So This is Money

I am but a cloud, trying to be a person.

And these clothes are oddly comfortable.

A sky blue dress, laced with folds and embroidery similar to a maid’s, adorned me. My naked shoulders were covered with a light jacket, while thigh-high socks hid my legs. Flats clacked against the wooden floorboards as I spun around – my brushed hair flowing smoothly. Honestly, if it wasn’t for this body’s menacing face, the entire ensemble would’ve looked flawless. At least, according to Lisa, the receptionist.

Where was Lisa, you might ask? Well…

“Why were you parading a young woman around the town naked! Especially you, Kryos! A jacket barely covers anything! You could’ve at least had a woman or someone bring actual clothes! Do you understand, you stupid idiots?!?”

““““Yes, ma’am!”””” Lisa’s scolding was a sight to behold. Kryos and the other guards deflated into their chairs, trying to escape reality – not that Lisa would let them. Honestly, I didn’t care either way since, as a cloud, I had no sense of shame, but I didn’t bother interrupting. Dealing with troublesome people was troublesome enough.

By the time Lisa released the guards from their ‘education’, the sun had already begun to set below the horizon. She turned around and walked over with Kryos in tow. “Sorry about that. They should know how to treat women better.”

“It’s fine,” I responded, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly. Following behind, we made our way over to one of the counters. Lisa pulled out a book and opened it, flipping the pages before thumbing down the particular line she wanted.

“So, according to Kryos, you’re going to need pretty much everything, correct? Also, you’re a long-lived race too?”

“I suppose so?”

Lisa thought for a moment. “Well, I can introduce you to a few places and help with the initial funds, but we should get you a job so you can make some money.”

“Money?” I tilted my head questioningly.

“Yeah, money. Do you really not know what money is? I guess there are a few races that don’t interact with anyone… Okay! Let’s start with this.” Lisa reached behind her desk and pulled out three disk-like objects, each made from a different material.

“I’ve seen these before.” People tended to exchange these disks whenever they were at a market, usually for food or weapons. Well, two of them anyway. The third I hadn’t seen before.

“Oh? Well that’ll make it easier. Essentially, to make things easier when exchanging goods or services, we use these coins as an intermediary. Coins are made up of two parts: the underlying metal and its size.

“Let’s start with the metal. There are seven different metals used for coins, but most people will only use the three in front of you. The reddish-orange one is a copper coin, the orange-brown one is a bronze coin, and the shiny gray one is a silver coin. In general, copper coins are for everyday purchases, bronze are for large purchases or magic tools if they’re still working, and silver are for job income and taxes. When the coins are the same size like these are, the next tier of metal is worth a hundred of the previous tier – a hundred copper is a bronze, a hundred bronze is a silver, etc.”

“Gotcha.” I had seen copper and silver coins before, but never a bronze. It made sense if they were for larger goods in a store, not that I knew what those larger goods could be.

Lisa then pulled out three copper coins, each in a different size. “Then there is the size: small, normal-sized, or large. Basically, five small coins equals a normal-sized, five normal sized are equal to a large, and four large equal a small coin of the next tier of metal. For example, five small copper is a copper coin, five coppers is a large copper, and four large coppers is a small silver. Does that make sense?”

“Yes…?” The numbers seemed a bit odd. How did five equal one equal four?

“...do you know how to do math?”

“What’s math?”

“...okay then. We’ll also find someone to give you some basic knowledge,” Lisa sighed, looking at me like I was an idiot. I didn’t know what she expected; my entire existence was either an instinct or a whim.

“Anything else?” I asked, though that only seemed to aggravate her more.

“Well, yes, but it makes no sense to explain until you have some concept of math and work. I guess I can explain the jobs that don’t require education, or are taught on the fly, but if you want to make a living wage, you’re going to need some. The only job that doesn’t really require education is adventuring, though that is high-risk, high-reward.”

“Umm…” I began.

“What is it now?”

“What’s an adventurer?” Lisa stared blankly, blinking her eyes three times before turning towards Kryos.

“I explained what an adventurer is, right? After all, that is my job, right?” Her voice had a tinge of desperation as she harped.

Kryos averted his eyes. “Well… not really…”

Lisa blinked her eyes again. Then, she banged her head against the desk.

“I’m an idiot!!!”