The old street was said to be the oldest street in Whitestag. At first, the people who settled there built a road to Lake Balinga and built a dock at the mouth of the lake.
Later on, people built houses and shops on both sides of the road and it became the first street in the town.
Whitestag was no longer the small village it was a thousand years ago. The expansion of the town caused the center of the town to shift towards the east. The area where the old street was located was now a slum district with a chaotic mix of good and bad people. It was a chaotic place for the poor.
The transmigrator had never been to that place before. According to his memories, the previous owner of this body, Claude, had only been there twice. The first time was when he went fishing by the lake and followed the shore to the public dock in the slums.
The other time was when he secretly rode on Old Benz's black horse, Borkel. The horse was a little startled and ran towards the old street. It only stopped when it reached the end of the road in front of the dock. Eriksson, who was on the horse, was scared half to death and Claude, who was chasing after him, was exhausted.
But both times, they passed by in a hurry and didn't run into any trouble, so they didn't have much of an impression of the area.
However, their parents had warned their children not to go there to play as it was a dangerous area in Whitestag.
There doesn't seem to be any danger here.
Claude thought as he looked at the dilapidated houses and shacks on both sides of the street and the occasional passersby.
"It looks peaceful, doesn't it?" Eriksson seemed to know what Claude was thinking.
Claude nodded. "My father said that the security here isn't good and told us not to come here unless there's something wrong. But I don't think this place is any different from the other districts."
Eriksson said solemnly, "Your father is right. This is indeed the most chaotic and unsafe area in Whitestag.
Don't be fooled by the peace because it's noon and it's broad daylight.
If you come here at night, you'll know why. "
"Hehe …" Borkal chuckled. "Eyke, you forgot to mention that this is the busiest place in Whitestag at night.
At night, both sides of the street will be filled with people, and most of them are women. This is also the favorite place for sailors to hang out at night. "
He didn't want to continue the topic. "So, Monk's shop is going to be opened here?"
"No, it's still up ahead. Near the end of the street, next to the pier. Do you see that? That two-story gray stone building is Old Monk's," Eriksson replied, pointing ahead.
The gray stone two-story building was actually a row of five connected buildings, but the first floor was a storefront.
Claude didn't see the shop's signboard. All he saw was a brand new wooden signboard with the words' Old Monk's Fishing Gear and Ship 'written on it.
The three shops on the far left were already open for business. There were rolls of hemp ropes, bundles of canvas, and wooden barrels of different sizes in the shops.
The two storefronts on the far right looked very shabby. There were even scaffolding outside. This was a renovation. It looked like the two old storefronts were going to have the same style as the three storefronts next to them.
"Those two old storefronts are Old Monk's Grocery Store."
Eriksson said, "The three storefronts next to them belong to them as well. However, they used to rent out a small restaurant for sailors, fishermen, and dockworkers.
After Old Pitchak passed away at the end of last year, his son didn't want to open a grocery store anymore, so he bought the restaurant and opened the fishing gear and ship's supply store. "
Eriksson pointed at the brand new wooden signboard.
"Are you sure they'll buy those two hides here?" Claude asked doubtfully.
"Of course. I'm Eriksson, the young shipowner of Shark of the Red Sea. My father is the famous Captain Altroni. Most of the sailors here know me. I'll be able to find out anything that happens at the docks in less than three days," Eriksson said proudly.
Eriksson said proudly, "I've known for a long time that Wakri is planning to open a shop for fishing gear and boat supplies. I know exactly what he sells and what he buys …"
"Well, anyone who isn't blind knows," said Borkal as he pointed at the two large wooden boards hanging at the side of the shop.
The larger board had the prices of the various items for sale in the shop, while the smaller board had information about what the shop was looking for. However, it didn't have a price tag.
"Wakri went to Gilp's Furs not long ago, hoping to buy a batch of furs at a low price to form a long-term partnership. However, Gilp's Furs rejected his offer.
So, he's now in a competitive relationship with Gilp's Furs. He'll definitely pay a higher price for those two hides, "said Borkal confidently.
"Uncle Wakri, Uncle Wakri, are you there?" Eriksson called out as soon as he entered the empty shop.
"Who is it?"
Someone answered from the back of the shop. A tall, skinny, middle-aged man in his forties appeared in front of them, chewing on something nonstop.
Oh, I almost forgot it was noon. Wakri had to eat lunch as well.
"Oh, it's lil 'Eyke. What's the matter?" the middle-aged man mumbled.
But Eriksson didn't care if he interrupted Wakri's lunch time.
"It's like this, Uncle Wakri. My classmate brought two furs to Gilp's Furs to sell. I remembered you were buying furs as well, so I brought him here.
I told him that you'll definitely pay a higher price than Gilp's Furs, so you better offer a good price. Don't embarrass me in front of my classmate. "
"Oh, what kind of fur is it?"
