I hadn’t been paying too much attention to how Drifa had gotten that deal, I was too focused on trying to calculate how much we could actually spend. We spent much more than I anticipated, but it was a good price. I hadn’t intended on getting much meat in the first place since we had some from the monster. We couldn’t eat it as is, but with the ice dome-thing Drifa made, I’m sure she’ll be able to clean that so we can use it. The meat we would’ve bought was so we could pass the time. She needed help with doing the math throughout the process, however, she was good at the arguments and snagging a deal.
Never thought I’d say that. Normally her arguments are… ineffective.
I took a look at how much money we had left and frowned.
It’ll work.
“Hey, Ismund?”, Drifa said, trying to grab my attention.
"Hmm?"
“Am I- we, are we going to sell what we got in the dungeon.”
I nodded.
“Well~, what did you manage to get?”
Not here…
I made a ‘cut it’ motion with my hand across my neck.
She seemed confused and pouted.
“Why not? Please?”, she let out a breath, “Did you want to keep it for something? I don’t think people would be to-”
I turned towards her fully with my finger over my lips.
She pursed her lips, looked down, and let her shoulders slump.
If people know that we have a giant carcass of a rabbit, they won’t be so happy.
I’d decided to let her figure out how to get a bargain of some sort once we were at the stall and I’d pulled it out.
* * *
Turned out that, so long as you did it right, you could get a good price for some skin and bones. 152 square m of skin got us 108 bronze and 50 coppers with it being four coppers per square foot. It should’ve been worth more. The fur was nasty, sure, but the skin was incredibly thick. The problem we ran into was the amount of money the person was willing to pay all at once. 192 lb of bone went for 550 units per. We ended with 10 bronze and bones and 56 copper. We’d sold the bone to the local craftsman. He could use them when he made his handles. Now that I was thinking about it, my box was carrying a lot. It was making me quite grateful for it. I also had to admit, the System giving the measurements made things easier.
Earlier our finances were near rock bottom, but we were doing well for ourselves now.
Best save it up. I imagine things will become quite expensive later on. I’m not sure what I’ll be spending it on, but best be cautious. From what I can tell, the prices have inflated significantly since before…
I frowned and bit down on another toothpick.
Either way, better stay on my toes.
I still needed a shirt and since I was planning on us eating the monsters heart, liver, kidney, and now also that close to spoiled pig meat, I gave into Drifa’s suggestion of buying herbs. I wasn’t there for that part however, I have her 40 copper and watched her make a run for it. At this point she’d proven proficiency in buying.
A while later, long while, she came running back with a goofy grin.
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“Ismund!”
She was wearing a new shirt and matching coat, holding a larger charcoal grey shirt in one arm and had a stuffed sling bag over her other shoulder.
I thought I gave her 40 coppers…
She hurriedly handed me what I guessed to be my shirt… shirts. There were a few. They weren’t made like any of the ones in area. The sleeves were different. Less material while still being able to move around freely. Pretty good. Too good.
How did she get a different style of shirt than what everyone else is wearing? That would make it more expensive, especially since It would have to be tailored specifically. Well, the other option is that its antique, which could go in either direction.
I looked at it again.
Probably more expensive.
I looked back up her. Her freckled cheeks were squishing her eyes because of her grin. I gave her a hard look.
“Give it back.”
I thought I could her trust her to at least some degree.
She stepped back and shook her head, looking quite concerned.
“Why should I? Is there something wrong with it?”
“You couldn’t get this much without stealing. There’s more in your backpack too, don’t think I didn’t notice.”
She shifted her weight to a hip and crossed her arms.
“I didn’t take anything but a good price!”
I gave her a long stare until she spoke up again.
“I just got some really good deals, okay?”
I raised my eyebrows, “Could you say the same to their face?”
She nodded immediately. Her features were written with concern and sincerity. I turned and walked to where I’d seen a clothing shop earlier after a few minutes we arrived.
Time to see what comes of this.
I was hit by the choking smell of perfumes as soon as the door opened. Besides that, there was a thin older woman standing behind the counter. As soon as Drifa came in she waved to her excitedly and Drifa waved back with a smile.
I wasn’t expecting that.
Once the woman noticed me she lowered her enthusiasm level so that it was more professional.
“Are you looking for anything? Were you the one who she mad-”
I cut her off, “No I’m not looking for anything other than returning some items.”
She gave me an odd look.
“What do you want to return? What was wrong with them?”
I walked up to the counter with Drifa anxiously following behind me.
I pretended to dig though my backpack and placed the new clothes on the desk.
“Did she buy these?”
“No, she-“, Before she could finish, I glared at Drifa.
“I thought you said that you bought these honestly? These probably cost this poor woman a lot of money.” I gestured to the woman without glancing at her,”Yet you came up to me smiling. What else did you take?” I pointed to the bag “Giv-” , this time, to my surprise, the woman cut me off. She’d apparently walked over from behind her counter while I talked.
She stepped in front of Drifa protectively, “Would you stop?”
Of course she’s defending a trouble maker. I bet she’s stolen her own merchandise from other people. Maybe she’s offered up some of her family to the dungeons for it.
“No. Do you want a thief running around town?”
She looked at me like I’d slapped her across the face.
“She didn’t take anything at all!”, her face that had looked so composed moments before now looked incredibly lined, “In fact, she made this all for you!” She looked me up and down in disgust before shaking her head.
Why does she care so much about Drifa? She’s probably only known her for a little bit.
She turned around to look at Drifa. She was sniffling a bit while looking down at the ground with unfocused eyes.
“… do you have to put up with this every day? Oh, sorry, I forgot.” She turned around and gave me a scowl.
“Wait one moment… you could hear that man. I thought you said you couldn’t hear me?” The woman now looked awfully confused.
“Right now, she can only hear me.” I spoke up in the awkward silence. After a few seconds Drifa nodded too.
The tailor looked back at me with suspicion, “Did you do this?”
“No.” I shook my head.
She didn’t seem quite convinced but let it drop. Facing back towards Drifa she tapped her shoulder and pretended to write on her hand. After a moment Drifa caught on and brought out her thin piece of stone. Only then did some pieces click together after I spend time to go over what happened.
Oh, Drifa made these… there’s cost for material but that’d be cheaper. Maybe she sold the clothing design or something as well.
While the woman wrote on the hard surface she talked to me over her shoulder.
“Why are you so abrasive with her? She’s easy to get along with, quite pleasant.”
You haven’t been with her long enough then.
“No. She is not.”
She seemed confused, stopped to read what Drifa had written, and turned back towards me.
“Are you sure it’s not you? The issue.”
How would her being annoying be on me?
I frowned and pinched my eyebrows.
Instead of elaborating she turned back towards Drifa, looked at what she had written and gasped in surprise.
She’d better not have written anything I’m trying to keep under wraps.
The woman talked to me again.
“You sir, are a very lucky man.”
“Why?”
“You can figure that out yourself.”