Inside the Historian's Map Shop , Jasper saw a variety of maps such as Transport Network Maps,City Sights Map, Public Institutions Map and many others.
The shopkeeper was a man of about 40 years old who greeted Jasper politely,"Welcome sir, how may I help you?"
"I am new here so I was looking for a map of Vestalis to guide me . Please show me a map that has all the necessary features to travel through Vestalis."
The shopkeepers eyes sparkled as he saw that a greenhorn kid had come to his shop and not wanting to lose this opportunity to earn extra money,"Sure, sure . Just a second."
This was not the first time the shopkeeper was going to swindle someone. In fact the penalties for getting caught in the act of swindling were so harsh that 99% of shopkeeper of Vestalis did not even dream of swindling anyone. But this unfortunately helped a few brave shopkeeper who partake in the act of swindling their customers. For instance,this shopkeeper had been swindling for many years now and had yet to be caught.
He used his smarts and placed the shop near the Lounge , designed his shop very attractive to make greenhorns and people who had just arrived to Vestalis visit his shop and buy one of his premium maps. Although the map was expensive compared to the other maps it did have all the important features required by the customers. However the shopkeeper increased its price by large margin while the rules stated that the profit gained by a seller must not exceed 5 Arcadian currency, he instead crossed this mark and earned an illegal profit.
By the time the people swindled realized that they had been swindled,the di not complained mostly because it was not that much of big amount and would rather not deal with the Arcadian Police Force. It could also be said that the shopkeepers had been lucky to not have been complained yet. But this had fuelled his confidence and he had become very overconfident recently.
The shopkeeper seemed to rummage through a lot of maps before removing a map with a few special designs on them," Young Sir , I believe that this map has everything you have asked about."
Jasper looked through the map and saw that it had all the transport routes, landmarks ,restaurants and other important features in it and was satisfied with it.
"How much will it cost me?"
"Young Sir, you see due to the map having almost all the important features in it the cost is a little higher than the market price and the design on the map has a special function that will be very beneficial to you." Jasper was starting to get a little suspicious of the shopkeeper as he tried to give such an explanation for the price. Also ,it reminded him of the gift shopkeepers he had met in Blue World. He had been swindled once before and it was not something he wanted to experience again.
"Mister,the price?" As the shopkeeper kept staring at Jasper his greed started roaring as Jasper looked so out of place with him not having changed his clothes, his body proportions differing from the norm and other features. In the end his greed won and he blurted out a high price.
"20 Arcadian currency."
"Okay."
Jasper agreed easily since he had absolutely no knowledge of how money worked in Vestalis. Just as he was about to hand over the card Jennifer gave him,his experience with the gift shopkeeper of the Blue World came to his mind and his expression changed drastically. He stopped his action and thought it through and realized that he had did not even know how money worked here.
The mistake was actually made by Jennifer and Jasper both, one who handed money to Jasper without ever explaining how it actually worked and the other who did not ask the question and instead just took the money.
"Mister,I do not have any money with me here but i will ask my sister who is outside."
"Fine,fine but hurry up with it." The shopkeeper was so immersed in his fantasies about the 20 Arcadian coins that he did not notice the change in Jaspers expression nor the impending doom.
Jasper finds Jennifer outside the shop standing beside a car which was actually hovering but does not ask about it instead explains everything that transpired in the shop. After Jasper finishes his account of the incident there is no visible change in Jennifers expression,"It is indeed a little higher than the other shops but it will take sometime to find another map shop and I am in a hurry to go to the Bank, so just pay him."
This time before entering the shop, Jasper hands over the card to Jennifer while she gives him 2 -10 Arcadian notes. The notes design had the whole city of Vestalis drawn on it.
"Alright."
Jasper enters the Historians store again and hands over the notes to the shopkeeper. The moment the shopkeeper spotted the notes he almost snached them from Jaspers hands and a smug satisfied smirk rested on his mouth. Jasper was really infuriated and might have even given him a few bashing were it not for Jennifers remark and him being in another world however he kept quiet and went outside."
