Abe the Wizard - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Fort Lee . It was supposed to be just the name of an old fort, but people started building a town around it and made it into a densely-populated town . Right now, the old Fort Lee was used as a residence for Lord Rex, who was the current mayor of this town .

It was about noon when Abel and Norman arrived at Fort Lee . After a brief discussion between themselves, the two decided to go to the church for some treatment first . For the priest to perform a ‘healing for light injury’ on Norman’s leg, they spent a total of ten silver coins .

Something stood out to Abel while they were walking out of the sanctuary building . As it turned out, holding a church was actually a very profitable business . Ten silver coins were enough to feed a family for a month, but a priest could ask for the same amount for performing one divine act . Actually, just look at how tall the church was built .

Under Norman’s guide, Abel came to a leather store on the eastern side of town . It was, frankly, the right place to sell the shadow panther they killed .

The store manager was shocked when the two brought the animal in . It was hard to bring down a dangerous predator without doing too much damage to its body . That was exactly what Abel and Norman did, though .  Apart from the long streak of the wound on its backside, every other part of the panther was left untouched .

That being said, the shopkeeper was more than happy to buy it for ten gold coins .  While Norman seemed pretty content with this deal, Abel just nodded with him . He didn’t know how the leather market was like, but the ten gold coins sounded like quite a good sum .

Ten gold coins . Along with the one coin he got from Zach and the other five he had in saving, Abel had a total of sixteen gold coins . Just like in the previous world, having gold meant great purchasing power . This meant that Abel wasn’t exactly penniless now .

Just to be clear, he didn’t come to Fort Lee for a day off . He came here to do some shopping . Some of which he had sent Norman to retrieve, and some of which he must buy without letting others know .

Which was why he decided to head to the center of Fort Lee . After sending Norman away, Abel came to the Fort Lee Shopping Centre, which was a large shopping place marked with a logo of the old fort . It was about noontime here, so there wasn’t a lot of people .

Abel wasn’t sure what he could buy here, so he went to ask at the counter . From what he could see, this was kind of a more high-class version of a general store . There were daily commodities, jewellery, clothes, etc . He wasn’t sure if he could find the stuff he was looking for here .

“You must be sir Abel,” a fat, middle-aged man walked out from the counter . While wearing a big grin on his face, he greeted Abel with a bow . It was a weird bow, and the timing was pretty weird as well .

Despite the unconventional (and somewhat inappropriate) display of etiquette shown towards him, Abel returned the favor with a formal greeting of his own . He knew how hard it was for commoners to learn the proper etiquette, so he wasn’t going to ask too much here .

” I am . Do you know me?”

“Forgive me for calling out your name, Sir . My name is Tim . I’m the owner of this establishment,” Tim bowed again, but still in a very bizarre manner, “I’ve noticed the Thorned Shield on your attire . Your brother Zach had the same mark on him, and I happened to know him some time ago . ”

The Thorned Shield was the coat of arms that represented the Bennett family . To be a competent royal, one must learn to memorize as many coats of arms as possible . It was a mandatory part of Abel’s knight training, along with literature, music, and other talents .

“Do you have any single pieces of gemstone here, Mr . Tim?” Abel inquired . Now, Abel didn’t have to but referring to Tim as ‘mister’ was quite a respectful thing to do . Judging from Tim’s reaction, he must’ve been extraordinarily pleased by this act of acknowledgment .

“You’ve come to the right place, Sir,” Tim responded with a wider grin than when they had just met, “Yes, we provide a variety of gemstones here in Fort Lee . What were you after, Sir?”

On his command, Tim ordered his men to unlock a big box stored in the counter . There were several rows of gemstones inside this box, all of which were very small pieces . Most people in Fort Lee couldn’t afford jewelry . Plus, the bigger gemstones were to be moved to somewhere else . They had other uses than being sold off as luxury accessory items .

“How much do I need to pay for these, Mr . Tim?” Abel asked as he picked up six evenly-sized rubies from the box .

