Sarah's Story Chapter 050 - Taking a Break

The next morning, Sarah’s mother was using all her Skills again, and the facade was back in place. Breakfast was delicious; leisurely, even. Sarah shared what she had learned from Sven the Bounty Hunter, and her discussion with the Golden Swan down in the Dungeon. Her mother shared how her father was, how the harvest was going, and news from her three eldest brothers and their families. It was well-past mid-morning when the two Brawler women stood and set about their day. For Helen, it was making the rounds and catching up with the city gossip. For Sarah, it was a quick stop by the Adventurer’s Guild to check in and explain that she was taking a break.

And after that…

Sarah walked out of the Guildhall, into the weak autumn sun, under a sky dotted with clouds, and didn’t know what to do.

By reflex she monitored all the dangers and threats she could sense.

By habit she was cataloging faces and tracking what they were doing and where they were going.

She didn’t feel any particular need to stop, nor strain from continuing to do so, and so she stood there a moment, on the threshold of the world, hesitating.

If she had been hungry, she might have been enticed by the food stalls, or perhaps some of the city’s fine restaurants.

Instead, she was still stuffed from her late, extended breakfast, and so she decided to take a walk. Asufal was a Kingdom known for its lovely flower gardens, but the season was wrong. Instead, at this time of year, the trees were alive with shifting color like fire: yellows, oranges, and red everywhere as the leaves changed color before they fell.

Sarah took it all in, really enjoying the scenery as she walked along the streets, past the public parks within the city.

She just… wandered.

People called out to her as she passed. Other Delivery Girls who still remembered her epic one day career delivering money around the city. Students of the Immortal Sword School who bowed formally and wished her a pleasant day.

For once, she accepted their wishes sincerely.

It was mid-afternoon when something caught her eye.

A fashion boutique.

She was wearing her Brawler training clothes today, out of habit mainly, but now, she stopped and really looked at the fashions. The dresses, the accessories, the mufflers, the gloves, and how they might be mixed and matched to create new looks.

She didn’t buy anything that day.

But the next day, she asked Tiffany, the Clerk from the Adventurer’s Guild, for a favor, and along with two more of Tiffany’s girl friends, they went and splurged some of the money Sarah had been saving up on Fall Fashion.

Sarah felt guilty at first. How could she be spending an entire day on herself like this? Spending this money on something as frivolous as clothes, when she could be spending it on finding James?

But her request already had one of the highest rewards of all active quests.

And Beth had pulled some strings so that now, even if she didn’t regularly add more money to the reward, it would remain posted and active, at least for as long as Beth was there.

But as the shopping trip went on, and they got into the routine of descending on a boutique, flipping through all the clothes, trying on a few things, and then departing like a flock of birds…

Sarah started having fun.

It was really nice, trying on new looks, seeing herself in the mirror in new clothes, seeing how an accessory here or there could really change her entire look.

She let Tiffany, Liz, and Jess talk her into buying several outfits, because apparently you couldn’t wear the same thing two days in a row? And she bought a fair number of accessories, so that she could mix things up over time.

Where she put her foot down, literally, was shoes.

They were trying to put her in these crazy shoes with heels several inches high. And some of the heels narrowed to just the tiniest point. Completely impractical! What if a fight started? As it was, it took all of Sarah’s Dexterity just to walk somewhat normally on the things, without snapping either the heel or her ankle.

After much searching, she found a stylish pair of flats with just the barest heel, and some loafers. A pair of thick leather boots had been calling her name, but sadly, they didn’t go with any of her autumn outfits.

The four girls made a promise to go on a shopping trip again just before the Winter snows came in, and find an outfit to go with the boots for Sarah.

Jess also wanted to check out jewelry.

Liz needed new gloves.

It was… nice.

Really, really nice.

They went out wine tasting after, and Jess and Liz found it endlessly amusing that Sarah had never dated before.

And as the wine flowed, they laughed raucously as Sarah turned down boys one after another ‘because they weren’t strong enough.’

“Sarah, that last one was plenty strong! Just look at all that muscle!”

