Chapter 11
Holy Shit, I’m Rich!
Rance looked at Vevor incredulously “You’ve never had salt before?” he asked.
“‘Course I have you splay legged pig-nut.” Vevor shot back “The legion even paid us with it oft times. Just never suspected Beulla of willing to trade any for coin.”
“Supply train is due any day now,” Beulla said, “and I should have a bunch o’ salt on the wagon.”
“Speaking of Beulla parting parting with coin.” Rance said as he finished his meal. “I managed to pick up a bunch of wild onions and garlic like you asked me too. Plus, I have mushrooms if you are interested.”
Both Beulla and Vevor visibly perked up at the news.
“I love me a good mushroom soup.” Vevor said, placing his empty bowl and spoon into the one Rance had recently finished.
“Let’s see what you have.” Beulla said, coming to the table, picking up the dirty dishes and placing them out of the way on the bar.
Rance reached down and pulled one of each type of mushroom, along with an onion and garlic plant, from the storage slots on his packs and laid them out on the table.
“Onion, Garlic, Oyster, Chicken of the woods, Morel, Puffball, Chanterelle, and Pheasant Back.” He named each as he laid them out.
Beulla and Vevor just stared at him in stunned silence.
“What?” He asked, confused.
Beulla cleared her throat, a worried look on her face. “How much of each of these do you have?” She asked.
“The slots said they hold 100 of the same item so I filled each slot with a different one.” Rance said.
“You have 600 mushrooms and 100 each of garlic and onion?!” Vevor blurted out.
“Yes, why?” Rance said with caution.
“It’s just that…” Beulla started. “It’s like this. I buy and trade for most of the food I serve here.” She swung her arms around indicating the tavern. “A lot of it comes from the homesteads up river.” She nodded in the direction Rance remembered was upstream. “However most of it comes from what I order from the Central Supply that gets delivered on the supply train every couple weeks.” She went on “On occasion someone will bring me a little wild game or seasoning like onion or garlic I am happy to trade for, but I could never afford this variety of goods.” She finished.
“I’m really not following you.” Rance said. “Are you saying these mushrooms are valuable?”
“Valuable?” Vevor snorted. “I don’t know a single person who has the skill to collect mushrooms. There are only one or two fellas I know who can collect onions or garlic, and they can’t tell a difference atwixt the two.”
“Sooo,” Rance drew the word out looking at Beulla who was transfixed staring at the offerings on the table. “Beulla?”
Beulla blinked, shuddered and shook her head back and forth. “I ain’t gonna afford hardly non o’ this.” She said spreading her hands toward the table.
“How about trade?” Rance said
“Aye, I could do some o’ dat.” She said “But still I ain’t got nothing worthy all this lot.”
“Honestly I’m not sure what to ask.” Rance said “What can I get for the 200 onions and garlic?”
“I’d give you a week's room wit two meals a day for ‘em” she said.
Rance considered that it had only taken him a couple hours to harvest those plants in the spawn valley and it seemed like a heck of a deal for him. “Done!” He said. Then he asked “How many mushrooms does it take to make a good pot of soup?”
Beulla thought for a minute. “Depending on size five or six if I chop them fine. Cut up like that, they add flavor and go a long way.” she said finally. “I don’t make no mushroom soup itself, but they sure are a treat in just about everything else I make.”
Rance reached into his packs and removed the onions, garlic and nine more of each mushroom and piled it all on the table.
“There,” he said. “Can I get a month for that?”
“Yes, yes and yes!” Beulla said
“Now,” Rance said, turning once again to Vevor “Tell me about this “Central Supply” thing.”
“Well,“ Vevor said “Simply put. Central Supply is where you buy and sell things. There’s one in every town. If you need something you go in and order it, and if you have something for sale you take it in and list it for sale. When the Nile Express” comes through, they bring what you ordered or take what you have for sale and put it in a central warehouse somewhere.”
Rance thought about this; it sounded too familiar. “System?” he thought.
“Yes?”
“Did you steal this idea from…”
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
The system interrupted him. “It would appear so. I cannot be held responsible for the lack of imagination on the part of my original programmers.”
“I think I get the idea.” Rance said to Vevor. “How do they handle the money?”
“That is one of the best things about it.” Vevor said enthusiastically “You don’t even have to touch the money. They just deposit it in your account. We are moving toward an instant payment world.” He said.
“System, do I have an account?”
“You do but you must visit an exchange to activate it.” The system replied.
“What is an Exchange? Is it like a bank?” Rance texted the system.
“In most ways.” The system answered “It also prepares documents, contracts, treaties, etc.”
Rance continued asking Vevor. “Do you have an Exchange in town also?”
“Of course you nitwit. There is an Exchange office in every central supply building.” He grumped
“I guess I know where I need to go next.” He said pushing back his chair.
“I’ll have your room freshened up before supper time.” Beulla said. “Is there anything you want to put in there now?”
“No, I only have what you see.”
“I need to get back on duty,” Vevor said “I’ll walk you down.”
