it. 

"I'll take you up on that offer, though I guess I should try to get that under control before I do anything."

Harland laughed a bit, clearly more relaxed now, and handed me the crate full of clothes. 

Pulling off the straw tarp that covered the crate, I pulled out the first clothing item. It was a baggy light gray coat that had a cowl attached and a built-in shawl that could be pulled up to cover the lower face. 

The second item was a pair of loose-fitting black pants that had a cord to tie them off at separate lengths or to tighten the fabric. They also had a belt that would hook into the third article of clothing. 

The third thing in the box was a harness that seemed like it was designed to run under the first coat. It could fasten to both in a few places, and it also had hooks and modifications where pouches, sheathes, holsters, and more could be clipped. It seemed like its main purpose was to help attach armor to the wearer, but the box contained no armor. 

The last things that were in the box were a pair of boots and gloves, with the boots being tipped in metal and the gloves having metal inserts for the knuckles. 

"This here is a collection that was made as a prototype for a new model of armor by a genius inventor I had connections with. It fell through because it took an ungodly amount of time to put on and take off due to the harness that needed to run underneath it all to make it fit properly, and they never got around to making the actual armor to clip on. It should work perfectly in your case as a golem shouldn't need to take it off and on very often."

I gratefully accepted the clothing and began putting it on. I was a bit worried at first about making sure it would fit, but the harness was extremely adjustable, and the clothes themselves were quite baggy. 

After a long time of getting tangled up in the straps, I eventually got the harness on. The pants and coat connected pretty easily after that, but I hesitated before putting on the gloves and boots. 

After a bit of debate, I decided to not put them on yet. I didn't need them to protect my hands and feet, and I felt much more comfortable knowing that I would still use my claws if necessary. Wearing shoes just seemed like a restriction that would hold me back in combat. One of my greatest strengths (besides the obvious regeneration) was my ability to change form, and if I put on the shoes I would be losing a decent amount of freedom to use my abilities to their fullest potential. 

Now that I had finished up, I noticed that Harland was lying on top of the caravan, He seemed to be holding a map, but without a line of sight, I wasn't at a high enough proficiency to be able to read the subtle inked texture differences on a piece of paper. 

Considering climbing up and seeing for myself what he was doing, I decided to just knock on the caravan to alert him that I had finished. He already was a bit jumpy around me, and I didn't want to scare him for no reason. I still didn't know what had given him that sudden burst of confidence, and I didn't want to find out. 

To be fair, I could probably survive whatever it was, but it would make our relations deteriorate and would work against my goal. 

When I knocked on the side of the caravan, Harland reacted pretty quickly, folding up the map and peering over the edge to see what had happened. Upon looking at me and seeing how I had changed into the clothes he had given me, he jumped down, nimbly landing on his feet and brushing some dust off of his ass. 

"I see that you finished quickly. Shall we set off?"

"Sure, works for me. Where do you want me to sit?

Harland thought for a second, before pointing his thumb to where he had just come from.

"I'd have you sitting on the roof of the caravan. There ain't much room up front, and not to be rude but I don't trust you to sit with my merchandise. Plus, this way you can keep a lookout for danger. That'll be your first job, I guess. Protect me and my wares till we reach my destination a little way into the Wildwoods, then also escort me back to Nurnburg. Once we arrive, I'll consider your debt paid, but if you prove capable and you need a job, I can provide one."

I nodded, not questioning it too much. I honestly felt like I was getting a whole lot more out of this than he was. I got clothes, a guide, and a possible job after I got out, so it felt like a complete steal. Also, being a smuggler didn't sound too bad for the time being. Doing this would tick three boxes for me. I would be able to explore the world as we traveled, I would get practice changing form, and I would likely get some XP along the way if I continued working as a guard for him. The only downside I could see is that I would have to go a little ways back into the forest which would waste some time, but a win is a win.

"Alright Harland, you have yourself a deal."