18 Chapter Five || Reisparte Marke (2/2)
”And it's useful, too,” the shopkeeper continued, ”It's a very rare and special jewel imbued with great magic! Worth fifty eleuars, but it's not for sale. However, you can buy one of these jewels instead.”
He pointed to the shallow basket of dark virescent jewels below the glass case. ”They're the same stone. All these need are a little shining with some magic, and it'll look just like this one. And once it's shined up, you can use the great magic locked inside! Just wear it, and the magic off your body will unlock it in no time!”
Essairyn raised her eyebrow. She felt no magic coming from the green jewel or the darker ones below. If they held any magic, then with this large amount of jewels she should've felt at least a trace. But despite her suspicions, she still wanted one for herself.
”I'll take this one.” She picked up a teardrop shape from the basket.
”Good choice,” cheered the shopkeeper. ”Just two eleuars, miss.”
Essairyn retrieved the money pouch from her gift bag and peered inside. There were eighteen coins of six different engravings and sizes. Three were white, four were golden, nine were silvern, and two were coppery.
With all these types of coins, Essairyn almost wished she had asked the Andelrins how much each coin was worth. But since she had felt it would be impolite, she was stuck learning the money values herself.
Even so, she couldn't let the shopkeeper know that she couldn't count money. She also didn't want to be ripped off in case the man suspected she wasn't from around here.
So, she cooly held up the largest silver coin and presented it in front of the shopkeeper. He gave a disgruntled look at the sight of the coin and crossed his arms.
”I said two eleuars, miss. But fine, I'll give it to you for a hathe eleuar, okay?” he stated gruffly with a sigh and waited for the girl to produce the coins.
Essairyn blinked, wondering if this shopkeeper had been trying to cheat her after all. Nevertheless, she still didn't know what an eleuar or hathe eleuar was or if she even had one. The only thing she did know was that the coin she was holding wasn't either.
But as she hastilydevised a plan to both haggle and learn, a hooded man appeared on her left. She nearly flinched at the man's sudden approach; Essairyn hadn't perceived his presence at all when he came near. His steps and aura were silent and natural like air impalpably drifting.
”Imbued with great magic?” the hooded man addressed the shopkeeper, ”Certainly when these stones are purified, they can hold great magic, but they hardly hold any of their own. And to even purify one to that state would require an enormous amount of magic. Two eleuars?” He scoffed. ”It's not even worth a pynce.”
Indeed, the displayed jewel had taken the shopkeeper several years to purify, and that was after he received it partially purified from a trade with an adventurer. He originally thought he was scammed. But after purification, he acquired many more not yet purified, and it soon became his scam.
The hooded man gestured to the coin Essairyn was holding and turned in her direction.
”Do you have an eythe pynce, princess?” he inquired gently, extending his hand gracefully.
Essairyn scrutinized him with baffled eyes. 'Who the heck are you?!' She exclaimed internally. 'Princess? Ehhhh?!?' She subtly tried looking at his face underneath the hood, but strangely enough, the hood concealed everything in darkness except for his softly smiling mouth and angular chin.
She knew that there was no sun, so shadows weren't casted unless there were other light sources, but it bothered her that he was basically faceless except for under his nose. However, he had spontaneously helped her, so she was grateful and didn't pry into who he was.