Chapter 40: Auction
[Edited By Arthur300000 and ArchmageNaoki]
Spoiler: Spoiler
"Pizza's here!" My door bell rang. The pizza I ordered finally arrived! He's a bit late, though. 'I hope I get a free coupon.' I thought as I paused my game and scrambled to open the door.
*WHAM!* Just when I turned the knob the door was kicked open. The next thing I knew I had collapsed on the floor. My face feels numb, and there is blood dripping from it. I'm trying to focus my vision, but all I see is a blurry silhouette of three or four guys looming over me.
"I got two of his front teeth, now pay up." One of my attackers grab my hair and speaks cheerfully with his friends. He turns my head to another man. Oh, it's him, the rapist. During my rare trip to the convenience store, I saw him raping a girl in a deserted alley, so I called the cops. How did he find out it was me? And how the hell did he know where I live!?
"Dude, it's not nice to call the cops on me, you know? My dad scolded me real bad. Thanks to the corrupt cops everywhere, finding you were quite easy." *WHAM* He punched my nose.
"AGHH!!" I could feel it was broken. Damn it. It hurt so much. I tried to hold my face, but both of my arms are locked behind my back by one of his lackeys.
"Hold him up. I will extract the justice I deserve from him." Somehow, even in this situation, I found what he said funny. A rapist seeking justice? Heheh-
"What are you chuckling about?" *WHAM* He kicked me in the gut real hard, my body bent back. I feel like I'm going to vomit.
"MEEeeOW!" Kuro, my cat, just came out from hiding and attacked the guy. She was my cat who I adopted when she was a kitten. I had found her abandoned at a dumpster near my apartment. Well, she's all black and ugly, but I found that she's similar to me, a kindred spirit that no one wants.
"Fuck! It bit me!" *WHAM* He slammed Kuro to the ground.
"NO! Kuro! Run away!" I struggle with all my might, but no matter what I do I can't get free. Kuro looks disoriented. She tried to stand up but fell to the floor again. The moments that we shared together flash through my mind. The time I picked her up from the dumpster, the time when we shared a meal together. This morning she was sleeping on my lap while I was playing games.
"Oh? This is your cat? Then watch this." "NOOOOO!" I scream my lungs out. I struggle again. My arms were dislocated, but I didn't care. His friends came to help hold me down. Despite that, I still kept thrashing around. But it didn't matter what I did. As he smirked at me, he turned around and stomped on Kuro.
.
.
.
"..ro ... Kuro! Wakeup!" I'll kill him! I'll kill all of them! "KURO! WAKE UP!" My body was shaken violently. Soon my vision began to focus.
"Oh,... Pristia" While still dazed, I saw my sister holding me. She looks worried. I felt my pulse begin to slow down. My throat felt dry, and I try to unclench my fists. There was sweat all over my body. What shocked me most was I'm crying.
"Shhh, it's alright Kuro, It's alright." My sister hugged me tightly and rocked me back and forth, tears continued to come out my eyes.
"Shh, It's okay, I'm here." Her voice is soothing, and she keeps rocking me for a while. When I gathered myself, I told my sister what happened. "I just had a nightmare."
"Can you tell me what it's about? If you don't want to, then you don't have to tell me." She asked while offering a handkerchief for me to blow my nose.
"It just, I dreamed about that moment when my... when my family member was killed. When it happened, I was powerless to do anything." I felt it might undermine what I was saying if I told her it was a cat.
My sister looks all the more worried. It got me thinking, maybe because of all the horrible experiences in my previous life the bad things here felt like nothing. The irony is, when I got the power to get back at them I was in a different world.
"Anyways, why are you in my room?" I asked my sister.
"Huh? Don't you remember? We planned on watching the sunrise together." My sister looked at me while her head is tilted.
"Oh, that." My mind recovered a little bit, and I recalled what happened during yesterday’s dinner.
