Chapter 41 – Finally, A Level in My Merchant Profession (Patreon)

In the morning, I decided to check out the baths the innkeeper had mentioned. After I gave Stretch his breakfast, I told him to stay in the room and wait for me; I didn't think they would let a dog inside. He wasn't happy about the idea but agreed.

I went down to the common room, which was much emptier in the morning. The innkeeper I talked to last night was behind the bar, with no servers. I approached him and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning. Do you want breakfast? You didn't eat dinner last night, so you have a meal I owe you. You can eat lunch one day to collect it."

"Thank you. Yes, please, on the breakfast."

"You can have eggs with bread and vegetables or chama porridge."

I decided to live dangerously and try something new, "Porridge, please."

"You're a polite fellow; I appreciate that." The innkeeper said, "Sit down, and I'll bring it to you."

After three minutes, he brought me my porridge, which looked similar to cooked barley with fruits and honey. It was delicious and a nice change. After eating, I approached him again and asked, "You mentioned the baths last night. Can you give me directions?"

He gave me a startled look and said, "Go to the right and turn left on the first street you see. You'll see it. It's a big building with a sign; you can't miss it." I didn't understand the startled look. Was it the way I asked or the time of day? I had no idea and didn't feel like asking. I concluded that as a Traveler, that's a look I'm going to get a lot of times, so I had better get used to it.

As he said, the baths were easy to find. They were in a long stone building with a big sign proclaiming them the "Rusha Baths." Was Rusha the name of the kingdom, the city? The Map was great but was missing a lot of names. After learning of their location, I added the names Mara and Somer to the Map, and there were a few other places with names. Still, most of them were just a house icon in a circle for a town, a bigger circle with two houses that I guessed marked a city, or a crown in a circle that marked a capital, with brown lines running between them marking the roads. It was funny, but the wilderness part of the Map was more detailed than the towns or cities.

After going inside, I discovered that a bath cost two coppers, and there were signs directing men to the right and women to the left. I went through the right door and found a changing room to get dressed and undressed with an attendant. The other person in the room with me gave his clothes to the attendant and received a string with a number he tied on his wrist. I stored mine. One of the doors from the changing room led to a room with a big pot of boiling water over a firepit, where another attendant mixed the hot water with the cold in buckets and handed them out. I watched the other gentleman to see what he did. He wet himself with the bucket, took a piece of soap from a shelf, soaped himself, including his hair, and rinsed with another bucket. Simple enough.

I followed his lead but didn't like the soap; it was coarse, and the smell wasn't great, so I used my soap and shampoo. The attendant watched me curiously and, after I rinsed, asked, "Hello, esteemed merchant. Do you sell the soap you used, or is it only for your personal use?"

"I have some to sell."

"I believe my father would like to purchase some for the nobles. Could you meet with him after your bath?"

"I'll be happy to." It's good that I bought a BIG stock.

I left through the door the other person used and came to a big room with three soaking pools. Judging by the steam, there was a temperature difference. I checked the three pools; the first was lukewarm, almost cold; the second was just right, and the last was way too hot for me. I sat down in the medium-heat pool, leaned my head back, and felt myself relax.

I stayed in the pool for at least an hour, relaxing. A mage occasionally came to check the water and heat it; I could feel him cast a spell on it. It was surprising; when the other mage cast a spell on the meat I sold her, I didn't feel the casting, but now it was impossible to ignore. I thought about it momentarily and concluded it was probably because of my Wizard Class. I didn't have it when I sold the meat. Until now, I hadn't noticed that my sensitivity to mana had increased, but now it was apparent.

After my soak, I checked the towels they offered and didn't like them either. They were thick sheets of coarse linen, not the fluffy towels I was used to.

The mage approached me and said, "Hello, esteemed merchant. Are you the person my son mentioned who has nice-smelling soap for sale?"

"Yes. Also, nice fluffy towels and a special soap for hair that keeps it soft."

"I would be very interested in seeing those things, but I must watch over the baths. Would you mind showing me here, or would you prefer to return in the afternoon when my replacement arrives?"

"I don't mind showing you here, but let me get dressed first."

