When Claude left Monck's shop, he had a debt of one thale and three riyases on him.
The wooden pirate figurines cost two sunars each, which was equivalent to a mutton pancake. Four figurines would only cost him eight sunars. The bright silver flower-shaped hairpin he wanted to give to his sister, Angelina, was made of pure silver instead of copper, so it was a little expensive. Wakri asked for five sunars for one riyase, which was a fair price.
The only exception was the magic cookbook. Wakri said he found it by his father's bedside and that it was one of his belongings.
Even though he didn't know why his father would leave the cookbook by his pillow, the leather cover and the pages made it clear that it was an antique.
Since it was an antique, even if it was just a tavern cookbook, Wakri didn't want to sell it cheaply.
So, when Claude wanted to buy it, he offered two thales for it.
With Stellin X in power, Aueras's trade was booming and prices were stable.
Usually, a commoner's daily income was six sunars, or six yuan. That was more than enough for a family of six to seven people to live comfortably.
A normal laborer would earn around one to two thales a month, or around a hundred to two hundred yuan.
Claude's father, as the chief administrator of Whitestag, didn't earn much, only three thales a month. Coupled with some administrative subsidies and benefits, he could earn around four to five thales a month, or around four to five hundred yuan.
Of course, in secret, Mr. Morssen's monthly private investment dividends and gray income were several times his salary.
Another example was Arbeit. After he became the personal secretary of Sir Fux, Claude's elder brother, he earned two thales a month. Even though it wasn't much, it was still quite a bit of extra income for those who needed Sir Fux's help.
Additionally, Sir Fux wasn't a stingy person. Whenever he ate meat, his subordinates would get some soup and occasionally a bone. So, Arbeit's income was even higher than his father's.
However, Arbeit didn't think about using that bit of money to supplement his family's income. Instead, he freeloaded and took advantage of the situation.
Even the one Sunar per year that he had to bear for the first two years after he turned eighteen and regained his status as a commoner was paid by his parents.
Wakri sold the recipe book as an antique for two Thales, which was around two hundred dollars. Seriously speaking, it wasn't too outrageous.
However, it was just a recipe, not a famous novel or a book worth collecting. Some of the hardcover books sold in the bookstores in town were sixty to seventy years old, and they were sold for around a thale.
So, when the three of them heard the price of two thales, they all felt that it wasn't worth it. They all tried to persuade Claude to give up on the idea of buying the cookbook. They suggested that it would be better to buy a hardcover notebook from a bookstore and make a copy of the cookbook for his mother as a birthday present.
He was the only one who knew that the recipe book wasn't just an antique. It was also a magic item. Two thales wasn't too expensive, but it was a bargain.
According to the saying in his previous life, it was a huge scoop. It would be a waste not to pick it up.
But now he couldn't explain it to his companions, and even if he did, no one would believe him because he was the only one who could see the changes in the magic recipe book. Perhaps his companions would think that he made up a lie to deceive them in order to buy the recipe book.
It was then that Claude understood the difficulty of not having money on him. In the half a year since he transmigrated to this world, all he thought about was how to blend in with his new identity and not be seen as a freak. He hadn't thought about how to earn money at all.
After all, he was a sixteen-year-old middle school student. He didn't have to worry about food or clothing, nor did he have the habit of spending a lot of money.
Now, he only had two riyases that his father had given him to buy the book and four Sunas as pocket money that his mother had secretly given him in the past. It was enough to buy the pirate figurine and the silver hairpin, but he did not have the money to buy the magic recipe.
Borkal had money on him. Everyone's equestrian training fees were in his care and he was also the treasurer of the group.
The four of them rented two horses for equestrian training and handed over the money to the academy. That included the five riyases Dawelikro paid for the training and the one thale they had left.
However, that thale was the cost of their expedition to Egret. They had also bought a bunch of things. Even with the eight riyases Welikro got from selling the pelts, Claude could guarantee that they would only have around one thale and two to three riyases in total.
Claude was determined to keep the cookbook for himself. No matter what, he had transmigrated to a world where magic existed. How could he not explore the mysteries of magic?
Even if the people of this world turned pale at the mention of magic and viewed it as taboo, it didn't stop him from being curious about it.
His mental power, in particular, was different from others. Just like the novels he read in his past life, he had extraordinary talent for magic and was a genius at learning magic. Perhaps that was the main character template and cheat he had been looking for so long.
The cookbook was an opportunity for him to learn magic. He had to get his hands on the cookbook no matter what, even if he had to kill someone or burn the place down.
In just a short moment, countless thoughts of sneaking into the shop in the middle of the night to steal the recipe flashed past Joshua's mind. He looked at his rather strong body and then glanced at the skinny and tall body of the shop owner, Wakri. After estimating the combat strength of both of them, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
"Lend me all the money you have on you," he said sincerely, "I want to buy this cookbook. Don't ask why, I don't know why either. I just want to buy it. Boa, Eyke, help me haggle. Try to lower the price as much as you can.
