Alicia and Alex walked hand in hand through the busy streets of Floren.
The main road they were on was just called "Central" and it referred to the road which split the entire city in half. It had a section in the middle designated for horse-drawn, or monster-drawn carriages to move through like the lanes of a road and there was a crossing guard directing traffic at every major intersection.
Central was the central hub of Floren, and had hundreds of shops along its sides with a wide variety to offer. There were flower shops, restaurants, nick nack shops, and many others. Since the Setter's Inn was on the south side of town, they moved north until they reached the very center of the city.
It took around 20 minutes but they got to enjoy the scenery together. This was the first time Alex had left the Inn ever since getting into this body. He was beginning to feel stuffy but this break came at a good time.
In the center of town, was a large plaza where there were many smaller vendors selling mostly food or drinks and the main attraction was a large patch of green grass that many residents used for picnics.
In the very center was a statue of a man dressed in fancy 16th century-like clothes from earth and holding a sword vertically in front of his body. Alicia had watched his reactions most of the time finding it cute. She figured he had never gotten a chance to see much of town after the fiasco he caused.
"That is the founder of Floren, Austin Floren, and he was considered a pioneer for the Sorketh kingdom several hundred years ago and helped build this town that bordered the Ether forest," Alicia said as she watched his reaction.
Alex looked at her and smiled before looking back at the statue.
"Many thought he was a mad man for building a town right next to the Ether forest, but when the silver mines and vast amount of lumber began pouring into the Kingdom's coffers, many started calling him a genius or a Seer." Alicia continued a bit sarcastically.
She had heard the story many times from other folks, and even read on it in the public library on some of the few days she gets off.
Unlike on earth, it was normal to work for several weeks to even months on end without a break. This was just a difference in societal ideologies, but it also had to do with the fact that Nova inhabitants, or Novarians, were generally much stronger thanks to essence, so they could work longer hours before needing rest.
Although Alex was curious about what a Seer was, Alicia had already pulled him towards one of the carts.
"Hello, miss? What can I get for ya?" An older man said as he patted his cart.
He had rough pictures of what each item was along with the prices and a brief description. The issue was Alex couldn't read it…
'Fuck this Isekai bullshit. Never doing it again.' Alex thought as he smiled to the older man.
Alicia put on a thoughtful look as she looked at her options before turning to Alex.
"Is there anything you want?"
"Surprise me!" He said with enthusiasm. He could always tell her about this later.
She narrowed her eyes for a second before going back to the vendor.
"2 Flame-footed Hogdogs please. Extra Fireseed sauce on both of them." She put up her index and middle finger to show the number and the old vendor smiled.
"Coming right up miss." He took the correct amount from her and began making the food.
In this world, apparently, there was no sales tax, it was only a resident tax that had to be paid every month. At least in this town.
Every town had its own rules and as one got to the capital, the more likely the taxes would be higher, and they may even start charging sales tax if it was a big commercial hub.
The monthly tax was only 1 silver, which was only a few days of work if one worked at the inn. The currency went 100 copper -> 1 silver; 100 silver -> 1 gold; 1000-gold -> 1 platinum chip.
It was a simple conversion system that Alex had learned about from the gossip he listened to during meals.
The last part he wasn't sure about, but every time a platinum was mentioned, it was almost always about an item or reward that was over 1 thousand gold in worth.
They waited patiently and moved out of the main line while their food was made.
"How do you like the city so far?" Alicia asked curiously.
"It's great," Alex smiled as he looked at her, "Thank you for taking me out, I felt I would turn into a Vampire if I stayed in the dark for so long."
Alicia giggled but was a bit unsure what he meant by Vampires and the dark. In Nova terms, they would be referred to as Daywalkers since they could be in the sunlight without being affected and hid amongst all sorts of different races since their blood control could let them change how they look.
Moving on.
"We can eat here and then go look for good clothing stores after. I know of a good one near here that also sells men's clothes." Alicia said.
"Sounds good." Alex nodded.
He wasn't sure how to make this "date" better, but he gave up on it pretty quickly. He had no idea what was in this city and they both already agreed that they just wanted to be friends... with benefits. He could only follow her like a duckling and enjoy his time with her.
It was still before noon so they had about 8 hours to do whatever until Alex needed to be back for his spar. They soon got their food and found a place to eat under a tree. The tree reminded Alex of a Willow tree, but instead of the branches dangling down, it seemed to defy gravity and splayed outwards to increase the amount of shade it could provide.
The leaves still danced in the wind but something continued to hold it up. Alex could only assume essence, since that was the most likely answer for everything that seemed to defy natural law.
They leaned against the tree, with Alicia leaning slightly against Alex as they both ate their Hogdogs. Alicia quickly explained that a Flame-footed Hog was a type of low leveled monster that had a natural spicy flavor to its meat, while the Fireseeds also had a spicy flavor that popped when you bit down on them.
