As the days seemingly ticked by, a new routine somewhat settled into place. Myne and Lutz, my new workers, seemingly were enjoying the jobs they were given, often seen basking in the tales told by our customers. Lutz seemed really interested in tales spun by Gojo, who took it to heart.
"Barkeep! More drinks!" shouted Gojo as he was regaling Lutz with the tale of how he mastered his technique, Limitless: Red. As I poured the drinks, Myne came over, decked out in her new uniform which had some class to it.
The dress consisted of a white button-up, a black coat and skirt with gold trimming, and black dress shoes which I had gotten from the vault, a place I did intend to explore in the future. Lutz wore a version that was modified for him, pants instead of a skirt and the overall look gave of the impression of elegance, a fargone departure from their previous look.
"Here you go!" I shouted as my servers came over, Lutz taking more of the heavier stuff while the lighter stuff like finger foods were being served by Myne. I paid them an upfront payment, something in their world which was the equivalent of several small gold coins. The vault could exchange the currency we take in to other currencies, and this was done using the currency the vault already had in stock.
"Are you serious mister!?" was what Lutz said as I gave him several small gold coins, something that he has apparently never seen in his life. "Yes, but this ain't all your getting by working for me, this is just one part of it" I said to him.
Myne on the other hand was much more curious on the other benefits I could provide, considering how I was from a similar world to the one she came from before her transmigration into the new one.
"Well, besides the draupnir, there's education, books, etc" I said to her as I listed things off the top of my head. I wanted my business employees to be paid and treated well so they would stay with me. Myne seemingly could figure out the idea, and seemingly respected me for not being a rumored black company.
As they were done serving drinks, other customers, consisting of my regulars, came in. Sasaki was accompanied by his bird Peeps, or Piercarlo the starsage. "Hey Sasaki, how have you been?" I asked him as he sat down, his eyes seemingly tired.
"Good, just dealing with psychics, that's all" he muttered as I looked at him with a look that could be read as 'Explain'. After a detailed explanation from Sasaki, who was drinking sake, I patted him on the back as I said "Thats rough buddy". He looked at as if he was dumbfounded but he said nothing and went back to his drink.
Onto the other regulars, Albus was here accompanied by Snape and his deputy headmistress McGonnagal. She looked as stern and stone cold as when I first met her, but she seemed to be out of professional mode as she had a small smile on her face.
"Welcome, what can I get you fine folks?" I asked them as they sat down and ordered a variety of drinks and some snacks. I poured the drinks as Lutz carried them over, while Myne carried over the bar snacks.
"What's young children like yourself working in a place like this?" asked McGonnagal as she seemingly looked at me with a piercing gaze. "Im here so I can be treated" said Myne, while Lutz said he was here because he wanted to follow Myne. Her gaze on me strengthened by a level but it dissipated as she asked their names and introductions in order.
"So your the girl with the abundance of mana" said McGonnagal as she tousled their hair like an affectionate mother. Lutz seemed to squirm under this as did Myne. They talked for a bit about each other and what their worlds were like. "Huh, hey Albus, they should study at Hogwarts" said McGonnagal. Myne seemed to beam at this as Albus looked thoughtful.
"Hmm, I did suggest something to Thomas about a tutor, so we should bring it up with their parents and talk about setting something up" said Albus as y excitement seemingly grew at the topic of conversation. I mean, learning magic was something any child wanted to do.
"I would love too!" said Myne as she promised to set up a meeting with her parents in the pub as Benno came through the door, looking peeved. "Myne!" he bellowed as Myne emitted an *eep sound and scurried away.
"Are you making headway on the paper?" asked Benno as Myne said "It should be done by spring okay, so be patient!" she shouted as a tick mark began to appear on his head. "Why you little!" he shouted as he began to chase her around the pub. It was quite an unusual and odd comic scene which I chuckled at.
The Benno sat down at the bar and ordered something honey flavored, so I ended up getting some mead brewed by an ocean giant. 'I bet stuff like this would sell for unfathomable amount of money' I thought as I poured him a cup which he took a swig of.
"This is nice" he muttered as he seemingly downed the cup in one swing. "Another!" he said to me as I poured him some more and he drank it and paid me in some large copper. It was stamped with what was apparently the symbol of the entire country, and the coin was minted at the sovereignty which Benno explained to me.
It was quite an informative conversation that seemingly deepened the understanding I had of the world Myne came from, and I could even see Myne listening intently at the conversation me and Benno were having. As we continued the conversation, him explaining the basics of merchant hood, the door swung open as someone passed through its threshold.
