Frostbitten Wayfarer

Joe took a meandering path through the city to the city hall, pointing out interesting shops and restaurants that he enjoyed as they talked about how taxes worked. There was a particular noodle shop that Joe raved about, claiming nobody else could compete with them. Zoe made a note to visit them someday.

The city hall was not far away from the wooded area Zoe had napped at weeks past, the tall trees surrounding the park visible over of some of the smaller buildings nearby.

The building was at the side of a large open circle with a pattern made of gray bricks in the road. In the center of the circle was a fountain spewing water from the mouth of a screeching bird that Zoe didn’t recognize.

It was an imposing building, towering over the road at three stories tall and made of a pristine white marble. Engravings ran up the tall pillars at the entrance, depicting men and women fighting vicious looking beasts. The walkway into the building was outlined in a dark slate with two large wooden doors on either side beckoning her in.

Inside was a large open space lit by a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. To either side were several counters, receptionists standing behind each one. To the back was a wide staircase leading up to the second floor. A line was formed on both sides of the city hall with people being called to whichever counter opened first.

Joe walked up to the shorter line on the left and waited behind the last person. The line moved rather quick and the pair made it to a counter after a few short minutes.

“Good afternoon, dropping off my tax stuff.” Joe said, summoning a thick envelope and handing it to the woman behind the counter.

“Sure thing,” the woman opened the envelope and thumbed through the papers inside. “Everything looks good to me, anything else you need from me today?"

“Did you want to ask about your odd jobs?” Joe asked Zoe.

“Right, yeah. I was told that there’s a limit to the number of odd jobs I can take before I have to claim my earnings?” Zoe asked the woman.

The woman nodded at her, “Yes, any income from contracted work exceeding one gold star in a single fiscal year gets taxed as per the normal business income tax brackets.”

“So if I never make more than a gold star from contracted work, I don’t have to pay any taxes?” Zoe asked.

“That is correct.” She said.

“Well I’m nowhere near that so I guess I don’t have to worry about it for a while. Oh actually what qualifies as contracted work?” She asked.

“Any work done by an individual for somebody else without official employment.” The woman said.

“So if I worked at this guy’s inn,” Zoe pointed her thumb at Joe. “I wouldn’t have to pay taxes even if I made over a gold star every year because I would be officially employed?”

“That is correct.” She said.

Joe stepped in to the conversation, “Technically Zoe, your wage would be taxed but before I paid you so you wouldn’t be affected by it.”

“Yes, thank you.” The woman said.

“Oh, okay that makes sense then. Thanks!” Zoe said.

“Anytime, we’re here to help. Is there anything else you need from me today?” She asked.

“Do you have a brochure or something on the tax brackets?” Zoe asked.

The woman giggled, “No, no brochure. I can get you a copy of the papers on the tax regulations if you would like though?”

“Yes please,” Zoe answered.

“Please wait here a moment, I’ll go grab them for you.” The woman stood up and walked to the back of the room by the stairs, opening a door underneath them. She came back out soon after carrying a bundle of papers.

“Here you are,” She placed the bundle on the counter in front of Zoe. It looked to be about a dozen pages thick.

“Thanks.” Zoe said, grabbing the papers.

“Anytime. Is there anything else you need from me today?” She asked.

“No that’s it I think, thank you.” Zoe said.

“Then thank you very much, and have a lovely day.” The woman said.

“You too,” Joe and Zoe both said before they left as the woman waved the next person in line over.

Zoe looked through the papers she was given, feeling a bit confused at all the legalese. “Seemed pretty simple for you, at least.”

Joe laughed, “The complicated part happened at my desk last night. Dropping it off is simple. A lot of people mail it in but I think it’s a nice excuse to walk through the city.”

“I mean you can go for a walk whenever you want anyway, right?” Zoe asked.

“Ahh, there’s always something about a walk with a purpose that makes it feel better.” Joe said.

“So shopping next? Or to this Herb guy?” Zoe asked.

“I think some shopping first, get some lunch after and then to Herb. Was there anything you wanted to do today?” Joe stretched as they stepped out into the morning sun.