I got dressed, took out my operating table, and arranged a big stack of towels in different sizes, an unopened box with 50 bars of soap, another box with 24 bottles of body wash, and another box with 24 shampoo bottles. I took out an opened bar of soap, body wash and shampoo bottles and, pointing at the soap box, explained, "This box contains 50 pieces of soap like this one. You can smell it and wash your hands with it to understand the quality." I pointed at the body wash, "This is also soap but in liquid form; it's more pleasant on the body, and this box contains 24 bottles." I pointed at the shampoo box and said, "This box contains 24 bottles of this soap; it's special for hair and keeps it soft and shiny."

He took the shampoo bottle, looked at it, and asked, "What language is this, and what is this bottle made of? I never saw anything like it."

"I come from the islands in the far south; this is our local dialect. The bottles are made from a substance produced there, but I have no idea how. My family buys the bottles after they are made. We have a mage in the family who casts the pictures and writing on the bottles."

He smelled the soap and the shampoo, checked the towels, and asked me, "How much do each of those things cost, and how much do you have?"

I appraised each item and, this time decided to charge the actual price and not discount it. I looked into my storage, counted everything, decided to put aside the opened boxes of each for my personal use, and answered, "The box with the 50 pieces of soap cost 3 gold and 2 silver, the boxes with the liquid soap for body and hair cost 3 gold each for 24 bottles. The big towels cost 3 silver each, the medium towels 2 silver each and the small ones 1 silver each. I have 24 boxes of the soap pieces, 29 boxes of the body liquid soap, and 49 boxes of the hair liquid soap. I have 75 big towels, 95 medium towels, and 64 small towels. All the towels are in various colors, and there is a small difference in size between some of them, but they are still big, medium, and small."

He thought momentarily and asked, "Are you planning to return to Rusha in the future?"

"No. After I visit a few more places, I'll be returning home to stay."

He rubbed his chin and asked, "How much are you asking for everything you have, with a promise that you don't have more and won't be selling to other bathhouses in Rusha?"

I took out a pen and paper and did some calculations, and the mage watched me with interest. After calculating everything, I said, "The total price is 541 gold and 5 silver. Since you are buying in bulk, I'll sell it to you for 500 gold, and I promise you that if you buy the whole stock, I won't have more to sell to other bathhouses."

He hummed under his breath and said, "I'll take all of it, but I don't have such a big sum of money here. Can you return in the afternoon?"

"Yes, no problem."

"Thank you. When you arrive in the afternoon, ask for me. My name is Rob." Oops! again, I forgot to introduce myself. I need to work on that.

We shook hands, and I introduced myself: "My name is John. It's nice to meet you. I'll see you in the afternoon."

I left and headed back to the inn to collect Stretch.

After I collected him, I decided to sell some things; I needed to empty my storage a bit and look for things to buy.

I saw a shop with pots outside on a display table and went inside. The shopkeeper was busy with a customer, so I waited. After he was done, I approached him and extended my hand for a handshake, "Hello, my name is John. Nice to meet you."

He shook my hand and said, "Mesin. How can I help you?"

"I’m a merchant with unique wares. Will you be interested to see them?”

“Maybe, depends on what you have.”

I showed him an extensive assortment of pots, pans, and bowls. He bought most of the stuff I showed him and didn’t say “too fancy” even once. I liked him just for that.

I continued to explore the city and buy various foods from vendors; some of it was so good that I bought more and stored it. I sold stuff to multiple shops and was making money hand over fist. I returned to the bathhouse in the afternoon and concluded our deal.

I enjoyed selling in the city. Most of my sales on the road were small, and I was primarily paid in copper and silver. Here, I made big sales and was paid in gold. It was much more fun, and I really enjoyed being a merchant. It wasn’t so much the money I was making, although I also enjoyed making money, but the actual process of the sale, from offering the goods to negotiation and the final money exchange.

In the evening, after dinner, I approached the innkeeper with an extended hand for a handshake, “My name is John. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?” I remembered to ask, yay me! Maybe one day, I’d get over my introverted ways.

Again, he gave me a strange look and said, “Loman. How can I help you, lad?”