It's a human's tradition to wake up early on second days of founding days to see the sunrise. I'm not that interested in history very much, so I forgot the reason behind it.
"Am I late?" I tried to look at the clock, but my sister is blocking my view.
"Uh-uh, we still have time. Let's wash your face first then let's go to the bath." Yay! It's bath time! I follow my sister happily, washing my face and doing other girly businesses. However, when we arrived at the outdoor hot spring, I saw what shouldn't be there.
"Good morning, Kuro and Pristia." My grandpa greeted us. Let's see how much it takes to own a hot spring like this one.
The bath is as wonderful as I remembered. It felt like all the bad feelings from the nightmare were washed away. When I follow my sister out of the bath, I detected a yummy scent in the air. It must be that thorny black monster I gave to my aunt yesterday.
The monster had more meat than I thought. When I looked at it, I thought the edible part was at its center like a sea urchin. Apparently, the thorns around its body also contain meat. Its meat was elastic and has a deep taste. Combined with the spicy and sour source from Aunty Charlotte I can agree it'd be popular everywhere. (ED ArchmageNaoki Note: This is changing into a gourmet novel fast…)
"Laurell, don't hum while eating. You might choke on your food." Uncle Zeno scolded the strangely happy trap. Did he already found those four leaf clovers that I asked my grandpa to plant around the house? I asked my grandpa to do it because I was afraid that those clovers might not survive through the night if I planted them.
"Hey, big sis Kuro. I found a five leaf clover!" Laurell is back in his usual pants proudly shows it to me. That one I picked it up as a joke. I did not know he would like it so much. All’s well that ends well, I think.
"Laurell! Don't play on the dining table!" Uncle Zeno said exasperatedly.
"Yes, dad." Laurell stores his treasure away and smirks at me. He has no guilt on his face whatsoever. Seeing that, I let out a chuckle.
After breakfast, we walked outside. I thought we have to hike or something so I wore my new boots. However, my grandpa just unfolded a mat on a field ridge near the house then beckoned us to sit there. Oh, I see, this way my mom doesn't need to keep holding my hand.
It's all good to see the sunrise with everyone. Even so, I wish my grandpa would choose a bit better place. I'm not picky or anything, but it felt strange to see the sun rising from the field of wiggling tentacles. It's more like a horror scene rather than a relaxing one.
"Hoh, it grows up really well." Is my grandpa’s only comment. Well, if I have to put my first sunrise watching experience with my entire family into words, I would say: "What am I doing?"
"Yosh, let's go to the village." I told Uncle Zeno, sister, and Laurell as I judged that none of the tentacles could reach the sun and swallow it back into their tormented entangle. It's impossible for us to eat the entire stash of monster meats by ourselves. So yesterday we had shown them to Auntie Charlotte and had her pick the best of it out. Today we'll sell the rest at the village while it's still fresh.
It takes a half hour to walk from our house to the village. While we might get a better price in the city that would be half a day ride which is quite a bother. Moreover, the only two storage devices that have a food preservation function is mine and Uncle Zeno's, Both of which are already filled to the brim. I'm worried that the meat inside Laurell's storage device might not survive until we go back.
My sister decided to tag along today. For some reason, Laurell appears to be quite wary of her. Yesterday, she took a lot of pictures of him wearing a skirt, though. She also keeps saying, "Isn't this a new trend?" while doing it. Don't ask me what that trend is.
The road to the village is made of compact soil, with some grass sprouting here and there. Everywhere I look, I see clear skies, patches of grass, and some trees. My sister is enjoying the walk by taking our pictures with her professional-like camera. I asked her what she was doing the night we arrived, but she just scratched her cheek and replied, "You'll know when you grow up." I think I'm already grown up, but I still don't know.
I just realized something. "Wait, isn't the shop closed during the founding days?". Yesterday it was alright because the holidays only apply to the humans. But today-
"They might, but I doubt it." Uncle Zeno said. "People around here are well-known for their hard work. Some even say there is no holiday in Hvarnes."
