Ch118: Planning a Shopping Trip & Learning About Coins

“My dearest love?” Beryl gently nudges Krvavy in the side, drawing the Drakling’s attention up from her dinner. “Ah’m sorry ta say this, but Ah think ya need to go on another adventure soon.”

“Huh?” The barbarian blankly blinks. “Are... you trying to get rid of me, or something?” She asks, half as a joke and half as a serious question. “It’s only been around a week since I got back from my last ‘adventure’, and I should really get to know Adeline better before I go out again.”

The Halfling shrinks into herself, hiding from the tiny bit of attention that comment sent her way.

“Ah don’t want ya ta leave, and Ah’m not sayin’ tha’ ya need ta get out and wind yerself down either.” The tanned Wood Elf clarifies, before softly letting out a sigh. “Ah’m sure ya’ve noticed tha’ our food ‘as been a little less flavourful these past few days, aye? Tha’ is because we’re almost out o’ spices. Not just runnin’ low, but almost completely out. Ah am already havin’ ta ration them.”

“Right, yeah...” Krvavy purses her lips and furrows her brow. “That’s why Khalia and I even went out last time... But raiding travellers on a random road in the middle of nowhere isn’t exactly the best way to get anything specific. We’d have to be real lucky to find exactly what we’re looking for. If I don’t get any spices, well, we will have to get used to Thea complaining about our food being bland...”

“I can hear you...” The bratty blonde grumbles from off to the side, glaring at the Drakling before giving the Dwarf a glance. But if she was expecting sympathy, then surely she must be disappointed. Because all Inanna gives her is a shrug.

“Tsk, tha’ is exactly the problem.” Beryl clicks her tongue and shakes her head, ignoring Thea’s quiet complaint. As she often does. “Ah suggest tha’ ya stop raidin’ wagons altogether. Instead, why don’t we try goin’ ta a city and just purchasin’ wha’ we need? Ya’ve got the coin ta spare.”

Krvavy lightly bites the inside of her cheek and stares quite intently at her Elf, not bothering to hide the doubt that fills her emerald eyes. “I’m not really sure that is an option.”

“Why not?” The tomboyish Elf questions, tilting her head. “Sure, ya’ve been doin’ a bit o’ banditry, but ya’ve never left anyone alive as a witness.” Her attention very briefly darts towards Adeline. “Well, not any tha’ ya left out there, at least. So it isn’t like ya’re a wanted criminal.”

“Yeah, but I’m still, you know...” The Drakling vaguely gestures down at herself. “Even if they let me in, I’m not sure if anyone would want to do business with someone like me.”

“Ach, don’t be like tha’.” Beryl waves a hand and dismissively brushes aside the concerns of her Draconic lover. “Merchants are a greedy folk, they’ll take yer money even if it is drippin’ wit’ blood.”

“You know...” A slightly thoughtful tone fills Thea’s voice as she slowly speaks up, her gaze firmly directed towards the Drakling. “You would have a very easy time getting into a city and purchasing things if you posed as the bodyguard of a beautiful Human girl.”

“Absolutely not.” Krvavy immediately shuts that idea down. Much to the noble girl’s, admittedly rather mild, disappointment. This was the expected answer, in all honesty. “What happens if someone recognizes you? I’d almost certainly get tossed into some dungeon, at best, and you’d be shipped off to that Duke you are supposed to be engaged to.”

“Ugh,” Thea quite dramatically rolls her eyes, “no one would recognize me unless we went to Svaneti, and even then...” She trails off for a moment, before shaking her head. “We could just go to Raseyne instead. That city is a big trading hub, all sorts of people come and go through its gates. It would not be too out of place for someone like you to be working as my bodyguard.”

“Raseyne...? Raz... Eye... Knee...?” Beryl mutters to herself, suddenly perking up as recognition fills her blue-green gaze. “My dearest love, Ah think Ah passed through there before. It... isn’t exactly close. It’d likely take ya a full week o’ travel before it would even come inta view.”

“Perfect.” The barbarian shoots her brat a rather smug smile. “Guess you can’t come. That is far too far for you.”

“Do you think I cannot handle a bit of walking?!” The silver-blonde noble girl angrily questions, sounding rather insulted.