Sarah sipped her wine dismissively. “Yeah, but I could take him in a fight, no problem.”

Tiffany sighed heavily and performatively. “Sarah, if that’s your standard, you’re gonna be limited to A Rank Adventurers and Guildmasters…”

“Well, I’m not looking for a b-boyfriend or husband right now anyway.”

“Oh my gods, Liz, did you hear that stutter?!”

“Sarah, you’re so adorable…”

The other girls let themselves go a bit much, and Sarah had been more interested in tasting the wine than drinking a lot, so she chivalrously escorted them all home.

Brawler Class Skill [Discerning Taste] has reached level 12.

That night she checked her Classes, and Sommelier, Gourmand, Gastronome, Gourmet, Epicure, Poison Tester, Fashionista, Fashion Model, and Couturier all appeared. Classes that had absolutely nothing to do with fighting or finding her brother.

There was also Guardian, like Lawrence said was his reason for living. And among the specializations she found, there was one for escorting young ladies and protecting them.

The next day, again, having nothing to do, and after another relaxed breakfast with her mother, she started with another stroll through the city’s parks, this time dressed up in one of her new outfits. She found it interesting how much more attention she was getting, from both men and women, just from dressing up a bit. But other than returning some smiles and compliments, she ignored them, and focused on her wandering.

There was a rather large stone building in the middle of one of the larger parks. Several times larger than even the Adventurer’s Guildhall. She ascended the steps and found an attendant standing outside, who looked her up and down.

“Welcome to the National Gallery. Have you… been to an art gallery, before?”

After swearing not to even step close to the artworks, and not to touch them, or sneeze on them, or bring any food or drink inside, and a number of other things, Sarah was allowed inside.

The rooms were the largest she had ever been in before, and there were enormous paintings and sculptures. Sarah, at first, merely thought they were beautiful, until she joined one of the guided tours and the tour-guide explained more about the painting techniques and history behind the paintings, and explained what the sculptures actually depicted.

The tour ended, and Sarah wandered about the various rooms, and only occasionally thought that maybe she should commission a color painting of James, until to her immense surprise a docent informed her that the gallery would be closing soon, and she was welcome to come back the day after tomorrow when the gallery reopened.

She stepped outside into the dusk, the wind picking up, and marveled at where the time had gone.

A young man standing outside was signing people up for an architecture tour of the city, and having no other plans, Sarah signed up.

And so the days passed, until eventually those days added up to seven and it had been a full week.

Sarah had visited the parks. Had sampled the works of any number of breweries and wineries. Had toured the markets and visited the belvederes and examined the produce from this year’s harvest and felt like she recognized some of her dad’s produce, though she couldn’t be sure, and in general had taken some time to really explore the city.

So she felt a little guilty when she told her mother at breakfast that she kind of missed training and the Adventurer’s Guild.

Her mother had hesitated, her expression shifting several times, before she dropped all pretense and her Skills and just looked at Sarah with total honesty.

“Sarah, I don’t know if I can give you the best advice on this, except to say that you should do what you want. Not what you think you should want, but what you actually want. If you really want to work, or train, then you can do that.”

Sarah hugged her mother tightly, now truly knowing how hard it was for her to say that.

And so she returned to the Adventurer’s Guild, having now explored the city and its attractions and amusements to her heart’s content. She mainly focused on guard work, attempting to make connections with clients and gather information about Smiths and Enchanters like her mother had been for the last year. When there was no guard work available, she traded pointers with the Immortal Sword School, and trained her own Skills and Techniques.

And every few days, she took a day off to relax and enjoy herself.

It was a cold, breezy early winter day, the kind where the wind cuts like a knife through one’s inadequate light coat and really inspires one to invest in a heavy winter coat, despite the outrageous price tag, when Sarah was wandering around in just such a light coat, debating whether she should just take it off entirely and embrace the weather and train her [Cold Resistance], when her [Sensitive Hearing] picked up the muffled sounds of a young child crying.

This happened often enough, and typically, the child would be soothed and taken care of in under a minute.

But not this time.