“Can you tell me where the commercial streets in the city are and where the streets are only residential?”

He gave me another strange look (I was getting tired of those) and answered, “There are shops on every street, but some areas are specific. You can find the leather workers on the east side of the city. If you cross the bridge near the leather workers and walk east of the city, you will find the tanners area. The food market is on this side of the river, straight ahead on the main road before you turn left for the inn. The blacksmiths' area is also on the other side of the river in the west. Two fish markets are on both sides of the river near the main docks.”

I thanked him and went up to my room. Before going to sleep, I opened the Map and marked all the streets I visited; I still had a big part of the city to visit.

For the next three weeks, I visited every shop I saw to offer my wares and slowly filled the Map. In the evenings, I would restore weapons for 1000 mana, regenerate for a few hours, and sleep. It snowed off and on during all this time. It wasn’t heavy snow, and it didn’t stay on the ground for long, but Stretch still didn’t like it and preferred to spend his days in the common room of the inn in front of the fire, with the innkeeper and servers that spoiled him rotten with pets and treats. He was living life and enjoying every minute. Every evening, I would ask him how his day went, and I would get a flood of happy emotions accompanied by the taste of food and the pleasure of pets and scratches—spoiled dog.

I left the blacksmiths and leather workers for last, but I was getting close to visiting all the streets in the city. I also visited inns, which turned out to be excellent customers, including my inn. Some shops sold jewelry and potions. I marked them on my Map and planned to return to them later.

When I arrived at the blacksmiths’ area, I entered the first shop I saw. A big man was banging on something on an anvil, one young man pumping bellows and another one arranging things on a display wall. The man arranging the display approached me and said, “Good day to you, good sir. How can we serve you?”

“Do you have old or damaged weapons for sale?”

He looked at me with complete bewilderment. “Old and damaged?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’m a traveling merchant, and I visit many small towns. Some people can’t afford more than 2-3 coppers for a weapon, but they still need to take care of jurbers or other nasties occasionally. I have a lot of good weapons for sale. I’m looking for something for poor people.”

He looked at me like less of a lunatic and said, “Wait a few moments, please.”

He went and talked quietly with the guy banging on the anvil. After a minute, both of them went to the back and returned carrying weapons. They did this another three times and created a big mound of damaged weapons in the middle of the shop.

The big guy approached me and said, “I can’t promise you very low prices since I can melt those and reuse the metal, but see what interests you, and we will talk.”

“Thank you.”

I checked all the weapons, appraised them, and approached him, saying, “I would like to take all the weapons you showed me. I can pay in coins or barter damaged weapons for good ones.”

“I sell only for coins. I don’t buy new weapons, only old ones to melt and reuse.”

“No problem. How much for all the weapons you showed me?”

He checked them one by one, writing on a piece of paper. It was the first time I saw paper here; in all the other shops, the merchants did all the calculations in their heads. The paper looked coarse and was light brownish-grey.

After ten minutes, he said, “Three gold and four silver.”

It was more than my Appraisal showed me. My calculation was 2 gold, 8 silver, and 4 coppers. I said, “This is too much for their condition. Remember, I’m a traveling merchant; I have the Appraisal blessing.”

“How much are you willing to pay?”

“2 gold and 8 silver.”

He extended his hand for a handshake, saying, “We have a bargain.”

I shook his hand and paid him 280 copper coins, most of them local and some of mine from Earth—he liked those like everybody else. I stored the weapons and bid them a good day.

Like this, I toured the whole blacksmith’s area and bought weapons. Some wanted to barter for good weapons, some wanted coins only, and one blacksmith wanted exorbitant prices and was unwilling to bend. He made me realize that skills were not all-powerful and that there was a free will aspect to everything. Otherwise, my bargaining skills would have made him capitulate. I also bought tools after my experience in the emerald cave. I bought picks, saws, hammers, an extensive assortment of nails, and other odds and ends.

It took me three days to visit all the blacksmiths. The next day was nice and sunny without snow, so I took a day off and simply relaxed; buying and selling was hard work. I spent the day visiting food stalls with Stretch, and we tried many different foods. Since his awakening, he has been less picky about food and was enjoying new things. He still wanted beer occasionally, but not too much–maybe once every 4-5 days. I diagnosed him after each beer but couldn’t see any difference.

