Chapter 9. Buying Clothes at Gordon’s Thrift store 

I return to the guild and headed towards Matilda at the reception desk, then hand over the request slip to have it processed.

“Yes, I’ve confirmed your signature. Congratulations on completing your first job. Here is your reward.”  

I’m happy to be congratulated. Matilda’s smile really is lovely.  

“Thank you.”  

I carefully accept the three silver coins handed to me.  

This is the first money I’ve ever held in this world. I feel quite emotional.  

I also want to keep looking for more work, but I’d like to go shopping or at least see what things cost and what’s available. Also, Jill has asked me to run an errand for her — She asked me to pass on a message to the tool shop owner she knows to come by when they have some free time.

I decide to ask Matilda.  

“Could you tell me where Gordon’s thrift store is?”  

Jill told me the approximate location is near the guild, but I want to confirm.  

“If you go right at the first corner after you step out, you’ll see it on the left side,” she replies.  

“Thanks.”  

I’ll go check it out.  

I walked as instructed and finally saw a store that looked like it. There were miscellaneous items lined up outside the store. They seem to also handle furniture and clothes.  I checked the sign and saw that it said Gordon, so I knew I was in the right place

Peering inside, I see shelves reaching up to the ceiling, packed with all sorts of items. Plates, pots, stationery-like goods, leather products, and even sparkling stones are displayed—very intriguing.  

“Welcome,”  

A tall, lanky man comes out from the back.  

“Are you Mr. Gordon?”  

“Ah, yes, I am Gordon. Are you looking for something?”  

I answer that I have a message from Jill.  

“Jill asked me to deliver a message. She said that I should come and look at the unused items in her house when you have time.”

“Grandpa Jill asked?”  

I nod.  

“There are a lot of unused dishes and pots from the kitchen, so there’s quite a lot of them.”  

“I see. I’ll go this evening. Thank you.”

Mission accomplished.

Since I’m here, I also want to know the prices. I really need to know. Judging by the shelves, it seems they also sell foodstuffs.  

“By the way, I’ve just arrived in this town, but how much do flour, salt, and sugar cost here?”  

Since there was bread, they probably sell flour too.  

“Flour, salt, and sugar, huh? At our shop, a bag of flour costs 1,000 Gold. Salt and sugar are sold at the Alchemy Guild—currently, about 1,400 Gold per kilogram for flour, and around 1,600 Gold for salt and sugar.”  

He points to a roughly 1kg cloth bag. I’ve got a pretty good idea of the flour price, but I’m not entirely sure about the units. Still, it’s not ridiculously expensive, which is a relief. Salt and sugar seem to be more like special sales items.  

“Thank you. I don’t know how much I have with me right now, but would you be willing to buy these raisins?”

Give him a small sample to try.

“Whoa, these are sweet and delicious! They don’t even have seeds. Regular raisins usually go for 2,000 Gold per kilogram, but I’ll buy these for 3,000 Gold.”  

They seem willing to buy them.  

“Um, about how much is a kilogram exactly?”  

I ask, and he takes a weight from a nearby scale and let’s me hold it. But I’ve never measured anything by hand, so I don’t really know. Well, I guess it’s probably about 1kg. I’ll just assume that.  

“Got it. Thanks. Mind if I take a quick look around the shop?”  

“Please, go ahead.”  

Ideally, I want a cloak,  some regular clothes, and a bag. At the very least, the cloak—plus something to carry things. I also want a cloth bag to put the raisins in. I browse the secondhand clothing section in one corner of the shop, and I see some clothes outside that look like they’re on sale, so I look there too.

This cape with a hood looks nice. I also find a large cloth bag reinforced with leather—perfect for carrying stuff.  

The only problem is whether I can buy it for 3000 gold. I can’t find the price tag, so I guess it’s probably impossible.

Wait, can I sell the clothes I’m currently wearing?  

I would like to buy and wear this outfit, but I don’t have enough money, so I ask if I can sell my coat.  

“Your coat is well-made, with uniform fabric and excellent craftsmanship. I could buy it for 150,000 Gold, but are you sure you want to sell it?”  

I’m stunned by the price difference compared to modern day Japanese prices so I was late in replying —this coat isn’t even worth 10,000 yen in Japan. 

“Sorry. I could do a little better if it was a little bigger.”

It seems they thought I was hesitating because it’s too cheap.  

“I’d sell it for 150,000 Gold. Also, I want to buy these two items,”  

I ask for the cloak and the bag’s prices, curious if they’re too expensive to afford.  

“The cloak is 15,000 Gold, and the bag is 20,000 Gold.”  

Great, I can buy them.  

“Then I’ll take these, and this too,”  

I add a simple set of clothes and two cloth bags of different sizes.

I got a small discount on the bags, so the total comes to 50,000 Gold, leaving a net of 100,000 Gold.  

He asks if I prefer gold coins or large silver coins, and when I answered that I wanted large silver coins as they seemed easier to use, I was given ten coins which were larger than the silver coins I had received from the guild.

I see, this is a large silver coin.

“okay. Thank you.”  

“Please come again.”  

I step outside the shop and breathe a sigh of relief.  

I feel very relieved to have a lump sum of money.  

I take out my storage in a quiet place, and I ho inside.

Perhaps I was nervous because as soon as I stepped in, my legs gave out and I collapse.

I would like to find a place to stay and sleep in a bed, but I don’t know what kind of accommodation I can stay at comfortably.  

I’d like to avoid sleeping in a shared room at the guild. What are the simple private rooms like? Do they have bedbugs? If so, that’s scary. I can see myself itching all over.  

I’m exhausted. I want a bath.  

At least, I want to wash my body with warm water. Have I ever bought hot water? Not often. I think I remember a long time ago, when I was little, I used to get a pot of hot water for 5 yen when I ate cup ramen at the candy store.　

With that in mind, I searched for “hot water” and was surprised by the results.

Hot water (41°C), 200 liters, 149 yen.  

What’s this? 200 liters is quite a lot, and 41°C—does that mean bath water? Does that mean I bought bath water? Of course I was paying for gas and water.

So, does that mean—?  

I try searching for “water.”  

When I search for just water, I get result like water yokan and water-soluble dietary fiber, making it hard to understand what’s what.  

Looking through the list, I find entries like 49 liters for 7 yen and 33 liters for 5 yen.  

Does this mean I can buy tap water?  

If I can buy tap water, does that mean I can buy gas and electricity too???

Notes:

Mizu yokan: a kind of soft sweet bean jelly or paste

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