"Well, if I were risking a lot of money on speculative items, mayhap I wouldn't have offered that. It depends on the work. I like to pay for work done, not for time spent. I've got a large bag of rice from the granary out back, and the smaller bags I use and a scoop. I'll give you one rupee for every ten bags you fill and bring in. Take one that's already filled so you know how much to fill them - the bags are all the same, it makes it easier to keep track. Not really difficult or interesting work, but it's what I need done right now. Sound fair?"

Lex really has no idea if it is a fair wage, but it is unskilled labor and Pruce seemed like a genuine sort of man. He did not have the luxury or investigating everyone he worked with anymore in this new world.

He agrees and spends however much time it takes to either finish emptying the large bag of rice or until Pruce is fine with however many small bags of rice he has available to sell now.

It's a bit more than an hour and he can get another 20 rupees.

"There we are. Honest pay for honest work. Good luck, sir. You can try the inn right off main street when you need a place to sleep - their beds start at 20."

About an hours work for a night at an inn doesn't seem too bad. Despite the semi-medieval look of the village the townsfolk seemed to be pretty well off, and none of them looked malnourished or in obvious dire straights. If the inn was more than just a berth on the floor then proper accommodation seemed easy to achieve for not much work also. So though the tech level seemed low the actual standard of the society seemed pretty high at first glance.

If he didn't find a way home Lex could survive and rebuild here it seemed, and if not well he was sure he could improve the society he found himself in with some work.

Before heading to the inn Lex Luthor heads to the shop with the needle and thread sign, he really did need a cloak to make him less conspicuous.

There are a few mannequins with clothes demonstrated on them. One of the items is a very nice hood-and-cloak thing labeled for 60 rupees.

At first glance, the shopkeeper is not here. At second glance, she's standing in the far corner of the room, looking... Very shy.

"...Hi..."

Lex tries to look as non-threatening as possible as he slowly approaches. "Are you the shopkeep for this establishment?... all I'm looking for is the cheapest possible cloak available, can you help me with that?."

"...Yeah... That one... Over there... Forty..."

It's much plainer than the first one that caught his eye, costing sixty. Very plain, without the nice color or decoration the other one has, but the material doesn't look thinner or anything.

"Okay...I'm fine with literally threadbare scraps as long as its cloak shaped, but if that one is the actual cheapest one I will take it."
It was more than he'd like to spend, it was almost half his rupees and it was more of an emergency purchase, but if he had to buy this one at least he wouldn't have to buy a better cloak later to replace it.

She's still shy, but now she's also annoyed. "...I don't sell scraps... Forty rupees..."

She makes the exchange and shoos him out of the shop with surprising alacrity after that.

Lex now has a cloak to hide his bald head and freakish round ears, he has 60 rupees which is enough for three days worth of accommodation.

Basic needs met!. He feels pretty good about his chances in this new world.

Time to visit the mayor and get information.

He got directions to the mayor's house earlier - it's not the biggest house in the nicest neighborhood, but it's up there in both senses.

A woman answers the door smiling politely. "Hello. Can I help you?"

Lex does a quick smile back to gain some empathy before putting on the mask of professionalism again. "Hello. I was told the mayor would be the best person to speak to if one was new in these lands and seeking basic information."

"Oh, new to these lands, hmm? New to the Necluda, or new to Hyrule entire?" She turns. "DEAR! VISITOR FOR YOU! ...I'm sure he'll be down in a moment."

"New to this entire continent I'm afraid." Which was technically true and the assumption like the one the farmer had made that he was from across the sea seemed like a safe one to let them have. "Thank you for your time."

"Oh, it's no problem. He likes greeting strangers, we don't see too many of those."

A man comes downstairs inside the house and goes to the door. "Hello, sir! I am Reede, Mayor of Hateno Town. For the next year and a bit anyway, though I have high hopes for my re-election!" The man chuckles at himself.

"He says he's new to the entire continent."

"Oh, my! Well, I'm glad you found us here. I think we're doing alright, rebuilding after the Great Calamity and all, but if what I hear about the rest of Hyrule is true you might have had more trouble elsewhere."

"My name is Alexander" Lex holds out his hand to shake "But you can call me Lex if you like".

Well, that snippet of conversation raised SO many flags. Great calamity? Trouble elsewhere?
It seemed a little silly now to base his impressions of this whole new world on one town but, it had seemed peaceful and prosperous and Lex had just assumed that applied to the rest of "Hyrule".

"It might be a silly question or a topic one doesn't ask about but... can you tell me about this great calamity?".

"Oh... The Great Calamity happened one hundred years ago. The evil god Ganon rise up and defeated all the champions and heroes arrayed to defeat him. He subverted the ancient armies of machines the old king dug up, the Guardians, and turned them against us. Even today, monsters roam the lands far more than they used to and travelers must go armed if they wish to be safe. Much of Hyrule was destroyed. We thought we were doomed. Then, suddenly, the Guardians stopped. The eldest of us still remember the time of burning fields, but for most of us it has faded from memory and we are starting to rebuild. Still, the people of the Necluda region owe the heroes who fought so valiantly at Fort Hateno and held the defense on that fateful day."

There were enough flags raised in that conversation to outfit a military parade, Evil gods? Machine guardians? This village seemed medieval but there was previous advanced technology around?

Lex was suddenly much more wary of this new world, and he had to know the dangers.

"I have so many questions Reede, I hope I don't annoy you with them but you've just brought up so many things I feel I should urgently be made aware of. There are ancient machine armies? How large was old Hyrule in population? How large is it now you are rebuilding? How did the heroes even fight machines? I didn't see any sophisticated weapons around. What kind of monsters should one look out for?".

Lex was freaked out enough that he didn't keep his usual calm exterior and could not limit himself to one question at a time, his voice raised a little and his hands gesturing.

"Er... I suppose it is pretty alarming if you think about it... I don't really know a huge amount of history... Hateno Town has about four thousand people in the town proper and another few thousand farmers in the surrounding area... If I had to guess I would say there might be a hundred thousand people in all of Hyrule now? And there were at least several million before the Calamity. As for the Guardians, the experts around here would be up on Hateno Point. They call it the Ancient Tech Lab."

Well, the ancient tech lab sounds like a place he should make himself familiar with. And several million to a few hundred thousand certainly was a calamity worthy of the name "Great".

Lex sees the reaction Reede had to his outburst and puts on his facade of professionalism again. "Sorry about that Reeve, I just don't have much experience dealing with dangers on that scale and I was briefly alarmed, but I am sure Its perfectly safe in town."

He smoothed down his suit as a habit even if he hadn't actually creased it any more than it already had been before. "It really does seem like a prosperous town mayor." Throwing in some flattery even if it was actually true.

"Well, I'm not sure how much credit I can really take for that. I mostly just try to keep things running, you know. Keep the roads clear and basic goods flowing. But thank you."