“No, I’m gonna be in town for the winter and don’t have an inn to run, I can go shopping whenever I need stuff.” She answered.

“Alright, then I’ve got to get some new dishware and top up on the drinks.” Joe said, leading Zoe down the road.

He took another meandering path through the city to a street filled with wooden buildings. Zoe identified the street.

[Juga]

Joe took her in to one of the wooden buildings and she saw rows of wooden shelves, piles of dishware and cutlery on display. Zoe recognized some as the same from Joe’s inn.

He walked up to the front counter and spoke to the person standing behind it.

“Hello, I’d like to buy some bulk dishes, please.” Joe summoned a set of dishes on the counter — two plates, three bowls, a set of cutlery and four different styles of glasses.

The person on the other end of the counter looked at the dishes, pointing at one of the bowls. “We don’t carry this one anymore.”

“Damn, really?” Joe asked.

“Wasn’t popular enough, apparently.” They said.

“Shoot. Got anything similar then?” Joe asked.

The person shrugged, “Off the top of my head, no. You’re free to look at our stock though.” They gestured at the aisles of shelves.

“Sure, thanks.” Joe said, brushing his hand over the set of dishes he summoned. Each one vanished with his touch, into whatever storage item Joe was using.

Joe walked down the aisles, humming and hawing as he picked up bowls and inspected them. It didn’t take long for him to find one he was satisfied with and he brought it up to the counter.

He summoned the suite of dishes, and replaced his bowl with the new one he picked up. “I’ll take forty sets of these. Eighty for the cutlery, please.”

“That would be one silver square, is that alright?” They asked.

Joe nodded his head. “Yeah that’s fine, thanks.”

“Then please wait here for a moment while I grab your order.” They took another look at the dishes Joe summoned and left to the backroom.

A minute later, they came back out with several new bracelets on their wrist, and shook hands with Joe.

“Thank you very much, please come again soon.” They said.

“Thanks.” Joe nodded, and left the store.

Zoe followed after him, “So why do you need to buy new dishes anyway? I don’t remember them breaking all that often, forty seems like a lot?”

“The last time I restocked was quite a while before you came. Dishes break every now and then, or people pocket something and eventually I need to pick up some more.” Joe said, leading Zoe down the road again.

“Couldn’t you just get magic plates that don’t break?” Zoe asked.

Joe chuckled, “Of course I could, but then more people would steal them. Of course, you could get dishes that alert you when they’re being taken away but at a point it’s just easier to buy new every so often and eat the cost. They’re not that expensive.”

“Well that’s sensible, I guess. But boring. I wanted magical plates.” Zoe said.

“Sometimes, boring is a good thing. Go check out some of the richer taverns, they’ve probably got some oddities with their dishes.” Joe looked to the sky. “It’s almost noon now, you up for some lunch? There should be a good sandwich shop nearby, I think.”

“You buying?” Zoe asked.

“Little miss poisons herself for money then runs off to her death can’t afford food now?” He smiled.

“I said I’m sorry, okay. I should have listened.” She frowned.

“I’m just pulling your leg, it all worked out in the end. Yes, I’ll buy you a sandwich.” He said.

“Then yeah, I’m up for lunch.” Zoe answered.

Joe led her down an alleyway to a nearby street and into what looked like a massive gazebo. Tables and chairs set up all around the inside, with a square counter in the middle. Two people stood on the inside of the counter, making sandwiches for the customers.

“I’ve just remembered it’s a vegetarian shop, is that a problem for you?” Joe asked.

“No. I don’t think it is anyway. I could go for a veggie sandwich.” Zoe answered.

The duo walked up to the counter. There was a glass covering and below were trays of different vegetables. Zoe recognized a few of them — tomatoes, peppers, onions and cucumbers. But there were some others that she didn’t recognize. What looked like spinach somebody took to a tie-dye competition and some strange spiky red circle

“Hello, what type of brul would you like?” The shorter of the two workers asked, a man with long dark hair and dark red eyes.