"Good morning!" As we walk to the village, a driver on a cart pulled by a horse sized ferret greeted us with a tip of his hat. The ferret has fluffy pure white fur, and it's staring at me with its round pitch black eyes.
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"Hi, how are you?" Uncle Zeno replied back. I thought it was a casual greeting, but the driver pulls his cart to stop and started a conversation.
"Ohh, it is quite a busy day. You know, there was a transformation in the magical forest. I heard it's a big one! We're afraid that there might be no more adventurers coming to sell monster meat, so my boss asked me to buy some from the city. Can you believe that? He even said, ‘Even if the shop's closed I need monster meat, break down the door if you have to!’ Mr. Driver complained.
"If it helps, we were just headed to the village to sell monster meat, a lot of it." Uncle Zeno told him.
"... Well, In that case, hop on." Mr. Driver took a bit of time to process the information, then makes a hand gesture. I jumped on the cart back side first then pulled Laurell up.
The cart is made of wood with no seats, forcing us to stand. It's better this way though because the vehicle shook violently when it ran. Maybe it's because it doesn't have any choke. The giant ferret isn't as fast as my dad's rented car, but it's fast enough to make a breeze pass over us as the sceneries moved by.
"Here we are, the only butcher shop in the village, Mr. Wurst's butchery." We arrived at the village after three minutes. The driver pulls the cart to stop in front of a peculiar log building. The buildings in the village are made mostly of logs, using wheat straws for roofing. The only notable thing about them is that they aren't rectangular like a box, but more like a starfish.
"Mr. Wurst! Mr. Wurst! I got the meat!" Mr. Driver was banging on the door. A moment later a middle-aged man opens it. Even though I'm already used to this world's naming sense, I tried my best not to laugh when I saw the naming plate on his shirt, which said ‘Mr. Bacon Wurst’. When Mr. Wurst saw us, he pulled the driver closer to him and began whispering.
"Dominick! I asked you to bring more meat, not that kind of meat! You know we're not that kind of establishment!" I overheard Mr. Wurst whispering to the driver as he pointed at my direction while I'm helping Laurell climb down the cart.
"Look a bit closer, sir. They have storage devices." Dominick nudged with his elbow.
"How would I know that! Those girls are far too cute to be adventurers." Mr. Wurst elbows him back while whispering. I'm not wearing any combat devices at the moment but isn't a person wearing them in public space considered a pervert?
"Where can we unload the goods?" After everyone disembarked from the cart, Uncle Zeno talks with the shop owner.
"Oh, right this way." We follow Mr. Wurst inside of his shop. It's surprisingly clean. I thought a butcher's place would be dirtier and filled with the smell of blood but what I saw were neat shelves which display several kinds of meats wrapped neatly in plastic. I read one of the labels on a delicious looking one.
High-grade Santher's marbled meat. (Extra thin slice, excellent for grilling and hot pots)
5 Silver/100gram
Finally, we arrived at the almost empty cold room. However, it's rather small. It might be able to contain about 20 to 30 cubic meter.
"Uhmm, do you have somewhere bigger?" We'd need more than 100 cubic meters of space to unload all of our excess monster meat. We took inventory yesterday, I have 58 cubic meters, Uncle Zeno has 39 cubic meters, and Laurell has 21 cubic meters.
"I'm sorry miss, this is the most we can buy. But if you come again tomorrow we can buy more." Mr.Wurst answered. We have Laurell unload his storage device first because his storage device doesn't have the ingredient preservation function.
"... Uhm, don't you have something simple like Badland's mutt or prowler?" Mr. Wurst asked.
"Badland's mutt, Prowler?" I'm confused by the name.
"No, we don't have it." Uncle Zeno answered then explained to me.
"The Badland's mutt is the one that looks like a skinny dog and the Prowler is a poisonous slow moving lizard." Oh, those excess monsters which I used to construct impromptu fortification back then, huh? I didn’t take everything because my storage space is limited, so I took only what Uncle Zeno said was the high-quality ones.
