Black Iron's Glory Chapter 14

When they left Mock's Fis.h.i.+ng and Boating Tools, Claude incurred a debt of one silver thale and three riyases .

Each little pirate figure cost two sunars, the same as a mutton biscuit would cost, so four of them cost eight sunars in total . The silver flower hairpin Claude bought for his sister on the other hand cost much more because it was made of pure silver instead of silver-plated copper . Wakri asked for five riyases for that, which was still a fair price .

What was left was that magical cookbook . Wakri said that he found it by his father's bed and it was one of the things he left for him . Even though he didn't understand why his father kept the book by his bed, it was quite apparent that it was an antique of some kind given that it was made wholly out of skin .

Even though it was but a mere restaurant cookbook, Wakri wasn’t going to sell it off for a cheap price as it was an antique . So, Claude had to pay two silver thales for it .

During Stellin X’s reign, trade went well within Aueras and prices were stable . Normally, a normal household earned six sunars a day . In other words, six bucks was enough for a family of six or seven to have no worries about their food and other necessities . A common laborer earned around one or two silver thales a month, which was around a hundred to two hundred bucks .

Claude’s father was the chief secretary of Whitestag, but his salary wasn’t that high only at around three thales a month . The allowance and other benefits totaled up to around four to five thales, roughly four to five hundred bucks . However, the personal investments of Morssen multiplied his monthly earnings by a few times .

As for Claude’s elder brother Arbeit, he earned around two silver thales monthly after becoming Sir f.u.x’s personal secretary . While that wasn’t a really high salary, the extra gigs he had access to thanks to Sir f.u.x’s connections could earn him quite a bit .

Additionally, Sir f.u.x wasn’t a stingy person and always made sure those who served him managed to enjoy part of the benefits he did . So, sometimes, Arbeit’s own salary eclipsed even that of his father’s . However, Arbeit never helped the household out financially and instead leeched on the free food and accommodation they provided . Even the annual one sunar head tax he was required to pay during the past two years after reverting to a commoner was settled by his parents .

Though to be honest, the two thales charged by Wakri for the book wasn’t excessive . But even so, it was only a normal cookbook and not some kind of famous novel or book worth collecting . Some books sold in the town’s bookstores had six to seven decades of history and only cost slightly more than one silver thale .

So Eriksson, Borkal and Welikro felt that the book wasn’t worth the asking price at all . They quickly tried to persuade Claude against buying that cookbook . It would be better to buy an exquisite notebook to copy the recipes in it down for his mother’s birthday present .

Claude found it really hard to explain his intentions . He knew that the animal skin cookbook wasn’t a simple antique . It was a magical item . Two silver thales for it wasn’t excessive at all . Instead, he found it rather cheap . It would be ‘a steal’ according to a saying in his previous life . Not taking the deal was a plain waste .

But there was no way he could explain it to his friends . Even if he did, they might not necessarily believe it, because he seemed to be the only one capable of seeing the change in the cookbook . He might even cause his friends to think that he was lying to them just because he wanted the book .

It was then when Claude understood how limiting it truly was to not have money . During the past half year after he transmigrated to this world, he had focused all his efforts on trying to fit into his new ident.i.ty and prevent others from finding out about it and hadn’t considered how he would make money at all . He was but a 16-year-old middle-school student after all that didn’t have any worries about food or opportunities to spend lots of money .

All he had now was the two riyases his father gave him to buy books with and the four sunars his mother secretly gave him as an allowance . While he would afford to buy the pirate figurines and hairpin, he was far from capable of buying that book .

Borkal on the other hand had quite the sum on him . The fee for the horsemans.h.i.+p cla.s.ses were given to him for safekeeping and he was the unofficial treasurer of the four of them .

They had already paid the school for the two horses they would rent including the tuition fee they paid on Welikro's behalf . They only had around one silver thale left .

However, they had already planned to use it for their adventure on Egret . They had just bought a bunch of things . Even if they included Welikro's eight riyases he got from selling his skins, Claude and the rest could only raise at most one silver thale and two or three riyases .

