"Hi, it took you a while, I thought only girls were getting ready for so long." – Firlo tried to joke at the sight of his older colleague.
"Very funny, I had to think for a while about what I heard from your father, I'm from a place very far away and everything that happened is new and a little overwhelming to me." – Jason replied calmly to the taunt.
"A little what? Overwhelming? What does it mean?" – Firlo was surprised at the new word, which he apparently did not know. Jason forgot that he was dealing with a little boy who spent most of his time on other things rather than studying.
"It means something that it is difficult for me to understand and deal with.
Look, I don't really have anything, except for eren meat and well - water, I'd like to buy something else to eat, and I don't have any money. I also need a few books, can I find something like this at your place?" – Jason began to list what he would need.
"When it comes to money, don't worry, Eren's fangs are worth a lot, it should be enough for a start, then I'm sure you'll find something to do that someone will pay you for, especially with your abilities, we don't use magic, but they don't mind that someone else uses it, you will complete a few tasks from the villagers or from my father and you should earn money for some basic things." – replied Firlo.
"Sure, let's start with money, where can I sell these fangs?" – he pulled them out of the capacious pockets of his school sweatshirt and placed them on the hand stretched out towards Firlo.
The boy smiled and pointed to one of the houses around the square.
"There, it's our only shop in the village. The owner buys everything that has some value, and then sells it several times a year in the nearest town. If you took them to the city yourself, you would probably earn more, but first of all, it's not possible now, secondly, the road is dangerous, and thirdly, it doesn't pay to go many months to sell only one thing" – He began to lecture Jason Firlo.
"Yes, I have already understood what everyone is telling me, I am too weak to wander in the forest far away alone. Let's go to the store." – Jason took the boy by the hand and pulled him in the direction he had previously indicated.
The shop didn't make much of an impression on Jason, it was only twice the size of his new cabin. There were various items on the shelves, most likely brought by the residents. The shopkeeper was the only person in the village who did not have the overwhelming physique of a warrior, he was a middle-aged, short man with a thicker build, with a bald spot in the middle of his head.
"How can I help?" he asked excitedly seeing a customer he hadn't seen in the village before.
"I'd like to sell these fangs, how much can you pay me for them?" said Jason, holding out both hands in front of him, in which he held eren's fangs resembling bone daggers.
"A single silver coin... yes, I can't pay more"
At that moment, Firlo came out from behind Jason.
"Old man, you want to rob us, I saw you pay one of the guards twice as much last week!" – Enzo's son was outraged, exposing the attempt at fraud.
"Firli, I didn't notice you here, yes, you know, maybe I made a mistake, actually... So the others were in better condition, cleanly removed. These two here are kind of broken at the root, it will be harder to make something out of them."
"Old man..."
"Okay, 2 silver coins, but you still have to buy something from me!" – The shopkeeper wanted to get out of Jason's attempt to deceive Jason, who did not know the local reality.
"It won't be a problem, I'll be happy to buy something as long as you have the things I need."
"It depends on what you need, you will only find basic goods from me, things that hunters bring from the forest, or that I will bring from the city to trade." – The shopkeeper came out from behind the counter and began to show what he had at his disposal.
In fact, most of the items shown by the Shopkeeper were animal products and raw materials from Edelfross, but Jason found one that caught his eye. It was a small book with nice illustrations, an atlas of the fauna and flora of Edelfross. It had a simple leather cover and was no bigger than a notebook.
"How much for that?" – Jason pointed to the book.
"Ah, boy, this is an atlas drawn a few years ago by a traveler who was passing through the village. I liked the illustrations, so I bought it. I can sell it for 5 bronze coins." – the shopkeeper replied, this time he was clearly not trying to cheat Jason. Jason had learned earlier that in the northern hemisphere, the money system was based on bronze, silver, gold, and cloudsteel coins. Ten bronze coins are one silver, ten silver coins are one gold, ten gold coins are one cloudsteel.
"The price seems fair... This time. Please." – Jason handed over one silver coin and the shopkeeper gave him the change. – "I don't see anything else that can be useful to me yet, I have to buy clothes, but I think I should look for them somewhere else." – Jason ended his visit to the store.
Together with Firlo, they went to a nearby tailor, who measured Jason and promised to prepare clothes for the next day. Jason also bought some things to eat for the next few days and went on a further tour of the village.
"Jason, look, I'm going to show you something great!" – said Firlo excitedly – "I spend a lot of time there with my friends, it's a training track for children, I think you can use it before your father lets you leave the village."
Jason looked curiously at the square to which Firlo had brought him, there was an obstacle course, like the one they had at school, various weights made of profiled wood, something like a climbing wall, but resembling a tree with randomly placed handles and imitations of branches, and a circular arena for sparring.
"How about a little sparring?" – Firlo offered.
"Sure, your father said we could train together, but he doesn't want to hurt you," Jason said with concern for his younger colleague.
"Don't worry, maybe I'm still small, but I think you need to worry more about yourself!" Firlo said confidently.