The Black Iron Glory
Fin
Chapter 49
Fin
The items on the wooden shelves were not as orderly as usual. However, Claude had come here with the intention to obtain something of value that no one else could know. He picked up every item and carefully checked before putting it back on the shelf, causing Borkal to call him after he got tired of waiting when he finished his payment.
It won't work, I can't see every item like that. Other than other things, the three rows on the shelf had at least a hundred small objects. Not having enough mental strength to do it all. If I linger, someone will also suspect me. Although Wakri did not know about magical objects, he was a capable merchant and if it took me a long time to choose something, he would definitely raise the price.
Claude tells Borkal to go first while he searches for some toys for Bloweyk. He then retreated and swept through the items on the shelves from a distance while concentrating on his mental strength. He believed that if there was something truly magical, there would be some kind of mark he could identify. That will save you more time choosing the magic item if it is there to begin with.
Surprisingly, his method really worked. The first of the three wooden shelves did not reveal anything under his concentrated gaze, but there were two items on the second shelf that did so. One of them shone a little green and the other, a little black. There was one item on the third shelf that pulsed blue twice.
Claude hurriedly picked up the stuff. The first item that emitted a slight green glow was a small wooden plaque. It looked a bit strange and seemed to have an oily surface. It was black-brown and did not look flashy, reminding Claude of the key pendant of longevity from his past life. However, the pendant was usually made of jade, gold or silver, instead of wood like the small jewelry she was holding. He also did not know if the item was used as an accessory or decoration.
The second item that gave off a black aura was a dagger that looked perfectly normal, except for its sheath made from the bones of large sea creatures, making it slightly protruding. Claude guessed that it might have belonged to a sailor before he lost it while betting or pawning it on the Mock Goods after using all his money for a drink. A layer of dust builds up in the sheath with the passage of time.
The third item that pulsed with blue light was where the fish-shaped pen that jumped out of the water. The mouth of the fish is wide open for the pen to enter. There are several types of stationery in the world, but the most common are pen and pencil. The dipping pen slightly resembled a quail from Claude's past life, but the tip was mostly made of copper or silver and had to be dipped in ink before it could be used. Instead of feathers, the top of the pen is a wooden stick carved with all sorts of patterns that can be filled with color.
Fish-shaped pen holder is not the size of a normal pencil box and looks rather small, but more complicated than. There is a base that resembles the water that the fish jump out of and two holes for the screws. It was probably made as a decoration for a ship, like on the captain's room table. That way, the pen holder can be secured on the table and will not fall even if the ship is swaying strongly from the waves. Unless the entire ship is turned upside down, the pen holder will remain screwed to the table in the ship's cabin.
Right now, Claude did not care whether the three items in his hand were genuine magical items and why they were shining. He focused his mental strength and swept across the three shelves once more. After making sure that nothing else stood out, he took the items from the warehouse to look for Wakri.
Borkal, Eriksson, and Welikro stood outside the shop and looked at the flipped fins.
The fins are what the people at Whitestag call a kind of small boat. It is approximately four to five meters long and two meters wide and the head and tail of the boat are somewhat curved. Typically, the ships were transported by large ships long distances and were used as lifeboats. Each fin can carry about 20 to 30 people. Since long-range ships usually only use 50 or 60 crew members, each of them will also carry two fins.
The flippers that flipped in front of them were considered quite large for its class. Claude estimated the length to be about 5 meters and about 2 meters. Width 8 meters. The reason why it was put there like that was quite clear: there was a large hole in the hull and three or four boards on the front of the ship had cracked, seemingly as a result of a blunt collision.
"It hit the reef, right?" Claude said curiously, "Are those on the ship blind or something? How could they not see a reef that could make a huge hole in the hull of a ship? Wait, rowing these boats won't give you as much boost as it takes to make a hole that big. Even a breach due to colliding with a coral would not make such a big hole … "
"It did collide with the reef. However, these are fins and are being transported by long-range ships" Eriksson said, "Wasn't there such a large ship that sank near the bay as a result of a coral collision during the 3rd month of the year? These fins are on that ship. Due to the collision, the frantic crew dropped a fin just above the reef section, rendering it useless for good.
"It did collide with the reef. However, these are fins and are being transported by long-range ships" Eriksson said, "Wasn't there such a large ship that sank near the bay as a result of a coral collision during the 3rd month of the year? These fins are on that ship. Due to the collision, the frantic crew dropped a fin just above the reef section, rendering it useless for good.