"Four santhers, seven badland urchins, eight blood hogs, and six deathclaws... 190 gold coins in total. Is this alright?" That would be about.., 19,000 credits. Hunting is a very quick way to make money here.
"Make it 200 then we've got a deal." Uncle Zeno bargained.
"Deal!" The butcher accepts quickly. "Also if you need a ride, I can have Dominick take you there."
"It's alright. I want to look around the village first." I answered.
"Well, in that case, have a nice day." Mr. Wurst gave Uncle Zeno two bags of coins, and with Dominick's help, they began their work. Uncle Zeno hands me one of the bags.
"Huh? Don't we split it into three parts?" I thought it's the standard etiquette that the sharing should be divided evenly, not by achievement.
"I know what you are thinking, but no. We don't count apprentices." Uncle Zeno looks at Laurell.
"Oh, is that so." I look at Laurell and he nodded, so I kept the money.
After that, we separated to explore the village on our own. I say separately, but It felt like my sister was stalking me. Though, whenever I look at her, she seems to be enjoying taking pictures of the sceneries. Having a nightmare might cause me to overthink things.
Hvarnes is very peaceful. It felt like they were trying to transform an agricultural village into a resort town. I took only twenty minutes to walk around its perimeter and discover that they have three resort establishments. The oldest one looks like a tavern while the biggest one is a modern resort and spa complex. The shops around here are kind of old fashioned. I think they are using them as a tourist attraction.
The streets here are easy to navigate. They are not packed with bustling people like in Arase. Some pedestrians were wearing old-fashioned looking clothes while some had clothes that marked them as tourists. Some of the tourists went a bit overboard, like the guy who just walked past me for example. He's wearing a white bathrobe in plain sight while holding two beautiful girls on each side. From the looks of it, I doubt that he has anything under that bathrobe. I admit I'm a bit jealous, though.
"Make your own ceramic wears, one big silver each!" As I walk back into the commercial zone most of the shops have already opened for the day. The staff in front of the pottery shop is trying to invite passersby. There is also a tailor shop that is showing a beautiful woman sewing a cool looking jacket on the opposite side of the road.
I walk into a shop with an anvil sign. To my disappointment, the smithy only had agriculture devices instead of weapons. Compared to the other establishments this one is devoid of tourists. The only customer here is an old man asking the owner to fix his big scissors. I think Mr. Blacksmith is also trying to make his shop a tourist attraction because I saw a poster on the wall.
Full day metal shaping course: 5 big silver coins only!
I can see why this isn't popular. Who would pay five panties to stand for the whole day in front of a hot furnace? However, as I look at the furnace, my hands are itching. I want to try my smithing skill in this world. I know the product would be useless because it won't have an interference field function, but I might discover something in the process of smithing.
"Excuse me, can I borrow the furnace and buy some ingots?" I asked the owner.
"Five big silver coins and I will give you two ingots for free." The owner absentmindedly replied while fixing the scissor. Only two ingots huh? I look at the pile of iron ingots he's pointing to. From the amount of raw material, he's offering I can only craft either a sword, two daggers, a War Axe's blade, several arrowheads, or a pair of gauntlets with that. There is also a problem when I'm deciding to make them. I realized that in the real world I need more materials than in Skyrim's simplified crafting system.
For the arrows, I would need some wood and feathers to make their shaft, and for the gauntlets, I would need some cloth or leather and glue to hold them together. The sword or daggers appear to be the most feasible things out of the bunch. I could craft it whole from iron and buy leather strips later from the tailor shop to finish the handles. Tanning monster’s skin by myself is too time-consuming. It took a few to several days depending on the skin's size. The War Axe also seems to be feasible, but it's a bit more troublesome because I still need more material to make its shaft.