Wakri hurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth. "Let me take a look first. If it's good, I'll definitely offer a good price."
"Mountain antelope," said Eriksson as he gestured for Welikro to open the package.
Wakri examined the pelt very carefully. From the way he examined the pelt and the way he looked at it, it seemed that he was not an amateur.
"If you take these two hides to Gilp's Leather Shop, they'll pay you six riyases at most. Since Lil Ike brought you here, I won't disappoint him. How about this, seven riyases, what do you think?" Wakri finally stopped looking at the two hides and offered his price.
"Nine riyases and the two hides are yours." Borkal was the one who had to haggle for the price.
"No, no, no. Nine riyases is too high. No one would pay that much for these two furs.
Look, the edges of the leather are damaged, and there is a big hole at the head of the leather.
If these were two new furs, they might be worth nine riyases, but they've been around for a long time and haven't been preserved properly. "
Wakri shook his head and put down the furs in his hands. "If you insist on this price, you can only try your luck at Gilp's Furs. Perhaps they'll be willing to pay nine riyases for them."
"Don't, Uncle Wakri. You add a point to the price and I'll get my friend to take a point off. It wasn't easy for us to come all the way here in the afternoon," said Eriksson.
Wakri sighed. "Alright, I'll add four sunars then. This is on account of lil 'Eyke."
"Eight riyases, that's the final price," said Borkal.
"Uncle Wakri, your furs are different from Gilp's Furs. The furs they buy are mainly used to make leather coats, armor, and hats.
You, on the other hand, sell fishing gear and boat supplies. The furs you need are mostly from wild animals, mainly for warmth and waterproofing. The size of the furs you buy doesn't matter.
The largest furs you need here are only for sailor's leather waistcoats, gloves, shoes, leather belts, and leather sheaths.
The rest of the furs can be cut into strips for fishing nets, so the furs you buy here won't go to waste.
My friend's father is Kubrik Fonseca. You should've heard of him before. He's the best hunter in Whitestag.
If you had bought them for eight riyases, I am sure his father would not have taken them to Mr. Gilp's for the sole purpose of selling them.
Once the news spreads, all the hunters in town will know where to sell their furs. "
Wakri pondered for a moment and finally nodded. "Alright, you've convinced me. Eight riyases it is. But you have to promise me that if your family sells any furs in the future, you have to bring them to me first."
Nobody could guarantee that, but they all knew that if Welikro's shrewd sister knew that the two old antelope skins could be sold for eight riyases, their family definitely wouldn't sell any of their furs to Gilp's Furs. So, they all nodded.
"By the way, Uncle Wakri, apart from selling these two skins, we're here to buy something else. Have you sold any of the miscellaneous goods you used to have?"
Eriksson was a little dumbfounded. He had looked through the items on the board and noticed that many of the items he wanted to buy weren't there.
"What do you want to buy?" Wakri handed eight riyases to Welikro, who turned around and handed it to Borkal.
"Guns, gunpowder, sulfur powder, lime powder, insect repellent …"
"Oh, those are in the inner room. Come in and take a look. The ones on the outside are all large."
The inner room was about the same size as the shop outside, but the windows on the back wall weren't big and there were wooden railings inside, so the lighting wasn't very good.
But since it was noon and it was a sunny day, the items on the wooden shelves in the inner room could still be seen clearly.
"Woah, Uncle Wakri, you've placed the treasure of the grocer's shop here!" Eriksson's attention was drawn to a silver-yellow dagger on the wall.
"Claude, Wero, come and take a look. This is the ivory dagger."
There was a wooden box about a meter long and half a meter wide on the wall. The box was covered in dark blue velvet and a seventy-centimeter-long silver-yellow dagger hung in the middle.
In his memories, Claude had heard Eriksson mention the ivory blade before. It was said that the entire sheath and handle were made from ivory. It was silvery-yellow in color and the blade was said to be made from the famous Horia steel and meteorite. It could slice through metal without much effort and was truly a treasured blade.
The origin of this ivory sword was clear. The first generation owner of the general store, Old Monk, had saved a ship captain who was in trouble by the sea. The ship captain seemed to be a noble from a kingdom in the north of the continent. After recovering from his injuries and preparing to return home, he gave this ivory sword to Old Monk as a souvenir.
Back in the day, someone had offered ten gold coins to buy this ivory blade, but Old Monk had rejected it. He had passed it down to his son, Picak, and now, it was Wakri's turn.
"How much is this ivory dagger worth now?" asked Borkal.
"Can it really cut through metal?" Welikro's focus was on the sharpness of the blade.
Claude shrugged. The way he saw it, the ivory dagger was just something nobles used to show off. A hilt made of ivory definitely wasn't as practical as one made of hemp rope. Putting aside the problem of absorbing sweat, just the vibrations from the collision of two blades in a real life or death battle would cause the ivory hilt to fall off.
Of course, it would be a different story if the blade could really cut through metal like mud.