"And after that, a ship passing from our city, the Flying Spear, saw them and saved them. The crew stayed in our town for about two months. By the time the next transport ship sailed past, they chose the cargo left on the shipwreck and left nothing but the ship's already stripped skeleton. They also did not want these broken fins anymore, so some fishermen brought them back from the sea to sell them to Uncle Wakri. "
Claude handed the three items to Wakri for a total sum before he asked, "Can the fins still be repaired? Some boards in the hull were destroyed. Doesn't the whole hull need replacing? It may cost even less to build a new fin than to do such extensive repairs. "
"Oh, don't even bring it. I made the wrong judgment back then," Wakri said with a sigh, "When the fishermen brought this fin to me, it was, it was upright and I could only see a hole in the middle from the top. I thought I just needed to swap the board there, so I bought it. I just found that some other board in the hull was already broken when I turned it over to check. It would be hard to fix unless I swapped the entire bottom, which cost just a little less than building a new fin. "
"How much did you buy for it?" ask Eriksson.
"Don't bring it up .. I've lost at least three thales because of this" Wakri said.
They have a rough idea of how much it will cost. Wakri spent at most one gold crown on a broken fin, equivalent to five thales. Since he was not a philanthropist, he had bid at the lowest possible price for the fins. The new one costs around four to five crowns and buying the damaged one with just one crown and reselling it for three is a good price. However, he did not expect that he would have to repair more than one broken board.
"I'll charge one thale and five riyases for all three," Wakri said, "Since you're a regular customer, I won't charge you too much."
"I'll charge one thale and five riyases for all three," Wakri said, "Since you're a regular customer, I won't charge you too much."
Borkal jumped up and said, "Uncle Wakri, we protect you because we trust you. How can you cut our wallets so brightly and fill one thale and five riyase for these three pieces of junk and claim that you don't pay too much?"
Claude doesn't know how to respond. He wanted to agree to the deal without thinking twice because the item was a rather rare magic item. Even if Wakri wanted a thale or two for them, he would still be willing to buy them. He did not think his friends would bid on his behalf.
"Right," Eriksson said as he took the dagger from Claude, "Isn't this just an ordinary fish bone dagger? Why did you buy this? I can get it from the sailors on my ship with just two to three riyases."
Wakri smiled bitterly and said, "You can't say it like that. Although this dagger was quite normal, it was rather antique considering its age. Even if you make your sailors make them for you, they will simply cut the fish bones and attach them to the dagger sheath and make a handle for it. You do not enter the price of the dagger itself when estimating its price. I think a silver thale for this dagger shouldn't be that expensive, right? "
"At most it's only seven riyases, at most" Eriksson said as he pulled the dagger and examined his sword, "This is just an ordinary mithril dagger. If I get to Hans gun shop, I can get a better and new mithril dagger for one. thale. "
Borkal looked at Claude strangely and asked, "Why do you want to buy this fish bone dagger?"
"Well, you know that my dad doesn't like guns. We don't even have a short word or a hunting knife at home. When we went to Egret, I had to borrow Wero's hunting knife and Eyke's dagger. But since my father got me a weapon this time, I think I might as well get a dagger while I was at it so it would be more convenient for our future hunt. Coincidentally I found this dagger here and thought it was a bit unique, so I thought I would ask how much it cost. "
Hearing Claude say that, Wakri felt a little desperate. The dagger ended up in his shop a few years ago since his late father got it from a sailor. Normally, no one would ask for the price, as most people who wanted to buy weapons would go to the gun shop in the city and would not search in a public store like his.
"All right, all right, you got me. I'll sell this for seven riyases then." Wakri thought, my father might not have paid more than three riyases for it, so seven riyases has at least doubled the price. It is better to earn less than nothing.
Hearing Claude say that, Wakri felt a little desperate. The dagger ended up in his shop a few years ago since his late father got it from a sailor. Normally, no one would ask for the price, as most people who wanted to buy weapons would go to the gun shop in the city and would not search in a public store like his.
"All right, all right, you got me. I'll sell this for seven riyases then." Wakri thought, my father might not have paid more than three riyases for it, so seven riyases has at least doubled the price. It is better to earn less than nothing.
"Then how much did you pay for this wooden plaque and fish pen?" Borkal tried to push his victory further.
Eriksson commented, "This pen place must be used on the ship. It looks a bit old and the Bark bookstore also sells something similar for just two or three riyases. They are also made of wood. As for this wooden plaque, it seems to be used as a door plaque for lodging or something like that. But I remember some long-distance ships using plaques like this to number their cabins, so maybe it wasn't worth much, was it? "
Wakri said with a pleading expression, "Alright, I'll give them both for three riyases. One thale for all three items, do we have a deal?"
Claude smiled and nodded. "All right, I'll take it."
Just as Wakri was about to return to his shop after receiving Claude's thorn, he heard Eriksson ask, "Uncle Wakri, how much are you going to sell for this fin?"
"What did you say?" Wakri turned around happily, only to see Claude, Borkal and Welikro staring at Eriksson, dumbfounded. Apparently, they had no idea why Eriksson would ask such a question.
"One gold .. No, four silver thales will work," Wakri wanted to say one crown, but he only remembered he had revealed the price he bought the fins. "You can take this fin for four thales."
Wakri felt the urge to slap her face hard for her big mouth. Why did I tell this brat about the fins? Now my story explodes. . . I can get a little more, at least enough to cover the cost of my buying fins. . .