The Flying Emporium

"That... that was a misunderstanding! Obviously.”

"Obviously” Bandur concurred, but gave Severin a look that made clear he wouldn’t leave it at that.

Severin once again had to rack his brain for an acceptable explanation.

He could, of course, straight up lie and claim he somehow changed classes before coming to the continent of Galira, that indeed he had been an adventurer in the past, and then go from there.

But he quickly dismissed this approach. Not only because the dwarf deserved better, but also because Severin was aware enough of himself and his demeanor to understand just how unbelievable this story would be if he was the one telling it. Because of their previous argument they just had, and also because he simply didn’t come across like an explorer; not to speak of the specialized knowledge that would come with such a profession and which he quite obviously lacked.

It would only lead to a whole bunch of unpleasant followup questions he couldn’t answer without burying himself in an even deeper hole of lies, inevitably damaging their relationship in the process.

No, telling a half-lie would definitely be a more preferable option. He could maybe talk about an array of interconnected artifacts which allowed its users to temporarily change their class, while placing them in some sort of alternate reality where one could meet and group up with other such users, to fight the projections of all kinds of horrible monsters, without actually having to risk one’s life.

Maybe he could sell it as some kind of advanced combat simulator; that way, he might be able to explain any misunderstandings that had occurred while at the same time saving face.

Most importantly, this explanation, he felt, was close enough to the actual truth for him not to feel like he was deceiving the man. He would at worst have to embellish some parts that otherwise, in the context of this world’s level of technology, wouldn’t make any sense.

But, he also realized, this explanation would still sound incredibly farfetched, maybe even more so than straight up lying, which was the option he had already dismissed.

But In that case, even saying nothing at all would be preferable.

Then maybe…

Severin closed his eyes, took a deep breath and already regret the decision he had just made.

Then why go through with it in the first place? Was it his buried desire to share and belong? Or simply the alcohol?‘

Well, here goes nothing.’

“Whatever I’m going to tell you next, most definitely falls under our confidentially agreement. You understand?”

Saying these last two words, he opened his eyes and looked straight into Bandur’s, making sure the threat of soul erasure was understood.

The responding reaction was one of evident surprise. The dwarf’s comment was meant to be a friendly tease to lighten the mood between the two of them; now, he realized, he would get more than he bargained for, as he immediately understood the implicit warning.

Yet he didn’t hesitate for longer than the few instants it took him to process Severin’s words.

“I understand,” Bandur replied solemnly.

Instead, it was Severin who was once again in debate with himself. It was only this repeated hesitation that finally got to Bandur.

“What’s this about?”

Once he answered, there would be no going back…

Another sip, and before he could change his mind, Severin finally began to speak.

“I’m not from here, Bandur.” He repeated his earlier claim.

“Well, ye-”

“Bandur,” he interrupted, “I am not talking about different continents.”

“I don-. Wha- What do you mean?”

Then a vague sense of understanding; but not of acceptance.

“What do you mean?!”

“Where I come from, there is no such thing as magic. No classes. And only humans. Meaning no dwarves, or half-giants, or liz- saurians. Those exist only in stories. Not historical records. Fiction. Do you understand?”

“Ha-ha?” nervous laughter.

“Maybe it’s time for you to hand over that bottle, lad? Tha- That sound like something straight out of the Travelers’ Chronicles.”

Was this supposed to be a joke? Had his boss gone insane?

His very soul was at stake for this?

Surely not. Severin’s eyes were still clear, and the look in them was too serious, too grave. But then…

“Don’t tell me…”

“I’m from a different world, Bandur. I mean literally.”

“B-But that’s... how? From where? No way. I mean, a whole world? With no magic? And no classes? That, that makes no sense! How could such a world function? There is no way. And what do you mean, only humans? No dwarves? That’s absurd. What about elves, then?” The more Bandur actually considered the explanation, the more torn he became. On the one hand, the look he gave Severin was almost pleading, pleading that in fact all this was a big prank after all.

On the other, his excitement was just as obvious.

“Gi-give me the bottle, will you?”

This time Severin didn’t refuse the man.

Gulp

“Do you actually have…”

“...have proof?” Severin completed, “No. Not direc-.” He stopped himself. “You know what? Maybe I do. One second.”

Not quite just one second later, a translucent scroll, made up of pure magic, sprung into existence and slowly began to unroll itself in front of the two. It read,

Party A hereby undertakes to Party B, and under penalty of extreme physical pain, to answer truthfully one question regarding their origin.

With no hesitation Severin raised his hand towards the empty space under the words Party A at the bottom of the short document, intent on putting down his signature; but was stopped by a small but strong hand.

“Con-Contract Magic?! I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Are y-”

“I’m sure! Just, just give me a moment to... I mean… another world? Really? That’s… How? How did you come here? How did you get… become a [Shopkeeper]? You said you didn’t have a class before? Just…” Bandur was looking for the right words, still not quite believing what Severin was saying, not because he didn’t trust Severin-his gesture the moment earlier, him refusing the magic contract, made clear that trust wasn’t the issue-, but because even to someone accustomed to the existence of magic, all this was simply too outlandish and overwhelming.

In the end, the dwarf simply said, “I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, believe me, neither do I. One night I went to bed, and the next day I woke up here. Trapped in this store, unable to leave. Was still just a tiny hut back then. And regarding the System, again, no clue. But it’s definitely not from my world, that much I can tell you. Simply was there when I woke and holding me prisoner. Didn’t tell me anything; not where I was or why. Or how. Didn’t give me anything to go by, other than its so-called quests. Even though I know it can communicate.

Which makes me believe that it’s not quite like the other classes you guys have around here. Admittedly, the menu says it is a unique-grade class, but I’m not quite conv-”

“What do you mean it can communicate!? How? Since when?”

“Never mind that for now, I have some burning questions myself.”

“But…” Bandur began to protest. “Well, fine. But we’ll come back to this later!”

“But first tell me about those chronicles you mentioned.”

“Chron-? You mean the Travelers’ Chronicles?! It’s nothing. Just a collection of silly children’s sto- “ His eyes suddenly widened.

“Ooh.”