Chapter 41: Obligation
[Edited By Arthur300000 and ArchmageNaoki]
"What is it, Pristia?" I asked my sister as she giggles behind my back. Right now I'm rolling on a pile of shiny coins and gems I got from the auction which I piled it all over my bed. Hmm, so this is how being rich felt like, a bit bumpy.
I know that I already have much more money on my ID card, but I can't actually touch them. Seeing these many coins and gemstones for the first time makes me want to do this at least once, the excitement making me forget to lock the door.
"Nothing, it's just that I never thought you would like coins and gems this much."
"Well, I think it's good to do it once. You can join me if you wish." I roll around a few more times and toss some of them into the air... Ouch! It hurts a bit when a bunch of coins fell on my head. My sister laughed when she saw me rubbing my head. So rude.
"Kuro, dinner will take a while to- Oh, did you exchange all your money?" My brother, Aunos came to tell me the bad news. Ah, I should have found something to eat in the village resort rather than running back here. Well, I have to be careful though. Receiving a big bag of money in public might attract the wrong people if I lollygag around with it.
"No, you see-" Pristia describe my sword crafting story happily while I took this chance to organize the coins I scattered around. She is a bit exaggerated, though. I believe I only made a single normal looking sword not a legendary Excalibur or something. Oh, let’s not talk about it. That sword made me remember that offensive novel from Sophia.
"That's quite a fine sword. Kuro, you might want to take an exam for a master smith certificate. Being a licensed blacksmith is a good way to have a stable income, and it's far less risky than being an adventurer." Aunos told me In a serious voice.
"I might one day, but for now I want to get an adventurer license first." Plus I'd have to research on how to get by with only smithing Skyrim's equipment.
"Oh alright. Anyways congratulations. Hmm, you have quite a collection of different currencies here." Aunos noticed the separate piles of different currencies. I could just store all the money as-is in the storage device, but if I do that I'd have to transfer it all one by one to organize it which would take a ridiculously long time. I can also transfer the whole pile into it but the organization of those coins will become [A pile of money] with all of it shoved together rather than separated neatly. I can also take them out manually but it's quite a bother when the storage device is big like my hair clip.
"Uhm, can you help me sorting out these gems? I don't know their value." I pointed to a pile of gemstones. If I guess correctly, they're [Beastman Gems].
"Oh, you need a gems codex application to identify its value. There are so many kinds of gemstones and its value depends on its type, color, size, clarity, how it's cut, and its energy storage property."
"Huh? Energy storage property?" So a gemstone can be used as energy storage device? Then why does nobody use it?
"Here." He picks up a big emerald from the pile. Tapping his tablet a few times then shows it to me.
Emerald Fair Grade
Weight: 1.2 Gram
Clarity: Very very slightly included (VVS2)
Energy Capacity: 2.2KJuiz
Energy Storage Efficiency: 98.5%
Energy Leakage Rate: 5%/second
Value: 1,200 Beastman Gems Unit
"The capacity is how much energy you can store in a gemstone without breaking it. The storage efficiency means how much energy will be left if you charge and discharge from this gemstone immediately. In this case, you will lose 1.5% of total energy. The leakage rate means the amount of energy the gem will lose over time. The 5%/seconds means that the emerald will lose half of its initial energy in about 13.5 seconds." My brother explained each line on the screen.
"Huh, 5% per second? Isn't it 10 seconds to 50%?" Even though I'm not good at math but I never failed my middle school class once.
"It's to do with the exponential equation. You should study it sometime."
"Anyways, different gems will have different leakage, but no one has discovered any gems with less than 1%/second leakage yet. Gems are a crucial component called [Capacitor] inside magical devices." He changed the subject when he saw me sulking.
I learned that other currencies also have something unique about them. Dwarf State Chronos Silvers are made of the magical semiconductor. Aunos explains to me that it's because of this material that magical device as we know of today exist. The Chronos silver can be highly conductive or an insulator to the magical energy when subjected to a certain condition. I will save these coins for magical device crafting research. I hope that I can apply my Skyrim enchanting knowledge to it.
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The Elf Republic Condensed Ether is also beautiful. They come in the form of a crystallized leaf of all colors. Pristia said its value is determined by the wavelength of its color. Violet is the most expensive, and deep red is cheapest at the value of 1 Ether per leaf. It's somehow opposite to the monster core, so it’s easy to remember but still, I have to be careful so that I don’t mistake it as the opposite. Ether is also the easiest form of magical energy to manipulate. If I break the leaf, the energy inside will be absorbed by anything it touches. So it can be used as either emergency first aid or Magicka potion.
"Luckily I didn't break it by rolling around." I patted the stack of crystal leaves then proceed to store each stack of money one by one.
"... What is this?" I found a 1TS memory device under the pile of gold.
