Fortuitous Encounter
Rick walked up toward the man sitting outside his shop called "Swords and Bullets." It was a middle-aged man wearing a flat cap hat, sitting outside the shop with a book in his hand, which he could immediately tell was a self-help book.
'What is the use of whiling away time reading that', Rick thought, but refrained from saying anything aloud. But the old man really did not look like an expert who could have protected on his own and set up the shop as well.
Seeing Rick approach, the man looked up from the book and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before looking up at him with a polite smile, "Welcome young man, what can I interest you in? These are all high-quality products in here and I tell you they will serve you well."
He grabbed Rick by his shoulder before pulling him closer to the stall.
"You have nice muscles, this bamboo stick is not good enough for a strong lad like you," he continued noticing the staff strapped across RIck's back, he grabbed a sword from the table nearly and handed it to Rick hilt first, "You need a sword or at least a spear."
Rick had dealt with his fair share of pushy salesmen as well and knew better than to take the sword.
"Why don't we discuss the price first," Rick replied carefully. His first objective was to figure out how the bazaar worked.
"Well, this exquisite looking sword is really of the finest quality weapon I have ever crafted. But since you are such a diligent young man, I will only take five gold Cilliacs," the middle-aged man replied with a coy smile.
'Cilliac? Is it some sort of currency here,' Rick wondered. Imposing a currency was quite a hassle because enforcing it required an absolute authority to regulate the market, and this was only possible if everyone recognized someone or something to be able to regulate it. What this meant was that there was already a strong presence in the market which everyone looked up to!
Although this made transactions easier, it would also mean that the prices would be higher.
"What about barter? I would prefer keeping the sales I made kept private," Rick asked with a straight face.
"You are a smart cookie aren't you," the middle-aged man replied in a lowered voice. He reached back behind the counter and grabbed a clipboard, "These are the things I am willing to barter for, you can go through and let me know if you have any of them."
Rick grabbed a hold of the clipboard and saw that there was a list running a couple of pages listing down things from toothpaste and soap to cigarettes, lighters and One-eyed goat mane.
While Rick went through the list, the middle-aged man picked up his book back again, before glancing over to Rick and saying, "You can add that chicken on the list too, I have not had a nice chicken steak since this nightmare began."
Rick creased his brows and narrowed his eyes realizing what the man implied. "You better watch what you say, `people aren't as forgiving as they used to be either."
"Whatever kid," the middle*aged shopkeeper replied without looking up.
Rick went through the list, but there was nothing in it that he had with him, except of course Pip, which he would rather die than give away. But after his bold declaration, it would be rather shameful if he had to walk away with his tail between his legs having nothing worth bartering at all.
"Ahmm..." he cleared his throat aloud to grab the shopkeeper's attention.
"Got any of those things on you?" the shopkeeper asked, looking up from his book.
"Do you have what I want?" Rick replied, avoiding answering his question.
"We have sabers, spears, and machetes as well," the shopkeeper replied, springing up from his chair.
"Do you have any spirit beast core?" Rick asked.
The smile on the shopkeepers face immediately disappeared and an angry frown replaced it, "You think I am here selling beast cores? Why don't you ask me if I see rubber bands and lipsticks, idiot? This is not a place where you will find useless trash like that. Go away if you are just here to waste my time."
Rick was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but shaking his head away he walked away. The old shopkeeper sat back down and muttered under his breath "Stupid book, to hell with calming my mind."
Rick kept walking deeper into the Library-side market soaking in all the tidbits of information he could gather and all the while looking out for any shop selling spirit beast cores.
After walking about for another hour and being chased away from twelve other shops, Rick realized that spirit beast meat was quite a rare delicacy and consuming it could increase even the stats of the diner. It was in such demand that every time there was someone selling spirit beast meat, it would be auctioned at high prices. But its cores were like the chicken's feet, it was inedible and nobody wanted it. Rick almost gave up on finding a beast core, resolving to get it for a cheap price the next time someone came in to sell spirit-beast meat.
Speaking of price, he got a rough idea of the 'Cilliac' currency system as well. There were three types of coins not made of pure metals. The gold, silver and copper Cilliacs. The conversion of each type was at fifty, which meant that fifty copper Cilliacs was worth a Silver Cilliac and fifty Silver Cilliac were worth a Gold Cilliac.
The force behind the Cilliac was no secret either. The Cilliac stood for City Library Currency and was backed by a group that called themselves the 'Celestial Devotees'. However, they were not as pious as they made themselves sound. They had the biggest shop in the market which doubled as a bank. They were the only place you could 'legally' exchange your goods for money while they charged another fee for everytime you used Cilliacs to buy something as well, something they termed as "Convenience Fee".
But they were stronger and larger than any other group in the Library side Market, quelling any thoughts of rebellion. But the real reason there was no mass uprising was that irrespective of all their unscrupulous means, they did not manipulate the prices and made sure there was no counterfeit money circulating around. Apparently, the printing of all the coins was done by one single person who was a rune-craftsman as well. He had inscribed on the coins a unique mark with which the Celestial Devotees could instantly identify a real coin from a fake.
Hearing this RIck immediately realized that the coins must have a mark like the Signet was for the golems that Sol had left behind in his private study!
Rick walked into another shop to try his luck. This shop was built like a house with a door to enter inside and a single word sign outside reading "PHARMACY" in green paint. Rick opened the door and walked inside.
The room inside was built like a courtyard with ample light pouring in from the half-ceiling. There were already two other people inside the place along with another behind the counter he assumed was the shopkeeper. The shop was packed with tablets and vials of modern medicine piled up, Rick immediately lost all hopes of finding any spirit-beast core in there.
"The doctor is out, you can take a seat and wait or come back later," the young man behind the counter spoke.
"No, I am not here for the doctor", Rick replied.
"Oh, then what medication can I get you?" the young man asked,
"I am not here for medicine really," Rick answered, before continuing, expecting full well to be thrown out, "But, would you have any Spirit-Beast cores with you?"
Rick was almost ready to turn back and leave before being assaulted with a flurry of insults, but the reply he got stopped him on his tracks.
"No we don't keep spirit beast cores, but he has them," the young man pointed at one of the patients waiting for the doctor.
As Rick looked at the man, the man looked back at him.
"You are the kid holding up the line," Dale wide eyes seeing the kid alive.
"You are a still alive," Rick exclaimed with relief.
Both of them spoke simultaneously and then broke into smiles.
"Let's talk outside," Rick spoke, in disbelief at his good luck
Dale nods his head before addressing the woman sitting beside him, "Sorry, it will just be a minute."
Both of them walked out together.
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