However, they had already planned to use it for their adventure on Egret . They had just bought a bunch of things . Even if they included Welikro's eight riyases he got from selling his skins, Claude and the rest could only raise at most one silver thale and two or three riyases .

He had made up his mind about getting the cookbook . How could ne not learn the secrets of magic after transmigrating to a world with one? Even if the mere mention of it made people pale, that wasn't enough to stifle his curiosity .

That was especially the case given how his mental power was different from other people's . Like the webnovels he read in his past life, he was someone who was filled with talent for magic . He was a magical genius . Perhaps this was the key to the protagonist life he was searching so hard for! His ultimate cheat!

That magical cookbook was the first opportunity he would get in touch with magic with . No matter what, he would have to obtain it, even if it meant murder or arson .

Within an instant, Claude simulated countless attempts at sneaking into the shop to steal the cookbook and burn it down to erase all traces of him ever being there . He considered his decent physical ability and Claude's tall, but lanky build . After guessing their relative fighting ability, he grit his teeth and made up his mind .

"Please lend me all the money you have," Claude said sincerely, "I want to buy this cookbook . Please don't ask me for a reason, I don't really know why myself . But I just have to have it . Boa, Eyke, please bargain for me and push the price down as low as possible . As for the money I borrow, I'll return it within three days . Is that alright?"

What a joke . Murdering and committing arson just for the sake of a cookbook . That was but an unreliable notion that crossed his mind . Even his father, the chief secretary of Whitestag, had said that the jetty slum area was one of the most dangerous areas in town . For Wakri to be able to operate such a huge shop here meant that he had his ways of dealing with unwelcome visitors . This was a shop that had been kept running across three generations and was not something just anyone could mess with without consequences . Putting aside barging in to rob it during midnight, he wouldn't even stand a chance of stealing it . He might end up becoming one of the many missing people of Whitestag .

But his friends were true friends . Upon seeing that Claude had made up his mind about it, Borkal and Eriksson no longer tried to talk him out of it and went to bargain with Wakri about it . After a huge argument, they settled on a silver thale and three sunars for the cookbook .

Apart from that, Claude used the remaining money he had to buy the silver hairpin and four pirate figurines . Borkal and the rest also bought a lot of other stuff there, such as gunpowder, bullets, sulphur and lime powder, stuff they needed for the trip . They also bought some other tools like ropes or grappling hooks that cost around four riyases in total . In the end, the four of them combined only had about two sunars left, just enough for a mutton biscuit .

Apart from that, Claude used the remaining money he had to buy the silver hairpin and four pirate figurines . Borkal and the rest also bought a lot of other stuff there, such as gunpowder, bullets, sulphur and lime powder, stuff they needed for the trip . They also bought some other tools like ropes or grappling hooks that cost around four riyases in total . In the end, the four of them combined only had about two sunars left, just enough for a mutton biscuit .

When the four of them were enjoying the mutton biscuit together, Eriksson suddenly said, "Ah, we have to get back to school!" They had forgotten that there was still the afternoon session  to attend .

After they rushed over the rear wall of the school, they put the things they bought in their cla.s.srooms only to be caught by their homeroom teacher . That was because they were having physical stream cla.s.ses and they should either be at the gym or out in the fields instead of the cla.s.sroom . So, it was quite eye-catching for the four of them to enter the empty cla.s.sroom .

These four cretins must have forgotten the time when they were out messing around,thought their homeroom instructor, Weckham . He was well aware that they had left through the rear wall of the school .

If they had returned before recess ended, Weckham would've pretended not to notice it . However, they only got back after the first period of the afternoon session . It was a blatant disrespect of the schools rules .

So, he punished them on the spot out of anger . "Your four! Go to the fields and run laps! Don't stop until the cla.s.s session is over! Don't slack off! I have my eyes on you!"

The four of them had no choice but to run around the fields for 20 minutes straight . Though they wanted to run slower, Weckham would shout at them the moment they did so . By the time the school bell rang to signal the end of the session, the four of them were completely covered in sweat and felt like collapsing on the fields right away .

