The job came as much as a surprise as it didn't.
One moment the two were going through each vendor, stall and the few friendly-looking shops at harbour, the next they scurried off to a back alley in the middle of the town with explicit directions to a certain Mr. Sato.
One confusing moment morphed into another one, all started by waking up.
Having taking taken care of their little camping site, getting rid of any traces in case of someone being a real pain for illegal forest use or creeps looking for some nice 'goods' for selling, they set off with their backpacks to the town. It seemed to be either morning or early afternoon, no watch to check the time, so the chance of finding anyone looking for employees was higher. Probably. Ann wasn't sure of the employment process, but hey, at this point, might as well not give a single fuck and just roll with it.
Their starting point for their excursion was the harbour, seeing as they came from the located to the right small beach which led to the shrubbery and the forest.
As expected, the familiar merchant ship was nowhere in sight, the little hope of maybe getting re-employed having also been shipped off.
Well, time for aggressively friendly job hunt.
From the harbour the path split into two main streets, from which one went to the city centre, the other led to the right, going from the buildings into the sandy beach.
Yesterday they didn't get to do much sightseeing as Ann was more interested in getting them a safe place to sleep for free, however as they walked now along the harbour a few ideas for potential jobs popped up in her head as she had looked at the sort of business on the street.
First, merchants - no skills nor qualifications. A no. Same goes for fishers even if there were a lot of them at the port.
Second, barmaids. Issues: dealing with rougher guests. Downside, the general quietness of Erika. The job required some kind of interaction and Ann wasn't sure if Erika would be able to speak out loud in this job. Even if their situation was more of a homeless/jobless/we're-fucked-ness, it needed to be job they could keep and be sane than lose within the next hours.
Next, sellers. It would be difficult with Erika's speech issue. Maybe she could negotiate to get Erika more menial work or the one pay would be enough for them both. A tiny hope.
As they circled through the street and the safer looking back alleys, it struck Ann that this part mainly housed food vendors, shops and restaurants. The rest were regular houses. Some tall, some with a few floors. All made of stones.
The real hunt began.
.
.
.
And ended. Unsuccessfully.
The middle of the day meant that lots of people came for shopping, trade or other business.
It also meant that the whole market chaos made it harder to ask the sellers for the manager/shop owner to ask for potential employment.
It didn't help Ann's nervousness to go through the hordes of people in a shop or generally around the vendors or stalls to ask a question to which the answer was No and then turning back (the bits of lingering guilt for cutting though the mass and raising attention, only not to buy anything) after so much trouble.
Thus, her attempts ended on the 4th try.
The two moved to the other side of the town. The walking kind of helped her calm down. The closeness from the arm-brushing and occasional (stress-induced or not to get lost or both) hand-holding, too.
Two general stores came first, one with cooking utensils on display, the other with household hardware. Then, she saw another two shops which were aimed for ship gear, at least what she assumed based on the ropes and nets seen through the window. What came as a surprise was the little unsuspecting store between these two shops.
It only had one sign.
Barty's.
No display, not much traffic. One or two came in, another out. It did look like a store. She nudged at Erika to see what she thought of it. A nod. A place to check out.
They moved on to the next ones. A jackpot. A clothes shop. Also noted.
Further down the street could be seen the bars. Hearing the jolly noise and the rowdy people, it kind of reminded her of the bars back home, the general party mood, the drunks (though not this early in the morning-afternoon) and a sense of unease, that came from the more suspicious-looking types mixed in the crowd on the outside of the bars or should she call it taverns. Judging by the way two or three of the buildings were done, it made her think a bit of a more… medieval? Starkly rural? setting. Same with the restaurants.
What also struck her as odd was the lack of cars or any sign of technology.
No phones or earphones. There was no sign of a doctor's office nor did she see a general hospital. Though they managed to see only parts of the town. She might have as well missed it.
It didn't help that the ground was lined with cobblestones. Similar to the other island.
The town gave off vibes of a pre-industrial period or a rural country side. She grew up mostly in the city, going to the countryside for the one wedding of her cousin or for vacation at the sea. All of the places had street lights and at least one main street for cars.
Option 1: The place had no concept of complex tech industry, seeing as this port town despite the regular shipment and being an information hub, seeing how much transaction and interaction was done by simple shipments, didn't seem to show more than the occasional street lamp and the boat gear.
Option 2: It was a rural portside of a more backwater country. This, however, raised the question whether the people had any concept of country or even nation, seeing as no country flags or the specific colours were on the merchant ship nor at the port on any other ship.
She filed these ideas for when she had more info.
They stopped at some bar as it looked like the nearby alley led to a residential district.
That meant going back.
They moved back to Barty's, the traffic as little as before.
A deep breath. Another try.
Ann opened the door to see...
Swords. Neatly arranged along the left wall. A lone barrel with a few ones stashed, the handles a bit worn out.
Guns. A few pistols put on a table on the left, the rifles lined up at the wall next to the seller's desk. No old metal cashier, antique in a way, like at the other stores.
The left wall also had some... weapons. Cannons? Some sort of guns?
Her eyes quickly went back to the desk. Behind it stood a man with a fair scar across his face, a mop of ruddy hair, a curly beard. A black dress shirt. Middle-aged. The other man, younger late 20ties, long brown hair, a cowboy hat with some symbol, bluish jacket. Headphones around his neck.
Headphones!?
Back to the desk, two swords. Oh.
A gruff voice sobered her up.
"Hey, need some help?"
A sharp tug at her arm, bright green eyes.
