The next day, I awoke to find the morning sun straining its way through the gaps in the wooden shutters, faintly illuminating the room.
I stood and stretched my body in an attempt to loosen it up after spending a night with my back against the wall. Since I didn’t have any muscles to loosen, it was more a habit than anything else.
After twisting the vertebrae in my neck left and right, I stood up from the bed and opened the window, filling the room with bright sunlight. The window faced the thoroughfare, and, outside, I could see the town below me already bustling, despite the early hour.
At the center of the thoroughfare sprawled a morning market, where many people had gathered. Customers milled about among a variety of merchants, including farmers offering up fresh vegetables, vendors hawking roasted meat, and craftspeople selling beautifully dyed cloths and other goods.
I checked the money in my waist pouch and the contents of my burlap sack, then made my way out of the room.
Down on the first floor, the check-out counter was empty, the other guests nowhere to be found. I guessed that would make sense, considering we’d all paid up front. Strange way to run a business, though.
Out on the thoroughfare, I threw the burlap sack over my shoulder. All eyes were instantly on me, making me feel more than a little uncomfortable. Maybe walking around fully clad in armor wasn’t the norm in this world. No, that couldn’t be it; I could see a few others similarly outfitted. Maybe it was my rather ostentatious armor that was drawing attention.
Time to get myself together. First things first, I needed to find an armory to sell my loot.
I walked a ways to the west before spotting a shop with a sign bearing a crossed sword and axe. Inside, the shop was dimly lit, its cramped interior covered wall to wall with metal weapons and armor.
As I was browsing, a middle-aged man, who I assumed to be the shop’s owner, stepped out from the back. At first, he was startled by my appearance, but he then flashed a cheerful smile.
“And what can I do for you, dear sir?” the shop owner asked, rubbing his hands together as he spoke.
“I’d like to sell these. What are they worth?”
I lowered the burlap sack from my shoulder and undid the cord holding the flap shut, placing all the items I’d plundered from the bandits—six swords, one mace, and two of the three short swords—onto the counter. The third short sword seemed like it might come in handy, so I left it in the bag.
The shop owner inspected each of the items, removing the swords from their sheaths so he could examine their blades. Finally, he placed his hand to his chin, as if signaling that he’d settled on a purchase price, and turned back to face me.
“I’ll give you fifteen sok for the curved blade and five each for the straight swords. The mace’ll get you seven sok and five sek, and I can pay one sok and five sek for each of the short swords. I can sell the curved blade straight away with a little sharpening, but I’ll need to hammer out the rest of the swords to work out the imperfections. No one around here really uses maces, so that’s the best I can do.”
I was satisfied with the shopkeeper’s explanation and agreed to his offer. “That will be fine.”
“Fifty sok and five sek it is then.”
He pulled fifty gold coins and five silver ones out of a cabinet and set them down on the counter. I put the money into my leather waist pouch.
Between the money from the horses and the money from the weapons, my pouch was feeling pretty full. Last night’s stay had cost me a silver coin—one sek—and each of the gold coins seemed to be worth ten of the silver ones, meaning each one would provide me ten nights with a roof over my head.
However, I didn’t know when or where I might need money in this strange world. It would probably be best for me to find a way to earn more while I still had some financial stability.
The shopkeeper was facing away from me as he busied himself putting away the weapons he’d just purchased.
“Apologies, but do you perchance know of a way to earn some good wages to fund my travels?”
The shopkeeper stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me, tilting his head to the side slightly.
“Wages? Well, if I were to make a suggestion based on your magnificent armor there, I suppose I’d go with the mercenaries. Then you could enter and leave town without paying taxes, too.”
So, there was a mercenary guild in town. If I registered with them, I’d receive a mercenary license I could show to the guards. I had no idea taxes were levied just for coming and going through the gates, since I’d entered the town with the Luvierte family’s carriage.
By the nature of their job, mercenaries enter and exit towns often, so it’d be impossible to make a living if they had to pay taxes every time. Shopkeepers who registered with the merchant guild also fell under the same system, but they still had to pay taxes on the goods they sold.
I thanked the shopkeeper and left.
The mercenary guild office was right across the thoroughfare from the weapon’s shop, next to the merchant guild. It was a plain, two-story, timber building, its only distinguishing feature a sign depicting a sword crossed over a shield. Upon entering through the double doors on the first floor, I found myself at a counter completely fenced in by iron bars that went straight up to the ceiling, like a cage.
Inside the cage sat a lone bear. Not actually a bear, but a man who could pass for one. Sporting short black hair and a face that hadn’t seen a razor in some time, the man wore a black eyepatch and had a large scar that ran across his forehead. Muscular arms protruded from his shirt, and tufts of black hair pushed out around his open collar.
So far, the only people I’d seen at reception desks or in shops had been burly men. I guessed women’s rights hadn’t yet advanced all that much in this world.
The eyepatch-wearing bear glared at me as I approached the counter, but this was understandable, considering I was completely decked out in weapons and armor.
“I’d like you to issue me a mercenary license.”
The corners of the bear’s mouth twisted into a grin when he heard my request, though he continued to glare at me through his cage. I supposed this was his best effort at a smile, something he wasn’t quite used to doing, but it was still off-putting.
“Judgin’ by yer equipment, ya don’ seem to be in any need of money. Besides, if ya want a mercenary license, ya need to pass a test. A test of strength, basically. All ya need to do is bring back proof that ya killed three beasts, monsters, or bandits. Which ones and the order is up t’you. Real simple, yeah?” The bear guarding the reception desk shot me a bold smile.
Beasts sounded normal enough, but apparently there were also monsters in this world. I’d noticed herds of animals out in the grasslands and on the hills as I made my way here, but I hadn’t seen anything like a beast or monster. It had all struck me as a rather tranquil scene.
What’s more, bandits were also included on the list. Would severed heads serve as proof, then? I’d already cremated the corpses of the bandits I’d killed yesterday, so those wouldn’t do.
“Understood. I’ll be back with my three bounties.”
I made a mental note of the test criteria before thanking the bear and leaving the mercenary guild office.
Despite how crowded the thoroughfare’s sprawling morning market was, the path immediately in front of me was surprisingly clear. I walked easily through the crowds and headed toward the west gate.
On my way, I stopped at a stall selling a variety of leather goods, ranging from small coin pouches made from hardened leather to leather carrying cases. I picked up a large leather waterskin in the shape of a gourd, with a cork pressed into the top to serve as a stopper. This was an absolute necessity for any traveler. I handed the stall owner three silver coins and received five copper coins in change. Considering how full my coin pouch was already, I knew fishing out copper coins would quickly become a hassle. Pretty soon, I’d have to start sorting my coins into different pouches based on their denominations.