Midnight stopped, scratched his hair, and grumbled softly, I lack evidence to make a judgment. For now, I can only accept the possibility that the skills are influencing me unconsciously. As the saying goes: measure twice, cut once. Caution is a priority...Heh, perhaps, I am overthinking.
He gave up on the topic and reached his left hand over to cover his face. Then he sneezed. The air in this alley was stuffy and infused with dust. The ground was strewn with rubbish. And less than a hundred meters from its branching off the main road, it ended in a dead-end; blocked by a random wall.
With this obstacle in front, Midnight could only turn around. He retracted his footsteps. Meanwhile, he brought his knowledge of Lesotte to the front of his attention. He tried to analyze the possible location of his target.
Dead ends aren't rare in this village. Although this is the center, a district formed around the plaza, the village chief's house, and the best and most expensive inn "Merriment and Luck", the building placement is chaotic. Indeed, this is an authentic medieval village. One that slowly sprouted over time. There was no planning. As the population grew, houses were added on a first come first serve basis.
Of course, as the residential area of the highest person in Lesotte, the central district still boasts an unmatched level of cleanliness and infrastructure. The streets are wider and there is an attempt to lay pavement on the main road...Heh, the so-called pavement is just a bunch of rocks of different shapes and sizes hammered in the ground beneath. They aren't leveled or tightly packed together. Very unprofessional and extremely tripping-friendly! Hmm, I wonder if this indicates the state of craftsmanship...Does this mean that the Southern Empire or the natives as a whole are lacking knowledge and ability? I should confirm this later...
Still, the central district is much better than the others. The pathways there are just winding narrow alleys made of dirt and dust. They lack a drainage system and when it rains, the ground transforms into a muddy hell. There is no sewage either. It stinks. Yes, infectious diseases like the plague are a thing inside Euclex. However, unlike medieval Earth, the healing magic of the Holy race can prevent the eruption of pandemics. At least the rich are spared...The influx of players will definitely change the flow of history.
To summarise, according to common logic, a magician should be considered a big shot. Lesotte is just a rural village, after all. They should be able to choose the best location to build their residence. Is he or she located nearby?
But this is from the viewpoint of a human. And humans are not talented in magic.
Elves, Fae, and Half-Lings prefer to live with nature. I don't know much about Demonoids and Holy. Lesotte is surrounded by forests in all four general directions. Does the mage have a hut in one of them? Heh, if I could brazenly visit the forests, why would I even need to meet the mage?
This won't do, I am going back in circles. Even if they reside inside Lesotte, I can't possibly knock on every door. It will take too much time and is annoying.
He bit his lower lip and felt like this train of thought wouldn't lead him to a solution. He had to change his perspective. He couldn't rely on himself and had to try and ask a native.
In the past days, the term NPC naturally made way to the more appropriate denomination - natives. The reason was that all NPC possessed their unique life-like characteristics. There were both good and bad natives. As well as plenty of those with ulterior motives and nasty personalities. Helene was an example. She would do anything to get your coins.
If not for the terminal strapped around the wrists of players, one couldn't easily distinguish who was who as even the natives could hear the voice of the system. They viewed the AI as a deity and public announcements as a form of revelation.
Who should I choose? With this new direction, he wracked his brain for the best possible target for inquiry.
It has to be someone who meets plenty of people on a daily basis and is in the know of gossip. Someone who doesn't discriminate against outsiders. A person with a loose tongue, or someone who can turn chatty under certain circumstances...
Midnight didn't know too many natives and he soon rejected most of them. Finally, he chose Bernard. He was the owner of the General Goods Store located in the western district. He was a crafty man, who never made a loss, but was willing to speak if he could get business.
He is perfect. Besides I already planned to buy supplies. At most, I am first spending my coins and then seeking a teacher. Switching the order of my plans is not a problem. I can use the business I bring to his store to inquire for the information. He is a fairly talkative person...
