NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: Exploring the City
Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, fresh bread and coffee. Yes, this world had coffee. Praise the gods! Hmmm. I should probably find out more about the gods of this world. I am also not sure who, or what, was responsible for my reincarnation. Maybe an overgod?
Anyway, the serving woman was happy to point me towards a clothes shop. I also found out that the city had a large library and a famous magical academy.
I bought 10 sets of underwear and 4 travelling outfits, similar to what I had. While shopping I discovered that 1 gold converts to 100 silver. 1 silver equals 100 copper. All nations seemed to use the same currency. There was even a bank run by the dwarfs. I debated if I should make an account. My storage was pretty safe but it could help with big transactions. Also the whole bank thing had me curious.
The building was a nice solid stone structure. It was covered in nice looking runes that served as decoration, as well as protection. There were three counters in the main room, all staffed by dwarfs. I went to the first one. The clerk had short blond hair and a truly massive beard.
“Greetings. I would like to open an account,” I said.
“Welcome dear customer! It’s nice to see an elf around here. Way too many humans I tell you,” he responded. “Opening an account is simple. You will need to place your hand on the runic formation on the counter. We will record your magical signature and link your finances to it. You can withdraw your funds at any branch up to 1000 gold per day. For a larger amount we will need a one week notice. You can transfer any amount from one account to another though. Opening an account will cost you 1 gold. There is also a 1 gold charge per year for maintaining your account.”
That seemed rather expensive. I looked at street vendor prices while shopping earlier. From what I gathered 1 copper was roughly 0,5$. That would make a silver 50$ and a gold 5000$. Banking was for the rich it seemed. But I had the money, so I might as well go for it.
“Yes, that sounds fine. I would also like to make a large deposit into the account.”
The dwarfs' eyes lit up at the word large. “Certainly my lady!” He seemed to press a button somewhere and a small hole opened in the desk. “Just put your hand on the formation, I will open the account and then you can deposit any amount in the hole. It will automatically count the coins and safely transport them to our vault.”
I also noticed that the dwarf seemed to be typing on something. I wondered if they had magic computers? I did not see any screens. Anyway, I placed my hand on the formation. After getting the ok from the dwarf I sent a trail of coins into the hole from my necklace. The dwarfs' eyes seemed to grow larger and larger as the coins kept going for a while. When I was finished I had deposited 200156 gold into my new account. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “So you never asked for my name. Is that information not needed for my account?” I wondered.
“Of course not my lady! We value privacy here. Your magic signature can not be forged I assure you! That is all we need.” The dwarf reassured me. “I see you deposited 200156 gold with us. We will deduct the fee of 1g for the opening of the account and another 1g for the first year. That leaves your balance at 200154 gold. Is there anything else I can help you with?” He asked, smiling.
“No, that would be all. Thank you for your help.” I left the bank satisfied.
Afterwards I went looking for lunch. There were several stalls selling street food at the market square. I bought some grilled fish on a stick. I was uncertain what spices they used to season the fish but there were hints of garlic. It was delicious and went well with the ale I purchased.
Afterwards I continued my exploration of the city. The lower part was focused on trade. There was the port on the east side, the gate in the south and the entrance to the mountain in the west. A giant road connected the port with the mountain. This was the main trading route. At the centre was a giant market square. You could see many stalls where vendors advertised their goods. My inn was located not too far from the square toward the southern gate. The further north you went in the city the richer people became. Also the northern part was higher. At the tallest point stood the palace of the duke. It was surrounded by mansions of the local nobility and rich merchants. Slightly lower you had the academy in the east and the temple district in the west. The library was close to the academy.
They charged me 1 silver for a day at the library. Knowledge sure was expensive. I spent the entire afternoon going over books. I learned that Iron Rock was ruled by a duke called William Shields. I also read up on the surrounding nations and checked the local laws. For example, I was happy to find out that slavery was banned on the whole continent, except for the Empire. There were still a lot of things about this world I did not know. But today was a good start. I returned to my inn satisfied.