"Oh, that is an Ex-" "Everyone! Dinner is ready!" My brother is interrupted by Auntie Charlotte yelling from downstairs. Being really hungry I ran to the dining room.
Today’s dinner is a hot pot party. They called it a party but it's simply a big pot of steaming hot soup in the middle of the table where everyone can cook whatever they like in it. The fragrance of herbs from the soup made me quickly sat on the table and began cooking before anyone else. While there are heaps of things on the table, I like the premium quality marble meat the best.
"Clank Clank! and there were sparks flying everywhere-" While I'm chewing, Pristia began re-enacting what happened at the blacksmith. It seems it's difficult to keep a secret between two people in this family.
The reaction of my family members varied. While Laurell keeps praising me saying I'm cool when he saw my videos, most of the adults just smiled and congratulate me, but my grandpa asked me to fix some of his farming equipment on my next visit. Specifically to "make them last longer."
Luckily tomorrow we are going back, otherwise, I'd have to break it to him that I can only craft a few kinds of weapons. I could try to do it, but I have no confidence. Anyways, the reason we have to go back tomorrow is because the sky ships flight from Arasen to my hometown only operates in the morning. So we planned to stay in Arasen for one night.
"Here have some more, but you should also eat more vegetables." Auntie Charlotte noticed that I keep digging into a plate of meat, so she took out another one for me. Then she pushes a strange looking vegetable closer to me.
The vegetable looks like a bee hive with leaves. I poke it a few times with my spoon to see whether or not it's safe, then I proceed to drop one piece of them into the pot. Ok, no screaming or wiggling, I think it's safe.
"Say, dad, how much debt do we really have?" Since I felt that I have enough money to be self-sustainable I should help my family a bit. Of course, I could just buy whatever I like, a good plot of land with a hot spring bath, a few square meters of room to continue my shut-in life as I please, or a sex dungeon for example. Though with my family still struggling to pay their debt I'd feel guilty if I did that.
"Kuro, you shouldn't concern yourself with that, and this isn't the right time to talk about it." My dad answered sternly.
"Oh, don't worry about us. I believe she has the right to know." My grandpa intervened. Well, my dad might be right I shouldn't talk about this during dinner but what's done is done.
"Hah, maybe I should send you to an etiquette course sometime." My dad sighs and tapped his ID card a few times and passed it to me.
"Thanks, but I'm not going to marry into a rich family, alright?" It gave me goosebumps when I imagined myself in a prestigious school that I saw on a certain anime, where you have to learn a lot of useless etiquette lessons. Anyways, let's see how much we have here.
Name: Murbav Velvori Age: 49 years old
Race: Human Gender: Male
Occupation: Quality assurance engineer
Credits: 1,018
Debt: 928,142
Interest rate: 6.5% Minimum monthly payment: 8,947
It's worse than I thought! A whopping 928,142 credits, quite a large sum. I sneakily pull out my ID card and try to transfer my money into his. To my surprise, I can choose to transfer into either his credit or debt. I select his debt as the target so he can't refuse and give my money back.
The process was lightning fast. Just a second ago I was a millionaire, but now I'm left with 77,866 credits. Well, I still have a big pile of physical money in my storage device but its amount is nothing compare to what I just lost. It's over ninety thousand panties!
I confirm that his debt had gone to 0 then pass his ID card back to him. Aaaand as expected he checks it. I thought that I could surprise him later but, oh well.
My dad looks confused, and his eyes turn back and forth between his card and me a few times. It’s quite funny to see my ever composed dad break character once in awhile.
"Happy founding days, dad." I told him and smile.
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.
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It was quite an uproar after that. When everyone noticed what had happened, dinner has turned into an emotional crying hugging me fest. For some reason, my grandma and Auntie Charlotte also joined in. The poor vegetable has become overcooked and soggy, but it still tastes sweet and sour. I think I like it. I learned later that the vegetable was called honeykiss.
There is also the question about where the money came from, so I told them about the incident with Ms.Bluebell the celebrity's sister. Pristia strangely felt down a bit after that and mumbled something about competitors piling up. My dad also teased me about now he has the money to send me to a proper lady school, of which I quickly and vehemently rejected.
"Anyways, since we're finally out of debt, what are you planning to do from now?" I know that my brother and sister joined the adventurer school out of necessity and that their dreams lie elsewhere. It's quite a shame to lose two good teammates like them but at least it's a good parting.
"Hmm, I think I will try to get an adventurer license before I apply to technical school again. The adventurer license comes with a lot of advantages, and it's a good addition to my resume. However, I will not take risks like I used to." Aunos answered seriously as always.
"I will go wherever you go!" Pristia hugged me again. It seems too premature to think that they will let me go adventuring alone. But oh well, it's all good. However, a certain trap joined in and proclaimed.
"I will marry big sis Kuro when I grow up!" Oi! Don't raise the flag you stupid brat!