OK, so that didn’t go how I had it planned in my head. I was going to get the job, make the magic, build my strength, and then … try to take over the world. OK, not so much on the last part, I’d never find rubber pants in my size anyway. At least not without heading to the City.

So where do I go from here? I’ve only got one cycle’s experience in a job that showcased my math skills and well, not much else. I head home. I’m going to need to change clothes and work off my disappointment. More bucket time.

Halfway home, I remember the list in my pocket, so I turn around and head back to the General Store. At least I can get something useful done today.

As I enter the store, I notice that there’s a sign in the window.

Help Wanted

Perhaps this trip will be more than just useful after all.

I go inside the doors, and look around the store. A harried man in an apron is operating a checkstand with one person getting checked out and a line of 8 people with baskets or armloads of goods waiting their turn.

I walk up to the checkstand, note the stack of bags and the pile of goods, open a bag and start filling it. I’d done this job before, just not here. Build walls, fill the middle, protect the fragile items, if any. A second sack follows the first. I move a couple items from one sack to the other, for weight balance.

The harried man looks at me, “You want the job?”

“Probably, let's get the line handled and we can get the specifics.” Even if I didn’t want the job, which was only if it paid horribly, I could get some sense of contribution from helping someone who needed it, and feel the appreciation from several people waiting in line.

“Aren’t you that bookseller Ulricht’s kid? Went off to the big city?” He quickly checked out the next customer, calling out the prices as he added them up.

“Yessir, That’s me. Grint Coddlestahl.” Curse of the orange-blond rumply hair. It’s not a big town, and I’d been in here plenty of times before. I remembered the man, but not his name. He named a figure that was off by 2 bits, but it was in the customer’s favor.

I cleared my throat.

“That’s not correct sir, it should be 2 thaler and 6 bits, not 2 thaler 4.”

“You listened well. Ulricht always said you were good with math. But you were busy sacking so you didn’t watch. I said those last two numbers out loud, but they were just numbers, there weren't any items to go with you. I’d be happy to hire you, if you’ll take the job.” He shared a smile with the customer, handing her 4 bits change for the 3 thalers. “Thank you, Mrs. Halgershien, you have a good day.” I handed her the groceries in a single sack. “You too, Mr. Halgershien.” She replied, giving me a smile and a slight nod as she headed out the door. I must have looked a bit silly, jaw hanging partially open.

The man chuckled to himself, looking both mischievous and amused. “Fortunate timing for me, possibly for you, too. Now, back to helping if you don’t mind?”

It only took a few more minutes and we’d cleared up his line. There were a few people shopping but nobody waiting for service.

“Now, about the job?” he began. “Pay is 14 thaler a tenday, I’ll bump it up to 17 thaler once you have all the prices learned. You’d have enddays off.” It’s a bit more cash than I made in the City, but room and board was included there, so it comes out to less overall income by roughly 32.7%. What can I say, I told you I liked math. Pulling some confidence from my last life, I counter-offer. “15 a tenday 20 if I can learn the prices by the end of Eightday, only going up 16 if I take longer.”

“15 and 19 with the same 16 if you don’t learn fast enough, and we have a deal.”

“We have a deal, sir.” We shook on it.

“Call me Henrig.”

“Thanks, Henrig. I’m Grint, as I said a bit ago.”

“OK, first thing I need you to do is check the shelves and pull stock forward where there are gaps. If you run into any empty shelves, let me know.”

I got to work. While I was doing that, I began noting the items and the pricing of each. I started building a mental map for the prices, slotting each item into a bin, making a simple table of the data in my mind. I’d have to do this several more times, but it should be doable by Fiveday if I have to stock every day for an hour or so, or if there’s a catalog somewhere. I return to the front every so often, basically whenever we have more than one customer ready at the same time. Mostly, I sack the groceries in paper bags, but some of the time, I’m refilling personal baskets or hampers that they brought in with them, and that takes more effort. Being busy helps the time pass quickly, but my feet and legs are starting to throb by midafternoon. I’ve never spent this much time standing or being on my feet before. I could feel aches in places where I’d been using the muscles I worked hard yesterday, and in quite a few in places I hadn’t. This job seemed like it could turn out to be a good sustained way to build up my strength and endurance, even if it wasn’t as focused as the guard.

I stuck my head into the tiny corner office. “Henrig, I need to get some items to take home with me before you close up the store. Would you mind if I did that now, while we don’t have anyone waiting?”

“Go ahead, Grint. You know where everything is?”

“Not yet, but I’m getting there.” I grabbed the items on my list, adding a few extra bits from the items that seemed like nice things to have. I ended up with about 4 stone of goods, mostly flour, salt, sugar, and beans. 1 stone dry beans, 1 stone flour, 1 stone split into salt, sugar, honey,spices, and billnuts. The last stone was a variety of tubers that would last several months in the “Cellar that Shall not be Named”.

I totalled up my purchases, and brought the money to Henrig.

“5 thaler 2.” I had adjusted the quantity of some items to ensure I had the exact amount, making the process easy. Go math!

“You can head home early, I close up in 20 minutes. Be back tomorrow morning by 7 so you can help sweep up the walk and open the store. Great job today, son.”

"Thank you, sir."

With no bounce in my tired legs and a bit more than fifty pounds of goods in my arms, I waddled my way home, taking several breaks along the way. Not the day I had planned, but a good one nonetheless.