Claude spent more than an hour at the spring not far from the ruins to wash himself clean.
Fortunately, he had another set of clothes in his backpack, as well as his underwear and socks, which he had planned to change into when he went into the water.
Even though it was the end of the fifth month and the lake was still a little cold, Claude was rather considerate and prepared some clothes just in case. There was no telling if he would have to go swimming on the boat to Egret.
He washed his dirty clothes with the spring water to get rid of the mud on them.
As for the stains on his clothes, he could bring them home and get his mother to get a washerwoman to clean them. There was no need for him to dry them out in the wilderness.
By the time Claude cleaned himself up and changed his clothes, Welikro, Borkal and Eriksson had already skinned the python and pulled out its tendons. They brought the skin and tendons back to the camp to let the sea breeze blow on them for the whole night.
As for the rest of the python meat, a large piece was cut from its back as per Claude's request for dinner. As for the rest, Welikro cut them into long strips and salted them before hanging them on a wooden rack to be smoked at night. There was also the gallbladder and eyes which Welikro carefully plucked and put into an empty bottle. He said that they were valuable ingredients and the apothecary would be more than happy to buy them for a high price.
Borkal and Eriksson didn't work for nothing either. They had Welikro pluck out the two sharp fangs from the python's mouth and clean them before splitting them among themselves.
The old folks in Whitestag said that carrying a venomous snake's fangs could effectively ward off diseases.
Even though it was just a rumor, Borkal and Eriksson believed it without a doubt.
The deep blue night sky was dotted with stars.
Under the night sky, the four youths sat around a bonfire and enjoyed a feast of python meat.
"I never knew python meat could be so delicious and tender," Borkal said with his mouth covered in grease. "It's so delicious! Claude, you're really good at cooking."
"I forgot something," said Claude.
He walked to his backpack and took out two bottles of gran wine. "Actually, I should've poured some wine on it when I was frying it. That would've made it tastier."
"Ha … Gran wine?" Borkal couldn't contain his excitement. "You brought it?
This is really an unexpected surprise … "
"Okay." Claude nodded. "My father gave me one riasso and I didn't have much to buy, so I bought two bottles of gran wine for you to try.
But you have to be careful when you drink this. You'll get a headache if you drink too much. "
When he took the thale and riasos from his father, he wanted to give them to Borkal to pay off his debt.
But when he remembered that the debt was one thale and three riyases, and he still owed two riyases after paying the money, he felt a little embarrassed.
It would be better to wait until he got to White Heron Continent, and then pay it all back in one go.
So, he didn't return the money. Thinking about how his three friends had wanted to buy some gran wine, he decided to buy two bottles of it for them to satisfy their cravings when they couldn't afford it after they borrowed money from him.
They didn't bring any cups and only had a wooden plate to use as cutlery. So, the four of them took a sip from the bottle before passing it to the next person.
"Oh, Eyke, I forgot to tell you something," Claude said as he found the gun and handed it to Eriksson.
Claude found the gun and handed it to Eriksson. "I'm sorry. The python bit a hole in your gun when you were fighting it. Look, this is it. Let me know how much you need to repair it when you get back. I'll pay for it."
Eriksson's eyes widened. "Wha … Why is there a hole here?
Claude, how did you manage to kill that python? "
"It's all thanks to that gun of yours …" Claude sighed, "The python had already wrapped itself around me and I was stuck in the mud. I couldn't even grab hold of the python. It was too slippery with mud all over my body.
When I saw the python pouncing at me with its mouth wide open, I had no choice but to use the gun as a shield. I didn't think that the python would bite down on the gun.
"Fortunately, it bit down on the gun. I only found out later that it had bitten a hole in the gun's butt and the gun was stuck in its mouth.
I grabbed onto the gun with all my might and it shook its head frantically, trying to get the gun out of its mouth.
"At that time, the python was only an arm's length away from me. Had it not been for the fact that I had my finger on the trigger, the gun would've slipped out of my hand long ago.
"At that critical moment, I saw a torch stuck in a bush nearby and reached for it with all my might. When I got it, I pressed the torch against the gun.
With the blessings of the God of War, the match was finally lit. As soon as I saw that the match was in front of the medicine box, I pulled the trigger. With a loud bang, the python finally stopped moving after struggling for a while.
I pulled the gun from the python's fangs and climbed up the rope ladder. When I finally got out of the tunnel and took a breather, I reloaded the gun and fired at the sky to warn you. Then, you guys came back. "
After hearing Claude's account of his life and death struggle with the python, his companions fell silent.
They could only imagine how dangerous it must have been. The slightest mistake and they might not be able to see Claude again.
"Actually, it's all my fault," Welikro said after a while, "I was too careless. I came here twice during the winter with my father, so I thought there wouldn't be any danger in the ruins. I thought it would be fine to leave Claude here alone.
I forgot that it's the transition between spring and summer and the python hibernates during the winter. It's its most active period right now.
If Claude didn't kill it, we might've been attacked by it tonight.
The ruins are actually its hunting grounds. "
"You're saying that the ruins are actually the python's territory?" asked Borkal.
"Yes. If we had been more careful when we came here, we would've noticed some signs. For example, why aren't there any snakes, rats, rats, or sparrows in the ruins? All we could see were a few seabirds perched on the rubble.
The ruins are huge, but there aren't any seabirds perched on them. That's already suspicious.