“That is a lot more than a bit of walking.” Krvavy dryly returns. “I’d probably have to carry you most of the way, and even then I doubt you’d enjoy yourself. Not only would the journey be very boring, but it is also over a week without bathing or having an actual toilet. Plus, you don’t exactly have anything to wear, so unless you’re planning on walking around a city wearing homemade sandals and a sheet...”

“Ugh, fine...!” Thea groans in defeat. “I’ll simply continue to live the rest of my life as little more than a prisoner in this miserable cave of yours!”

“Come on, I won’t keep you in here forever. We will eventually be able to go out and visit some city together. I just need to kill your fiancé first, which, uh, might take some time...”

The bratty noble girl just crosses her arms into a pout and glares back at the barbarian.

“So ya are actually thinkin’ about goin’ ta tha’ city?” Beryl asks, a faint smile gracing her lips.

“Well, I guess.” Krvavy shrugs her shoulders. “If being a ‘bodyguard’ would get me into this Raseyne place, then I could probably say I’m an adventurer or a mercenary. But... I would have to go alone.”

“Why? Tha’ is a long time fer ya ta be alone, wit’ no one there ta ‘elp ya find release!”

“I’ve already said why Thea can’t come. It’s way too much walking for both Inanna and Adeline, what with their short legs. And Khalia... well, it feels like a really bad idea to bring her into a populated city.” For obvious reasons. That Were-Beast looks, and acts, way more like a ‘monster’ than Krvavy does.

“Wha’ about myself?” Beryl asks, her thin brow furrowing just a bit. “Ah’ve been there before, and Ah don’t ‘ave an issue wit’ all tha’ travelling.”

“For one, there is still a chance that they’ll attack me on sight, so if you are there that just puts you at risk.” Krvavy firmly replies, listing off her reasons. “Two, that fire mage was able to track you down when you were living alone in the woods, so I’m not bringing you into some random city until I get a feel of what it is like, at the very least. And three... you are still needed here. If you leave then the others won’t have any fresh meat, or any of that other stuff you forage for while out hunting.”

“Tsk. Tha’ is wha’ Ah get fer bein’ useful...” The tomboyish Elf grumbles, not looking particularly happy with her dearest love’s decision, but neither will she fight it. “Ah do think tha’ ya are bein’ far too paranoid, but if ya insist... Ah do ‘ave one condition though: if ya are goin’ ta go out there and spend at least two weeks on yer own, then ya ‘ave ta take care o’ yerself, alright? Don’t let yerself get pent up! Don’t make yerself uncomfortable like tha’, and don’t take the risk o’ snappin’...! Ya can sleep wit’ a woman in Raseyne ta ‘elp wit’ tha’, alright? Ah’m givin’ ya permission!”

“I am perfectly capable of jerking myself off.” Krvavy dryly returns, the faintest bit of disappointment tinging her tone. “I don’t need to fuck some random woman.”

“Ach, but ya can if ya’d like.” Beryl replies, drawing a sigh from the Drakling as none of the others protest that decision. Does that count as their endorsement, or do they just see no point in disagreeing is Krvavy herself doesn’t want to take that offer...?

“If I may interject,” Inanna suddenly speaks up, placing her empty bowl down. “I believe that it would be prudent to go over the Human currencies that would be used on such a ‘shopping trip’. Not to imply anything about our Krvavy’s understanding, but because Human currency denominations are needlessly complex and, to put it bluntly, stupid.”

“Hey! What is wrong with our money!?” Thea defensively demands to know.

“You know exactly what the problem is.” The Dwarf replies in her ever-neutral tone, staring intently at the silver-blonde brat. “But, judging by Krvavy’s expression, she does not. So, shall we head to her hoard to look over the coinage she has collected? I am sure you would love the chance to explain your peoples’ reasonable denominations to her yourself, wouldn’t you?”

“Hmph! Fine!” The bratty noble girl huffs and almost jumps to her feet, before stomping off towards the storage platform.

“My Ushumgal, let us not keep her waiting.”

Krvavy nibbles at the inside of her cheek as she looks down at her half-finished dinner. With a faint sigh, she brings the bowl to her lips and tilts it back, drinking down the thick stew as quickly as she can. With her food now finished, the barbarian places the bowl aside and follows after her brat.