After our day off, I went to visit the leather workers. The leather area occupied more than ten streets and was very diverse. Some shops sold leather armor in various designs, some others sold riding leather clothes, others sold leather clothes for multiple professions, and other types of shops sold leather sheets for furniture or for carts and carriages. I even found three bowyer shops that sold bows and arrows. I had no idea why they were located in the leather district; the only leather they sold was the bowstrings.

I bought myself three sets of leather armor in varying degrees of protection and hardness, many old and damaged leather goods, over twenty damaged bows, and cleaned out all the bowyers from every arrow they had. I told the bowyers I’d return to buy more arrows in a few days; two looked happy. One looked intimidated, and I had no idea why.

I located the alchemists I marked on the map and visited them one by one. It was an interesting experience that taught me a lot. They all sold mana potions that restored 30 mana and cost 2 gold! No wonder the caravan mage was so excited about the meat; I thought she was simply an excitable person. They also didn’t have health potions; they had various potions, salves, and tinctures for different things like colds, cuts, infections, etc., and the prices were very high. The cheapest was a salve for muscle pain and cost 5 silver, and the most expensive was a potion to treat infections (at least they knew what infections are), which cost 3 gold and 5 silver. They also sold dried plants, and I could sense the mana in them. I decided to sense the plants when I would continue my travels in the wilderness and collect some. I didn’t buy anything, but it was very informative.

Lastly, I visited the jewelry shops. The jewelry in this world was cruder than on Earth, and the gems were cut completely differently. They were primarily square or round. Most were without or had only three or four facets, and the rest were polished smooth. The prices weren’t exorbitant, but not cheap either. I decided not to buy jewelry but did offer my emeralds. They were a big hit. It took me three days to sell the content of both chests from shop to shop, but I did and earned over 2,500 gold.

The red light started blinking in my vision the moment I received the money in the shop before last.

When I was outside, I tapped it.

___________________________

Profession: Merchant Level 5

Available stat points: 0

Level up

+3 wisdom, +3 perception, +2 luck, +3 free points

Profession: Merchant Level 6

Available stat points: 3

_______________________

It was about time; I did a lot of selling and buying since I came to Shimoore.

I visited the last jewelry shop and checked the wares. I didn’t have any more emeralds, and this shop was extra expensive, so I just left.

I decided it was time to move on. I checked the Map and saw that the river continued far into the west like I needed. It also seemed that Travelers explored quite a few of the capitals along this river, about seventy percent of them had names on the Map. Before going to the docks to ask about a ship, I needed to check with Stretch. I found him in the inn in front of the fire. I called him up to our room and talked to him.

“Listen, buddy, with the snow, it will be much more difficult to travel through the wilderness or even on the roads. We can take a ship on the river and travel south like I need. The ships are bigger and more stable than the boat you don’t like, but they’re still traveling over water. What do you say? Will you give a ship a chance?”

He thought for a moment, and I felt his agreement followed by his love for me. The message was clear: "Okay, but only because I love you.”

I hugged, petted, and scratched his ears, saying, “Thanks, buddy. I really need to understand what’s going on with my mana. It’s driving me nuts. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

I sensed a question from him.

“It jumps up without any explanation. I’m not opposed to the rise in available mana, but I need to understand how it happens and how to control it. I don’t like that something is happening in my body that I don’t understand and can’t control.”

I got the feeling of a shrug.

“Yeah, I don’t get it either, but I think there are answers in the west.”

He put his head on my lap. I petted him briefly and asked, “I’m going to the docks, want to come with me?”

I got a strong negative and a feeling of warmth.

“Okay, have fun in the common room with all the servers spoiling you.”

I got a strong feeling of smugness and laughed.

I checked the Map and saw that the river curved north near the kingdom of Talis, so I would look for a ship heading that way. Talis was also close to one of the Gates located a bit south, so I can check that and see where it leads.

I gave Stretch one last scratch under his chin and headed to the docks.