A 12-year-old Cass and his stepmother were sitting on the back of a horse-drawn cart being driven by the guard Marcus, their legs dangling off the back. The cart itself was part of a procession of 3 identical carts, and was stacked high with tradeable goods; iron longswords, dried fish, sacks of grain, beast parts, and animal pelts. The cart was heading to the nearby port city of Arenport, the home of Adeline's adoptive father, and where the village of Wyecliffe does most of its trading.
The reason they were heading to the port city was twofold. Firstly, Cass had never seen any of the products he regularly saw during his apprenticeships, actually being traded for coin, meaning that it was necessary to gain some experience in handling monetary transactions.
For this reason, plus the fact that her adoptive family was from here, Adeline, who managed the village's finances, was selected to be his escort. Secondly, it had been decided that, considering his growth and busy schedule of training and studying, Cass needed a personal maid to tend to his affairs.
The maid in the house, Beatrice, was struggling to manage all of his affairs as well as looking after the adults in the family. It was also important that when Cass took over the village, his household staff was made up of people he could trust to have his best interests at heart, so procuring a maid for him now was important.
To do this, they intended to go to the slave market while in town and purchase a slave who could study under Beatrice and serve as his personal maid.
The cart was allowed through the city gates by the guards, and within only a few minutes of travelling, had already arrived at the trading house. After climbing off the cart, Cass and Adeline were met by a flustered-looking young man carrying a leatherbound book.
He seemed to be in his early 20s, and already had a slight pot-belly protruding from under his shirt. The expression on his face gave Cass the distinct impression that he was trying very hard not to wet himself.
Sweat had already started to collect on his brow before he even opened his mouth. 'L-L-Lady Adeline, what an unexpected surprise. To, wh-wh-what do I owe the pleasure?'
With her most honeyed voice, Cass' stepmother replied 'Greetings, Pelrin. Me and my son, Cass have business in the city today, so I felt as though it would be a good experience for you two to meet, seeing as you will probably be working together at some point in the future. By the way, how is your father doing?'
At the mention of the boy's father, Cass observed Pelrin beginning to turn a shade lighter. 'Young Lord Cass, it is truly a pleasure!' Pelrin gave a slight bow in Cass' direction. 'M-m-my father is doing well, thank you! His arm still bothers him during the winter months, but Mother said that he just needs to suck it up. Wh-wh-what types of goods are you bringing and in what quantities today?'
'The usual goods today, let me check my list. ' Adeline pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, unfolded it, and began to list off the goods for sale. '50 Pig iron longswords, 40 sacks of wheat grain, 35 pounds of smoked fish, 10 deer hides, and the pelts of 3 1-star beasts.'
'Right, in that case, a-a-at current market pricing, we can offer 250 silver for the pig iron swords, 120 silver for the wheat, 140 silver for the fish, 20 silver for the hides, and 150 silver for the pelts. So in total 6 gold and 80 silver.' Cass was thankful that the currency was easy to follow in this world. <100 copper = 1 silver. 100 Silver = 1 Gold>
Adeline placed her hand on her chin and made counting motions with her fingers. Cass was pretty sure that she was not actually counting anything and was just doing this for effect. 'How about we call it 7 gold and leave it at that?' She held an open hand out towards the quivering man, however, Cass soon noticed that he had underestimated Pelrin's courage.
'I am sorry, Miss Adeline. I made that offer in good faith by considering the current market pricing, the frequency the goods are delivered to us, the relationship our merchant's guild holds with both your and your brother's family, and the quality of the goods delivered.
Frankly, I am already offering you slightly more than what I would offer others due to the previously mentioned factors, so I am not prepared to offer even a bronze over the original price I have provided!'
'Well said, Pelgrin. I like that backbone of yours. Just as a merchant should be! 6 gold and 80 silver it is! When you get home, tell your father I commend you as having more balls than he ever did! We will return later today to collect the carts and coins. Can I leave the rest with you?'
'M-m-most certainly, lady Adeline, a pleasure doing business with you. I hope your stay in the city is lucrative. Good day to you also, Master Cass, I hope you find our city to your liking.' With another low bow, the man excused himself and made his way to the workers who were offloading the cart.
Cass and Adeline turned around and started heading towards the main city on foot. 'Cass, that man will be a good ally for you in the future if you can bring him to your side. Try to keep a good relationship with him.'
'I will keep that in mind. How is that money dealt with now?'
'Well, the first thing to know about that money is that all of it is our family's money, not the village's money. Except for the hides and pelts, which we buy directly from Harric, all of those products come from businesses the family owns.
After we collect the money, we must first take out any necessary expenses, such as wages for the workers and repair costs for boats and equipment, which leaves us with our profit. In our case, we will probably get to keep around 5 gold this week. From that leftover 5 gold, a quarter of it, so one gold and 25 silver, goes towards the town as taxes.
Your father is the lord of the village, but he is still a resident, so we still pay our taxes to the village, too. Keeping the family's finances and the village's finances separate is very important.'
'Got it. And another question, why did it seem he was going to piss his pants when you asked about his father?'
'HAHAHAHAHA' Adeline laughed so loud that people in the street turned their heads to see where the noise was coming from. After seeing that she was the source, people quickly looked the other way. Cass realized that his stepmother was well-known in the city.
'That's because his father is a lecherous old cod who couldn't keep his hands to himself. Before I married your father, that old man was trying to take me as his mistress. Of course, Father would never allow this, but he still wanted to have his way with me.
One day at a banquet at my father's manor, he insisted that I dance with him, and being the well-educated, polite, and magnanimous nobleman's daughter that I am, I accepted. He decided during the dance that it would be ok to try and slip his hand under my skirt and squeeze my backside, so in my rage, I swiftly tore his arm out at the shoulder.
After seeing what had happened, nobody would offer him a high-grade healing pill fast enough, so his arm never grew back. His screams were pretty irritating, but frankly I was more annoyed that his blood was all over the pretty pink dress I had tailored for the event, it was a damn shame.'
Cass was once again reminded that making his step mother angry was never a wise move!