“Hah~! Ya ‘ave fun wit’ tha’~!” Beryl teasingly calls out to her Draconic lover, the playfully victorious tone quite obvious in her voice. It was her suggestion that set all of this in motion, after all.

“Ugh, took you long enough!” Thea immediately complains as soon as Krvavy steps into the storage area. The noble girl looks rather annoyed with the fact that she is sitting down on the ground instead of a proper chair, knees pressed into solid stone and ankles squished beneath her ass. “Did you need to lock this?” She grumpily asks, ignoring the pile of small coin purses to instead thump a hand onto the small rectangular chest that Krvavy looted from the same bandit camp Thea was a prisoner in.

“The key is right there.” Krvavy gestures to the wall beside her brat, where said key is hanging on a small stone hook.

The bratty blonde just rolls her eyes as she snatches it up and quickly opens the small chest.

“Mmm...” Inanna glances sideways at the barbarian. “You had a chest with various gems inside of it this whole time, yet you limited me to using quartz?”

Krvavy’s cheeks suddenly grow hot and begin to burn a bright red. “Uh... If it makes you feel better, I completely forget that they were here.”

The Dwarf simply sighs as she reaches down and picks up a rather nondescript blue jewel. “Mmm... I will need to inspect these more closely later, but... You are lucky, my Ushumgal. These gems are on the smaller side and don’t appear to be of the highest quality.”

“Yeah, yeah, we are not here to talk about gems.” Thea rolls her eyes as she digs through the small chest. “Ugh, only the good coins are in here...” She impatiently groans, grabbing a nearby coin purse and opening it up.

“Do you need some help?” Krvavy gently asks her brat.

“Do you know what you would be looking for?” The girl almost snaps back, growing more annoyed as she fails to find what she is looking for.

“No.”

“Then no, I do not need help.”

Inanna gently shakes her head as she and the barbarian stand by, silently watching Thea rummage through coin purse after coin purse with growing frustration.

“Ugh!” The bratty girl angrily tosses a coin purse back into the pile of them, her soft-blue eyes narrowed into slits as she glares at the small mound of coins beside her. “You are missing a few!”

“Does that matter?” Inanna asks, holding up a hand to stop Thea from immediately responding. “Krvavy got these coins from people in this region. Relatively normal people, for the most part. If they did not have specific coins, then they are likely not oft used, so it is no problem if they are missing.”

“Hmph...” Thea huffs and shakes her head before beginning to arrange the small pile of coins into an orderly line. “Having those coins would make it easier to explain all of this...” She quietly grumbles, unhappily glaring at the nine in front of her.

“Are we only missing two kinds of coins?” Krvavy asks, noting the two noticeable gaps Thea left in her line.

“No. You are missing three. And one is the smallest that all the others easily compare to!” The noble girl closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

“I see you turned each coin so that the ‘tails’ side is facing up.” Inanna notes.

“Yes, because the other side is completely useless.” Thea rolls her eyes, before glances towards Krvavy and offering the barbarian an unneeded explanation. “The other side, called ‘heads’, just has a bunch of faces that show the unimportant people who had these coins minted. So they are useless in telling which coin is which, unlike the ‘tails’ side, which will always have the same pattern or image. Or at least a very similar one.”

Krvavy’s gaze glances across the collected coins in question. They aren’t exactly identical, being different shapes, sizes, and colours. So it isn’t like she needs to see a specific side to tell them apart. Suppose it doesn’t hurt though...

The bratty girl snaps her fingers and gestures to her line of coins. “I ordered these all from smallest in value to largest in value. And, as anyone with eyes can see, they fall into three categories: copper, silver, and gold. And this,” she gets straight to it, tapping a finger into the smallest of all the coins in her line, “is called a newt. Because it has an image of a newt displayed on the ‘tails’ side.”

“Newt?” The Dwarf tilts her head. “I–”

“Shut up.” Thea immediately demands, her voice icy and cold. “Hold your questions or comments until after I am done. I do not want to constantly repeat myself or get distracted by whatever you want to say.”

