Tawarr, the main streets where carriages could pass were decorated with big buildings, most of them were luxury shops for nobles and rich merchants. But connected to the main streets, there were narrow alleyways full of goods and people. Rena and Sebastian were walking in this buzzing street. There were many stands and several overlapping small shops, selling all kind of goods. On the right side, they were selling spices, sugar, and salt. There were also those who were selling weapons and armory, next to a shop who displayed strange creatures. On the other side, there were people selling carpets and textiles, books, and lamps. Aroma of grilled kebab, roasted corns, and many other foods mixed together in this street.
"Isn't this amazing, Sebastian?" There was enthusiasm in her voice.
"....If Miss Serena thinks so." A complete opposite of Rena, Sebastian was unamused.
They walked slowly trying to avoid bumping into other people who were crowding this place. Rena was busy look around left and right, trying to take in the scenery around her. She noticed there were a lot of merchants shouting their goods to sell it, suddenly, Rena remembered about Frei.
"By the way, isn't Frei a merchant as well?" She asked Sebastian.
"Master Frei was an S Class merchant, he doesn't deal with a small business like this." His answer was straightforward.
"An S Class Merchant?" She glanced up at Sebastian.
"Miss Serena never heard of it?"
"Umm, no...." She shook her head then lowered her gaze.
(It's probably weird to not know anything about it...) She thought.
"Usually merchants are classified into several classes by Merchant Guild, ranging from F to S, depends on the scale of their business. For example, the food stall over there is classified as an F class, while these shops here are D to E class." Sebastian kindly explained it to her, using examples to make her quickly understand.
(So F class is street vendors and the E and D class are small privately owned business,
like a flower shop or a family owned restaurant...)
Rena tried to compare it with the business she knew in Japan.
"What are C to S class then?"
"Hmm... I think that apothecary over there is considered a C class."
Sebastian pointed at one of the few big size buildings on the street full of F to D class merchants.
(C class is a medium size business, apothecary? Maybe it's similar to a small clinic...)
"...and B class and A class merchants are those who are crowding the main streets, normally, they owned a big shop."
(Like those stores crowding Shibuya street... B class is probably something like a boutique owned by a famous fashion designer, and A class is a department store.)
"An S Class Merchant owns a large specialized business or several types of A class businesses.
(...Basically a conglomeration.)
A bead of sweat dropped from Rena's face.
"Do you understand now, Miss Serena?" Sebastian who didn't know what's going on in Rena's head asked her if she understood.
(Yes, yes! I perfectly understand that he is Mr. Hi-Spec.)
"Y-yes!" Rena reacted quickly to his words.
"F class merchants are those who don't own a shop, E class merchants own a small business, D class merchant own a small to medium business, C class merchants own a medium business, B class merchants own a medium to big business, A class merchants own a big business, and S class merchants are those who own a huge specialized market or several A class businesses."
"Yes, that's correct. You are quick to understand things, Miss Serena."
Sebastian smiled.
"No, no... That's because you explained it well, Sebastian."
She couldn't say her original world was also filled with this kind of businesses...
Both continued walking with Sebastian in front of her, leading the way and acted as a shield from people who came from other direction. Rena was busy looking around, enjoying the scenery around her. When she saw any interesting stuff, she would ask an explanation from Sebastian. Still, the market was too crowded and Rena bumped into some of them.
"Ouch!"
"Ah, Sorr..."
The stranger who met eyes with her, looked surprised.
"Oh, it's okay."
Rena continued walking. But after a while, she realized people started whispering and stealing a glance at her direction.
"I wonder what happened..."
Sebastian was calm but his eyes were vigilant, there was an intimidating aura around him directed toward these people.
"Miss Serena, aren't you aware that someone with purple eyes normally wouldn't be find on the street? This is why I was against we were walking on foot earlier." He answered her with serious tone.
"I... I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of that..." She looked down, feeling guilty.
(Now that I think of it, I was sold to the auction house because of these eyes. Are these eyes that special?)
Rena didn't know people in this world treated those who have purple eyes like they were endangered species. Hard to find and rare to be seen. If one appeared in East Continent, they were treated like an exotic animal, wanted, hunted, and displayed... While in West Continent, these people were treated like prophets to those who worshiped The Amethyst Wizard.
"I apologize for being rude as well. If Miss Serena is done looking around, let's go with our initial intention and go back before trouble finds us."
"Yes..." She replied with a small voice.
They climbed the stone stairs and moved toward the main streets with big buildings line up neatly next to each other. Rena was following Sebastian quietly when she noticed Sebastian had stopped.
"This is the place, Miss Serena."
Rena looked at the sand-colored building in front of her. All the buildings around here were made of stone structures, this one wasn't an exception either. With a big arc door welcoming visitors, there was a written on the marble sign above the entrance, Saola's Garment Shop.
Rena's eyes widened in surprise.
(I could read those symbols! Isn't this a cheat skill?!)
"What's wrong, Miss Serena?" Sebastian asked, noticing the change in her expression.