As for the money, I'll return it to you within three days, alright? "
What a joke. Killing someone for the cookbook? Something as unreliable as that was only in his head.
Even his father, the chief executive of Whitestag, said that the slums of the docks were dangerous, chaotic and unsafe.
Wakri's family definitely had their reasons for being able to open such a large shop there. Three generations of his family had opened a grocery store there and they were truly the local bullies. They couldn't even steal, let alone rob in the middle of the night. If they were caught, they might end up as one of the missing people of Whitestag.
Best friends were best friends indeed. Since Claude was determined to buy the cookbook, Borkal and Eyke didn't say anything else and went to haggle with Wakri. After an intense argument, they finally came to an agreement. Claude bought the cookbook for one silver thale and three riyases, or 130 gold coins.
Apart from the cookbook, Claude also used all the money he had on him to buy four pirate figurines and the silver hairpin.
Borkal and the others also bought a lot of things from the shop, such as guns and gunpowder, sulphur powder, lime powder, insect repellent and other medicine for camping, as well as climbing ropes and grappling hooks. They spent four doriyases and by the time they left, they only had around two sunars left, which was just enough to buy a mutton pancake.
But when the four of them were sharing a mutton pancake, Eyke suddenly said, "Oh my god, we have to go back to school …" That reminded them that they still had classes in the afternoon.
They hurriedly jumped over the back wall of the school and placed the things they bought on the table in the classroom before they were caught by their homeroom teacher, Wickham.
As they had three physical education classes in the afternoon and they were either in the training field or the gymnasium, it was rather eye-catching for the four of them to run into an empty classroom.
The four of them had obviously snuck out to play in the afternoon and forgot the time.
That was what their homeroom teacher, Wickham, thought.
He knew very well which part of the school the four of them had snuck out from. Didn't they just jump over the back wall?
If they had made it back before the afternoon class, Wickham could have turned a blind eye and pretended he didn't know anything.
But now, they had only returned after half of the first afternoon class. It was a clear violation of the school's rules.
So, Wickham was furious and decided to punish them. "You four bastards, run laps in the training field! You're not allowed to stop until the end of class!
Hurry up and run! Don't even think about slacking off! I'll keep an eye on you! "
The four of them helplessly ran around the training field for around twenty minutes. They wanted to slow down, but Wickham was watching them from the side and roared the moment they slowed down.
By the time the bell rang, the four of them were drenched in sweat and almost collapsed on the training field.
The twenty minutes of rest in between classes allowed the four of them to recover a little. The second class was swordsmanship practice. Claude had been absent-minded since the start of class and almost got hit in the head by Welikro's wooden sword. He was fine, but Welikro was scared half to death.
Currently, all of his attention was focused on the magic cookbook in his bag. He wanted nothing more than to go home and hide in his attic right away so that he could properly investigate the secret recorded in the ancient Hertz language in the cookbook.
When he finally made it to the end of the third class, he was pulled back by Borkal and the others. The things they bought in the afternoon had to be stored at their secret base and moved to Old Sunny's single-sail fishing boat on Friday. The four of them would then be able to explore Egret.
The secret base was at the lakeside of the western town, not far from the poor docks.
However, the docks at the poor docks were for public use while Claude's secret base was at the Altronis' private docks. It was also where the Altronis' long-distance fishing boat, Shark of the Red Sea, was anchored.
There was a row of stone and log houses at the docks that served as a warehouse and temporary lodgings for the sailors.
One of them was a small storeroom that Claude and the others used as their secret base.
As the young owner of Shark of the Red Sea, no one objected to them taking over the storeroom. Even his father, Captain Altroni, didn't do anything about it after finding out about it.
The journey to the Altronis' private docks was a little far. Usually, a carriage would cost five fennies per person, which was around fifty cents. Four people would only cost two sunars.
But since they were short on money, they had no choice but to travel on foot.
After walking for half an hour, they finally reached their destination. The moment they entered, Borkal collapsed on the only single bed in the room. The long run in the afternoon, two sports classes, and the long walk had worn him out.
Welikro still had the strength to pick up a fishing rod and a small wooden bucket before heading to the lakeside.
Claude was burning with anxiety. When he finally settled everything, he picked up his bag and prepared to go home.
However, Eyke pulled him back. "Where are you going?
Your father is treating us to dinner tonight and my dad is going to the banquet as well. It's best if you don't join in the commotion when you get home.
I told Uncle Pegg to prepare some racks and charcoal for us. I'll go home to get the ingredients later.
The four of us will eat barbecue here tonight. Didn't you see Wero going fishing? We're just waiting for you to show us what you can do. "