"Boss, one more round of beer!"
"Boss, I need more of that stew, make it a big one for me!"
"Boss, a busy night eh? Is there any special today?"
"Come right in!"
Hustle bustle were heard from the tavern, which came and went away as the door to the back kitchen open and close. There were two other people other than Ari in the back kitchen, one making stew in a big pot and the boss was putting meat to the wood burning stove. It was a hectic night for Ari, as he was supplied big batch of dirty dishes continuously. He was crouching on a short stool in the kitchen corner with a big brush in his hand and different dishes in the other. He had washed many dishes before, usually in a big family or neighborhood event, but this was on another level.
The pile in his right side only just had dwindled a bit before the waitress from the front came in and handed him another batch of dirty dishes. He wanted to groan.
He suddenly had great respect for all people who did physical jobs everywhere. It was hard and challenging and really not as easy as it looked.
He only needed to bear with it a bit more, Ari muttered in his mind repeatedly.
--=--=--
The dinner rush hour had finally ended. Ari allowed himself to let out a relieved sigh. His hands were sore and his back was killing him. But in comparison to carrying sacks of goods on his shoulder, he preferred the dishes really.
The waitress and the cook had just gone home, and he now was looking for the boss, who was counting the register in the tavern. The boss noticed him entering, and beckoned him closer with his head.
"Here, your wage tonight." The boss tossed Ari some coins. He had asked for daily wage beforehand, so he wasn't surprised. He only had looked at the sum of it as he stuff the coin to his pocket to examine later.
"Thanks boss." Ari said. The boss only grunted. He looked at Ari intently.
"I've never seen you before." He stated.
"Um, I just got here and my belongings was robbed, so I needed money." Ari answered vaguely. He had scrapped some time thinking about his background story in case someone asked him, lest he looked suspicious. Since he didn't know much about the region or anything else for that matter, the less he said the better.
"Hmm." The boss acquiesced. He then stopped paying attention to Ari, which made him relaxed a bit.
"Tomorrow come an hour before lunch." He said absentmindedly while still counting money at the register.
"I understand. Boss, is there any inn I can rent nearby? It's getting late and I don't want to bother you anymore." Ari asked. The boss only raised his eyebrow.
"You don't have place to stay?" He asked. Ari just shook his head.
"There's spare room with a bed behind this door. Just stay for the night. I live upstairs." He beckoned to a closed door behind him.
"Eh?" are you sure, was what Ari wanted to say, but the sharp look from the boss had him gulped back the words. He decided to accept the kindness as it was.
"Then I'll trouble boss for tonight."
--=--=--
The room was small, and only had a small bed on the floor and a cupboard containing some linen and quilts. There was a small wooden window on one side of the room that was closed, facing to the backside of the tavern. There was a candle holder on the wall beside the bed, and Ari placed the candle the boss had brought him there.
After he had washed his face outside, he slumped harshly to the bed. He stretched, feeling all the bone in his body cracking. After a long night crouching before a mountain of dirty dishes, he really needed to lay down. Maybe for five minutes.
With difficulty, Ari sat down at the bedside, and started to took of his clothes. He brought a small bucket filled with hot water and a washcloth, wanting to tend to his hurting body from the accident he temporarily dubbed as 'transmigration to another world' and the kick from thugs afterwards. Thankfully while looking and pressing on his chest and stomach, he didn't find any broken ribs, just a big bruising on his stomach. He didn't feel bad at his stomach either, so he hoped that there was no internal bleeding.
Ari wet the washcloth with hot water, and after wringing it he pressed the hot washcloth to the bruised area for a minute. After a few repeats, the hot water started to cool down, and Ari used them to clean his entire body from grime and sweat. He set aside the water bucket to be taken out tomorrow, lay down again and contemplate what was happening to him today accompanied by flickering light from the candle.
The boss, after he accepted Ari to work, had briefed him shortly about the back kitchen and what to do. Because it was a busy hour, after a quick tour he was then handed to the cook to supervise, as the boss quickly went to the front. He was taught how to wash the dishes by the cook, who shook his head at looking at Ari's lost expression on the washing corner.
Maybe the cook thought Ari had never washed dishes in his life, and it was kind of right.
Because there was no soap at all. He needed to wash dishes with ashes and rinse it in hot water. It was not efficient at all, so he needed to scrub, scrub, and scrub some more to wash off some of the stains. There was no one sweep formula, there was no oil repellent dish soap, nothing. So indeed, Ari had never wash them like this.
As a teacher, his most common nerve problem was carpal tunnel syndrome, because he overused his wrist joint. But maybe he would overuse his shoulder joint here instead.
Shaking his head, he rummaged through his pocket and took out the contents. There was an apple from the lady he had helped at the afternoon, and the wage from the boss just now. This was the first money he earned in this new life.
The boss had given him three brownish coins. It all looks the same, so he had earned three unknown units of coins for a night long job. He didn't know the cost of food or accommodation yet, so he didn't know how much it was. The money the boss was counting when he talked to him was all the same, and he had not seen another coin nominal or bill used. He needed to gather more information before trying to use the money he got.
The coins had a reddish-brown color, it could be bronze, copper or other metals he didn't recognize. It had some symbols engraved in it, maybe the governing body's symbol, most likely a kingdom. He had caught glimpses of chattering from the back kitchen, but not long enough to understand the topic, so he didn't know this country's identity yet.
The most urgent needs he had were food, clothing, and a place to stay. He had been given a dinner with the staff when working, and he reckoned he didn't need to spend any for lunch and dinner while he worked. He only had this one piece of clothing on his body, and needed to buy at least one more pair, as soon as he understood the exchange rate here.
For place to live, tonight the boss had let him use this bed. It was likely that his three coins wage was insufficient or just enough for renting an inn for one night, and the boss took pity on him as he didn't see Ari bringing anything on his body and was robbed before. It was not the most comfortable, but the boss had really done him a favor, so he vowed to work harder.
The boss had said this was tonight's wage, and as he only worked for half a day, he only got half of the wage. Hopefully with tomorrow's wage he could rent a cheap inn for a few days.
Ari sighed tiredly. That's problem for tomorrow then. He extinguished the candle, and closed his eyes. Not even a minute had passed before he dozed off.