Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1443: Chapter 21: First Encounter

Hill suddenly stopped in his tracks, his head tilting five degrees as he tried to think about that strange feeling that suddenly appeared… Is this world lacking in crisis more than he thought?

No, it should be similar to his previous world, with local wars, major countries engaging in hardline dialogues… But those dialogues occur in regions with small countries that have no ability to resist, and they never fight at home.

So, as long as one’s own country is strong enough, even fierce internal struggles must be kept within certain limits.

Yet, the All Gods of Aesces, though silent and having not shown any miracles for hundreds of years, still made their presence felt so strongly, keeping humans respectful.

So, their status and role must be quite important now… Could it be that they’re specifically used for arbitrating in international institutions like the United Nations?

Hill resumed his steps, and a peculiar feeling of curiosity suddenly surged in his heart… Perhaps ‘someone’ thought he performed too well in Toril, so they simply sent him to a place filled with a sense of familiarity, allowing him to have a good rest for a while?

Aesces seems to trust Hill’s promise, placing no restrictions on him… relying entirely on Hill’s own conscience.

But Hill himself did not want to lose control over himself.

He glanced back at the display windows with mannequins in various poses wearing seductive dresses, realizing belatedly what style this area belonged to, and quickly sped up his pace to leave… Almost thought he’d traveled back to some tulip country!

Then he almost laughed out loud… Hill had walked straight through a narrow alley located on Mage Avenue to the adjacent commercial street.

And on either side of that narrow alley, no matter which side you look at, it seemed quite lively.

So that’s the kind of liveliness it was!

With a strange mood, he made his way towards the Hall of Abundance… At this moment, Hill truly found himself reliving the mood he had when he first walked into the capital of the Tulip Country.

Hill shook his head, sorted out that inexplicable mood, and headed towards the grand door that the two doormen had already opened for a long time.

Feeling the various gazes coming from upstairs, Hill tiptoed lightly, and headed towards the ground floor where over a hundred stalls filled the vast hall occupying thousands of square feet.

Not sure whether to say the Stelter family is useless, or that other families in Basia City are quite capable, but from those hidden yet cautious gazes, Hill could sense that what he had revealed to the Stelter family was now virtually known throughout the city.

Thinking about how what he later taught Miss Ellie might also get widely spread… The Stelter family loses a point.

Hill slowly walked amongst the stalls, his spiritual power gradually probing each item… especially the ores placed in the most prominent locations.

To be able to set up shop and trade in the Hall of Abundance, one must at least be a middle-class citizen of Basia City or a poor person who made a small fortune.

And what they consider profitable is probably the most common resource.

Hill’s expression remained unchanged, but his feelings grew increasingly complex… Aesces had placed him in a mountain range with a thousand-foot cliff, which had two small veins, one of which was a gold mine.

Hill had sensed the purity of the gold in that vein back then, so he directly gave Joshua processed gold nuggets and gold bars.

But… turns out, that gold mine wasn’t particularly bad, but exceptionally good!

Committing the purity of those ores to memory, Hill gently tugged at his long hair, feeling a bit duped by Aesces… Moreover, occasionally when goods were brought in at some stalls, they were laboriously carried in using burlap bags or large boxes, and even the especially heavy yet small ores had to be carried by someone… So it seems people of the middle class don’t have Dimension Bags?

Hill blinked gently, swallowing his errors lightly… Luckily, admittedly, he could use the reason that this was his first visit to Basia to cover up his ‘luxury’ as an excuse.

He placed his hand in the pocket of his Mage Robe, slowly transforming a few clumps of clay… When shopping at a store, one couldn’t very well use gold bars that look like they’ve been refined more than three times!

Fortunately, he discovered this early.

Initially, he planned to use those few gold nuggets as a month’s rent and give another payment next month.

Hill slowly moved around the stalls for half an hour, buying nothing and asking nothing… looking as if he were a proud mage observing the life of ordinary people.

In reality, taking advantage of this opportunity, he had quickly generated dozens of slightly coarse gold bars and tucked them into the storage ring he held in his hand.

Hill stopped, turned, and headed toward the slowly rising escalator when he heard sighs coming from behind… Although these people tried hard to lower their voices, with hundreds of people sighing together, it sounded no different from a loud proclamation.