“Herb brul, please. Toasted.” Joe said.

“And for you?” The worker asked Zoe.

“Uhh, herb brul too, I guess. Toasted.” She said, a little confused.

The man grabbed two loaves of bread filled with specks of reds and greens and sliced them. He took both halves and placed them on a metal grate off to the side, and Zoe watched as the bread toasted to a perfect golden brown in seconds.

“And for the vegetables?” The worker asked.

“Tomatoes, red onions, lio and furni, for me.” Joe said.

The man placed the tomatoes and red onions on Joe’s sandwich, and then the strange rainbow spinach and spiky red vegetable.

“And any sauce?" The man asked.

“Yeah, salt and pepper and some mayo.” Joe answered.

“And is that all for you?"

“That’s it for me.” Joe said.

“Then for you?” The man asked Zoe.

“I’ll have the same, but no mayo. Do you have any other sauces? Like maybe something sweet and tangy?” Zoe asked.

“We have a sweet garlic sauce if you’d like to try it?” He asked.

“Yes please,” Zoe said.

The man grabbed a spoon and dipped it in a basin of a yellow sauce, wiped off most of the excess on the edge and handed it to her.

Zoe took the spoon and tasted the sauce. It tasted delicious, Zoe thought. Garlicky, lemony and delightfully sweet.

“Yeah, that instead of the mayo, please.” Zoe said.

The man finished making Zoe’s sandwich and wrapped them in paper.

“Twenty five copper for the two, please.” The man said, handing Joe the two sandwiches.

Joe summoned three copper coins and handed them to the man. “Thank you very much.” He handed Zoe’s sandwich to her.

“Thanks Joe,” Zoe said.

“Don’t worry about it. You can buy next time if you feel bad.” He said.

Zoe smiled, “Are we eating here?” She asked.

“Sure,” Joe pulled up a seat at one of the wooden tables and opened his sandwich.

Zoe sat down and did the same. She looked at her sandwich, the red spiky vegetable poking out and giving her a little anxiety. She enjoyed trying new foods but this one scared her.

Joe bit into his sandwich. “I really like this place. Meat’s nice but when you cook with it all day every day it feels good to just have a bite of freshness once in a while.”

“This weird spiky thing is safe to eat, right?” Zoe asked, staring at her sandwich.

Joe laughed, his belly rumbling. “Yes, it’s safe. Tastes good, too.”

Zoe poked at the vegetable. It was soft and she took a bite of her sandwich. The red vegetable tasted almost like a softer dragonfruit, but the strange spinach surprised her. It was spicy, as though whoever took the spinach to the tie-dye competition first compressed an entire habanero pepper into it.

“Holy crap that’s hot,” Zoe said.

Joe laughed again, “Sure is. I love spicy food.”

“None of the food at your inn is spicy though.” Zoe said.

“I don’t cook for myself there. I cook for the customers, and it’s not a restaurant like this where you can choose what you want. Whatever I make is what everybody there has to eat, so I don’t put a lot of spice in.” He took another bite of his sandwich.

“Right, that makes sense. Actually, why do I get a buff from eating your meals but not here? I had a burger the other day too that didn’t give me one.” Zoe asked.

“Food buffs take mana. As an innkeeper I spend a lot of my mana on giving people buffs. But these workers might not even have a specific class for this. And the people shopping here probably wouldn’t need any buffs anyway.” Joe said.

“Gotcha. Nobody’s here for a buff, they’re just here for food so no point in wasting mana, basically?” Zoe said.

“Yeah, that’s about right.” Joe said.

The pair finished their sandwiches and threw the paper wrappers in a bin.

“Alright, next up is Herb and then refilling some of these barrels if you’re still sticking around.” Joe said.

“Yeah! I’ve had a lot of fun tagging along today, thanks for showing me around.” Zoe said.

Joe laughed, “Well I’m not sure how much fun taxes and chores can really be, but sure. Herb’s not far away from the Inn so we’ll be heading back now if you wanted to leave.”

“No I’m fine, I look forward to meeting Herb actually.” Zoe said.