-Sylvester-
Aub Ehrenfest, a title belonging to the duke who rules the duchy Ehrenfest. I know, quite a history lesson from someone as high as me. I then recieved a smack on my head from someone I was quite fond of, even if he seemed irritated with me at every turn.
"Why are we here?" asked my dear brother Ferdinand. He was a blue robed priest at the temple and was also quite an accomplished knight and scholar. His question was seemingly referring to us walking down into the lower district, the place where all the commoners lived.
"Well my dear brother, we are here to investigate" I said to him in a jovial tone that left no room for being discussed. Ferdinand rolled his eyes as if that was obvious. "I know that dunderhead, but why?" he asked me, his eyes seemingly drilling holes into my scalp, hoping I would bleed to death.
'By the Eternal Five, he is quite irritable' I thought as I looked around the lower district, and at myself trying to blend in as merchants, which was the closest to our former clothing that we could get away with. "Well, I heard something strange in reports recently" I said to him as he looked at me with wide eyes.
"You, doing your reports" he said as if he heard a fairytale uttered to him. A tick mark gradually appeared on my head as I was this close to whipping out my schtappe and using it on him for being a bit of.... no, let the thoughts simmer elsewhere.
"I know, the goddess of time must be playing a trick on you" I said with a drawl, calling upon a common euphemism used for situations like this, the only time I found it necessary. "But, considering their strange behavior and somewhat irregular clothing, I feel it warrants an investigation" I said to him while another thought lingered in my mind.
'I can also use this chance to enter the pub associated with them' I thought as the feeling of warm drinks and unique food seemed to stir me as if I was being embraced by the gods. Ferdinand looked at me suspiciously, but seemingly thought better of it and left it alone.
As we decided the lower district, I kept my eye out for any unscrupulous individuals, asking some questions which were important to the investigation. It was around the time we got to a well area that we began having more info to work on, not to mention the pub being close by here.
After getting directions from a woman named Karla, they came upon the pubs door. "Giants Pub, what a nice name" I said as I reached for the door, with a rough hand seemingly seizing the handle as well. I looked over to see someone with blue hair, followed by a green haired woman, and a green haired little girl.
The man retracted his hands, his eyes upon our clothing. 'A commoner? By the looks of it, a soldier' I thought as I opened the door in a loud and obnoxious manner. I then saw the objects of my report sitting down at a table sharing drinks. I even saw what looked like children that came of age, but a couple of them looked quite odd.
"Hello, how can I help you?" asked the man sitting at the bar, his appearance seemingly indicative of nobility. His skin was pale and he looked strong and his hair well kept. The clothes he wore though was quite odd, as was the rest of them.
"I would like to order a drink for me and my brother" I said as I welcomed in Ferdinand with a scowl upon his face. "I don't know why i'm here" said Ferdinand in a sigh as we saddled up next to two people who were of particular interest in the report.
-Thomas-
'What strange customers' I thought as I looked at the two individuals that looked like they were merchants, but I felt something off, and maybe that was the energy that was rolling off of them in waves of different colors.
How could I sense this? Well, some bottles of enchanted liquor I sell has the ability to boost the senses and perception of those who drink them. There was of course items I could use as well, but the feeling they eminated was one I felt I had to respect.
"Man, your customer base is growing stranger by the day" said Sasaki as he drank at the bar. Of course, Gojo was joining us this time around as he wanted to talk with us. "So, how do you guys do?" he asked, and I felt that was the most generic way to start a conversation.
"Good" we both responded as he cackled. "Well, are you planning on studying magic Thomas?" Gojo asked me as I nodded. "Yeah, but it would be cool to learn different abilities as well" I said to him, and I could feel the stares of the new customers, while Myne was on the bar listening to the conversation.
"Would you be interested in learning jujutsu?" asked Gojo as I gave the question some thought. "Im not opposed to it, but I feel like learning some magic might be nice" I said as the bird, peeps, asked "Would you like learning from me? I know some pretty good spells we could use to give you a good baseline" said Peeps as he was eating pieces of meat I gave him.
"Thats not a bad idea, I could be learning alongside Sasaki" I said as I had a smile growing on my face. "Im learning magic so I can just teleport to work" said Sasaki, his aims within the realm of comfortability. "That's some nice ideas" I said with some small laughter. As I was serving drinks, a faint idea began to burrow itself in my brain. 'If I can learn jujutsu, why not other arts, why not try?' I pondered as I served the drinks to my beloved customers.