The Black Iron Glory
Shaliun Gold Coins
Chapter 37
Shaliun Gold Coins
Claude spent more than an hour bathing in the spring near the ruins to wash away the mud from him. Fortunately, he brought an extra set of clothes to change, as well as underwear and socks. He had prepared to turn into them if he had to swim. Although the end of the 5th month and the lake water was still a bit cold, Claude brought some extra clothes just in case. They're boating to Egret. Who knows when they will be forced to swim?
After changing into a new outfit, he rinsed off his dirty clothes to clean up the mud. As for the stains on the clothes, he would take them home and make his mother find a house cleaner to wash them. There was no need for him to go out of his way to thoroughly wash and hang him in the wilderness.
When Claude was done with all that, Welikro, Borkal and Eriksson had already skinned the python and cut its tendons. They then took the goods back to their camp and broadcast them out in the open due to the night wind.
As for the remaining python meat, a large piece was cut from the back at Claude's request for their dinner. Welikro then cut a few pieces of meat from the python into pieces and marinated them before hanging them on a wooden shelf to smoke at night. The gallbladder and the eyes of the python were also carefully harvested by Welikro and stored into an empty bottle. He said that it was a valuable medicinal ingredient that would be happily paid by pharmacies at a high price to buy.
Borkal and Eriksson are not lazy either. They helped Welikro fend off pythons, wash them clean, and take each for themselves. Whitestag's parents said that carrying snake fangs would help prevent the disease. Although it was only a folk rumor, Borkal and Eriksson did not seem to doubt it in the slightest.
The stars could be seen sprinkled in the night sky.
The four youths ate python meat for dinner around the campfire.
"I would never have imagined the flesh of a python to taste this taste," said Borkal with his oily mouth, "It tastes too good! Claude, you roasted it right."
"I forgot something," Claude said as he went to his bag and took out two bottles of blackcurrant wine from his bag, "Actually, I should have added some of this wine into the frying pan before baking. That would make it even more delicious. "
"Huh? Blackcurrant wine?" Borkal said, overjoyed, "You brought this? Why isn't this a pleasant surprise?"
"Yup," Claude said with a nod, "My father gave me one riya. I didn't know what to buy, so I bought these two bottles for you to try. But be sure to be careful when you drink It makes your head hurt quite easily."
When Claude took thale and riyas from his father, he wanted to give Borkal the money immediately to pay off his debt at first. But the total amount of money he had was one thale and three riyases. After giving her the money, she would still owe her two riyases and she would feel a bit bad for not giving it all back. So, he thought it was better to pay off the debt after their trip to Egret. When he remembered that his friends wanted to buy blackcurrant wine to try before Claude spent most of their money, he decided to get some that satisfied their desires.
Since they did not carry cups, only some wooden plates and utensils, the four of them drank directly from the bottle and handed it to each other.
"Oh, Eyke, I forgot to tell you something," Claude found a short match and returned it. "Sorry, python bti to the gun and make two holes in it as I fight against it. It's right here. If you need to fix it when you get back, tell me how much the repair cost. I'll pay for it . "
Eriksson widened his eyes in confusion. "How ... how did the python end up biting the gun? Claude, how did you kill that python?"
"It's all thanks to your weapon" said Claude, "When I was there, the python made me constrict and I fell straight into the mud. I wanted to grab it but it didn't work because its body was slippery with all the mud on it. When I saw his head shoot towards me for a bite, I had no choice but to block with a gun. I don't think it's really going to bite him either.
"It's all thanks to your weapon" said Claude, "When I was there, the python made me constrict and I fell straight into the mud. I wanted to grab it but it didn't work because its body was slippery with all the mud on it. When I saw his head shoot towards me for a bite, I had no choice but to block with a gun. I don't think it's really going to bite him either.
"Thank God, the bite sank into the gun. It was only after that when I realized that the gun was stuck in his mouth. I held it with all my might as the python shook its head in panic to free itself from the gun. It was only one hand away from me when it shook. Had my hand not been in the trigger trigger, the gun would have slipped out of my hand.
"In a panic, I saw the torch I had dropped onto the branches not far away and stretched it out with my left hand like my life depended on it. When I grabbed it, I pressed it all over the gun itself. Thank you wargod that fits in slowly ignited. Seeing that it was close to the flash pan, I pulled the trigger with everything I had and bam! The snake stopped moving after squirming for a while. After I removed the snake from my body. "I let go of the gun and climbed up the rope ladder, only managing to catch my breath when I finally reached the top. Only after that did I recharge and shoot into the sky to let you know. And as expected, you came back right after that. "
His friends were speechless after hearing the story of his brush with death. They could only imagine how terrifying and dangerous the entire situation was. The slightest mistake would cause them to never be able to see Claude again.
"It's all my fault" said Welikro after a moment of silence, "i was too careless. I came with my father for the last two winters and thought that the ruins were not dangerous at all, so I thought it would be fine to leave Claude here alone. I forget that this time is the transition from spring to summer. Pythons usually hibernate during the winter and are inactive during that time. However, this season is the most active. If Claude doesn't "Kill it, we might be attacked by him tonight. These ruins are supposed to be where he hunts his prey."
"Are you saying that the ruins are the territory of this great python?" ask Borkal.
"That's right. In fact, we can see some signs if we pay close enough attention. For example, there were no signs of snakes, insects or other rats in the ruins aside from a few seagulls that perched on the debris in the however, none of the birds came to the ruins. That should be a suspicious sign. But what was in my head was how this place was during the winter, quiet and lifeless, so I assumed that there was nothing wrong when I saw how lifeless it was right now, "obviously Welikro is troubled.
