Encircled by trees, lied Raccoon discounts. Like anything else in this town I'd seen before, it's structure was simple wooden planks and cobblestone. The roofing was made out of dark, blue clay, with a large hand-written sign that said the store's name on it.
A dirt path had formed, leading into the store's entrance, a sharp contrast from the surrounding, unstomped grass. Some trees were beginning to show fruit growth, looking similar to my world's apples, but these were massive. Their circumference around the size of an adult human head.
The Raccoon Discounts window flickered with a warm yellow light coming from inside the store. I could only see vague shadows from the store's inside, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what I was looking at.
It didn't look that big for a convenience/antique shop. I'd seen Konbinis larger in size.
"Would you look at that, Jaromi's at his shop. He might've been hiding from Akkesi."
As we approached the door, Kron stepped forward and gently knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock, knock knock.
The door's hinge creaked as it slowly opened, both of us stepped inside.
A raccoon greeted us at the entrance. The bags around his eyes made him look like if he was absolutely exhausted. His coat was messy with gray fur and small white hairs stood out, specifically around his neck, knuckles and ears.
His physique was on the rather chubby side. Wearing the store's uniform, a wide green apron that covered his torso down to his knees.
"Kron! It's been a while!"
He reached out to give Kron a tight hug, Jaromi was slightly shorter than Kron, probably at around 177cm, so he rested his head on Kron's shoulder as they hugged.
Kron hugged Jaromi back, his tail standing up with a slight curl at the end. "Yeah! It's been so long!"
"How've you been doing? I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Jaromi pulled back from the hug, stepping back to engage in conversation.
"Been travelling, kinda busy with work... But we'll catch up later!" Kron rotated towards me, grabbing me from the shoulders and shoving me between them and Jaromi. "I need a house for this guy."
"Hmm..." Jaromi covered his snout with his hand, his eyes half lidded, deep in thought. "Is this the guy you told me about on the phone?"
"Yes, I met him on the train and he's so cool, we're buddies now."
He keeps calling me his friend, are all Laminians this friendly?
Wait no, that guy, Akkesi, he was anything but friendly. His face was screaming 'I hate you and everyone."
Jaromi took a quick view at my whole body, moving up from my feet...paws to my head, as if sizing me up. "Well, I got a couple vacant houses, but maybe they'll be a little small for this big guy." he let out a small giggle.
"Aw, come on, don't be like that, poor guy has no home."
"I'm just kidding~~~"
My new Drake form had brought me a couple issues, when I was stepping into the store I had to lower my head to not hit my forehead on the door frame.
I looked around the place as they both chatted in the background, my mind drifting off to other places.
The store was much large inside than what I had previously judged from the outside. It was just the size of the average convenience store back in my world, but this one had everything.
It was divided in two perfect halves, the entrance half was nothing but your regular convenience store items.
Tools were hung on the wall, shovels, axes, hoes, watering cans, anything you'd need for your day to day work. Maybe I could even start my own garden after I receive my house.
Tables were laid down all around the room, one that caught my eye was one with fruit, similar to the unripened ones I'd seen on the trees outside.
My guess was right, these looked a lot like apples, but, massive.
Were these watermelon looking apples or apple looking watermelons? The point was that these things were LARGE.
I tried lifting one up, yeah, heavy, just like a watermelon, but worse.
Jaromi took a glance at me. "Oh, seems you've been exploring around."
"W-What are these things-" I was struggling to lift the fruit, my arms slightly shaking from the mass that was pulling them down.
"These are apples, pretty standard ones, you've never seen 'em?"
I managed to place the 'apple' back on it's table as I looked back at Jaromi. "In Nipo these are usually small." I slightly closed my paw to demonstrate the size of my apples.
Jaromi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What~? What the hell~? That's rubbish! Apples that small!?"
"They're all like that in my country! These ones are the size of watermelons!"
"Watermelons? You mean those small pellets you find in bushes?"
Is this world some sort of joke? Everything is just backwards! The humans are animals, the apples are the size of watermelons and watermelons are the size of seeds!? And the animals talk too???
"Hey, give him a break, he's just a foreigner, still learning about Koruta."
"Small question, how do you... how do you carry these fruits around? They're really heavy!"
"Maybe you need to hit the gym~~~"
Huh!? Excuse you!?
Jaromi pushed me aside and lifted the apple I was struggling to lift on my own with both arms with just a single hand like it weighed nothing.
"I might not seem like it, but this belly got some strength!"
"And a bunch of food..." Kron said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You might've already noticed but on this side of the store we got the basic groceries, but the goods are right there~"
Jaromi pointed to the opposite of the store, the antique store side.
We walked over to that side, surrounded by old furniture, grandfather clocks, pottery, and anything I could easily knock over with my tail.
That comment wasn't in vain, I tucked my tail between my legs and picked it up, I wasn't in the financial position to break an antique.
"This baby right here," Jaromi slapped a piece of pottery, shaking it around. It had a floral pattern painted around it, showing no cracks with a smooth, glossy finish, perfectly reflecting the room's yellow light.
"it's worth ten THOUSAND dabloons!"
Jaromi gave us a smirk as he bragged about his item's price. Kron looked at me with a horrified look on his face. I tucked my tail tighter between my legs, I DEFINITELY didn't want to break anything now.
"As soon as the Kuzur train line reopens in a couple months, I'll be rich! Hah~!"
Kron's eyes lit up with slight mischief. "Oh! Speaking of richness... Akkesi-"
"Uhm, who? Who are you talking about? I have no idea who you're referring to, I-I don't know what you mean~~~" He peeked out the windows, his voice tone became agitated and his speech faster. "If he asks about me I made a run for the country."
"I met him at the station, he mentioned you owe him one... one thousand dabloons, right?"
Jaromi closed the window blinds before his voice dropped to a lower, secretive tone. "Listen, that Akkesi. He's scary as SHIT. I-I bought some pottery from him to flip it, 100 dabloons for something I can sell at 2000, great deal. But he's not that dumb. He's looking for half my earnings from the sell now, and I'm so sure, if he sees me, my head will be hanging from the town's wishing fountain."
Kron giggled gently. "Is that really it?"
Jaromi dropped to his knees before Kron, his eyes looked like jittering sunny side eggs. "You don't get it~~~... I don't wanna die~~~"
"I know Akkesi's a little aggresive, but he's never hurt anyone, I'm sure you can talk it out with him. If it helps, I last saw him at the station's cabin."
Jaromi stood back up, tidying up his apron. "I'm sorry you had to see that, uhm... What was your name again?"
"Sato, it's Sato."
"Well, I'm sorry, Sato. I'm a businessman, I'm much more serious when Kron isn't around, I must admit. I'm a little excited to see him."
So these two are really good friends...
"How about we step outside and I show you around the neighborhood, we can take a look at your new house too."
His change in composture was a complete 180. I'd just seen him beg for his life on the floor and now he was acting like the average entrepeneur.
Why is everyone weird...