Chapter 316: Shoes & Clothes

“Hello, Lambert-san,” [3] the first place I visited with my entourage of 14 people was Lambert-san’s shop.

“Oh, isn’t this Mukouda-san. Oh my, you bought your slaves right away?”

“Yes, I’d like to thank you for recommending this option to me. Ah, apologies for bringing so many people with me,” I had been wondering if I should come since some suspicious people were sniffing about Lambert’s shop but, well, when it comes to shoes, a leather workshop seems to be the best place for it.

[6] After all, it’s not like there were specialized shoe shops in this world.

“No, no, it’s fine. I see you’ve gotten yourself combat-able [9] slaves too. They certainly look reliable.”

“Yes, thanks to Lambert-san’s letter of introduction, I was introduced to some good former adventurers.” [5]

“I’m glad, they all seemed very capable. It’s a good idea to show them around a bit. When others know you have combat-able slaves with you, they would be more cautious about their movements.”

Indeed.

Especially when I have the fierce-looking Tabasa around.

“Well then, how may I help you today?”

“As for that, well, I’m looking to buy shoes for these people [5]…”

After all, if they were to work at my place, they should at least have that much.

Lambert-san studied the shoes of the people behind me and appeared to share the same thoughts. [6] If the ‘ahhhhh….’ is anything to go by.

“You’re right, of course, to enter that magnificent mansion, they should at least have something decent on their feet.”

[8] “So, erm, please show us something good.”

Lambert-san bustled about and returned with a pair of dark brown leather shoes with a glossy finish and dark neat laces.

“These are made from processed Red Boar leather. It’s a little expensive but they are water-resistant, durable and long-lasting. Also, please observe the neat and glossy finish. These would go well with pretty much any outfit.” [5]

“Hmm, alright, I’ll take them.”

“Understood, for the former Adventurers, how about these boots? It’s made from the same Red Boar leather but the toes are iron-capped. Aside from being durable, the iron-capped toes are also useful for close-range attacks.”

As soon as Lambert-san mentioned the iron-capped toes, there was an exclamation of excitement from my combat-able slaves. [5] I looked at their eager faces and, well, I guess it would be a good idea to get combat shoes for them.

“Alright, I’ll take the boots for the ex-Adventurers,”

I bought shoes for everyone according to their sizes.

For the children, I chose shoes that were at least one size larger.

It seems that shoes were made to last in this place and were something that’s rarely replaced. So everyone’s pretty grateful for their new shoes. Each pair of regular shoes cost 1 gold and 6 silvers, while the iron-capped boots cost 2 golds and 4 silvers per pair.

A grand total of 26 golds and 4 silvers for 14 pairs of shoes.

Thanks to our good relationship, Lambert-san gave me a 4 silver coin discount.

Much appreciated~

“In the future, please contact them for the restocking of the soap and shampoos. [5]”

“Alright, understood,”

[10] According to Lambert-san, when he buys wholesale goods, he usually collects the items via carriage.

[10] “Is that safe? I mean, would your carriage be attacked by those up to no good?”

[10] “It’s fine, it’s fine, your house is within the city and there are plenty of people on the route so no worries. The chances of getting attacked are quite low,”

“I see, well, Lambert-san, there’s one other thing… [4] see, when I’m not around would it be alright if I have my people hide out at your place if something happens to my house…”

“Oh? Oh, but of course! My shop is not too far from your place and since we carry valuable goods, we always have some security around.”

“I see, that’s good…” promise secured, I felt more relieved. I must find a way to thank Lambert-san for this favour in the future.

“Oh, and by the way, is there a shop that sells clothing? That’s next on my agenda,”

“Naturally, when it comes to clothes, Martin’s is one of the best. His shop is left at the end of the first corner along the road. He carries a pretty wide range of products. [6] I’m sure you’ll find something suitable there.”

After one final word of thanks, we left Lambert’s and headed over to Martin’s. [5]

“Alright, this should do it,”

I said as I studied the Victorian maid outfit. Or rather, a long black dress with ankle-length skirt, long black sleeves and a crisp white apron.

We’re at Martins right now. [11] When I arrived with my entourage of 14 people, the owner himself came out to greet me. [5] It turned out the owner was from the City of Claire a.k.a. the City of Textiles.

[6] “Oh, Claire, I’ve been there too,” it was one of the first places where I spent a lot of money on myself buying clothes.