"No, nothing... It looks like a nice shop."
"Lady Saola, the owner of this shop was an acquaintance of Master Frei. We often supply the materials for her works. Her skill was top notch and she is famous around here. I hope you will find something you like, Miss Serena."
"Yes, if Sebastian recommended it, I'm sure I'll find something here."
(I wonder if this expense will be added to my debt...)
Sebastian opened the door and Rena entered the shop. It didn't look like a shop she imagined. Instead, clothes organized neatly on the racks, the shop was filled with fully dressed mannequins, ...except those weren't ordinary mannequins wearing ordinary attires.
Her mouth gape opened, staring at the thing in front of her.
(What's The Thinker doing here wearing Darth Vader costume?!!!)
There were many sculptures with their different pose, wearing an outfit like they were cosplaying. The sculpture next to the door posed like Birth of Venus, wearing a pink rubber headdress which looked like Majin Buu's.
(I can't wear something like this!)
She was stumped. She wanted to run away now, but it's too late. From inside the shop, someone noticed the presence of these guests, shouted, "Welcome!"
A beautiful platinum blonde hair woman appeared in front of Rena and Sebastian. She's tall and had a gorgeous figure, like a supermodel coming from the magazine. She was still a beauty even with that outfit she wore. Her image was like a famous foreign singer she saw on the internet.
"Rah! Rah! Ro-mah mah! Gah gah oh la la!"
Rena had an auditory hallucination where she could hear a certain song played in the gorgeous lady's background.
"Oho, isn't this Sebastian. What made you come to my shop without your master? And who is this young lady?" Her voice was bewitching.
"Greetings, Lady Saola. Master Frei has a business he needs to attend to so he asked me to accompany Miss Serena to buy some clothes here." Sebastian bowed politely to her.
"Lady Saola, this is Miss Serena. Miss Serena, this is Lady Saola." Sebastian introduced both of them.
The woman who was introduced as Lady Saola turned her gaze, looking at Rena.
"Aahhhh! Your eyes are purple! Aren't you the girl from the gossip?"
"Eh... Wh-what gossip?"
"I see, so it's Frei who bought her. I've never thought he has this kind of hobby, well, I think understand, it's not every day you can find a girl with purple eyes. But I'm a little hurt here, why did he come here without visiting me first? How long has it been since we last met? Oh, don't you know, you are very famous right now. The high-class society is busy talking about the appearance of the purple eyes girl who was brought by a mysterious man..." She kept talking non-stop, not listening to Rena.
A few minutes later...
"Ah, I'm sorry, I forget to introduce myself. I'm Saola Deinn, the owner of Saola's Garment Shop. Nice to meet you!"
"...Nice to meet you." Rena didn't know what else to say, the woman named Saola Deinn certainly knew how to leave an unforgettable impression.
"Serena, can I call you that? You can just call me Saola too! I'm excited that you are going to wear my collections! Is there anything you find interesting? How about this headdress, I got the inspiration from my dream! Oh, how about this one..."
Rena was completely silent, being swept away by her flow.
"When Lady Saola is excited, she keeps talking continuously," Sebastian explained it to Rena.
"I can see that." She answered him flatly.
After a few minutes and Rena being forced to wear the headdress...
"Oh, no! My bad! I get too excited and keep talking! Uwaaa--- I'm sorry, Serena!" She clapped her hands, making an apologizing gesture.
"It's okay. I'm not mad, Lady Saola." Rena assured her that she wasn't mad.
(At first glance, she looked like a beautiful mature lady, but with this personality, I guess she's kinda cute...)
"Saola, please call me Saola!"
"Sa... Saola..."
"Yes! So Serena what kind of outfit are you looking for?"
"That... I guess a simple one, something for daily use?"
"Hmm, a simple outfit for daily use..."
Saola directed her gaze to the ceiling, touching her lips with her index finger while thinking of Rena's request.
"Oh! I know!"
She grabbed Rena's hand, pulling her to the inner part of the shop.
"Tadaa! Look! It's simple and you can wear it every day. It was made from the skin of Blue Constrictor."
"...I'll pass."
The outfit was definitely a simple... skin tight leather dress. Rena was trying hard not to look at the statue which it was put on.
"You don't like that one? How about this one? It was made from the rare Fairies' feathers."
"That's..."
This time it was simply not enough materials.
"Then, this one!"
"Why is a maid costume?"
(Can't I have normal clothes?!!) Rena screamed in her mind.
"Serena is hard to please, eh. Fufu~"
"No, no, no... I just want a simple outfit. Something like the one I'm currently wearing should be fine."
"Ehh? But that's just a normal dress, you can't seduce Frei with that."
"What?! No, no, no... I'm fine with something like this."
(Seriously, what are you up to here?!)
(I just need to pick one and get out from this place.)
Rena scanned the room trying to find something more normal and then she noticed something between the statues who wore a gothic costume and a catgirl costume.
"I'll get that one please!" She shouted, excited.
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