Job Hunting

After having brought the shmalcomohol order to the bar named the Siren's Corral, it was time for me to return to the inn. Because I refuse to be far away from what's closest for me to call home, in this place that is unfamiliar to me! I have made a new acquaintance. A man named Phonon. Actually, a merman. He was quite generous and sociable which made me felt awkward but he seems to be rather considerate so kinda makes up for it, I guess. He taught me a bit about magic. But since I don't come from this place, will I still be able to use magic, here? Unless this place is actually connected to mine, I don't think so. Maybe a tool would work. It'll cast magic from the fuel that isn't mine. If I can actually use magic, then I can't wait to get good at it! And if I can't, I swear. I'm going to make someone use magic for me!-jk. I'm still too shy to ask anyone for a favour. Thinking of which, I'll have to repay Phonon and the inn-lady, right? I mean, yeah. It should be obvious but I'm a really, really lazy person. I am really grateful but I... I guess I'm just lazy and a bit awkward about it. I mean, the way that I think doesn't make sense to myself either. Naturally, when you are grateful, you'd try to show it however you do it. Either by returning the favor, giving a gift, or just by saying thanks. Do I just not want to put in the effort? Or do I just not feel like doing it? You don't just tell yourself to do something, and you'll do it, right? It's hard to actually do something even if you force yourself to. Because if it was that easy, I would have-

"So, Blob?" Phonon said but I didn't hear what he said before that.

I look away from the rope decor and back to him.

"What? Sorry, I wasn't listening." I said.

"I was asking if you would like me to recommend you to the boss here. He just need a helping hand so don't worry too much about being professional. Think of it as helping your neighbour with some heavy lifting and they're paying you in return for your kindness." Phonon described.

"Thanks but..." HOW CAN I NOT WORRY ABOUT BEING PROFESSIONAL?! THIS! IS A JOB! You work hard, and get paid hard! (no idea what I'm saying) This place is gonna be packed with customers and clients that I have to not upset! Drinking booze! Lots of expensive liquor! And it's not just some heavy lifting! Carrying a plateau of drinks with my inexistent balance! I can barely stand on my two feet because I am so heavy! Okay, that's exaggerated. I apologize to those who actually have trouble. But like, how do you work as a waiter?! I know they would teach me but-! "I really don't have any experience working as a waiting staff. I don't think I'm ready to try that."

"No worries. Take your time. But if you ever change your mind, just call me." Phonon said.

"Haha. Call?" I responded.

He chuckled. "Yes. Don't tell me you don't have technology in your homeland either? I mean, I am not judging but it would make your case quite peculiar."

"No, no. We do. It's just that I didn't expect this place to have it. But I suppose that unadvanced methods of communication exist too." I said.

"Unadvanced? Why? Does your homeland have more expertise in technology?" He asked out of curiosity.

"From what I've seen here so far, this isn't the most advanced village I've ever seen. Not that I've seen villages much. Do village people have phones? I mean, it's not like they live in the countryside deprived of an electronic store. I don't know how anywhere works, I don't even know my geography! But knowing that you guys have magic, I feel like you would rely on magic more than it." I said.

"You aren't completely wrong but it really varies on the location. In places like home or a public location, we'd have landline phones that work on electricity. And since not everyone has magic, most phones that people carry are electronic phones as well. But if you've got magic to spare that could charge your phone, then having a magical one is the most efficient tool to carry with you. It can be brought under water and reach people that are deep underground without any connection. So long as you have the other person's contact." He explained.

"Mm." I nodded as if having listened to what he said. "Show me your phone."

"Oh, all right." Phonon pulled out his phone and showed it to me.

His phone looked like a seashell. With some pink, and blue, and porcelain-like colour, it was a seashell with a light palette that was pleasing to the eyes. It also had a string of pearl beads. What is it for? Is it like a strap or something? Or is it purely decorative?

"How does it work?" I asked.

"Here's how you turn it on. Just tap anywhere and a screen will appear." He explained.

Oh. It's like my game menu. Is it even a game menu? Is this a game? Either way, yeah. So, it's a floating screen.

"This one allows you to manage your contacts and start a call with them. This one allows you to contact them through written or voice message. Oh, but it only works on touch-screen phones since other models don't have this kind of feature." He continued to explain.

"Got it."

I doubt these phones have games or tools. Not that I care, though. I mean, I'm used to waiting in places doing nothing. Almost never grabbing my phone wherever I go unless I get out of my house. I only use them to make calls. Although, I wouldn't say the same for PC. I like to play games on PC. The reason that I wouldn't need a phone for entertainment is because my entertainment is on PC. Games and videos. That's all I can think.

"So, if I wanted to call you, I assume that the inn lady has a landline phone that I can use to contact you, right?" I asked.