As picked up his packs and slung them over his shoulder, then grabbed his staff leaning against the wall and headed for the door.
Vevor followed close behind and when they had stepped out into the sunshine of the early afternoon he said. “I’m gonna need to hear where you got that second pack I spose.”
Rance wasn’t too surprised at the question. Vevor was town marshall after all, and was paid to notice things like that. Rance went on to tell how Bill Russell and attacked him in his sleep and the desperate fight thereafter. How he followed the blood trail in the morning and picked up the loot.
“Now ye know why no one ventures up in that valley much. More trouble than it’s worth for most folk.”
“I was very fortunate that I was able to get my belt knife, or you might be talking to him instead of me.” Rance said
“Oh I kinda doubt it.” Vevor said “This Bill Russell character sounds like the kind o’ bloke that the veldt hare would have eaten for his breakfast.” he said with a chuckle.
Vevor led him toward the gate to the large building across the street from the livery.
“Ye just go on in the little door right there.” He said pointing at the entrance. “I’m off to my office.”
“Where’s that?” Rance asked.
“See that little shack by the corrals, nestled right up against the town wall there by the gate?”
“Yes.”
“That be it.” Vevor said. “Now quit wasting my time.” he said in a loud gruff voice. “And don’t forget to check in again in a week.” With that he turned and walked toward the shack, leaving Rance dumbfounded in the road.
“System, is he always like that?”
“Yes”
Rance went to the door of the large building. It was a nice day and the door was propped open and there was a steady stream of people going in and out. “Popular place,” Rance thought.
He stepped inside to find a large well-lit room. Immediately in front of him were three divided counters with a person behind each. There was an oval table with writing materials off to the left near a wall, and a large sign above the counters that said “EXCHANGE.”
The rest of the wall was lined with doors leading further into the interior of the building. It looked as though employees carried parcels to and from the area behind the doors. The outer wall had a row of windows that started about where Rance could reach if he stretched. Below the windows lining the whole wall was a row of terminals.
It looked just like an internet cafe from the real world, except there were no chairs, you needed to stand in front of these terminals. Rance had a second of dysphoria as his brain tried to reconcile Medieval people using computer terminals. But the people just acted as if nothing strange was going on as they used what Rance could see now, was a touch screen to do their business.
“Weirder and weirder,” He said as he turned once again to the Exchange. He picked the only open counter and walked up to the bored young man behind it. “I’d like to activate my account.” he said
The young man looked him up and down. Then sniffed “I suppose you would.” He half sneered.
Rance held his temper. “So what do I need to do?”
“Name?” the man said not even looking at him.
“Terrance Trenton,” Rance said.
“No one by that name.” The man said. “Next!”
“SHIT!”
Several people looked at Rance.
“I’ll ask you to not use that language on Central Supply property. Now move along or I will need to call security.”
“No, I mean try Rance Just Rance.”
The man glared at him.
“Please.” Rance said meeting his gaze, letting the man know with his eye if not his words that he wasn’t cowed by the attitude.
The man rolled his eyes and gave a sigh that the most petulant teenage girl would have been proud of and typed in the name.
“Place your right index finger in here.” The man said, sliding forward what looked like a fingerprint reader attached somewhere behind the desk with a wire.
Rance put his finger in the reader and… “Shit!” He snatched his hand back.
“You have taken 1 hit point of damage.” came the notification.
“There seems to be a blood match,” the man said with a smirk on his face. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“That’s it?” Rance said
“Yes, you now have your electronic wallet and may buy or sell at your leisure. Might I suggest a bath and new clothes?”
Rance stared daggers into the man’s eyes but the smirk never left his face. Finally Rance broke eye contact and turned to find an empty terminal.
Rance walked up to the empty terminal and read “Touch Screen to Start” so he reached out and tapped the screen. A new screen appeared with two options: “BUY” read one button and “SELL” read the other. He tapped sell.
The screen read “Item(s) you wish to sell” then there were three options. He could describe the object, input a part number, or place a sample in the bin.
Rance hit the sample button and a large chute opened beneath the screen. He removed a Pheasant Back mushroom from a slot and dropped it in.
The screen blanked for a couple seconds and “Quantity” popped up. There was a place to insert a number or the option to choose “Lot”. He chose lot, and the screen changed to a new message. “Deposit lot in Chute.”
So Rance emptied the slot with the pheasant backs and dumped them in the chute. The screen changed once again to “SELL” or “CANCEL”. He hit sell and waited.
The new message read “You have sold 90 Pheasant Back mushrooms for a total of 32 copper. (Please note this price reflects your 10% inmate penalty) Thank you for your business. Would you like to make another sale?”
“Shit, that was easy,” Rance said under his breath and clicked yes…
After he sold the next batch of mushrooms Rance had a huge, stupid grin on his face. “It looks like folks here don’t like pheasant backs as much just like real folks.” He thought. The second batch sold for a lot more than the first.
He continued on until he had emptied all his slots. Rance thought “Purse.” and stared at the total. 56 silver and 23 copper.
“Holy Shit, I’m Rich! He said aloud.