But my mind is still filled with memories of the winter. Back then, it was covered in snow and there was no sign of life. That's why I thought it would be the same now, "said Welikro with some frustration.
"It's not your fault," said Claude with a smile.
"It's all in the past now. The python is dead and I wasn't injured. Instead, we got quite a good harvest.
I only blame Boa for forcing me to drink the antidote. He even said that just because I wasn't injured didn't mean I wasn't poisoned. He even said that drinking it would be a good precaution.
Do you know how bad that antidote tasted? It tasted so weird. It was bitter, spicy, and astringent. My tongue went numb. "
"It's safer to drink it. Boa did the right thing," said Eriksson.
He took out the python fang and stuck it into the hole in the butt of his gun. He whistled and said, "Cool, Claude. I don't need you to pay for the repairs.
In fact, this fang is more than enough compensation.
Look, it's so stable in the butt. I'll tell others that the hole in the gun was caused by this fang. Let's see if they still won't believe me. "
Welikro glanced at it and said, "You and Boa, it's best if you throw the two fangs into the pot and cook them for an hour.
Although you have already washed it with water, no one can guarantee that there is no poison in the fangs. It is safer to boil it in water. Otherwise, if you accidentally cut your skin and get poisoned when you hold it in your hand, you will really be looking for trouble. "
What Welikro said made sense. Borkal and Eriksson followed his advice and immediately went to cook the two fangs.
By the time the two of them sat down, Claude and Welikro were already roasting the python jerky.
"By the way, Boa, I have something to ask you," Claude said.
"When you saw the shaliuns in the afternoon, you said it was a pity that they weren't magic shaliuns. What did you mean by that?
Is there a difference between magic and magic in gold coins? "
Borkal nodded. "Do you know how the earliest gold coins were made?
Who made them? "
"I don't know." Claude wanted to say that they were made using molds. He had seen videos on the computer in his previous life that said that in ancient times, one would first use clay to make molds and pour molten gold into the molds. After the molds cooled, the molds would be broken and the edges of the coins would be trimmed. Only then would the coins be completed. It was a time-consuming process and every coin would have a slight difference because it was impossible for two clay molds to be exactly the same.
But considering that he was in a different world, Claude decided to admit that he didn't know.
"It's said that the earliest gold coins were made by magi four thousand years ago," Borkal said, "Don't look at me. That's what's recorded in the Encyclopedia of Coins.
It's said that back then, people were used to bartering and it caused a lot of trouble for magi to trade with each other.
Later on, there was a magus who used precious dark gold to make small round cakes to trade with other magi.
However, dark gold was a magic material, and its production was not high. Therefore, magicians used gold and one gram of dark gold to make gold coins. The design of the coin was a magician wearing a cloak. They were named after the magician who made the dark gold pancakes, and they were called magic shaliun coins.
As the magic shaliuns contained one gram of dark gold, many magi melted them down and refined them into dark gold to use in magic experiments. As a result, the magic shaliuns became rarer and rarer. It was said that only Shiks in the north still had one and it was seen as a national treasure.
The earliest gold coins were all made by Magicians. They used alchemy to make magic shaliun coins that were exactly the same. As long as they had Dark Gold, they could make as many as they wanted, and anyone could do it.
But as magic materials became rarer, their prices began to rise. Mining for dark gold also became more and more difficult. Magi were no longer willing to use dark gold to make coins.
So, two thousand years later, there were no more dark gold coins. They were still called shaliuns but without the word 'magic'.
Back then, a magic shaliun could be exchanged for tens or even hundreds of shaliuns.
The emergence of the shaliun quickly spread from the magi's world to the common people's market. At first, it was only popular among magi nobles, but it soon spread to all parts of the continent. Almost all large transactions were done in shaliuns.
However, at that time, all the gold coins were cast by magicians through alchemy to ensure the exact amount of gold in each coin. This was a very difficult burden for magicians to bear, and they were unwilling to spend magic power and alchemy materials to make these gold coins for mortals.
So, they came up with a solution. They made seven sets of gold coin molds and gave them to seven magi nobles to make coins for common people.
It was these seven sets of gold coin molds that inspired the common people. So, silver and copper coins also appeared, perfecting the value system of the entire market.
But because the seven sets of gold coin molds were given by magi, there were only seven patterns in circulation on the continent during the dark era.
Instead, there were all kinds of variations and choices in the patterns of silver and copper coins.
According to the Encyclopedia of Coins, there were only seven types of gold coins, 143 types of silver coins, and more than 800 types of copper coins.
Basically, every noble and merchant with a copper mine would make their own copper coins to circulate in the market. This made it very difficult to exchange money.
It wasn't until the establishment of the Amslan dynasty that the types of gold coins began to increase. Later, when the various countries became independent and formed the current structure of the continent, the countries gradually realized the importance of the currency market. They took the right to mint coins to the national treasury and regulated their own gold, silver, and copper coins to stabilize the domestic financial market.
The seven sets of gold coin molds that magi gave to the magi nobles had patterns of seven plants and animals.
"Shaliuns, on the other hand, became the special coin of magi, forged by magi using alchemy.
"Among the gold coins, shaliuns have a higher status and are known as the kings of gold coins.
"But after the establishment of the Amslan dynasty, Emperor Regus O 'Shiel banned the use of shaliuns in Freia. All found were melted down and made into other coins. This ban is still in effect even now. It's the same in our kingdom, causing shaliuns to become rarer and rarer.