Chapter 93
Ch 93 -- Mukouda, Buying a Bath .
I headed for the Irario Company's store the next morning, accompanied by Fer . According to Lambert-san it was the only shop in the city that sold baths . His directions to get there were on spot-on but it was a big shop and not easy to miss regardless . I stopped to admire its impressive architecture for a moment before I went in .
A store clerk dressed in a smart uniform turned to greet us as we entered . His expression froze as he caught sight of Fer, not surprising for anyone first on seeing such a large monster . He recovered his aplomb quickly though as you might expect from someone trained to be a salesman in such a high-class establishment and he quickly came forward to greet us .
"Can I assist you in finding what you want?" He was very polite .
"Uh, can you show me some baths?"
"Baths, certainly . Please come this way . "
It was pretty clear store-clerk-san didn't think I looked wealthy enough to afford a bath but he seemed fine with letting me look around . I followed him into an area of the shop at the back where there were a number of baths lined up on display . There were three sizes of bath, large, medium and small . The one I had seen in Lambert-san's house was a small-sized bath, it seemed . I thought about it and decided that a similarly-sized bath would suit me . Even stretching out by myself I'd fit nicely into such a bath .
"A small bath is enough . . . " I muttered, looking at the range of baths on offer .
"We have several such baths in stock so please take a look . " The store clerk overheard my comment and quickly directed my attention towards the small baths on display . He really knew his stuff, I thought to myself gratefully as I looked them over .
The first one was the cheapest, a simple pottery-brown-coloured one costing 300 gold coins . As Lambert-san had said, baths were quite expensive, even the most basic ones . The next bath I looked at was a deep green colour, a very relaxing shade but it cost 370 gold coins . A different colour made the price rise significantly . I asked the store clerk and he explained that making a large piece of pottery like a bath with a smooth uniform colour was very tricky and this resulted in an increased cost .
Although colored baths were more expensive, they were more attractive than the simple pottery-coloured one and since I had a lot of cash on hand I decided the green one would be on my list . The next one I examined was a pure white bath . It looked like a normal bath like the one I had back home in Japan and it had an air of hygienic cleanliness about it . It cost 430 gold coins, even more than the green-coloured bath I had my eye on . The clerk explained that this white-coloured bath was a new product, only recently coming on to the market . In order to produce the white colour a special material was mixed in with the clay . That material was rare and expensive hence the higher price for the finished product .
The next bath I looked at was a luxurious model with a floral painted finish under the glaze . It looked expensive but I was still surprised when I saw the price tag -- it cost 500 gold coins . It seems that it's harder to paint such decorations rather than simply colouring the pottery with a single colour and it takes considerable artistic skill to achieve an attractive effect . There weren't many craftsmen who could do such a fine job hence the higher price . I appreciated its looks but it was the sort of bath a nobleman's home might boast to display his wealth and taste to others . I'd be taking my bath with me as I travel so such elegance would be pointless . I turned back to my first candidate, the deep green bath . Yosh .
"Excuse me but I'd like to buy this green bath . " I said to the store clerk .
The store clerk was a bit surprised that an ordinary-looking guy like me who just walked in off the street wanted to buy something as expensive as a bath with so little hesitation but he was a professional and rallied quickly .
"It costs 370 gold coins, you understand . " Does someone like me have 370 gold coins to pay for a bath? was what he was obviously thinking but he was very polite and didn't let his doubts show .
He he he, thanks to Fer-sama's hard work that amount is small change to me . "Yes, it costs 370 gold coins, right?" I took out two hemp bags from my Item Box . The bigger bag held 300 gold coins and I took 70 more gold coins out of the smaller bag before presenting them to the astonished shop clerk .
"W- well, allow me to verify the amount, customer-sama . " The clerk counted the gold coins carefully, stacking them in piles of ten on the counter .
" . . . 370 gold coins . . . " He nodded . "Yes, that's the correct sum . Would you like us to deliver the bath to your home?" He was smiling broadly now and I wondered if he worked on commission . Ganbatte, store-clerk-san and perhaps next time you'll not pre-judge a customer by his appearance .
"No, it's okay, I'll put it in my Item Box and take it with me . I won't need it delivered . " Besides, I was living in an inn and I didn't have a home like Lambert-san's to have it delivered to .
"Ho, having an Item Box, how I envy you . ""This bath will just about fill it up though, but it comes in handy . " Actually my Item Box seemed to be almost unlimited in capacity -- it currently contained half a flock of Wyverns as well as a mountain of meat from the herd of Bloody Horn Bulls and other monsters Fer had subjugated (not to mention Chimaera-san and Orthros-san) but I wasn't going to let others know just how big it was if I could help it . Of course people like Johan-ojisan and the Guild Master knew but I didn't want it more widely known as that could become troublesome .
I put the bath in my Item Box and politely thanked the clerk for his assistance as he escorted me to the door of Irario Company's store . Success! The long-awaited bath was mine!
Once I was away from the entrance of the Irario Company's store (and hopefully out of sight of store-clerk-san) I spontaneously struck a victory pose, my hands raised in V-signs . I couldn't help it . Yahoo, I had a bath!
"What are you acting so happy about . . . " Fer asked, puzzled by my behaviour . I couldn't explain it, he wasn't Japanese so he could never understand but Japanese people and baths are, well . . . I had finally fulfilled my heart's desire, I had bought a bath . Now to use it, but . . . ah, there was nowhere in the city I could actually take a bath, was there? The inn, no . . . We'd have to go outside the city somewhere .
"Hey Fer, I want to take a bath . Let's go out of town to a quiet place in the forest, somewhere there's no Adventurers or monsters around . Can you find me somewhere like that?"
"Outside the city, that's nice . " Fer was a country boy at heart . "Right then, climb on me . "