Even though I know how to make them, the fact that I haven't made it before in real life makes me reluctant to do anything complicated. In the end, I decided to make a sword, crafting two identical daggers is boring. I place five big silver coins on the table and light the furnace fire.
The process took a lot longer than I expected. It was just a few clickstreams in Skyrim. Here, however, an hour had passed, and I'm still folding the two ingots together. I noticed that more and more people also gathered in front of the shop. At first, it was just my sister holding her camera like she was trying to make a video of me, but now quite a few people are doing the same. I tried to ignore them, but I overheard an onlooker talking with the shop owner behind my back.
"What's she doing?" One of the tourists asked.
"I don't know. I initially gave her two ingots to make something small. You see if she failed one, she could make a second attempt. This is my first time seeing two nuggets being blended together with that technique." The shop owner answered with anticipation. Please, don't get your hopes too high. This is also my first time doing it in real life.
*Clank* *Clank* *Clank* Each stroke of my hammer sent hot sparks everywhere. It took a few hours more for the blade to form its shape. It was only its rough shape, though. As I continued pounding with the hammer, I slowly began to realize the purpose of every step. If I skip even one, the quality will drop drastically. Moreover, the process requires a lot of attention. The iron's temperature for example, if I let it become too hot or too cold, it will ruin the blades integrity or degrade its quality. How I hit the steel is also has a major part. I was afraid that I would meet up with failure on my first attempt, but the more I do it, the smithing began to feel more natural to me. The feeling is hard to describe, it’s like I'm a novice and expert smith at the same time.
*Shhh* I quenched the blade in hot water to harden the edge and began the tempering process. After that, the sword is almost finished. All that's left is grinding and polishing the blade. It was well past lunchtime, though being focused on the sword I didn't feel too hungry even though some spectators felt like it was a good idea to eat while watching me at work. A rude bunch of people I say.
*Clink* I hold the sword at its center of gravity and tap it. The crystal clear sound indicates that there is no structural flaw in it. Relieved, I proceed to the edge grinding and polishing the sword. After that, I make the grip for it with the leftover iron. I don’t have any leather to wrap the grip right now, but it looks decent as it is.
*Woosh* I test the almost-finished product by swinging it a few times. The balance is excellent, and the blade feels like it could cut anything in its path. My eighth-grader-self told me to test it on something, even though there’s nothing to test it on around here. While I'm deciding whether I should try to make its sheath or finding something to eat first, the shop owner approached me.
"Please accept me as your apprentice, master!" Mr. Shop Owner is kneeling before me and pressing his head on the floor... No, no, no, I can't do it. All I know is only how to make Skyrim's equipment. If he asks the theories behind it or asks me to make something different, I don't think I can teach him properly. I shook my head violently as my reply.
"Uhm, Miss can I buy that sword? Just name a price, and I will try my best to make a satisfactory deal." A serious looking old man from a bunch of spectators approaches me. What is it now? It's just an iron sword for Pete's sake. It shouldn't be that valuable, right? I look back and forth between the old man and the shop owner who's still kneeling on the floor.
"A hundred gold coins?" I timidly answer. The old man look is too serious. I felt that if I reject him, he won't give up easily. So I set an outrageous price to discourage him. A thousand panties for a simple sword would be more than enough to turn anyone away. Well, if he’s stupid enough to buy it, I'm happy either ways.
"Two hundred!" Contrary to what I thought would happen the result is opposite from what I expected. One of the spectators just doubled the price.
"Three hundred!" "Five hundred!" ... While I am standing blank-faced like an idiot, the auction for my newly crafted weapon went on.
"Thousand gold coins, five thousand Chronos silver, five thousand condensed Ether, ten thousand gems, and two thousand Ex-cube!" As the price gets weirder and all other kinds of currency get mixed in, finally, there is no higher offer.
While I'm standing there dumbfounded and trying to calculate how many credits the winner is talking about, a man in bathrobe swaggeringly approaches me, put a Santa Claus-sized bag in my hand and took my sword away.