The 20-minute break between the cla.s.ses did allow them to rest up and catch their breath . What followed next was their swordsmans.h.i.+p lessons . Claude had been losing focus since the start of the cla.s.s and was almost struck on the forehead by Welikro's wooden practice sword . Though he was fine, Welikro was horribly startled by the near accident .

Claude had his mind on the magical cookbook he stuffed into his bag the whole time . He couldn't wait to rush back home and shut himself in his room with the book to examining the secrets of the blue Hez script .

After enduring three grueling cla.s.s sessions, Claude was held up by Borkal because the four of them had to bring the things they bought back to their secret base . On Friday when their break would finally start, they would move their stuff to Old Sunny's single-sailed boat . The four of them could then go to Egret for their adventure .

Claude had his mind on the magical cookbook he stuffed into his bag the whole time . He couldn't wait to rush back home and shut himself in his room with the book to examining the secrets of the blue Hez script .

After enduring three grueling cla.s.s sessions, Claude was held up by Borkal because the four of them had to bring the things they bought back to their secret base . On Friday when their break would finally start, they would move their stuff to Old Sunny's single-sailed boat . The four of them could then go to Egret for their adventure .

The secret base was located at the west bank of the lake not far away from the jetty slums . However, the jetty slums was for public use while Claude and the others' secret base was located near the Eriksson's family's private jetty where the long-distance fis.h.i.+ng boat, Shark of Red Sea, was docked .

There was a house built from stones and logs on the jetty and it was used as a storeroom and a place where sailors could rest temporarily . Within it was one small room which Claude and the others claimed as their secret base . As the young master of Shark of Red Sea, n.o.body dared to object to Eriksson's use of that room . Even his father Captain Altroni ignored it after a futile attempt at reprimanding him .

The distance to Eriksson's house near their private jetty was quite far . The carriage ride would normally cost each person five fennies, which was around 50 cents, and the four of them combined cost two sunars .

But given that they were dead broke, they had to rely on their own two feet .

They arrived at their destination half an hour later and Borkal collapsed on the only single bed in the room . The harsh exercises during the physical cla.s.ses in the afternoon and their long walk had drained him of his energy .

Welikro still seemed rather energetic and he left for the lake with a small wooden bucket and a fis.h.i.+ng rod .

Claude on the other hand was incredibly anxious and wanted to deal with everything before rus.h.i.+ng home, only for him to be stopped by Eriksson . "Where are you going? Your father is receiving some guests tonight, and my father has also joined in . Your house will be really chaotic right now, so it's best you don't join in .

"I already told the guard, Uncle Peg, to get us some metal racks and coal . I'll go back home to get some food . The four of us will have barbeque here tonight . Didn't you see that Wero has gone fis.h.i.+ng? We'll be counting on you later . "

When they left Mock's Fis.h.i.+ng and Boating Tools, Claude incurred a debt of one silver thale and three riyases

Each little pirate figure cost two sunars, the same as a mutton biscuit would cost, so four of them cost eight sunars in total . The silver flower hairpin Claude bought for his sister on the other hand cost much more because it was made of pure silver instead of silver-plated copper . Wakri asked for five riyases for that, which was still a fair price

What was left was that magical cookbook . Wakri said that he found it by his father's bed and it was one of the things he left for him . Even though he didn't understand why his father kept the book by his bed, it was quite apparent that it was an antique of some kind given that it was made wholly out of skin

Even though it was but a mere restaurant cookbook, Wakri wasn’t going to sell it off for a cheap price as it was an antique . So, Claude had to pay two silver thales for it

During Stellin X’s reign, trade went well within Aueras and prices were stable . Normally, a normal household earned six sunars a day . In other words, six bucks was enough for a family of six or seven to have no worries about their food and other necessities . A common laborer earned around one or two silver thales a month, which was around a hundred to two hundred bucks

Claude’s father was the chief secretary of Whitestag, but his salary wasn’t that high only at around three thales a month . The allowance and other benefits totaled up to around four to five thales, roughly four to five hundred bucks . However, the personal investments of Morssen multiplied his monthly earnings by a few times

As for Claude’s elder brother Arbeit, he earned around two silver thales monthly after becoming Sir f.u.x’s personal secretary . While that wasn’t a really high salary, the extra gigs he had access to thanks to Sir f.u.x’s connections could earn him quite a bit

