I still have yet to genuinely truly digest every single piece of news I’ve heard since the Tutorial ended, yet here was Greja with another one. It was already a shock to hear we could buy a boat if needed, but the method in which we bought it was even bigger than being able to buy it. An entire network of shops that were established in Cities around the Planet? I suppose as someone who lived in modern society that isn’t too far fetched since we had plenty of ways of buying things online and having it show up next day from who knows where.
But what’s shocking is that this of course isn’t modern society, we don’t have internet or computers or access to anything of the sort yet somehow this is still possible.
To be able to buy a boat from who knows how many miles away. Wait, thinking about it now, we had items delivered by hand before all of this, will someone have to bring the boat here?
I’m sure Grant would ask if he could but he seemed to be thinking deeply about something, or maybe he’s just excited about buying the boat? I don’t know.
“Greja, how would the boat get here?”
“It will be shipped, which will cost money. Of course there is the option of simply going to get it yourselves if you’d like, but that would pose troubles of its own.”
“Wait if going to pick it up will cause troubles, how would they be able to deliver it?”
“Ah, it would arrive directly at this ship within a few moments of purchase. Like I said it is not free. The system is who handles the transportation and the transaction itself but it would require significant cost. Likely worth more than the item itself in some cases. I can provide some more detail if you’d like.”
You know I think I actually would like a more detailed explanation, so I won’t say no to the chance to get one. This process just sounds a bit crazy.
“Yes, if possible I would like some more information.”
I saw Grant nodding at me, I guess he wanted one too.
Greja then did her typical cheery smile before speaking again.
“Of course, then I’ll break it down for you. Earlier today you had to accept the position of City Lord, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Have you checked your status since then?”
“Now that you mention it…no.”
“Please do so then we’ll continue.”
I indulged her and willed for my status to come up.
Name – Raizen
Age – 19
Race – Infernal
Cultivation – Qi Refinement (Early)
Profession - City Lord
Ah, I almost forgot I advanced, I really should’ve checked this earlier. Early Qi Refinement huh? I’ll have to check that out later. But I see what Greja is referring to. I have an actual profession now. Interesting.
“I’m assuming you’ve seen it by now, correct? Well for me it says Merchant. We won’t be getting into how a profession works or what exactly it means right now, but the key is to ti know that there are potential perks that go with it. One of which is the ability for system recognized Merchants to access the same local network of shops. As long as two shops are owned and operated by system recognized Merchants, they would be able to access this network, trade between each other.
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This process works strictly through the system, in which the merchant of the shop is used as a spatial anchor to send and receive items. Though this also means, the scope of the Merchant’s available network is limited to their own strength, but there are some ways around this.
Next the cost. I’m sure you remember completing Dungeons in the Tutorial and being rewarded with money, yes?”
“I do.”
“Well, that money wasn’t placed there by anyone. It is collected from an uncountable number of transactions such as this one. There are some things that the System genuinely creates from nothing, but for the most part, a lot of the wondrous stuff you see can be traced to something else. Of course, this isn’t a process to be abused. As even though the system is handling it, it requires energy
“That is the general gist of it. Any questions?”
I have plenty, but I don’t want to hold her or Grant up any longer.
“I think I’m good for now Greja, thank you. How about you Grant? Got questions or are we ready to buy this boat.”
“Actually, I have questions, but it’s about the boat, how big is it? Will it come with oars? Do they sell anything else related to fishing?”
“Let’s see here…so actual size of the boat is not listed, only that it seats 2-3 people. There are two more sizes above this. One for 5-6 people, and the last one for 8-10 people. Whether they come with oars or not isn’t listed. Regarding other fishing equipment, they have casting nets, fishing rods and bait available. Though only one option of each.”
I continued listening as Grant and Greja discussed costs and put an order together, which was eventually finalized.
“One small fishing boat, a fishing rod, a casting net, and finally two containers of bait. Your total is 15 Silver Coins and 54 Copper Coins. The transaction fee is waived.”
I guess the transaction fee is waived due to what Jrino offered. Hm, why does Grant look so troubled? Ah, he probably can’t afford any of this. Especially not after we spent a good amount of funds on other supplies before the Tutorial ended.
“15 Silver Coins and 54 Copper Coins, I’ll pay for it.”
Using the ring I got from Elder Zal. I willed a Gold Coin to enter my hand, and it did.
Greja raised an eyebrow upon seeing that, but she didn’t comment any further. Grant also looked like he wanted to say something, but I should shut that down.
“Don’t worry about it Grant. This is an investment.”
“…I understand, I’ll make sure you get a good return on it.”
Now with that out of the way, I finally handed the coin over to Greja.
“Thank you, give me a moment.”
The lone coin disappeared and, in its place, appeared a small stack of Silver, Bronze, and Copper Coins.
“84 Silver, 99 Bronze, and 46 Copper Coin is your change. I just placed the order; it shall be here in a few moments.”
Before I even collected the coins, a small unassuming ring showed up on the counter, then barely a second later a fishing rod, what looked to be a small container filled with…something moving…and a fishing net all showed up on the counter.
“The boat is in the ring. This is a onetime use storage device that can be used by anyone! There is a small button on top that once pressed, will release its contents after a small delay. So only press it where you want the boat to show up.”
Grant then thanked both me and Greja, before asking even more questions. He asked about a stove, a cooler or a fridge like device to store goods, rope, and many other things.
Things I didn’t even begin to consider.
Not everything he asked about was available, but he still ended up spending a Silver Coin on his own and left excitedly. I stayed behind to ask more questions about what’s available on the market. Anything I thought would be important I made someone from the group write it down.
I eventually left and headed back towards the gate. There were of course still a lot of people entering the gate and being sent to a home, but I needed my government officials. Ah that feels weird to say but eh.
“Jral. Can I trust you to handle things here for a bit?”
“Yes, Lord Raizen. I will ensure nothing goes amiss.”
“Good, Richard, Vanessa, Brockers and Hubert. Follow me back to the City Lord Mansion. We have a few urgent things to discuss. And you four come too.”
Before any of them could even respond I felt something approaching rapidly and when I looked towards the direction, I felt it, I could see the boys approaching the Outpost rapidly in the distance. And only a few moments later they were standing in front of me in a salute. The salute the metal man did. The bow of the head and an arm placed diagonally across the chest. This time it was Lirian who spoke up.
“We completed the mission as requested Patriarch.”
Hm…they are pretty young, but they are taking this whole thing seriously huh. Maybe I’ll just give them a few more missions then…
This isn’t child abuse, right?
Yeah, it can’t be.