With his wallet now bursting, Taichi first decided to return to the Tamers’ Guild. It had already been a long day, so stopping by the Commerce Guild would be far too exhausting. If he pushed himself that much, his life would be no different now than it had been when he worked for that corrupt company.
The moment he entered, Chartelle flew toward him. “Welcome back, Taichi! Were you able to sell the materials you had?”
“Thanks for the warm welcome. Yes, I was able to sell them all, and I already have the savings I need to open my café.”
She drew back in surprise. “What? Already?! Amazing.”
“Yes. Couldn’t have done it without Luke.” He stretched by rolling his shoulders and forced a smile. “Have to say, I’m wiped.”
“Yes, you must be,” Chartelle agreed sympathetically.
“That’s why I’m saving my trip to the Commerce Guild for tomorrow. I wanna see what’s needed to get my café running. I’ll also need to find a good location for it.”
“Actually, the Tamers’ Guild has a few available that you could consider. Would you like to see them?”
Taichi stared at her. “What? Really?” He didn’t think the Tamers’ Guild dabbled in real estate. This was a real shock.
“Yes, well, we keep extra locations because some Tamers have really, really big monsters. However, we need to make sure any real estate we possess can accommodate them, so most of our properties aren’t smack dab here in the city. Rather, they’re near the outside wall or completely on the outskirts.”
“Hmm.”
Luke was already quite big himself, and Taichi planned to increase his lineup of tamed beasts for the café, so living on the outskirts might actually be ideal. Plus, I think I’d prefer the tranquil nature of the less populated outskirts to the hustle and bustle of the city center. The Commerce Guild might not have the sort of real estate he was looking for, anyway; it was possible their properties would prohibit pets.
“Would you mind showing me these locations?” asked Taichi.
“Certainly. I’ll pick a few of them out, so could you visit me at the reception desk tomorrow?”
“Sounds good. Thank you!”
That was how Taichi’s first day in his new world ended, with everything going almost too smoothly as he worked toward his goal of opening a fluffy café.
✦ ✦ ✦
When the next day arrived, Taichi decided to head out and wrap up some shopping before he had Chartelle show him the properties the guild had available. It didn’t take long for him to find and pay for several sets of casual clothing. All he had left to buy was a coat. Since he might find himself riding on Luke’s back again in the future, he wanted to find something nice and heavy from an armor shop.
A bell rang above him as he slid into an armor shop. “Welcome,” barked the proprietor, a man with a gruff look about him. He froze up as his gaze dropped to Luke.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Taichi said quickly. “I’ll have him wait outside.”
“Nah. It’s fine.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.” Pleased to have permission, Taichi stepped further inside with Luke still at his side.
The shop had a wide variety of offerings from heavy armor, such as chainmail, to leather armor and finally cloth robes for mages. There were also gloves and all sorts of bags. Taichi’s heart leaped at the sight.
“This is amazing. The people here really wear this stuff and fight?” Taichi wondered out loud, ogling a full plate armor set.
Luke glanced at him. “If you’re that curious, you may as well buy some and see for yourself.”
It would certainly do the job of keeping him protected, by the looks of it.
“As much as I’d like to, it’s probably too heavy. I couldn’t move in it,” said Taichi.
“So frail.”
Taichi pretended not to hear that comment as he began searching for a proper coat. He wasn’t looking for the type of armor a melee fighter might use, but rather something a ranged fighter might equip—something flexible that was still heavy enough to protect him from the cold. Even with that criteria, he was still struggling to choose.
“What about that?” Luke piped in, jerking his nose as if to point.
“This?” Taichi’s eyes landed on a dark green jacket with brown trimming. It had large, baggy sleeves. The lining and embellishments on the coat were all orange, which gave it a stylish contrast. “I like the way it feels. Maybe I should go with this.”
“I can promise you, this is far better than that boring, flimsy fabric you’ve been wearing! If you’re going to walk beside me, you need to look the part!”
“Urk... Right.” It was like a rock had dropped into the pit of his stomach. Luke was the last person—monster?—that he expected to criticize his clothing.
So he says, but he gets to walk around naked. Oh well—at least I found a good coat.
When Taichi was checking out, the proprietor said, “So you’re a Tamer, huh?” Then he added, “First time I’ve ever seen someone with a wolf as big as that.”
“He’s my very important partner,” said Taichi. “He’s a Wolfking, so he’s a little unusual. People tend to stare when we’re walking around the city.” He chuckled.
The proprietor nodded. “Well, ’course they do. Not many people get the opportunity to see a monster as strong as yours.” There was a short pause before he added, “He’s got an awfully nice coat.”
“Aha, now here is a human with a keen eye!” exclaimed Luke, pleased with the compliment.
Total sucker for praise as always, Taichi thought to himself as he reached over and petted the wolf. “I plan to establish a café where people can pet all sorts of fluffy monsters like this guy.” Since the proprietor seemed interested in fur, Taichi thought perhaps the man would also like the concept of the café, which is why he snuck in a little self-advertisement.
“Ooh! A café where you can pet monsters, eh? Now, that’s something I’d like to see. When you open for business, I’ll have to swing by.”
“I’d be happy to have you!”
Woohoo! There’s another customer! He hoped the proprietor would eventually learn to appreciate fluffy animals as much as Taichi did. And with that, he left, new coat in hand.