Anyway, a pittance of three coppers won't be able to bewitch a mage. Yes, spending the money to get some information is more worthy. If the mage requires a tuition fee I can only find another way. Perhaps, I can assist them in some matters, or repay them later. Once I grasp some magic I will hunt and harvest in the fields and forests. Then I can make some coins.
Midnight followed his new intentions, slipped out of the alley, and with brisk but silent steps, proceeded to the west. On his way, he deliberately evaded the most conspicuous areas, afraid of being robbed by players. He had heard that these days the poverty-stricken lot were willing to forget their humanity and steal or even murder.
...
In the western field of Lesotte.
Raven and Renata who had finished their hunt, stripped the leather of the rabbits and decided to return.
In this battle, Renata had sustained a fairly bad leg injury. The salve had stopped the bleeding, but she was still in pain; her mobility - reduced. Besides her bandage skills were poor and there was a tiny risk of an infection.
We can kill a single enemy, but we may not survive a clash with one more monster herd. Or a group of players. PK isn't prohibited in the wild...Raven thought.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
In Lesotte both players and the natives were protected by the system. It was a rare privilege provided to the newbie village.
As he watched Renata bag the bloody punctured pelts, his expression twisted. He couldn't help but ask, "How much do you think we can get for these?"
"Not much. None of us considered the problem of harvesting materials," Renata washed her hands, and suddenly felt that her words were wrong. She had used a freezing spell that wasn't too damaging to the items. Thus she hurriedly added, "You in particular. Your slashes ruined them quite a bit."
Raven sized her up, but after two seconds he still couldn't refute her statement, thus he coughed and acted innocent, "We don't have the knowledge, skill, or tools to harvest either. This process in Euclex is manual. Yes, I am just a swordsman, and you - a brutal mage. None of us is good at such things. Maybe we should hire a lifestyle player when we hunt next time."
Ignoring his incitement, Renata rolled her eyes, and didn't stand on ceremony as she spoke the harshest truth, "With what? Are you going to sell your dirty underwear for some knopps? Even if you do and are not ashamed to go commando, I doubt anyone will buy it for more than one or two. Heh, unless it is someone with a particular fetish..."
Right now they were truly coinless. They had spent all of their money on Renata's magic, his sword, and a couple of supplies. And now, with her leg like this, she wasn't even sure if the coins they could earn from these few rabbit hides would be enough to buy a healing potion. She could only haggle and cross her fingers hoping for the best.
With a hurt expression, Raven puffed his cheeks. This childish expression didn't mesh well with his muscular physics and tall stature. It was a bit incongruent and strange.
Before Renata could ridicule him, she heard him saying in a grungy tone, "It will be worth at least three knopps. Maybe even more. I am still quite handsome."
"Dream on." She sucked a breath and suppressed a burst of laughter. She even forgot her stinging leg and their poverty, and her mood improved.
While arguing with one another, both unwilling to relent, Raven and Renata, reached the border of Lesotte. Then they proceeded to bypass the stone wall that couldn't provide much protection while having more of a symbolic meaning and took the road leading to the General Goods Store.
Soon they saw a small building made of wood and stone with a metal sign above the door. It gave strong medieval vibes and had a tiny garden with planted common herbs. In between the herbs, there were a few roots of vegetables too. They had just bloomed their first flowers, and it would be a long way until they bore a fruit.
"Ladies first." Raven made a gesture and stood aside. He cast his gaze toward the street and houses nearby. He saw a lot of players with hollow lifeless eyes and expressions of poverty-induced despair.
"An idiot. If you are going to pretend to be a gentleman, at least make an effort to open the door..." Renata exposed his little tricks and scoffed. She knew that he was still disgruntled by her previous comments about his underwear. Then she hissed for him to scram, pushed the door, and entered.
"Buying or selling?" She heard the owner of this store ask his customary question. She closed the door behind her, leaving Raven on the outside. For all she cared, he was free to loiter nearby. She wasn't in the mood to mind her sulky leader. Then she prepared herself for the imminent 'haggling battle' and answered, "Both."
