Chapter 5 - The weight of Silver

Last night left me pretty depressed. I must have gotten so absorbed in entering the Tower that I completely forgot about the orphanage's rule. Since I became an adult, I was no longer allowed to live there… meaning I had to look for a new place.

It also meant money was going to be a priority in adventuring from then on. The only thing that kept my spirits up was how Miss. Kana reacted last night.

“She must really care about me to pout like that!” I sang gleefully down the stairs.

It sucked that I had to find somewhere else to live but she said I could stay until the end of the month. That left me with one week, at most.

Somewhere cheap wouldn’t be too hard to find but I should make at least 9 000 Rhan to cover the rent for a while.

I rifled through my coin purse attached to my waist and emptied around 800 Rhan into my palm.

“This will barely cover 3 nights in an inn, I guess it’s better than nothing.” I sighed.

The responsible thing to do would be to use it for the inn but... I already made up my mind. Something else seemed more important, I would have gone as far as to say it was essential.

I walked up to a small dainty building with broken floorboards along the staircase. The window outside was cracked, I peeked through and could barely make out what was inside through all the dust.

It was probably the roughest-looking building that bordered the East side of Istoria between the Slums and Markets.

A few unsavoury characters shot dagger eyes at me as I entered the building. I held my hands over my coins out of fear that somebody would try something.

A small block of wood with carvings in it hung over the door that read, “Blackwood Goods and Trinkets”.

The room inside was dreary with only a single ray of light pouring in from the window at the front of the store. All the attention was focused on me as the sun's harsh light followed past me as I opened the door.

Curved swords and bootleg equipment hung on the wall with prices written on pieces of paper stuck to them. Nearly all the items displayed along the walls were pretty good quality, even if they came from such a shady place.

The front desk was located on the opposite end of the room and had a burly man leaning on the counter. He didn’t seem all too concerned about me being there and simply greeted me with a half-hearted wave.

It was empty the last time I came in here too, I think I know why now. I’d say he should show some more enthusiasm but can I blame him? I’d be pretty depressed in a room like this too.

“Hello there, I need a new weapon.”

“Welcome, what kind of… wait a minute, didn’t we sell you a sword not too long ago? We don’t do refunds kid!”

Don’t bring that up please, I don’t have the heart to tell him that the sword I bought from them, got destroyed in my first week! He might just think I’m trying to say he sells crappy weapons so I’ll avoid the attention altogether.

“You must have me confused with someone else…could I just see what kind of weapons you might have for someone starting out.”

“…Fine then, I doubt you’re that other kid anyway. He was only here last week after all, plus his hair didn’t stand out as much as yours.” The man walked away from the counter and towards a section of swords. “Follow me.”

Don’t make fun of your customers, you idiot!

I clenched a fist trying my best not to let my frustration surface.

“Well we have these swords over here, they would be the most popular option.”

After what I experienced last time, I thought it might be best to stay away from swords. They were good for range in a close-up fight but the one I had was too heavy to swing. I wanted to try out something lighter.

“Could I see something else, swords kind of slow me down?”

The man stroked his beard and looked at the other pieces of equipment hanging higher on the wall. He then took off an extravagant-looking dagger, aligned with a silver edge and handed it to me to observe.

Something that sharp almost cut me as soon as it touched my hands, I had no doubt it would have been a great weapon.

“This is amazing, is this something a beginner could use?!”

I accidentally let my inner thoughts slip and sounded like a complete sucker.

The salesman stroked his bushy beard and let off a smirk, “Don’t worry you’re not the only one fawning over daggers these days, it seems like all the up-and-coming talents are gravitating to them!”

“I can see why they do, this blade is light, not to mention sharp! I want to take this one then…uh…is this the price?”

I held out a small tag and the price of it was over 20 thousand Rhan! I let out a ghostly noise as my spirit left my body and my knees buckled.

“What, is it too much out of your price range?” He asked tensely.

“Way too far out, like unthinkably out!” I blurted out.

The salesman's face cringed back as his face went as pale as mine. He looked disappointed as if a big fish had just stolen his bair after an hour of fishing for it.

“What, you can’t be serious about buying a blade then! This is the cheapest thing we have left.”

This?! This is the cheapest thing they have? I didn’t think about it as much last time because I was getting an allowance before, but now that I’m on a budget, I guess prices are really important after all.

“There has to be something! A spear, maybe a shield, even a rusty old kitchen knife would do.”

I didn’t relish the idea of using something like a shield but I had seen it work. I just needed something!

“Well…there is something but– ”

“I’ll take it!” I interjected.

“Mmmmm…” The salesman didn’t seem too confident in letting this go any further but he eventually caved in and made his way back behind the counter.

He disappeared behind the counter into a backroom.

The sounds of metal slamming against each other flooded out of the room and into the rest of the store as he rifled through something. Eventually, he arrived at what he was looking for and strolled out of the back room. In his hand was a rounded object wrapped tightly in a sheet.

“This is an item that a hooded guy brought in one day, he had me take a look at it but never came back for them. They must be exotic or something, cuz I've never seen them before.”

I unwrapped the garment and revealed a pair of round blades shaped like large rings, only slightly bigger than my hands.

The entire weapon was a silver ring-shaped blade, with a handle for the user to hold when wielding them. A strange set of runic text stretched out along the blades that was completely unreadable.

Is this a foreign language? I've never seen something like this before.

“I didn’t know weapons like this existed, did whoever left them not say anything about it?”

“Not a word. I was ready to throw them out if nobody came to fetch them, but I figured I’d hold off in case someone crazy enough wanted them.”

“Can I really have them?!”

As soon as those words left my mouth I knew I messed up, he had been desperate to get rid of them and probably would have just given them away close to nothing. But after I showed him how desperate I was…

“Hmm~ So you want these huh, not so fast kid. Give me a number and I’ll see if I’m feeling kind today.” He taunted as he dangled the rings in front of me over the counter.

I felt like just snatching them from his hands but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that. I rubbed my face and sighed.

“Fine… how about 200?”

“Pfft! I said kind, not charitable!” He argued back.

“300,” I replied sternly.

“900,” The salesman didn’t bat an eye and pulled the rings away.

“That’s too much, you didn’t even want them a second ago!”

“Now it’s 950.” He responded angrily.

If this goes any further I really will lose my chance at getting a weapon entirely!

“Fine then, you win…I have 700 on me and nothing more, will that work?”

He smiled with a big hairy grin that nearly went past his ears.

“Sounds good to me kid.”

…

I hate that I got ripped off like that but I managed to save at least 100 Rhan for myself.

“I got my weapons, so I might as well go to the Tower for the day. If the Funks are good to me, maybe I can hunt more than one today.”

As I walked through the streets towards the centre of the city, an underlined thought began to pound away at the back of my mind, oh so silently.

(Devour!)

I jolted around to look for the person whispering in my ears but there was nobody there.

“Am I imagining things?”