NOVEL NEXT 1.25 – Shari
Emma woke up before Maple to leave for work once again. She was notably less enthused today, and lingered in bed to cuddle. Working life was tough.
"See you later. Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"
Emma solemnly tipped her white cowgirl hat and left. At least her girlfriend didn't need much of a morning routine. Even her 'hair' was just whatever she shaped herself to be.
Maple tried to be supportive. What she needed was to become rich so that they could spend every day having fun. Surely there was some technology or idea from Earth she could steal and implement here.
She sighed. The problem was, a lot of the technology this world lacked was made up for by Skills and magic. Books were still copied by hand, for example, but at great speed thanks to classes like [Scribe].
Anything she tried to 'invent' here would be competing with that, and she didn't exactly know how a printing press even worked. Then there was the upfront cost, finding suppliers for the material she'd need, and so on. Charlotte did say she would help, but she needed something solid before she risked calling that favor in.
If she had any specialization at all, it was with electronics from almost two years of electrical engineering classes. There wasn't any electricity here. Was there even any use for electricity when there was mana and magic?
Even if there was, what little she knew was too high-level to make use of. She knew Ohm's law and circuits. She did not know how capacitors, resistors, diodes, or anything was actually manufactured.
Even a simple motor based on coiled copper wire and a magnet bordered on impossible. The magnets themselves were manufactured somehow, and even something as simple as the metal housing would need to be designed and for some kind of [Smith] to make it.
Trying to bring electricity here would mean trying to create an entire industry from scratch all by herself. No, she was better off learning a trade that already existed. She was smart, she could do it. Enchanting work like that Ulven guy had been doing, or anything involving magic really, seemed to be the closest equivalent field. There just wasn't a clear path of entry.
Maple noticed Rachel stirring and then getting out of bed.
"'Morning. We didn't wake you, did we?"
"Hm? No, it's fine. I'd be getting up around now anyway."
Maple rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She ought to get up now, too. She tried to think of something to say to Rachel before she left. It felt like a distance was growing between them. Some of that was surely her fault, but she wanted to stay friends.
"Um, sorry for all the—you know—lately. These classes are just really had to deal with—not that I'm making excuses. It's just, yeah..."
Rachel would probably rather not acknowledge it at all, but Maple still wanted to apologize. She compromised by pausing only a moment and then rolling past it.
"Anyway, how have you been? Is your uh, chemistry going well?"
Rachel breathed out and put her glasses on before replying. She did smile at Maple though.
"It's going alright. Your book's been beyond interesting. But frustrating. I wish I had even a fraction of your world's technology and knowledge."
"Ah. Oh yeah, Sasha kind of found out about that too. The dream thing started out in my childhood home, and she saw. She said she wasn't going to pry, so I still haven't explained it to her, but..."
It felt like it was obvious. Then again, being from another world was pretty fantastical. Either way, she owed Sasha a proper explanation at some point.
"Hm, well, Sasha is trustworthy at least. Interesting, though. I never considered that you'd be able to show what your world looked like through her Skill like that. If you're ever willing, then I'd like to see it."
Sure, now the dream Skill was fine. Maple wanted to joke, but she did feel bad about what had happened. And Rachel was weird about that kind of thing. It could be from some kind of trauma for all she knew.
"Sure, I could show you both sometime. Emma too. All three of you. Some secret, huh?"
"Heh. Alright, I should get going. I'm mostly just building up funds for now; making what I already know is useful and easy to sell."
Maple stayed in bed thinking for a little longer. Selling milk would buy her some time. It's not like she had to drink it herself.
The inn's common room smelled good. A handful of people were already eating.
"Breakfast? It's pancake day."
"Pancake day? Sure. Hey, how hard would it be to learn enchanting? Is there a school or something?"
Sasha sucked in through her teeth.
"None in Syber at least. You'd need to find someone willing to teach you, and not many people would want to unless it was an apprentice situation. Otherwise, it just creates more competition for them. And then your main problem would be cost. They go through a lot of gems. You'd want...dozens of gold coins to spend?"
"Oof."
That wasn't feasible, even if she did sell her milk. She sighed. Sasha left and came back with a stack of pancakes, a square of butter already melting on the top. She set it down along with a bottle of something.
"New shipment of syrup came in. You'll never guess what kind."
Maple blinked at her. She'd definitely never been told any food based jokes before. It was so original, in fact, that she was speechless.
"Aw, come on. I had to. It is fancy stuff though. Frankly, I should be charging you. This little bottle costs half a gold. But since it is your name and all..."
"Jeez, that much? That's hardly any though. Are you sure? You pour it, if you are."
The bottle of amber liquid was maybe 750ml. Maple syrup wasn't exactly cheap back home, but that was ridiculous. Probably. She was still getting used to the currency here, but she thought of that as roughly half a month's rent.
She'd almost just decline altogether, but—it was maple syrup. There were pancakes.
"Haha, relax. It's fine. Here."
Maple watched Sasha drown the pancakes in syrup for her. It was like watching a pile of silver coins pour out for her to devour, and Sasha didn't stop. Maple put her hands up in a panic.
"Ahh—that's plenty! Jeez. Thank you."
"Mhm. Enjoy~"
Enjoy she did. It was a wholesome breakfast. Not quite nostalgic, but it was the kind of breakfast that felt like home. Imitation syrup and margarine is what would have made it actually nostalgic.