"Mhm. Here's my number." He passed it to me.

... "Is that your picture and your autograph?" I asked.

"Mhm." He nodded.

... What kind of comedy am I in?

[Phonon has been added to your contacts.]

Before I could leave, the owner shoved a whole packed meal in my hands. What is this?! Am I visiting my asian roots or what?! Is that burger and fries?! I mean, yeah, I got no allergies or food related principles but I love burger and fries!

"Ah, uh... thank you..." I could barely stutter a thanks because I am just that timid but I was indeed grateful!

This is so stressing. I just keep thinking about the worst case scenario where this is all a trick and it makes me scared to trust them. But until it happens, I won't know. All right. Let's see if I can find my way back to the inn. I take the paths that conveniently matches the map back to the inn. I sighs contently as I enter. I went outside and returned like a big girl~

"Welcome back, dear. How was the outing?" The inn-lady asked.

Ah... I already forgot her name. Ahhhhh...! I'm a failure!

"It was all right. I met a man named Phonon at the bar and gave him the order. The owner of the bar also gave me a burger and some fries."

"Why, that's great. You can always talk to young Phonon. He's a sweetheart." The inn lady said.

"Is that so?" I responded.

Well, if she says so. That decreases his possibility of being a bad man by a small percentage. Dang. That walk and social interaction was so exhausting, I'm all emotionally drained. I mean, I technically didn't do much but talk to a quote unquote "nice man". But I've become so not used to speaking to strangers that I am overstressing myself.

"By the way, he said that the order will be delivered tomorrow." I added.

"Thank you, dear."

...

"Hey, um. What was your name again? Sorry, I still haven't memorized it yet." I asked.

"No worries, dear. My name is Miriam."

"Miriam. I'll try to remember this time."

I returned to my room like the unemployed person that I am. Too lazy- fatigued to go outside. I guess I'll use the rest of my evening to decide which job to take. The good thing is that these temporary jobs don't have any particular requirements. Not even the apothecary assistant. I am guessing that they really just needed a helping hand. If I was being a tryhard in a video games, I wouldn't applied for all the jobs to get as much money and experience as possible. But this is real life and I get exhausted easily. Now that I know Phonon, I may prefer working with him more than trying to apply for a different type of work. But then... being a waiting staff isn't really my cup of tea either. Maybe I'll consider being an apothecary assistant. Surely, there must be less people there. Is that a good thing?

I usually spent my time in my room doing nothing productive. I didn't like going outside. After high school, I didn't bother to enroll for any higher education. I didn't even try to look for a job. But since I can't live rent free now, I'd have to force myself to work if I don't want to die. They put the effort of offering me work even though I am a complete stranger who could have been anything bad! Kindness like that don't exist in real life, does it? I don't bother myself to know. It's been years that I've been trying to avoid knowing about anything happening in the world. It saddens me to learn about the bad news and yet I don't do anything about it. Either way, it would be unnecessary sadness. Is it wrong to think like that? Even if someone told me otherwise, I wouldn't listen to anyone. I don't think I am right yet I don't want to listen to others either. Is there anyone I would ever listen to?

Clear up my head. I don't want to think about it anymore.

Miriam is working all alone in this inn. Does she not need any help? She looks quite old. Where's her family?

I went downstairs having nothing better to do in my room. It would be a great opportunity to catch up the sleep I've been missing every night but I don't like doing nothing. At least, not intentionally. Miriam is sitting behind the counter.

"Hey, Miriam." I greeted.

"Hello, sweetie. Did you need anything?" Miriam asked me back.

"Oh. No, no. I'm just... taking a look. Do you think we can chat a bit while there aren't any customers?" I asked.

"Sure, of course. What would you like to talk about?"

"Do you think it's possible for me to do a great job at the offered jobs even though I don't have any experience at all? I don't even take initiative. I don't even know if I can walk up to the place and announce that I want to apply for the job."

"If it doesn't work at first, I'm sure you'll get better with more attempts and guidance. And if it's really not your thing, you can always try something new." Miriam replied.

"It still makes me nervous. I don't really like interacting with people so seriously."

"It's going to be stressing at first but once you've gotten used to it, it won't be as big of a deal as you've thought it is. Even if everyone can't be pleasant to work with, there will still be those who will be kind to you. Just don't forget to take breaks and communicate your feelings if something's really bothering you. Do what you think is best and try to improve on the way."

"Okay..."

I guess I should just try to do my best. But taking initiative will take more time.

"By the way, you don't need to worry so much. In this village, we practically treat everyone as family if not guests. They're most likely going to be as understanding as they could be." Miriam said.

Perhaps, I should live here. Wait, no. I want a secluded life as a witch inside a forest! But then, maybe not. I can't really handle life being completely alone.