Inanna raises a single thick eyebrow, but ultimately lets the brat’s rudeness slide and doesn’t challenge the girl. It is this shortstack’s ‘fault’ that Thea is even giving this explanation, after all.

“Now, as I was saying...” Thea picks up the little coin between her finger and thumb, holding it up for Krvavy to see. “This is worth three ema. An ema is the least valuable coin of them all, and one you are missing. It is about the same size as a newt, but instead of being a circle like this, it is a triangle with a hole in the center. I always thought that they looked kind of neat. But, since you don’t have any ema, we will have to compare everything else to a newt. Remember that.”

A light clink rings out as the bratty girl places that small copper coin back down, only to tap onto the slightly larger – but still obviously copper – one directly to its right.

“This is a vole. Because it has an image of a vole displayed on the ‘tails’ side. I am sure you are already noticing a pattern there.” Sarcasm drips from the silver-blonde brat’s rather annoyed tone. “It is worth one and a half newts.”

The Drakling’s eyes move on, only to dart back a bit as Thea taps the empty spot that she unconsciously skipped over.

“Next would be a path,” a sigh forces itself past the noble girl’s parted lips, “which you also do not have. It is worth six ema, or two newts. It is not a circle either, but a hexagon with a hole in its center.”

Now Krvavy can look to the next coin. Which is another copper one.

“After that is a stoat.” Thea taps the coin in question, not bothering to pick it up. “This is worth three newts or two voles. This is probably the main copper coin you will use. So, if you want to, you can think of a newt as being worth ‘one third’ of a stoat and a vole being worth ‘one half’ of a stoat. It is the same thing either way.”

The bratty girl’s shoulders slump a little as she pokes a finger at the next, and last, empty space.

“You are missing this next coin as well, which just so happens to be the largest of the copper coins. It is called a peltia, and is worth ten newts, or three and a third stoats. It is more rectangular in shape.”

Krvavy idly nods her head, doing her best to keep all of this info at the front of her mind. She can say, with confidence, that she probably won’t forget all of these different names. As for the actual values of all these coins... well, that’s a different matter. More of a maybe.

Thea takes a long, deep breath. She holds that in for a good few seconds before slowly exhaling and rather lazily gesturing to the silver coins. “This here is a hawk, it is worth forty-eight newts or sixteen stoats. Next is a lantern, this eight-sided one with a hole in the center, and it is worth... seventy-two newts or twenty-four stoats.” Her delicate brow knits together as she finds herself having to slow down a little. “The other two silver coins are the wolf, this circular one here, and the scutia, this rectangular one that looks a little like a shield. The wolf is worth... uh... one-hundred-forty-four newts or... forty-eight stoats. The scutia is worth two-hundred newts or... um... sixty-six and two thirds of a stoat.”

A tinge of worry begins to fill the barbarian. This is... a lot to remember.

“And finally, we have the two gold coins: the gate, this twelve-sided one with that plus-shaped hole in the middle, and a crown, this final circular one. A gate is worth... uhm... it is worth...” The bratty girl idly taps her fingers together, looking almost as if she is trying to count on them. “Ugh...! A gate is worth forty-two lanterns!”

“Or Three-thousand-twenty-four ‘newts’.” Inanna helpfully calculates. “Which is one-thousand-eight ‘stoats’.”

“Yes...” Thea glares at the Dwarf, not happy about being interrupted but also not wanting to complain about that math being done for her. “And the crown is worth... Dammit! The thing is worth thirty-five wolfs!”

“Which would be five-thousand-forty ‘newts’ or one-thousand-six-hundred-eighty ‘stoats’.”

“Yeah, and that is all for these damned coins!” Thea angrily huffs, crossing her arms just beneath her breasts. Which is a beautiful sight even with the blanket turned toga covering up those handfuls. Though, sadly, that sight isn’t getting the appreciation it deserves.

The tip of Krvavy’s tongue unconsciously trails over her lips as she looks at the small rectangular chest. It is mostly filled with gems and the silver coins, but there are plenty of the much more valuable gold ones scattered throughout the pile, and her eyes just can’t help but lock onto them. “Those bandits sure had a lot of money...”

“That is what you got out of my entire explanation?!” Thea exasperatedly complains.