Additionally, Sir f.u.x wasn’t a stingy person and always made sure those who served him managed to enjoy part of the benefits he did . So, sometimes, Arbeit’s own salary eclipsed even that of his father’s . However, Arbeit never helped the household out financially and instead leeched on the free food and accommodation they provided . Even the annual one sunar head tax he was required to pay during the past two years after reverting to a commoner was settled by his parents

Though to be honest, the two thales charged by Wakri for the book wasn’t excessive . But even so, it was only a normal cookbook and not some kind of famous novel or book worth collecting . Some books sold in the town’s bookstores had six to seven decades of history and only cost slightly more than one silver thale

So Eriksson, Borkal and Welikro felt that the book wasn’t worth the asking price at all . They quickly tried to persuade Claude against buying that cookbook . It would be better to buy an exquisite notebook to copy the recipes in it down for his mother’s birthday present

Claude found it really hard to explain his intentions . He knew that the animal skin cookbook wasn’t a simple antique . It was a magical item . Two silver thales for it wasn’t excessive at all . Instead, he found it rather cheap . It would be ‘a steal’ according to a saying in his previous life . Not taking the deal was a plain waste

But there was no way he could explain it to his friends . Even if he did, they might not necessarily believe it, because he seemed to be the only one capable of seeing the change in the cookbook . He might even cause his friends to think that he was lying to them just because he wanted the book

It was then when Claude understood how limiting it truly was to not have money . During the past half year after he transmigrated to this world, he had focused all his efforts on trying to fit into his new ident.i.ty and prevent others from finding out about it and hadn’t considered how he would make money at all . He was but a 16-year-old middle-school student after all that didn’t have any worries about food or opportunities to spend lots of money

All he had now was the two riyases his father gave him to buy books with and the four sunars his mother secretly gave him as an allowance . While he would afford to buy the pirate figurines and hairpin, he was far from capable of buying that book

Borkal on the other hand had quite the sum on him . The fee for the horsemans.h.i.+p cla.s.ses were given to him for safekeeping and he was the unofficial treasurer of the four of them

They had already paid the school for the two horses they would rent including the tuition fee they paid on Welikro's behalf . They only had around one silver thale left

However, they had already planned to use it for their adventure on Egret . They had just bought a bunch of things . Even if they included Welikro's eight riyases he got from selling his skins, Claude and the rest could only raise at most one silver thale and two or three riyases

He had made up his mind about getting the cookbook . How could ne not learn the secrets of magic after transmigrating to a world with one? Even if the mere mention of it made people pale, that wasn't enough to stifle his curiosity

That was especially the case given how his mental power was different from other people's . Like the webnovels he read in his past life, he was someone who was filled with talent for magic . He was a magical genius . Perhaps this was the key to the protagonist life he was searching so hard for! His ultimate cheat!.

That magical cookbook was the first opportunity he would get in touch with magic with . No matter what, he would have to obtain it, even if it meant murder or arson

Within an instant, Claude simulated countless attempts at sneaking into the shop to steal the cookbook and burn it down to erase all traces of him ever being there . He considered his decent physical ability and Claude's tall, but lanky build . After guessing their relative fighting ability, he grit his teeth and made up his mind

"Please lend me all the money you have," Claude said sincerely, "I want to buy this cookbook . Please don't ask me for a reason, I don't really know why myself . But I just have to have it . Boa, Eyke, please bargain for me and push the price down as low as possible . As for the money I borrow, I'll return it within three days . Is that alright?".

