I woke to the sounds of people moving about the inn. once again I extended my area of influence to cover the inn and saw that Brian had woken and was down in the common room but the girls were still asleep. Instead of going inside to join my father in law for breakfast, I decided to get the shopping we had originally planned this trip for done.

  I molded the cart back to how it originally looked and started heading back to the square. on the way there however I spotted the smithy that I had seen yesterday and stopped by to see of I could purchase some raw materials. Yes I can just get it out of the ground or conjure it but it takes much less energy to simply mold material that is already available. I know I have tons of energy stored up already but I have a feeling that I should save it, not just that, I feel that I need to store up a lot more than what I have currently.

  The smithy has 2 large sliding doors like the ones you would sometimes see on a barn. I walked inside and saw that the insides was set up like a workshop and not a store. One of the two men working inside saw me and came over. “Here for a request?” he asked. I shook my head. “No. I wanted to buy some ingots or barstock if you had any.” The man looked me up and down before he waved for me to follow him. “Come on back. This be the smithy side of things. what you actually want is the foundry. No matter. We can just cut on through to the other side.”

  We didn't go all the way through to the foundry but in the middle of the two there was several shelves of stacked materials. “We got iron, steel, copper and tin.” The man pointed out as he named each one. I picked a steel ingot off the shelf and examined it. It was pretty low quality. The thing was filled with impurities. A normal smith would need to spend hours pounding the impurities out by hand.

  I also did the same for all of the other 3 metals, they were all low quality. I looked back to the mand and told him “I want 400 pounds of your iron, 200 of steel, and 100 of each copper and tin. How much is it going to cost me?” He looked me once over again and started to rub his chin before he said “20 silver.” “Done, but only if you load the cart.”I reached out my hand with a smile. It's very likely he's ripping me off but money wasn't a problem for me.

  We shook hands to my surprise and then he started yelling for his people to start loading my cart. where there was only one other guy in the workshop, there was over ten that must have been in the foundry side. When they saw my cartI was given a look of skepticism like theres no way my little cart could take all that weight. I just gave them a nod and they started loading. The cart slowly sank as it was loaded but not into the ground. I had installed shock absorbing springs to make the ride more comfortable for the girls. The men loading looked amazed at how much weight my cart seem to be able to take but didn't say anything.

  With everything loaded, I counted 20 silver coins into the man's hand before I introduced myself to him. “The names Luke, it was good doing business with you.” “Bradley” the man said, naming himself. We shook hands once again and then I was off. As I traveled, a large amount of dust seems to be falling from my cart. This of course was all of the impurities in the metals that was being expelled.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  By the time I got to my next destination, all the impurities had been expelled and the cart was 1/5th lighter. The shop sign had a bag and a pitchfork on it.I wasn't exactly sure that this was the correct destination butI went inside anyways. Inside there was a woman standing behind a counter and several bags were set on shelves. “Excuse me, do you sell seeds here?”I called out before I even reached the counter. “We do, what you looking for hun.” the woman called back. I want 50 pounds of every type of seed you have.

  “I only have wheat, barley and potatoes in sacks of 50. I have carrot in 20 and I also have a few small bags of apple and rose.” The woman wasn't phased at all. “I’ll take 20 of carrot and all of the apple and rose you have. How much?”I smiled. Her expression never changing she simply stated “Two and twenty.” If I heard this back home I would have asked for clarification but fantasy novels had educated me in this aspect. People use to talk that way to make it easier for those with less education to understand them.

  I took out two silvers and placed it on the counter before counting out the 20 coppers and leaving them in nice stacks of ten next the the silver. She swiped them off the counter into pockets on her apron and went through a door that was set behind her. Soon after everything I had bought was stacked on the counter, I took it all with me in 1 trip. It had some weight to it and I had to draw on a bit more energy but the shopkeeper woman had done the same andI didn't sense any magic usage. Does this count as me losing my man card for the day? No way right?

  My final destination was a small book store I had spotted on the way into town. It was a small stone structure that actually had glass windows. As I walked inside I saw only 4 book shelves. One against each wall. There was less than 200 books total in the shop. One of the shelves stood behind a counter and at the counter sat a little old man. he sat there quietly reading. it was up to me to break the silence. “Good morning sir, do you have any books on magic? ”I announced.

  The man looked up to see me, then he placed something in the book to keep his page and placed the book down on the counter. “Good morning, to the sion of which of the great houses am I addressing?” The man said in a stately manner. his tone and speech would fit him better if he was a butler of some noble house then a man selling books in a little shop.

  Years of dungeons and dragons served me well and I stepped into my nobleman persona. “You must forgive me good sir, I seem to have caused you some confusion. I am in fact not a sion of any of the great houses. I am bound to the House of Dawn through marriage however.” I gave the man a nod of my head with only a slight tilting of my back. I’m not sure what protocol is but I know that you can't go around showing too much indifference to people in this type of feudal scenario. You will only look like a fake or worst, a fool.

  My words seem to have done the trick and the man bent under the counter. I heard a jingle of what could have been keys then the sliding of a door. The the man stood back up and produced a thin leather bound book and placed it on the counter. “One Royal” the man said, his hands still holding onto the book. I knew he was trying to rip me off big time but fantasy novel knowledge tells me that nobels always pay the asking price in public and never barter. So going along with my rolI took out one of the gold coins I had conjured and placed it on the table. Like a hostage exchange he snatched up the coin and I did the same with my new prize. I got the hell out of there as soon as I could. The man was starting to creep me out. It was timeI met back up with the girls .