"It is best to drink it just in case. Boa's right" Eriksson said. He stuffed the python's fangs back into the gun and whistled. "It's really cool, Claude. Forget about repair costs. This fang is more than enough to make up for it. Look how powerful that stick is in the gun! I will go back and tell the others that the hole in my weapon is made by python and none of them can refute me when I have proof like this. "
Welikro looked at him and said, "You and Boa should give good fangs for approximately an hour. Even though you've rinsed it with clean water, we can't be sure that the poison is completely gone. "Boiling it first would be much safer. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if you were poisoned for accidentally cutting it yourself."
Welikro looked at him and said, "You and Boa should give good fangs for approximately an hour. Even though you've rinsed it with clean water, we can't be sure that the poison is completely gone. "Boiling it first would be much safer. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if you were poisoned for accidentally cutting it yourself."
Welikro's advice makes sense. Borkal and Eriksson hurried to pick up the pot to boil the fangs.
By the time they were done with it, Claude and Welikro had already started sucking on the python jerky.
"Boa, I almost forgot to ask you something," said Claude, "When you saw the shaliun gold coin earlier, you said that it was too bad that it was not a magic shaliun gold coin. What do you mean by that? Is there a difference between magical or normal shaliun goid coins? "
Boa nodded. "Do you know how the earliest gold coins appeared? Who made it?"
"I don't know .." Claude wanted to say that they might be formed. He has watched several shows on the internet about clay prints used in ancient times to make gold coins. The molten gold will be poured into the mold and allowed to cool before the mold breaks down. Only after the coins were shaved beside him would they be complete. It was time consuming and troublesome and each coin had a slight difference. No two coins made of clay prints are completely identical.
But he was in a parallel world. Claude didn't want to assume anything he wasn't sure about.
"It is said that the earliest gold coins were made by magi four thousand years ago," Borkal began, "Don't look at me. That is what is stated in the coin encyclopedia. Humans at that time seemed to only barter and it proved to be quite troublesome for the magi who were trying to obtain magical ingredients, magi used precious darkgolds to make small, round platters they rated to trade with each other.
"However, darkgold is a magical material and nothing much happens. So, the magi began to use normal gold and one gram of darkgold each to make a gold coin with an engraving of a cloaked magi on it. The currency after the magus that created the darkgold coin, Shaliun.
"Since those shaliun gold coins contained one gram of darkgold, many magi used them as ingredients in their magic experiments, causing the number of magical shaliuns to decrease over time. It is said that the northern kingdom of Shik still has one in their hands and it is treated as a national treasure.
"The earliest "gold coins were all made by magi. Their alchemy techniques allowed them to create magical shaliun coins that were completely identical. As long as they had the darkgold, they could make as many of them as they pleased and anyone was allowed to do so.
"Since those shaliun gold coins contained one gram of darkgold, many magi used them as ingredients in their magic experiments, causing the number of magical shaliuns to decrease over time. It is said that the northern kingdom of Shik still has one in their hands and it is treated as a national treasure.
"The earliest "gold coins were all made by magi. Their alchemy techniques allowed them to create magical shaliun coins that were completely identical. As long as they had the darkgold, they could make as many of them as they pleased and anyone was allowed to do so.
"But as the amount of magic resources gradually decreases, its value begins to expand. Darkgold extraction also slowly became troublesome, so the magi were no longer willing to make their coins with darkgold. So, about two thousand years ago, darkgoldless gold coins were born, it was called shaliun like its predecessor, only without the prefix 'magical'. Back then, each magical shaliun could be traded for ten or even a hundred normal shaliun gold coins.
"The emergence of normal shaliun gold coins soon saw them used among common folk in trade. Initially, it was only popularized among magi nobles, but they soon spread throughout the continent. Almost everyone trades using shaliun.
"But back then, all gold coins were made by magi using alchemy to ensure that the gold content in each coin remained constant. It was a rather difficult burden to bear by the magi. They were unwilling to waste so much magical power and gold to make the coins used by the common people. So, they devised a plan and made seven sets of gold coin prints given to the seven magi noble families who would be tasked with making gold coins for commoners.
"These seven sets of prints were what inspired the common man and before long, silver and copper coins began to appear to meet the needs of smaller denominations of currencies. However, the seven gold coin prints were only used by the magi and there were only seven variations of the engravings on the coins. Silver and copper coins on the other hand gave birth to all kinds of branches with different carvings and patterns.
"The encyclopedia states that at that time, there were only seven types of gold coins. But there are 143 silver coins and over 800 copper coins with different patterns. Any nobleman or merchant who owned a copper mine would make their own copper coin prints with different carvings to make coins for use in the market and it was quite troublesome to exchange coins for ones others.
"Only when the Amsra dynasty rose to power did the number of gold coins vary. After that, the empire split into many independent states and only after the geopolitics of the nation settled into its current state did the various countries begin to understand how important the currency was. They struggled to restrict currency rights created only for countries and produced their own gold, silver, and copper coins to stabilize trade in their countries.
"The "seven gold coin prints given by the magi to the magi noble families had engravings of plants and animals. Shaliun on the other hand became the currency used exclusively by magi and was traditionally made with alchemy techniques. Shaliun is hailed as the king of gold coins and is considered higher than all other coins.
"But since the founding of the Amsra dynasty, Emperor Regius Au Syr banned the circulation of shaliuns in Freia and issued new gold-printed coins instead. The ban is still in effect in our kingdom as well, causing the number of shaliuns to continue to decrease.
"So, Claude, it's best if we keep the shaliun as our private collection instead of using it in public."