Amused, Hill glanced back at those stall owners who tried hard to press their heads down to their chests… Were they trying to judge whether there was anything good at their stalls by observing his gaze?

Business people indeed aren’t fools.

In fact, there were some handicrafts that caught Hill’s eye, but he refrained from buying mainly because these stalls probably couldn’t give him change.

So far, Hill didn’t have any local currency… even if he knew the minting method of gold, silver, and copper coins, he absolutely would not counterfeit any world’s currency.

But the idea that these stall owners have, that unknown magical items or unrecognized minerals might appear at their stalls, is simply impossible.

Even if dozens of mages and hundreds of mage apprentices in the Hall of Abundance all make mistakes, the alchemists upstairs would still be able to recognize valuable things.

If there really is something without any magical aura but shines brightly in someone’s hands… any archmage with a bit of common sense would know that this thing shouldn’t be snatched.

In a fantasy world, there are always some sons of fortune, and stealing their things is like inviting trouble upon yourself.

Although Hill often ends up with things he shouldn’t have, that’s because his luck is not influenced by certain rules… It’s also because he’s never greedy that he hasn’t caused too much chaos.

Of course, this might also be because nothing has sparked his desire for possession.

Hill walked up to the second level with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

His mood improved a little… The fact that these ordinary stall owners, who only know Hill as a mage, can look forward to this so openly shows that they firmly believe that as long as a mage values their items, a fair price will be offered.

No matter how high the mage’s level is.

Even if the constraints on mages in the World of Aesces are strict enough, it proves that the Stelter Family manages this aspect quite rigorously.

Hill never believes in the so-called qualities of the upper class… When there’s an advantage to be taken, indeed some people can adhere to their moral bottom line, but… there are always those whose bottom line is flexible enough.

To make ordinary people believe in the noble qualities of mages requires laws, and a government capable of enforcing those laws.

Hill wandered through the small shops on the second level… a point lost by the Stelter Family was regained.

Then he silently observed for a while. The shoppers here probably belong to the upper middle class… but the transactions are only worth a few gold coins.

Hill had no intention to test the small change reserves of these shops nor any interest in buying unwanted items. He turned and went up to the third level… If he couldn’t spend a few gold bars on this level, then there might be nowhere in Basia City for him to spend.

He couldn’t possibly seek out those display window girls who specialize in mage business, right? He noticed that they did have quite a few gold and silver coins at their feet.

Fortunately, Basia City hasn’t reached such a dire state… Hill thought that if he really exchanged money with the window girls, the damage to anyone’s pride wouldn’t be his own.

Hill took a liking to a dreamcatcher with beads and feathers along the edges.

It was purely a craft item, but the color scheme was interesting… Large colored gemstone beads were strung on the web, with fluffy feathers of black swans, crested nightingales, golden eagles, and tail feathers of peacocks in blue-green.

The color was gaudy, yet surprisingly harmonious.

The price was only 40 gold coins, just enough for Hill to spend a gold nugget worth 100 gold.

Once he received 60 gold coins, Hill casually bought some small gemstone beads from the shop, spending 2 gold and 1 silver… In this world, silver coins are quite valuable, with 100 copper equaling 1 silver, and 10 silver equaling 1 gold.

After all, their more valuable currency is the crystal coin.

Although there are more crystal mines than gold mines… few can make coins using energy-containing crystal stones.

Even if there are machines available, they require a mage to operate.

Therefore, 1 crystal coin is worth 100 gold.

The real value of crystal coins lies in the energy they contain… If you use the energy in a crystal coin to cast spells, it’s equivalent to a level 2 standard spell.

Thus, hiring a mage for work has a standard price.

Clearly marked.

Hill, thinking he didn’t have many opportunities to spend copper coins, didn’t linger… The artworks and decor on the third floor, despite their glitter, were less interesting to him than the ones on the lower levels.

He turned and entered a small room similar to an elevator… After showing the invitation, the beautiful blonde woman in a fishtail gown at the door opened the door for him.

When the door opened again, a lady in fiery red appeared before his eyes… Her vivid green eyes were so bright that he couldn’t help but blink.

“Welcome to my auction, Mr. Belfran.” The beautiful girl said with a sweet smile, “I am Alitorman, the eldest daughter of the Stelter Family.

Dear sir, Ellie, is willing to serve you wholeheartedly~”

Hill couldn’t help but laugh, nodding lightly.