The bazaar was camped in a huge expanse of land. Rows of stalls were aligned, where sellers advertised their merchandise. People were constantly going in and out, so the place was bustling with life and activity.
Lorian cast curious glances to the wares as he walked in slow strides. His only regret was, he was tight on money. Being penniless upon transmigration, Lorian asked for half the pay of the month in advance with the help of Loki of course. Thus now, he had some space to maneuver with starting 10 silver coins, which dwindled down to current 7.
His expenditure was mostly based on healing herbs that needed to be applied after training, to rid of hidden injuries and to keep the body in desirable condition.
To become powerful, hard work wasn't enough. Diligent training burned money, time and required willpower. One's achievements would also depend on talent. Most commoners had to work and take care of their families. They neither had time nor money for training. That's why commoners strived to give their children the chance for a better future. Becoming a merchant, blacksmith or an official were very desirable options.
However, the most popular job would be a soldier, as this world put more emphasis on military power. The system, which was the base of the military was very excellent and evidently made by a cunning person.
At first glance, a soldier had very few responsibilities. They could just do nothing and still get their monthly pay, but people were always ambitious and always in need of money. These traits were used as a good bait.
The barracks had bulletin boards, which worked like ones in adventurer guild. Soldiers could assess their own abilities and apply for missions to get extra pay. These missions included guarding, patrolling, working in the sentry stations... There were also extermination missions, where they had to catch or hunt specific criminal or monsters.
However, contributions weren't counted like they did in adventurer guilds. One could only rank up when they became a star warrior or reached a higher star. The missions were just a source of extra money.
The soldiers had mainly two jobs. One was to obey the military command of a higher ranking soldier. Another one would be to unconditionally accept missions regarding helping villages in dealing with beast tides. The villages, which were scattered in the outer periphery of the kingdom was an important source of food and kingdom couldn't afford to have them destroyed. That's why they had to be a bit forceful about it on soldiers.
The beast tides happened in winter when food became scarce in forests and beasts came out for hunting. Guarding villages was a risky job, but also very bountiful. Excluding some commissions, most of the money earned from selling beast corpses were left to soldiers. This way, everyone was happy.
Lorian bought whetstone, a new pair of underwear, light stone, lamp, lighter, rope and other particular things. Most important of all, he bought a nice, warm woolen sweater.
Lorian sighed. His remaining money was about 5 silvers, which was by no means few, at least enough to feed a conservative person for quite a while, but he was not a normal person. Without enough money, he had to reduce the intensity of training by the end of the month as he didn't have enough.
- Sigh, when will I be able to earn my first gold coin, I wonder...
1 gold=1,000 silvers=1,000,000 coppers.
To make transactions easier, the size of coins varied. For example, a small copper coin was 1 copper, a medium copper coin was equal to 10 coppers and a large copper coin was worth 100 coppers. This way, one didn't have to carry thousands of coins. It was pretty convenient in Lorian's opinion.
- I can only spend thriftily until the end of the month.
Unbeknownst to him, he was deep in thoughts as he walked out of the bazaar.
- What if I didn't meet Loki when I came here? He's about to become a 1-star warrior, so others had to give him face. There's no way I would become soldier this easily otherwise. I owe him a lot.
As he was walking, he felt a sudden tug on his pouch. Alerted, Lorian forcefully grabbed the hand of pickpocketer.
Lorian surveyed the thief. It was 6-7 years old girl with a dirty face and messy hair. She wore tattered one piece. He couldn't find it in himself to reprimand her. He felt his anger dissipate as he stared into girl's unyielding eyes. This was the eyes of someone who went through many hardships and bitterness.
Lorian let go of her hand and took out 3 medium sized coppers, stuffing them in girl's hands.
The unyielding eyes of the girl shook with disbelief as she looked down at shiny coins in her dirty hands, then blankly stared at Lorian's smiling face. She never cried in face of hardships. She could never afford to show her weakness, because of her...and now, looking at stranger's smiling face, her eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.
She even forgot thanking him and before she knew it, she was gazing at the fading back of the stranger. She stood there, until his figure completely vanished, then disappeared into an alleyway.