Her plate was nearly clean when she remembered where butter came from. That was a shame because the meal had been quite tasty. She only paused for a second before deciding she wasn't about to stop eating now. A new rule appeared in her head. If the milk was processed, like in butter or cheese, then it was fine.
Similar mental gymnastics had already been in play for sour cream, yogurt, and other fermented food. Both of the former were more than a little gross if she thought about it. Sour cream even had 'sour' in the name. As if she wanted to imagine spoiled milk and all the little microbes while eating it.
A glass of milk might still be too much. She couldn't help but wonder what person it had come from, and she no more wanted to drink their milk than she did their sweat. As butter though, it was removed enough from the source to be acceptable.
Maple soaked up the rest of the syrup on the plate with the last bit of pancake. She sighed contentedly. Sasha came back over shortly after.
"Good stuff?"
"Yeah it was great, thanks. We should talk sometime by the way, about uh, the dream, and you know..."
"Oh? Sure. Inside a dream again would be private. Rachel did talk to me about that a bit earlier when she came through."
That was going to be the weirdest show and tell ever. Her home world, imperfectly recreated in a dream and based on her memory. At least it would help with things like explaining what a car was, if nothing else.
"Yeah, let's do that. Okay I'm gonna head out, but do you know any good alchemist shops? I want to try and find something for my you know what."
"Hrm, not really. I don't go through many potions myself. There's that one a few blocks down. I've been there a couple times, but couldn't really say much more than that."
They all but laughed her out of the shop while claiming they sold nothing of the sort. And that was after the assistant she'd asked loudly asked the owner from the other side of the room. There had been other customers inside who overheard. It was mortifying and Maple decided she wouldn't shop there for anything in the future.
It wasn't an entirely wasted trip, however. She ended up with a suggestion to try Shari's Alchemicals. A leaky little building in a harsher area of town. She'd passed a couple of [Beggars]—yes, that was their actual class—on the way and realized again, the world was far from perfect.
This shop had no assistants, but only a little green woman lounging in a chair. She was smaller than that Dwarf on the road had been. Not by much in height, but very much so in bulkiness. Her ears were pointed like a Half-Elf's, and her eyes glowed red. Pointed teeth drew the eye every time she spoke.
She wore loose clothing, and a few colorful feathers and bones finished off whatever look she was going for. It came off as something halfway between shaman's garb, and lounge clothes.
The shop itself was as poor as the rest of the area outside looked. It was cluttered, dusty, and only a few potions lined the shelves. Others were locked up and out of reach. A sign behind the counter boldly proclaimed 'No Refunds'.
"Um, hi?"
"What you want?"
It might have been from how low the bar seemed, but the urge to ask for a job overtook asking about the potion.
"Uh, are you hiring?"
"Hah? Big pretty Human wants to work for ugly little Goblin Shari? Do not mess with me."
"What—you're not ugly."
Her tone was acerbic, and it took Maple by surprise. She probably wouldn't be finding a job here. First time meeting a Goblin, though. That was something.
Shari stared at her and seemed surprised herself. Then she laughed. It was shrill and chopped, and she quickly stopped herself.
"Hah. Funny Human. Shari makes barely enough for herself. You'll find no job here. You want potion? Buy something?"
She got up and started rummaging through drawers.
"I did want a potion too. I was wondering if you had anything that could decrease someone's libido?"
"Libido? What that? I have potion that make Human boy's dick go this big. Not decrease. You want?"
Shari gestured something about a foot long, and Maple hoped she was exaggerating. She tried to subtly explain what libido was, but it wasn't getting through to the Goblin. Instead she got several offers to do the opposite of what she wanted.
"Simpler, Human. Shari not learn what you saying. You have trouble? Need more slippery?"
Maple sighed and wiped at her face. She turned red and blurted it out as simply as she could.
"I need something that makes you less horny!"
"Ah. You make sense now. But I do not have that. I sell potion make you more horny. Want? Old people, very popular. Bad people too maybe. Not Shari business."
Maple's face twisted a bit. What kind of people was she selling to?
"Um. No. I really need something that'll get rid of it, not add more. You can't make anything? Or do you know someone who could?"
Shari stopped rummaging and stared up at Maple, stroking her chin in thought. Maple smiled nervously.
"Five silver. Before. I look, maybe find, maybe make, maybe work. No guarantee, and no refund. It no work, it still cost me. Understand?"
Maple grimaced, feeling the four coins she'd brought in her pocket. That was a lot to spend, but it was starting to feel like a debilitating illness. How many embarrassing situations had she endured already? She couldn't go a single day without getting off, and just doing it herself wasn't enough. Even if it was expensive, if she at least had something on-hand for emergencies, that would be a vast improvement.
Assuming it actually worked, and assuming this Goblin was trustworthy. Maple pulled the coins out of her pocket.
"I only have four on me..."
Shari shook her head.
"Mean Human make hard bargain for poor little Shari. Make life very difficult. Four, then."
Maple handed the coins over to the tiny outstretched palm. She snatched them up and protectively hid them away.
"Okay. Um, my name's Maple by the way."
"Tall Human named like tree, also tower over Shari like tree. Come back in a week. Shari will have result for Maple then."