What a joke . Murdering and committing arson just for the sake of a cookbook . That was but an unreliable notion that crossed his mind . Even his father, the chief secretary of Whitestag, had said that the jetty slum area was one of the most dangerous areas in town . For Wakri to be able to operate such a huge shop here meant that he had his ways of dealing with unwelcome visitors . This was a shop that had been kept running across three generations and was not something just anyone could mess with without consequences . Putting aside barging in to rob it during midnight, he wouldn't even stand a chance of stealing it . He might end up becoming one of the many missing people of Whitestag

But his friends were true friends . Upon seeing that Claude had made up his mind about it, Borkal and Eriksson no longer tried to talk him out of it and went to bargain with Wakri about it . After a huge argument, they settled on a silver thale and three sunars for the cookbook

Apart from that, Claude used the remaining money he had to buy the silver hairpin and four pirate figurines . Borkal and the rest also bought a lot of other stuff there, such as gunpowder, bullets, sulphur and lime powder, stuff they needed for the trip . They also bought some other tools like ropes or grappling hooks that cost around four riyases in total . In the end, the four of them combined only had about two sunars left, just enough for a mutton biscuit

When the four of them were enjoying the mutton biscuit together, Eriksson suddenly said, "Ah, we have to get back to school!" They had forgotten that there was still the afternoon session  to attend

After they rushed over the rear wall of the school, they put the things they bought in their cla.s.srooms only to be caught by their homeroom teacher . That was because they were having physical stream cla.s.ses and they should either be at the gym or out in the fields instead of the cla.s.sroom . So, it was quite eye-catching for the four of them to enter the empty cla.s.sroom

These four cretins must have forgotten the time when they were out messing around,thought their homeroom instructor, Weckham . He was well aware that they had left through the rear wall of the school

If they had returned before recess ended, Weckham would've pretended not to notice it . However, they only got back after the first period of the afternoon session . It was a blatant disrespect of the schools rules

So, he punished them on the spot out of anger . "Your four! Go to the fields and run laps! Don't stop until the cla.s.s session is over! Don't slack off! I have my eyes on you!".

The four of them had no choice but to run around the fields for 20 minutes straight . Though they wanted to run slower, Weckham would shout at them the moment they did so . By the time the school bell rang to signal the end of the session, the four of them were completely covered in sweat and felt like collapsing on the fields right away

The 20-minute break between the cla.s.ses did allow them to rest up and catch their breath . What followed next was their swordsmans.h.i.+p lessons . Claude had been losing focus since the start of the cla.s.s and was almost struck on the forehead by Welikro's wooden practice sword . Though he was fine, Welikro was horribly startled by the near accident

Claude had his mind on the magical cookbook he stuffed into his bag the whole time . He couldn't wait to rush back home and shut himself in his room with the book to examining the secrets of the blue Hez script

After enduring three grueling cla.s.s sessions, Claude was held up by Borkal because the four of them had to bring the things they bought back to their secret base . On Friday when their break would finally start, they would move their stuff to Old Sunny's single-sailed boat . The four of them could then go to Egret for their adventure

The secret base was located at the west bank of the lake not far away from the jetty slums . However, the jetty slums was for public use while Claude and the others' secret base was located near the Eriksson's family's private jetty where the long-distance fis.h.i.+ng boat, Shark of Red Sea, was docked

There was a house built from stones and logs on the jetty and it was used as a storeroom and a place where sailors could rest temporarily . Within it was one small room which Claude and the others claimed as their secret base . As the young master of Shark of Red Sea, n.o.body dared to object to Eriksson's use of that room . Even his father Captain Altroni ignored it after a futile attempt at reprimanding him

The distance to Eriksson's house near their private jetty was quite far . The carriage ride would normally cost each person five fennies, which was around 50 cents, and the four of them combined cost two sunars

But given that they were dead broke, they had to rely on their own two feet

They arrived at their destination half an hour later and Borkal collapsed on the only single bed in the room . The harsh exercises during the physical cla.s.ses in the afternoon and their long walk had drained him of his energy

Welikro still seemed rather energetic and he left for the lake with a small wooden bucket and a fis.h.i.+ng rod

Claude on the other hand was incredibly anxious and wanted to deal with everything before rus.h.i.+ng home, only for him to be stopped by Eriksson . "Where are you going? Your father is receiving some guests tonight, and my father has also joined in . Your house will be really chaotic right now, so it's best you don't join in

"I already told the guard, Uncle Peg, to get us some metal racks and coal . I'll go back home to get some food . The four of us will have barbeque here tonight . Didn't you see that Wero has gone fis.h.i.+ng? We'll be counting on you later . ".