Alex quickly found out that she liked spicy foods and took a bite of the Hogdog. The meat was juicy and tender while the spice quickly assaulted his taste buds. He felt his mouth was on fire! He never thought there was something so spicy but he just had it.
Seeing his reaction she giggled again and handed him water in a mug. Normally water would be bad at getting rid of spice in one's mouth, but this water seemed to act like milk and helped cool off his mouth.
"Thank you." Alex panted feeling embarrassed.
"You know you could have gotten something else but you let me decide without knowing my tastes." Alicia scolded him as she licked her fingers of Fireseed juice.
"I can't read," Alex got straight to the point, "Probably my amnesia still."
Alicia looked worried, "Something awful must have happened for you to lose all your memories like that. Even a week later you are still like a newborn trying to soak up all the knowledge it can get."
During the last week, whenever he needed her help, he would talk to Alicia about a lot of things. Mostly asking about the surrounding area and how things worked like money, buying, selling, where to find work, things like that. But he completely forgot about reading since in the entire Inn he had never once seen a paper with writing on it.
He wasn't able to see the rule signs in the building since people were always covering them.
Alex nodded but didn't say more. He was still unsure what exactly happened to the previous Alex.
"Well, there's a public library in town. We can go there after we're done shopping if you'd like? Maybe reading something will help jog your memory?" Alicia added which earned a heartfelt smile from Alex.
"Thank you Alicia, it means a lot." He kissed her forehead and put an arm around her. She sunk into his chest with a smile on her face as they continued eating. Alicia teased him about not being able to handle spicy foods before they cleaned up and headed to the shop she mentioned, hand in hand.
They went onto the northside of Central and found the store not too far away. It was called Casey's Casuals and was a boutique that had mostly women, but also some men's clothes that were of a more casual, and cheaper design.
Since Alicia was only a maid basically at the inn, she didn't make an exorbitant amount of money and only splurged once to get the dress she was wearing a long time ago. This was actually the first time she wore her bright green dress that highlighted her fair skin.
It hugged her skin nicely, but not to the point that you could see every little detail of her. Her curves were visible, but there was no cleavage showing and most of her shoulders were covered as well.
This store was her favorite and she always came here on her days off to see what they had. The moment they stepped through the door, they heard someone call out to them.
"Welcome to Casey's Casuals, what can I-AH! Alicia, it's good to see you again! I thought something happened to you since you didn't come on your usual day off." The woman spoke hurriedly and gave Alicia a hug.
"Oh my Goddess, you look great girl! I never thought you would wear this! So fancy~ What have you done with my cute, shy Alicia." She teased.
She had auburn hair and brown eyes. There were freckles scattered over her olive skin and her plump lips were in a big smile as she looked at Alicia. Apparently, Alex was invisible.
She had a small piercing on her nose and fake eyelashes and makeup that emphasized her natural beauty. She was taller than Alicia by a lot, probably around 5'7" or 5'8" at least and although she didn't have a very big chest, her ass jiggled with her every movement.
Alex had to focus on Alicia to prevent himself from looking. It was very... out there. And her hot pants only made it harder for him. Her plain gray crop top also revealed a naval piercing. Overall, she was very stylish but also not some ridiculous fashionista.
"I'm sorry Sarah, I got in trouble so I was stuck cleaning all week and didn't get my usual breaktime."
Sarah frowned, "You? Get in trouble? Hahaha! You're joking, right? Did you get a promotion?"
She thought she was playing with her since the Alicia she knew was very reserved and only spoke a little bit. It took Sarah many months to get Alicia to be even a little bit open with her and it only got her occasional stories about her work.
But the more she thought about it, the more she worried. Alicia was currently dressed up looking like a princess and speaking openly to her without trying to hide herself.
'She definitely changed. What happened?' Like everyone else who knew her, she liked that she was opening up, but she felt it was too quick of a change. She was afraid of her crashing and burning later on.
"I really did get in trouble, just ask Alex here. He was also the one who got me in trouble." Alicia threw Alex under the bus.
The latter just stared at her with wide eyes and a slack jaw.
'I've been betrayed.' He cried inwardly.
Sarah at this point finally acknowledged Alex's presence. She knew he was there but intentionally ignored him. She was desperately praying that Alicia's change wasn't due to a man, but her wish wasn't granted.
Alex was met with a glare and could already see this going bad.
"See I told you everyone hates me." He couldn't help but complain to Alicia.
She gave him a half-hearted slap on the arm and the man attached to the arm pretended it hurt.
"Don't complain, you still haven't worked hard enough to change people's opinions about you." Alicia smiled and Sarah could only stare dumbfounded at their interactions.
The tall man before her really did break the hermit out of her shell. They acted like two long-lost friends that had known each other their entire lives.
Sarah narrowed her eyes and growled, "Who are you?"