Chapter 5 #4
“And that crystal fountain isn’t even worth discussing,” he said, discarding the piece of parchment listing the fountain’s costs and materials. He dipped a quill in ink and opened the ledger to a fresh page.
“Now, my lady,” Ruth said, handing her the quill. “Let’s try recording the purchases again, without the overpriced items this time.”
Maxi nervously eyed the quill. She had expected Ruth to take matters into his own hands. “W-What if I m-make more m-mistakes…”
“You’ll need to keep accounts in the future. If you make a mistake, I’ll help you correct it. But you should have a try first, my lady.”
She nodded and took the quill, but her mind went blank as she stared at the ledger. Unable to recall anything she had learned, Maxi sifted through the receipts in panic.
Taking a breath to compose herself, Maxi decided to start with the oldest receipt and began copying the item names and expenditures.
This time, her records included the number of workers hired, their wages, and the length of their contracts in addition to the quantity and cost of purchased materials.
As the calculations grew more complex, a cold sweat beaded on Maxi’s skin. She added, added, and added again. But how much was each currency worth? The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.
After silently watching her struggle, Ruth intervened, his voice apprehensive. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it seems you don’t know the currency conversions.”
“I d-do!” Maxi insisted, tightening her grip around the quill.
Ruth gave her a dubious look, and Maxi’s mouth went dry.
“It’s j-just that I’ve n-never b-bought anything myself, s-so I g-got a little c-confused…”
“How much is sixty liram in soldem?”
Maxi hurriedly counted on her fingers and blurted out the first answer she came to. “F-Four?”
As Ruth’s eyes narrowed, she inhaled sharply and corrected herself.
“Th-Three!”
“How much is twenty-four denar in soldem, then?”
“Um…”
“How many derham coins would you get for ten liram?”
Ruth’s continued scrutiny had Maxi on the verge of tears, and her face burned with shame.
He’s realized that I’m utterly incompetent. He knows that I’m hopeless. What if he tells Riftan that I’m just as I appear—a stupid, stuttering fool?
As she lowered her head in defeat, Ruth clutched his head and groaned.
“Not even Princess Agnes was this ignorant about worldly affairs! Has your life been that sheltered?”
Maxi bit her lip but did not answer. Ruth, too, was silent. Finally, he heaved a sigh and pulled a small pouch from his robe.
“Look closely,” he said as he fished two silver coins from the pouch.
One was large, its diameter as wide as her little finger was long, and it was impressed with the image of a bird spreading its wings. The other coin was small and thin, only as wide as a single joint of her index finger. Ruth tapped the larger coin.
“This is a liram, the currency minted during the Roemian Empire and circulated widely across the continent. The smaller coin is a derham. Twelve derham make one liram.”
He paused, making sure Maxi understood before continuing.
“The derham originated in Lakazim, on the Southern Continent. Trade with the southern realms has increased in recent years, so we’re seeing an influx of these coins. They may be small, but they are stable and carry much value.”
Maxi examined the small coin, placing it in her palm so she could see it up close. She had never held money before and so wanted to memorize its details.
Satisfied that she was following along, Ruth resumed his lesson. “On a scale, it takes exactly twelve derham to balance the weight of one liram, which is why the exchange is twelve derham for a liram.”
The next coins that came out of Ruth’s pouch were gold. One was the size of a liram, and the other the size of a derham.
“This large coin is a soldem. Like the liram, it’s been in circulation since the Roemian era. The smaller gold coin is a denar, and it is from Lakazim, like the smaller silver coin. A soldem weighs as much as twelve denar, so the conversion is the same as from liram to derham: one to twelve.”
“W-Why do they p-produce such small c-coins on the S-Southern Continent?”
Ruth scrunched his nose in annoyance. “Because trade there is far more developed than it is here. If the coins carried too much value, trade between individuals wouldn’t be possible.”
Sensing that the sorcerer was explaining things that should be obvious to her, Maxi chose not to inquire further. She was not sure she understood the nuances of trade and currencies, but waited for Ruth to continue.
“Gold is twenty times more valuable than silver. So, one soldem can be exchanged for twenty liram, and one denar for twenty derham.”
Maxi struggled to wrap her head around the conversion rates. “S-So this small gold coin—a d-denar, was it? How m-much is one d-denar in liram?”
“There’s no precise conversion. Five liram are worth three denar.” Ruth slid a gold denar and a silver liram across the table.