"Well..." She was at the entrance, staring, blocking the way. The tug pulled her further inside.
Alright.
They came up to the desk.
"Yes. I would like to ask whether you're looking for employees."
That, came as a surprise, as the man raised his as ruddy as his hair eyebrows.
Expected were the usual:
No.
I'm sorry.
Get out.
Well, no.
Check there.
Too late.
What she heard were... Giggles. Honest to God giggles, coming from the far right, next to Erika.
A grown-ass man giggling in a weapon's shop at her asking for employment.
It didn't take long for the man in question to snort, before the two burst out in laughter.
At the moment her face decided to join the colour scheme of the red hair.
Slowly and surly, she felt the familiar warmth on her cheeks along the increasing sweat on her hands.
At some point, the two calmed down a bit.
"I'm sorry, it's just. It doesn't happen often, actually never, for a young lady, much less two, to come to a weapon's shop looking for employment."
He coughed into his first, his head tilted to the right.
"My bad. I didn't mean to laugh at you. The situation..." He trailed off.
"Seemed ridiculous," Ann added, her voice stained. Stress, embarrassment? She didn't know.
She cleared her throat a bit, to sound less squeaky.
"Do you have any free positions? If not then, do you know a place that's seeking employees? We do mostly menial work, carrying, cleaning, a bit cooking."
At this point the face he made didn't bide well.
"Unfortunately, no. Though if you know a thing or two about sword or gun maintenance, I could offer you something."
She looked at Erika. The girl took a bit of time to respond, staring off somewhere, the eyes going from one point to another. Ann squeezed Erika's hand. A bit sobered up. Head slightly shook.
A no? She squeezed a bit tighter. A stop, gnawing teeth, the fingers ready to scratch at something. Skin, again. Ann took her hand and turned to the man. "No, we don't."
A sigh, quiet like a whisper. A short and firm squeeze. Relief? Maybe. She took a glance to the side. A firm nod. Ok.
The man's voice cut in.
"Thought so. But-" At this point he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
"I can recommend you someone who is looking for some workers. A bit tough and deals with lots of, well..." He nicked his head to the customer. "This type of people, not all the time, but I think you can ask there."
He gave her the slip of paper. "You know where Moonshine bar is?"
Ann shook her head, not remembering the name signs.
"Ok, you go to the end of the street. Take the right, at the corner you will see a sign with the name and a crescent. You need to go the alley on the opposite side, the place is at the far back, left building. Look for Shiraoke inn. Don't worry, the people may seem a bit unfriendly, but they don't bite. At least most of the time."
Somehow, she didn't like where this was going. "Know how to get there, or need some more explanation?"
"Oh. No, I think we will manage." Sideways she looked at Erika who nodded vehemently.
He smiled, a bit more friendly, and added: "Look for an old man, very old. And wrinkly. Has a white beard, swirly glasses and a bald head. Always in a bartender suit and sandals. That's Sato. Say that Barty sent you and to pay for the last barrel. He'll know."
Ann nodded her head and looked at the paper.
"Ah, yeah. Wrote you the name in case you forgot, the other side is for Sato, just some items I need."
"Any questions?"
Again, they shook their heads, more firmly than before, though.
"If that's all, then off you go." He waved them, a goofy smile on his face.
Ann put on a smile, still red in face and wanted to go, but Erika tugged on her sleeve, twice. She forgot something. Erika whispered into her ear, almost like the wind whooshing.
"thank you?"
A good call. And here Ann thought, she was the one with manners.
Ann bowed deeply, with Erika following suit, to the man.
"Thank you very much for the help. If we see us again in the future, I hope we can help you out."
They were about to go out, when another thing struck her.
Before her last sprout of confidence left her, she asked. "Why did you help us? Why offer us the chance? We're complete strangers, not even from here."
"Well, I think if someone as timid as you, and as shy as your friend can come into a weapon's
store and ask me for a job in, I can say, the politest way I ever heard and not running off from the job description I gave you, I think that you need more situational awareness and that you're interesting enough to help out."
That's how the two went to Mr Sato, Ann hoping not to get conned in the end, Erika preparing for what was to come and the shop owner with the customer sharing a cigarette, a cloud of smoke above them.
As the door closed, the man and his customer went back to their business.
"That was interesting. Gotta tell the cap about this one. Think you can fix these by tomorrow."
"With the extra money, sure."
"C'mon. Don't be stingy. You get to work with these beauties, the normal price will do. Friend discount, please..." He clasped his head, throwing a pleading look towards the unrelenting red-head.
Still not moved, the man took a look at the two pieces of metal.
"Fixing two sabres in a night is not as thing I do, even for an idiot friend like you. Why do you need them fixed so quickly?" He leaned forward and in an exaggerated hushed tone, he asked: "Raiding someone or you have a fight scheduled?"
Amused at the idea, he nodded, playing with the chord of his cowboy hat.
"You could say that. Cap wants to go against the Shichibukai Jinbei. Heard that he's going to pass through this island tomorrow."
That warranted a good laugh. "You got a crazy captain."
The other grinned, proud of the future disaster of a self-inflicted dumpster fire of a hot mess.
"And bit blooded, too. But a good one."
The redhead leaned back, not before snatching another cigarette from his own pocket.
"Aaah. Smitten all the way." He lit the cig up and looked at the happy face of his friend, then at the two sabres.
"Hah. Could say that." A happy voice to a happy face.
"If that's the case, 30.000 beri."
"Heeee!? Why so much, that's above the regular fee!?
"The price for love is high."