“Just six gold coins, Sir Abel . ”

It was a reasonable price . After all, no esteemed merchants would swindle a customer from the same region . Also, Abel might be young, but he was still the son of a knight .  It was a fair deal made with six gold coins . Plain and simple .

Having received the cash from Abel, Tim went to put six ruby pieces inside a woolen bag . He led Abel out of the store after that . In the most respectful way he knew, of course .

Having left the shopping center, Abel ran off to an isolated alleyway . There, he took out three ruby pieces from the bag and placed them in his Horadric Cube . If he remembered his formulas correctly, three of the same gemstones could merge into one bigger, finer gemstone of the same kind .

Having withstood his feeling of excitement, Abel tapped the crafting slots with his finger . He inserted the three rubies in, which quickly vanished in a flash of light . He then saw a big ruby in the uppermost slot of the Horadric Cube .

What a thing a beauty this was . After putting it out in the daylight, every side of this piece was glistening with a clear, red flash . Whether it was the size or the quality of this piece, it was definitely a rank higher than the three other rubies combined . Abel couldn’t tell for sure, but he knew this was worth more than three gold coins .

Having crafted his second larger gemstone, Abel was starting to think of a good place to sell them . He knew he couldn’t go back to Fort Lee Shopping Centre for this .  If he came back to sell them to the place he had just bought jewelry from, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that something was wrong here .

Abel walked around the town for a bit more . After walking down the main street, he could see that there was a boutique shop in front of him . It was Edmund’s boutique shop, the biggest business of its kind in the entire duchy . From what Abel could remember, every town in the Duchy of Carmel had Edmund’s boutique shop somewhere . It was a very renowned brand, with a history of 500 years since it was first founded . Every year, the Edmund Business would host a big auction event that would attract aristocrats from all over the duchy . Even those from the neighboring duchies would come to bid on the exquisite items on sale .

“Welcome to Edmund’s boutique shop . How can I help you?”

It was a young woman who greeted Abel as he made his entrance . She had blonde hair, a standard oval-shaped face, large eyes, and her skin was fair and spotless . The fine dress she was wearing was made of oriental silk, a material that originated from the Far East .  She spoke in a soft, gentle voice as she gave Abel a noontime bow .

“Good noon, young and beautiful madam,” Abel greeted, “I’m looking for someone to verify a gemstone for me . ”

Unlike that fat man earlier, this lady knew exactly the right way to demonstrate her etiquette . She spoke politely, but not in an unnecessarily-wordy kind of way . Her bow was proper and well-timed .  As mentioned before, it wasn’t easy for most people to learn the proper etiquette .  The Edmund business must’ve done quite an investment in training its employees .

“Please, call me Yvette, my young and handsome sir . You can talk to me if it’s about verifying your gemstones . I’m the manager of this shop . Please, come with me for a chat upstairs . ”

Just from a first glance, Yvette could tell that Abel was someone of noble birth . This was precisely why she would have a talk with him herself .

The two went upstairs to have a seat in the guest room . The moment Abel sat down, he was immediately served with a cup of fresh coffee . Abel didn’t want to appear rude, but walking for several hours in town made him very thirsty .  He went to have a sip before they even started talking .

It was good coffee . Abel wasn’t exactly an expert, but his tongue wasn’t completely numb either . Wherever the beans were from, it wasn’t something that the Bennett family could easily make a purchase of .

Abel was a very young boy . So young, Yvette could just refer to him as ‘boy . ’ Age, however, was by no means what signified the reputation of a nobleman . This notion was commonly acknowledged among aristocrats, and it was also something that their servants followed by when they served .

“How much is this gemstone worth, Madam Yvette?” Abel took out his bigger ruby and passed it to Yvette .

Having taken over the gemstone, Yvette started examining its interior through a small lamp . Then, after a few minutes had passed, she raised her head with a somewhat delighted look on her face .

“This is a perfect piece! The carvings . The structure of it . Transparency . Honestly, I can’t find any flaws in it .  How about I buy it from you for 300 gold coins?”