“To be fair,” Inanna speaks up, “that is an exorbitant amount of money for some lowly bandits to have in their possession.”

“They were not just some lowly bandits!” The bratty noble girl protests. “They were able to kill my guards and captured me with ease!”

“Yet Krvavy was able to kill them all before she was even level ten, from what I understand.”

“She killed most of them in their sleep! There was hardly single a fair fight!” Thea is quick to point out, growing increasingly pouty. “Besides, those bandits likely stole most of this money from me in the first place! There was a lot brought along with my luggage, both to cover for my expenses as well as to help pay for the, ugh, wedding! The rest was likely given to them by that damned Duke as an upfront payment for kidnapping me!”

“Well,” Krvavy interjects, “thank you for explaining all of that. I’m kind of impressed that you could even remember it all, because this is... a lot of different kinds of coins.”

“Yes, as I said, it is needlessly complex.” Inanna calmly comments, earning herself a glare from Thea.

“I doubt whatever coins you Dwarves use are much better!”

“My people do indeed have a much simpler, and more efficient, currency.” The Dwarf replies with the faintest bit of pride in her voice. “It is decimal based. Thus we do not have to deal with converting between the values of various different coins, as everything is split into units and sub-units. The sub-units are displayed as set fractions, such as one-hundredth, five-hundredths, a tenth, a quarter, and a half, while the units are full numbers such as one, five, ten, twenty-fi–”

“Ugh, I do not care!” Thea just groans. “Are we done here?”

“No.” The Dwarf sternly states. “You need to drill the values and relations of these coins into Krvavy’s head.”

“Why must I do that?!”

“They are your people’s coins.” Inanna dryly replies. “But, if you would like to procrastinate, I can explain to Krvavy why these denominations are unnecessarily complex.” She pauses and waits for a response, before gently shaking her head and turning to Krvavy when all Thea does is quietly grumble. “The answer to that comes in two parts. First, the coins are valued based on the weight of the metals that they are composed of. And second, Humans don’t use a single set of coins. They use three. The ones with the various animals as well as the crown are the most commonly used, generally further west. Peltia and Scutia, both of which look like rectangular shields, are much more common further south, beyond the mountain range that my people call home. And the coins that have holes in the middle of them are from the south-east, on and around the edge of the interior sea.”

“And they’re all used around here because, well, we’re kind of in the middle of where they all come from?” Krvavy guesses.

“Mmm. Perhaps.” The Dwarf tilts her head rather nonchalantly. “I am no Human, so I cannot speak for them. But I would say that likely plays a part. If one had no access to the other varieties of coins, then one simply could not use them. But a larger part, I presume, would simply be convenience. These coins have odd values, as you now know, and the other currencies help to fill in the gaps.”

“Fair enough.” The barbarian idly shrugs.

“Now, before we force yourself and Thea to repeatedly go over these coins and their values, I suppose that I should tell you the proper names for each of the animal faced coins? Beyond crown, none of th–”

“No.” Thea firmly cuts off Inanna before the Dwarf can say much more. “That would be a complete waste of time and do nothing but make it even more complicated! No one uses the ‘actual names’! I do not even know them all!”

“What if someone does refer to the proper name of one of these coins?” Inanna raises a thick eyebrow as she meets the brats gaze. “Do you want our Krvavy to potentially be swindled by some fast-talking merchant?”

“Krvavy, my Dragon,” the brat turns towards the barbarian, “if that somehow does happen, just ask if they mean newt. If you say a coin too large in value they may assume you are willing to spend that much, but if you deliberately say something small then they will be quick to clarify. Not that anyone would use any name beyond the ones I have told you...”

“Alright, alright.” Krvavy holds her hands up in surrender. She doesn’t mind learning the actual names, but if Thea doesn’t want to waste time with that... Well, she can always ask Inanna later. If her mind isn’t fried by then. “So... how’re we going to do this? Do I just need to memorize how much each is worth?”

“Mmm. If only it were that simple. You will need to know the value of each coin in relation to all the others. Once we go over that a few times, I believe it would be best to test your knowledge by asking you to, on the spot, calculate the value of a set amount of coins being converted into another.”

“Great...” The barbarian doesn’t even bother stifling her sigh. “What a way to spend the evening...”