She quickly began scribbling notes on a spare piece of parchment, and Ruth watched her for a few moments before sighing softly.
“You were likely confusing liram and denar in your dealings with the merchant.
The soldem is rarely used on account of being too valuable, while the derham is worth too little to be considered practical for large-scale transactions.
Trade between noble houses and merchants is usually conducted in liram, the Roemian silver coin, or in denar, the gold coin from Lakazim.
“Like I said, liram and denar do not convert neatly. Since breaking the coins into pieces isn’t an option, traders often convert them into derham to simplify things. As long as you keep track of these conversions, your calculations should be accurate.”
Maxi nodded, dejected. “I d-didn’t know th-there were so m-many kinds of coins….”
“You’ve only seen a fraction of them, my lady.
Balto in the north and Sykan in the east have their own currencies.
Their coins’ purity and weight are identical to that of soldem and liram, but it’s best that you still take note of their appearance.
” Ruth searched his pockets, then scratched his head.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any samples with me. Next time, perhaps.”
Maxi stared at him with dread. More currencies only meant more confusion.
“If th-they’re worth the s-same as s-soldem and liram, is th-there really a need t-to s-see them?”
Ruth nodded. “More and more lords have been minting their own coins to show off their wealth and power, but most of them are made from impure alloys containing lead or copper. These must be rejected in transactions. Coins from Balto or Sykan, on the other hand, are pure and reliable. Come next spring, merchants from these kingdoms will arrive in Anatol, so you’d do well to familiarize yourself with their currencies beforehand. ”
“I s-see…”
“The soldem, liram, denar, derham, and copper shekel widely used by commoners are among the most reliable currencies. And then there’s the dant, which is used only by the elite. You should remember those at the very least.”
Maxi’s ears perked up at his mention of the dant. She had heard of it in passing before.
“H-How much is a d-dant w-worth?”
“It’s the most valuable currency in the world, issued during the golden age of the Roemian Empire.
They’re book-sized, resembling metal plates more than coins, and they’re made of orichalcum.
As such, they’re exceedingly rare. Only six hundred exist across the continent, and one hundred and sixty of them are in Sir Riftan’s possession. ”
Maxi’s eyes grew wide as Ruth continued to boast.
“Sir Riftan found them six years ago. During that time, he hunted monsters like a madman and collected all sorts of treasures. It was in a lair in the canyons of Osiriya that he came across two hundred dant coins—the most valuable of his finds. Of the two hundred, he spent forty on building the castle walls, repairing the castle itself, and paving the roads in the village.”
“H-He was able t-to do all that w-with just f-forty coins?”
“Twenty would have sufficed, but Sir Riftan paid the workers several times the usual wage to expedite construction.” Ruth made no attempt to hide his displeasure.
“Y-You’ve known R-Riftan a long time.”
“Since he was nothing but a lowly mercenary. It’s been nearly twelve years.”
Maxi was intrigued by the revelation. Twelve years ago, Riftan would have been sixteen.
Had he really become a mercenary so young?
She knew that Riftan had been knighted at the age of eighteen, and doing so typically required at least three years of training and an additional year of dedicated swordsmanship under another knight’s guidance… .
“But we’ve digressed,” Ruth said. “Let’s return to the task at hand, my lady. We must finish before the merchant arrives.”
Swallowing her lingering questions, Maxi nodded and buried her nose in the ledger once again.
—
Aderon was visibly upset when Maxi canceled some of the orders, and though he made several eloquent attempts to persuade her to reconsider, she stood her ground.
Just remembering how Ruth had scowled at her immoderate spending gave her courage.
In the end, the merchant heaved a sigh of surrender and drafted a new statement.
While Maxi tried to estimate the total cost, it dawned on her that she would be paying with piles of the gleaming coins that Ruth had shown her earlier. It was no small sum. With a renewed sense of responsibility, she signed the receipt and gathered the rolls of parchment.
Later, in the library, Ruth looked relieved when Maxi told him that everything had gone well.
“May I see the receipt?”
Nodding, she passed him the piece of parchment.
“I see the fellow isn’t entirely unprincipled.” He idly tapped his lips as he examined the page.
“He’s rather p-persistent, b-but he’s not a b-bad person…”
“Anyone can pretend to be a paragon of virtue when it comes to lining their pockets.”