[6] “It turns out that you’ve been to Claire,” the owner enthused. “Well, our goods are mainly from Claire and we have a wide variety of clothing for sale. What is it that you’re looking for?”

[4] “I just bought some slaves and would like to purchase proper clothing for them…”

[4] [11] “Ah, if it’s for the womenfolk who work inside the building, I have just the thing,” and proceeded to show me the maid outfit from earlier. “The black dress looks smart and professional and dirt doesn’t show up easily on the material. The only thing that needs regular washing would be the apron.”

[4] “I see, that’s really practical,” I glanced at the ladies and said. “Two sets of the black dress per woman and twice the number of aprons should do it, I think.”

[4] “Hmm, for the little girl, how about some regular clothes?” said the owner thoughtfully as he smiled at Lotte. “We have some colourful dresses for children…”

[4] “No! Lotte wants the same thing as mom!”

[4] “Lotte! Shh! Please accept our apologies, Mukouda-san.”

[4] “Ahh, it’s fine, it’s fine, since she doesn’t mind, let her have the black dress too… if you have the size for it.”

[4] “In fact, we do!” the owner withdrew a black dress that was… sized for an infant? Before putting it back and taking out one that fit Lotte-chan.

[6] …I have a feeling I shouldn’t ask.

“As for the men, since they would be doing gardening work, how about these overalls? Thick and durable, the olive colour hides gardening grime well.”

“Ohh, sounds good. What do you guys think?” [7] I asked Tony and Alban, since they were the ones who would be wearing these.

“It’s similar to something I used to wear back when I was doing farming work, though nothing in such quality,” murmured Tony.

“Well, in that case. Three sets of overalls per person and six shirts each, please. It’s tough, sweaty work after all.”

“Yes, wonderful. For your combat-able slave, how about these? The cloth on these trousers is woven with a mix of some of the toughest cotton as well as Steel Spider thread. It’s strong enough to withstand slashes from a knife’s blade with excellent breathability. Very popular with Adventurers.”

I studied the thick, grey coloured trousers. It looked sleek and smart. It’s a little expensive but it gets points for durability, defence and breathability. Something that’s important for people who would be in the front line of any attacks.

[4] “Three pairs of trousers per person. Oh, and three for myself as well,” [6] it’s a good idea to increase my defence points. I might have Absolute Defence but that’s not very reassuring since I can’t see or touch it.

[6] “Speaking of which, what about undergarments…”

[4] “Ahem, err, everyone can just pick them out yourself. You get five pieces each,” there’s no way I’m picking out underwear for you guys. Especially not for the women.

“Alright, everything comes up to 77 golds in total,” [7] the owner smiled widely at me. [6] “Thank you very much for patronising Martin’s!”

The grand total came up to quite a lot more than expected. That’s because I bought spares for everyone.

[4] “Mukouda-san, surely there’s no need to purchase so many…”

[4] “Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. For me, it’s better to keep clean and have spares in case of emergencies. It’s a little costly but overall, clothes will last longer if you don’t wash them too many times.”

Everyone nodded. [5]

For things like socks, I will purchase those from [Net Super]. Hmm, maybe even some [12] modern undergarments? Personally, I think modern undergarments are superior in terms of texture and price.

With this, we have nearly everything we need for daily living.

Everyone could officially start working tomorrow. I’ll have to provide them with the ingredients to make food and hand over the cooking to the ladies soon.

Let’s see, I can give them things like meat and certain seasonings from my [Item Box] and [Net Super] but I should probably buy the vegetables locally. [6] It’s a good idea to support the local economy plus, I’d always wanted to visit the market…

Right, it’s decided, let’s hit the market next!

After putting the shopping away in my [Item Box] we made our way towards the market.

[Gumihou: The vegetable thing came out of the left field, so Gumi just made it seem like Mukouda wants to visit the market for no reason]

[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs

[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs

[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue

[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue

[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information

[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose

[7] Add Dialogue Tag

[8] Creative Licence Taken

[9] Henceforth, all ‘slaves who could fight’ and ‘former adventurers’ terms would be replaced with ‘combat-able slave’

[10] Some discussions of logistics: About sending stuff over carriage etc

[11] Sentence restructuring etc

[12] Undergarments… again? Not sure why Mukouda is talking about buying undergarments when he already made a big deal about letting everyone choose 5 pieces each. Make it about ‘modern’ undergarments instead.

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