7 Curiosity

When Vy realised what she was doing she quickly kept her dagger and apologised.

"Terribly sorry, I thought I was being attacked from behind."

"That's alright, I should apologise for scaring you like that. It's an old habit of mine," the man said as he dusted off his clothes.

The man was the owner of the bookshop, Rodrick Mill. He wore a buttoned-down shirt and dress pants, as well as a pair of suspenders. His glasses sat on the ridge of his nose and it had become a habit of his to readjust them every few minutes or so. His hair was combed in place with a little bit of wax. As Vy picked up the book, Rodrick's curiosity got the better of him.

"Not many in this town can read, let alone walk into my shop. Are you from elsewhere?"

"Yes, I travelled from a different town. I'm here to look for work."

"Work you say? I might have the perfect job for you. But I will need to test your abilities if that's alright with you."

"Test my abilities? If it's something I can do, I will gladly help."

Rodrick nodded with a gleaming smile and invited her to the back of this shop where there were two desks stacked with plenty of papers and documents. In the middle of the desks was a typewriter-like device. Vy picked up one of the pieces of paper and read its contents.

"You see, I'm a scribe for the town. So people come into the shop asking for letters to be written and printed, invitations, all that sort of thing. But I'm overwhelmed with keeping the store and the official documents that are to be put up in the announcements."

Rodrick went on to explain that he would appreciate the additional pair of hands to help him with the work. But before they could proceed, Rodrick would like to test Vy's writing and typing skills. He sat her down at one of the desks and loaded paper into the typewriter device. Going through a stack of documents he found a letter that he would like her to type and asked her to do so, word for word.

Before he could tell her what to do, Vy had already begun typing diligently. This left Rodrick a little speechless but he kept the shock to himself and went off to get on with his other work. While he had assumed it would take Vy at least 15 minutes to finish the document in half the time. Vy showed him her work with a smile and also informed him that he had made the edits based on the mistakes she had spotted in the original work.

"I hope my work is up to your standard, Mr Rodrick," Vy said.

He was lost for words. Even the apprentice scribe he hired several moons ago, with 2 years of experience, could not type that fast. And with no mistakes!

"Mr Rodrick, is everything alright? If it's not up to your standards I could always retype…"

"No no. My apologies I was just a little surprised by your efficiency and accuracy. Are you certain you're not a noble's daughter? Where did you learn your typing skills from?"

Vy was caught off guard.

-Shoot. I can't tell him the truth. But what should I say?-

She didn't even know how she was able to type so naturally, it just felt right.

"Well, I…"

The bells on the door chimed and Rodrick went out to attend to the customer who had just walked into the shop, leaving Vy on her own. She let out a breath of air, that was a close call. She could not think of what was best to say. This opportunity gave her more time to think. Rodrick popped back into speak to Vy.

He picked up a small stack of papers and handed it to Vy, "You can start on these documents, I just need you to type out a copy of them for me."

"Right now?"

"Yes, would that be alright?"

"Yes, sure. We can discuss the details later," Vy replied with a smile as she could hear the customer calling out to Rodrick.

He mouthed some words of thanks and rushed out to meet the customer, leaving Vy alone with the documents and the typewriter. She looked through the documents and cracked her knuckles. It was time to get down to work.

Throughout the morning, Vy diligently did the work assigned to her, making edits along the way. All the documents were handwritten documents of daily life in the town and some of the neighbouring villages. As she read them, Vy learnt more and more about the world and her surroundings.

The town she was in mainly thrived by being a central trading hub for five neighbouring villages. Most of the villages survived on farming, mostly rice and wheat, while one of them specialized in vegetables. There was a larger town called Grove town that was about a week of travel away that manufactured other goods. That was where most traders came from, bringing fabrics, clothing, and jewellery.

-This town could become a lot larger than it currently is. Under the right leadership of course.-

She also noticed that there were different guilds that governed different areas of trade, production and many others. Every profession had its own guild. It only took Vy three hours to complete the task given to her.

When she was done, she lifted her head and looked at the pile of papers around her. From a little further away, she could hear chattering in the book shop. She peeked into the shop to see who Rodrick was talking to and they both instantly noticed her presence.

"Is everything alright? Oh my, I realised I don't even know your name! My apologies," Rodrick was flustered. The girl was working for him already and he had failed to learn her name!

"That's quite alright. I forgot to introduce myself anyway. My name is Vyrena, Vyrena Blackfire," Vy introduces herself with a bow.

Rodrick smiles and nodded before introducing the customer he has been talking to. The woman was well dressed in a dark coloured knee-length dress, simple matching boots. Her hair was shoulder-length, held together loosely by a simple black hair tie.

"This is Miss Coco, she's a long time customer of mine."

Coco reached out her hand to Vy, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Vyrena. The necklace you have around your neck is truly fascinating. Would you mind if I have a look?"