"Good. Then welcome." Bernard played with his mustache and inspected this new customer. She had a good bearing and figure. His eyes naturally stopped for a second more around her chest, before moving to her face. "Lassie, I am all ears. What do you have for me?"
Lassie is your daughter! Renata sighed deeply in her heart as she made her way inside. Then she took the pelts out and carefully placed them on the counter. Her nose was filled again with the scent of blood. Her hands felt sticky.
"Hmm, Horned-Rabbits..." Bernard bowed down and inspected the materials. At times his eyes would narrow and at others, he would take a pelt to stretch it or observe the cuts. After a full minute, he rolled his eyes and said, "Bad handling. Very poor quality." His words were scarce but hurtful.
Renata's eyelids twitched and she grumbled silently, There is no need for you to tell me. Even tho I can't see their information clearly, I can already tell that much! Then she heard him saying, "For the eight of these I can give you four scops and eight knopps in total."
Four scops and eight knopps...About 6 knopps per piece? Normally the pelt of a Horned-Rabbit is at least 1 small copper! Her thoughts churned making calculations. At the same time, she thought about the monetary system of Euclex. It was very similar to the systems seen in other games, but there were some differences as well.
The smallest denomination was the knopp. It was equivalent to pennies back on Earth before the era of virtual payment erased the physical money. They were relatively large rectangular plates of badly processed iron. Heavy, but difficult to lose. One could buy one or two apples with a single knopp.
Ten knopps made a small copper, another small denomination. For short these were also known as coppers or just scops. In the beginning, players were given 10 of these tiny round coins of reddish or green color.
Knopps and scops were the most used money in your daily life. Often, enough to buy food or pay for lodging.
Next in line were the medium-large round nickel coins. They had a hollowed-up center and could be exchanged for 10 small coppers; followed by the large copper coin worthy of 100 nickels. The large coppers were rectangular plates with three vertically punctured holes.
Nickels and large coppers were considered medium denominations and were rare in Lesotte. There were just a few expensive items sold in stores, and players had no means to buy them at this point.
Finally, the great denominations included silver, gold, and platinum coins. One thousand large coppers could be exchanged for a single silver. Ten thousand silvers were equivalent to gold. And the platinum coin was a whopping a hundred thousand gold. How they looked, Renata didn't know. She had never seen those babies!
With all of this in mind, she pursed her lips and deliberately took a hair strand of her long red hair, rolling it between her fingers. She tried to look seductive as she said, "Mister, this is not enough. I know that the average price of such a pelt is 1 small copper. As you can see my leg is injured and it hurts a lot. I was surrounded by a pack of wild rabbits, and I barely survived. I was terrified! Please, I desperately need the money for a healing potion and supplies. Yes, I will buy everything from here, so please..."
Renata wasn't much of a seductress as it didn't fit her character, but she was a bit eloquent with words. She had been a vice guild leader in one of the top ten guilds in Sword of Oblivion for years. It wasn't luck or a coincidence at all!
She deliberately emphasized her injury and plight, the fear she experienced, and the fact that the money would ultimately come back into his hands. As for the true story, he doesn't need to know, She thought without a speck of guilty consciousness.
Bernard first moved his eyes onto her bandaged but ample thigh, then he shook his head, "Look here, lassie. A Horned-Rabbit pelt is indeed on average a copper, however, the ones you brought are mangled pretty badly.
"There are some missing parts. The hide is soaked in coagulated blood. And you punctured the stomach while harvesting, so they stink a lot. It will require cleaning and processing before they are worthy of something. Giving you 6 knopps per piece is already quite generous of me. I still need to earn a profit."
The more he spoke, the more Renata felt her temples ache. The pain was added to the one inside her leg, as they formed one unpleasant symphony. Ultimately she could only grit her teeth and plead again. Right now, she felt frantic to earn even one more knopp!