Free Web NovelChapter 31: Haggle
Shit.
Nacho reached into his inventory and pulled out the first thing his fingers touched. It happened to be a fistful of the dried kelp Lizbeth had packed for him as travel food.
"Here’s a sample." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
The guard stared at the kelp, then at him, then back at the kelp. Her expression didn’t change, but something in her posture relaxed by a fraction.
"Fine. Inspection fee is five silver. Pay at the window on your left."
She stamped his papers and waved him through before he could even process what had just happened.
Wait, that worked?
He glanced down at the kelp in his hand. It looked like regular dried kelp. Slightly wilted, kind of sad. Not exactly the premium trade goods his documentation claimed he was carrying.
Either she didn’t care, or Sera’s paperwork is better than I thought.
He paid the five silver at the indicated window, a small booth manned by a bored-looking clerk who didn’t even glance at his face, and then he was through.
The exit corridor was long and dim, lit only by guttering torches set into iron sconces along the walls. The air here was different than in Lumen. Drier, like Renly had warned, and carrying a faint smell of smoke and horses and something else he couldn’t quite identify.
Human cities, probably. This is what human civilization smells like.
The corridor opened up into a massive courtyard, and Nacho stopped dead in his tracks.
The Mortal World was nothing like the Ocean.
Where Lumen had been all spiraling towers and bioluminescent light, this place was sprawling and horizontal, buildings of stone and wood and brick spreading out in every direction as far as the eye could see. The streets were packed with people, actual people, humans and other races he didn’t recognize, all going about their business with the particular urgency of those who had somewhere to be.
And above it all, the sky.
He’d seen it briefly from the platform, but seeing it through gaps in stone was nothing compared to standing under it. The blue went on forever, fading to white near the horizon, with massive clouds drifting lazily across like ships sailing an invisible sea. The sun hung near its peak, impossibly bright, warming his skin in a way that the filtered light of the ocean never had.
This is actually kind of beautiful.
A cart nearly ran him over.
"Move it, fish boy!"
Nacho jumped out of the way as a heavily loaded wagon trundled past, pulled by something that looked like a horse but had an extra pair of legs and scales running down its neck. The driver glared at him over his shoulder, clearly annoyed at having his progress impeded by a gawking newcomer.
Right. Don’t stand in the middle of the road like an idiot. Got it.
He moved to the side of the street and took a moment to get his bearings. The courtyard was actually a market square, with dozens of stalls selling everything from food to weapons to what looked like small caged animals. The crowd was dense and loud, voices overlapping in a chaotic symphony of commerce.
His Apex Senses picked up fragments of conversation from every direction.
"—fresh bread, two copper a loaf—"
"—heard the Emperor’s raising taxes again—" fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
"—those Siren bastards, should’ve wiped them out years ago—"
That last one made him pause. The speaker was a heavyset man with a butcher’s apron and a face like a clenched fist. He was talking to another merchant, both of them leaning against a stall selling cured meats.
"Mark my words, they’re planning something. All those trade envoys coming through? It’s a cover. They’re spying on us."
"You think so? They seemed pretty harmless to me."
"That’s what they want you to think. Fish people are sneaky. Unnatural. Can’t trust anything that lives underwater."
Nacho drifted closer, keeping his expression neutral while his Mind Fortress skimmed the surface of their thoughts.
—filthy creatures, Empire should’ve conquered them properly—
—Bob’s being paranoid again, but he’s not entirely wrong—
Lovely. Anti-Siren sentiment. Just what I needed.
He filed the information away and moved on. The market square opened up into a main street that seemed to lead toward the city center, where a massive stone fortress rose above the surrounding buildings like a mountain among hills.
That’s probably the Imperial Palace. Or the local lord’s castle. Either way, staying away from it seems smart.
His immediate priorities were simple. Find a place to stay. Figure out how the power structure worked. Start looking for ways to absorb Talents without drawing attention to himself.
The massage parlor approach had worked well in Lumen, but he doubted he could set up shop quite so easily here. Different culture, different expectations. He’d need to adapt.
First things first. Money.
He had some coins from his time in Lumen, but they were Siren currency. He had no idea if they’d be accepted here, or what the exchange rate was. The inspection fee had taken five silver, which meant his reserves were already dwindling.
He spotted a money changer’s booth near the edge of the square, a small wooden structure with iron bars across the window and a sign that read "Honest Theo’s Exchange" in both the Common tongue and what he assumed was Siren script.
Honest Theo. Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all.
He approached the booth and tapped on the bars. A face appeared in the window, belonging to a skinny man with a receding hairline and the kind of smile that made Nacho want to count his fingers afterward.
"Welcome, welcome! Siren currency? Human? Dwarf? We handle it all here at Honest Theo’s!"
"Siren."
"Excellent, excellent! Let’s see what you’ve got!"
Nacho pulled out a handful of the coins he’d accumulated from massage tips. Gold, silver, and copper, all stamped with the shark emblem of Lumen.
Theo’s eyes widened slightly at the gold, though he tried to hide it behind his professional smile.
"Ah, yes, yes. Siren gold. Very nice quality. Exchange rate is... let me see..." He made a show of consulting a ledger, though Nacho suspected he already knew exactly what he was going to offer. "Ten Siren gold converts to seven Imperial gold. Best rate you’ll find in the city."
Bullshit. That’s at least a thirty percent markup.
"How about eight?"
Theo’s smile flickered. "My friend, you wound me. The overhead costs alone—"
"Eight, or I walk."