"I'm interested in the apothecary assistant job. I don't see any requirements but I wonder if I should still have some knowledge of sort I should know. Do you know anything about the apothecary or whoever they are?" I asked.

"The apothecary? I see him from time to time. He doesn't seem very expressive but he doesn't feel like a bad person either. He lives alone inside his workshop in the forest. It's not too far from the village. He's made it easier for us to acquire medicine now that he goes out of his way to collect rare ingredients. Our clinic used to buy medicines and ingredients from other towns and cities. Deliveries took days so it wasn't easy to restock regularly."

"So, he works alone..."

Is that why he needs an assistant?

Should I apply for this one so that I won't have to be interacting with too many people? Or should I apply at the bar because I've at least talked to Phonon before?

After spending the rest of my day occasionally helping Miriam with a few physical errand, AND almost talking to a customer. I decided to meet the apothecary. Who knows? Maybe he's a nice guy too I could trust. And the pay was the highest with the lowest working hour. I might as well check out.

The burger and fries was a welcoming meal from owner of the bar but I shared it with Miriam after she reheated it. I like eating a whole burger and batch of fries on my own but if she likes it too, I'd rather share. And since that was half of a meal, we also ate some of her meat pie. Yummy! Now, I'm full!

The next day, I headed to the apothecary's house. There wasn't really any path that lead to his house except for a few directional signs. I hope I don't get lost because of that. The paper map has it pinpointed but I'm not. I don't know how much a mile is measured compared to the map, nor do I know how much is a mile, so yeah, it's not gonna be easy to measure my steps. Since this is kinda like a game in the overlay part, at least, I hope there's a way to get the in-game live mini map that'll show me where I currently am. And saves. Saves would be great. BUT! It looks like a game, but isn't one! If not, then I at least hope they have something like necromancy but not the horrible kind. Like, holy revive power? Revive? Resurrect? I never know which one is which. It's gotta be Rez, though, right? So, resurrect.

I think I see the house. That's the house right? I walked towards the door and knocked. The door opened and I saw a not bad-looking man. He isn't as young as teenagers. Wait, am I even still a teenager? I forgot my age once I was out of school. I mean, when everyone has the same age at school, you can't really get your own age wrong, can you? Anyways. I'm just saying. He's not as young as a teenager, but not as old as a middle-aged man. But he's not as young as recent adults either. What do you call that? Young adults? Is he a young adult that look mature?

"Hello. I'm new to town... temporarily. I thought I should meet some people. My name is... Blob." I introduced myself.

"The name's Lycoris. If you need medicine, I can provide it to you as long as it isn't anything too strong or if you had a prescription." He replied.

"Licorice?"

"Lycoris. The poisonous spider lilies. Or if you'd prefer, hurricane lilies or cluster amaryllis."

"Ah."

"You may come in if you'd like." He said and let me in the house.

"Oh, thanks." I walked in and started looking around.

"The workshop is open during day hours. But if you have a medical emergency, you may also come find me. I will hang a sign on my door if I was ever away."

"I heard you work here alone. Is that why you need an assistant?"

"Are you interested in the job?" Lycoris asked.

"Oh, well. I'm not sure yet. I haven't gotten any work experience so I'm not sure if I fit the requirements." I replied.

"It shouldn't be too hard for the average people. I won't make you do anything complicated unless you can handle it. But if you're really having difficulty in doing the needed tasks, then I'll see what can be done. But really, I just need an extra hand to help me collect and carry things. Sometime, it would include taking long walks into the forest to collect medicinal plants."

"All right... Has no one applied for the job yet?" I asked.

"Most everyone already has a job of their own. It's usually the young folks who have the time to spend on helping others around while discovering the career."

"That's great, I guess? So, most everyone's faring all right on the job part." I reacted a bit awkwardly.

Well, that doesn't sound too bad. And it doesn't seem like there's going to be much socializing in this job. Sure, long walks may tire me mentally too, but at least it would be chill. It's not like he's going to rush me.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Lycoris asked.

"Oh. No, thank you." I replied.

"Well, I'm going to brew myself a pot of tea. So if you want a cup, just ask." He said and started brewing his tea.

"All right, thanks." I replied. "... I hope I'm not bothering you while you are busy. I just meant to visit briefly."

"I don't mind. You're not impolite." He replied as if that's what makes me bearable.

"Oh. Okay."

Well, he's got his priority and I got mine. Nobody is rude here so I think we can live in peace.

You know, the more I think about, what's more important? Working with someone I barely know with the risk of socializing or work with another person I don't know with the risk of just more failures and long walks? I don't know either of them. What does it change? Seriously, sign me up! I want money and the least stress I could get. I know I don't deserve it but hey! No one else is taking the job!