Thomas took a trip around the shopping district while waiting for dinner. After looking around and paying attention to the other shoppers he realized that he didn't understand the exchange rate of the different types of coins. Since he was only used to coppers he decided to ask about them at a nearby stall.
Thomas looked at the selection of cheap jewelry and picked out a ring being sold for one silver and five copper. "Hey, old man, how many coppers for this?" The old man told him twenty five and when he went to reach into the pouch to pay for it someone grabbed his wrist.
At first Thomas thought that the person was trying to rob him but it was a boy that looked to be the same age as him. "Little brother, you can't just run off like that." The boy looked at the price tag on the ring. "One silver and five coppers? If you want it then just pay the man his twenty coppers but I saw some better ones over on the other side of the market for three coppers less."
After putting the ring back, Thomas followed the boy. After the merchant could no longer hear them the boy turned to speak to Thomas. "That was a close one. Thankfully I was there or that merchant would have scammed you. Try not to trust the people that run the stalls. They can easily move their carts to a different area after they're done scamming you. The people in the shops are a bit more trustworthy." The boy was about to run off but Thomas stopped him.
"As thanks." Thomas tossed a silver coin towards the boy and then headed back towards the part of the shopping district where the bakery was located. From behind him he could hear the boy yelling out.
"If you ever want my help again just ask around for Rory!" The boy named Rory probably thought that Thomas was generous and had a lot of money. Thomas might be filthy rich but he felt like the boy earned that silver. Thomas would rather throw away a silver coin than lose five coppers to a scammer. It might not make sense but Thomas had a terrible history with scammers in his past life.
At least Thomas now knew that one silver was worth fifteen coppers. That would make him a harder target for scammers in the future. Thomas looked at the different stalls and couldn't find anything interesting but managed to find a book shop. Thomas entered and a small bell that was attached to the door rang.
There was an old lady at the counter that started watching him when he came in. "The cheapest item I've got is still over five silver coins. If you don't have the money to pay that then scram." The old lady seemed rude but Thomas remembered that he looked like a child so that response was reasonable. Children usually wouldn't have that much money on them.
Thomas looked around and found few interesting books. There was an adventure book about the journeys of a sloth-type beastman, another book detailing the different types of of demihumans, and finally a book about the introduction to magic. The warning on the front page of the book about magic stated that it had no spells but Thomas was still interested since he didn't know anything about magic.
Thomas brought all three of the books to the counter. "Hey, do you have any books with spells in them?"
The old lady looked at the door before glaring at Thomas. "Who put you up to this? Was it the guards? I already told them that I don't sell anything illegal like that."
Thomas was confused. "Illegal?" If magic books were illegal then how did people learn magic?
"Yes. Illegal. If you're not buying then get out of here." The old lady seemed angry so Thomas gave up and decided to settle for the books he picked out.
The Journey of Rumba the Sloth was six silvers. The Amazing Bestiary of Creatures and Demihumans was seven silvers. The last book, the Beginner's Introduction to Magic, was a total of seventeen silvers. The grand total of all of the books was a perfect thirty silvers so Thomas put two gold coins on the counter.
After the old lady saw this she looked both ways and then moved around the counter. She pulled the curtains down and locked the door before turning back to Thomas. "If you were here to look at our special goods then why didn't you say so in the first place?"
The old lady pocketed the gold coins then led Thomas to the back. She pulled a book off of the bookshelf and then placed it on the wall. This caused a hidden door to pop open and the two of them entered a small room.
Inside the room was a small bookshelf. Lining the bookshelf were books with titles like Fireballs and Flamethrowers, Practical Uses of Earth Magic, and even the Church of Healing Light volumes 1-3. Just by reading the titles he could tell that they were books on magic. "How much for all of them?"
Thomas ended up leaving the book shop empty-handed. All of the books he just bought were stored inside his pocket dimension. Thomas rushed back to the bakery but made sure to circle around and go through the alleyway in case someone was following him. The cheapest magic book available was still two gold coins and Thomas bought thirteen of them.
Fireballs and Flamethrowers
Practical Uses of Earth Magic
Toughen Up
An Acolyte's Access to Alchemy
Poisons and Potions
Dryad's Kiss
Defend!
Water Magic: Your Portable Oasis
Earth, Wind, and Fire
Church of Healing Light Volume 1
Church of Healing Light Volume 2
Church of Healing Light Volume 3
The Book of Spells
Two of them were especially expensive and Thomas was warned to never show them to anybody. Unlike the rest of the books, Church of Healing Light Volume 3 and The Book of Spells were priced in black iron coins. Thanks to this Thomas knew just how much gold coins and the black iron coins were worth. Gold coins were worth fifty silver and black iron coins were worth twenty gold coins.