Ch 99 -- Made to Order from Wyvern Skin

I arrived at Lambert-san"s shop ready to deliver the goods he had ordered the day before. I presented the boxes and jars containing the soap, shampoo, conditioner and hair wraps to Lambert-san in the store"s reception room. As usual Fer and Sui accompanied me but paid no attention to the business being transacted. Fer slept behind my chair in the reception room and Sui was also sleeping but in her bag of course.

"Yes, this is just as I asked for." Lambert-san smiled. "I should have placed this order sooner. We"ve actually run out of this commodity already." Lambert-san put his hand on one of the crates containing the cheaper soap as he spoke. "As for payment, since it"s more than 100 gold coins, may I pay with large gold coins?" he inquired.

I nodded. "Yes, that"s fine." I worked it out yesterday, the total price for everything should be 612 gold coins. I"m getting used to getting paid large amounts of money and the shock is wearing off a bit. I didn"t even stutter. When I was living and working in j.a.pan I often struggled financially with little money left before payday. I didn"t really expect that arriving in a different world would be so profitable... Yup, not sc.r.a.ping for every copper coin is a good thing.

"Well, here are 60 large gold coins and 12 regular gold coins." Lambert-san said, laying the money out on the table before me. "Please check." As usual in this world, the coins were stacked in piles of ten during transactions. It was correct, 60 large gold coins each worth 10 regular gold coins plus another 12 gold coins, 612 gold coins in all.

"Yes, that"s correct." I confirmed. Lambert-san said that between Merchants it was customary to use large gold coins involving payments of more than 100 gold coins. It made travelling around to other cities to do business with other Merchants a bit easier, especially if the Merchant didn"t have an Item Box. Conversely a single large gold coin was a bit too much for normal day-to-day transactions such as buying food from a stall or paying a city"s entry tax. I have a lot of regular gold coins anyway but I also have an Item Box of course. In pa.s.sing, a white gold coin worth 100 regular gold coins is a coin made from an alloy of Mithril and gold. It"s used for trading between countries or sometimes by wealthy Merchants carrying out very large deals.

As Lambert-san arranged for the wooden crates and jars to be taken off to the storeroom I remembered something.

"Oh yes, I have something I want to ask Lambert-san. Can I have a cloak made here?" I inquired.

"Well, of course we also accept commissions for custom made leather goods so there would be no problem." Lambert-san explained. "What kind of leather do you wish to use?"

"Well you see..." I explained to Lambert-san about the Wyverns.

"Oh, Wyvern..." his eyes widened. "I had heard that a flock of Wyverns had appeared near the city and been subjugated but I had no idea Mudouka-san was involved..." No, it wasn"t me, it was Fer and Sui who dealt with the Wyverns but I didn"t tell Lambert-san that. I pressed on instead.

"So I"d like you to make me a cloak and a belt with Wyvern skin." I requested.

"I have always wanted to work with Wyvern skin some day." Lambert-san said with a faraway on his face. He nodded. "I proudly accept your commission. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my shop, to work with Wyvern skin." Oh, working with Wyvern skin is uncommon? I had spoken to the Guild Master back at the Adventurers Guild about having a cloak made but he hadn"t told me it was going to be difficult. I had gotten the idea it would be easy. Lambert-san went on to explain.

"However, it takes some time to work with Wyvern skin, is that all right with you?"

"How long will it take?" I asked.

"Hmmm," Lambert-san stared at the ceiling, deep in thought for a moment. "It will take about six months..." That long really? Then again Johan-ojisan back at the Adventurers Guild said he would need to use a Mithril knife to dismantle the Wyverns I was selling so maybe tanning the skin and making a cloak and a belt and maybe even some shoes, that would take quite a long time due to the difficulty of working the leather. Well, I wasn"t really in a hurry so waiting half a year wouldn"t be that problematic.

"You see, even if you are supplying the skin yourself the sorts of craftsmen who can work with such materials are uncommon and of course it will take them a long time to carry out the work. The price, well..." Lambert-san could only give me an estimate of the cost but it was going to be not less than 500 gold coins.

The old me might have swallowed at hearing that price but now I could afford it easily, even after paying 370 gold coins for my bath (MY bath!) two days ago. Getting something made-to-order always cost more than off-the-peg after all. Working with Wyvern skin was a tough job so it was going to cost in terms of time and labour. It couldn"t be helped.

"Oh, that price, can I pay it with the leftover Wyvern skin?" Wyverns were big creatures and Lambert-san should be able to make a cloak, belt and shoes from a single Wyvern skin and still have a lot of leather left unused.

"Eh-, are you sure?" Lambert-san said. He paused for a moment in thought. "Wyvern skin is very rarely available on the market so that might be a good deal for me..." He shook his head. "I can"t agree immediately, Mukouda-san, I will have to give it some consideration but it is certainly a tempting offer. Let"s talk about it later, please?"

The only use I have for Wyvern skins is to sell them for money so if I can trade one skin to pay for the making of the cloak, belt and shoes I want then I don"t have a problem with that. It would save me paying for them in cash otherwise.

"Then I would be happy if you would accept this commission, Lambert-san." I said. Lambert-san nodded and I stood up, picking up Sui"s bag as Fer came to life behind me.

"Well, I"m going to the Adventurers Guild now. I"ll bring the Wyvern skin back here afterwards, so thank you."

"Yes, I will be waiting for you." said Lambert-san as he escorted me to the front door. We left the shop and headed for the Adventurers Guild.