Meanwhile outside the shop ,Jennifer yes flash coldly while taking out a magic phone similar to a cell phone and calls the president of Arcadian World Council of Vestalis, Mr Wilson " What governing have you been doing here! I just casually went to a shop and the shopkeeper actually tried to swindle me. This shop is very near to the Lounge and should have been cleaned out a long time ago. It shows that you have been very lacking in your governing. But do not worry as long as these cheap swindlers are put behind bars ,no one will ever hear about this big secret. You can keep all the money you have exhorted but if immediate action is not taken , better be ready for the consequence."
Surprisingly the President did not rebuke instead just kept his mouth shut and nodded ,"Yes, Maam."
Jennifer cuts the line and the Mr. Wilson finally gets to take a breather before he starts panicking and then again settles down. In this moment of transition he had already decided his course of action. This was the experience acting which he had gained after being a politician for so many year not to mention in a Magic World where most of the things was dictated by strength. He calls the attendant beside him,"Remove all the shopkeepers who are swindling in Vestalis."
"Sir, What about the shops through which we earn extra profits?"
"Include them in the list."
"But Sir..."
"Silence,you are meant to do what I tell you not talk back to me. Go and immediately proceed with my request."
"Yes,Sir"
The reason the president was fine with closing all his profits through shops was because they were just one of the many ways he got extra profit. As long as this matter was resolved the big shot would not trouble him again and he could continue earning his profits. He was just unlucky that the big shot found about their swindling business and for some reason were pissed of at it.
Not wanting for such an incident to repeat he holds a conference with all the other important figures of Vestalis.
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Right now Jasper was sitting in a V-6 model hovercar which was floating above the ground made by the reputeted company Golden Line. It used mana stones as fuel and also used its energy to release electromagnetic waves to float in the air. It had a sleek design somewhat similar to a sports car found in the Blue World. It even had the ability to reach a maximum of whopping 950mph.
But of course Jasper did not know about the greatness of the hovercar he was sitting in just as he was not aware of many things related to Arcane World. After all it had been a very short time since he had entered the world of magic. Anyways Jasper could not be bothered to think about the car since he was preoccupied in thinking about the shopkeeper.
"Jennifer,I want to report that swindler shopkeeper to whatever authorities are policing in Vestalis. I realized that you have some authority here , so would just inform someone important about it."
"Jasper, do not worry about that shopkeeper low life. There is no way he can escape now and know that he will get what he deserves and perhaps more."
Jasper was relieved to hear this but he was also surprised to hear his elder sister speak a crash word like 'low life'. It only made him further realize that his sister was not the same person he knew from before.
Jasper looks out of the window and sees everything disappear and appear in an instant. For him to not be able to clearly see what was appearing outside the window meant that the car was moving at a speed where his eyes could not follow the changes in his surroundings clearly. He tilts his head sharply and takes a look at the speedometer and then his mouth remains hanging open for sometime. The car was actually moving at a speed of 150mph. Before this ride he had never experienced a speed near this value so there was no way to compare it but he understood that they were moving at an insane speed. Remember that they were in a city and there were many cars riding beside them.
Worried that they might have an accident with another vehicle at such a high speed, Jasper looks at the other vehicles in the road. Surprisingly, the other cars on the road were also moving in high speed although lower than their speed. Jasper made an assumption that the average speed of all the hovercars on the road was near 80 mph. So,their V-6 Golden Line was smoothly overtaking all the other cars without any incident.
"Most of the people living in Vestalis have at least some limited potential to control mana. They might not even have any affinity of mana to speak of but they can perform the simplest use of mana that is to improve and upgrade their body function. This alone gives them an advantage over normal people of the Blue World and better eyesight is one of the advantages for upgrading the body. As you can expect 80 mph is nothing for most drivers of Vestalis since their eyes can easily follow this speed ."
Jasper could only nod his head after Jennifer finished her explanation from which he could only understand half of while the other half flew right out of his mind. He realized that their car was going faster than the other and Jasper could not help but ask,"Why are we in such a hurry to reach the bank?"
"I have been given a particularly important task by someone which requires me to do something in the bank with as much haste as possible. So,I would of course like to reach the bank as fast as possible,right?"-
"Is this task you mention really that important?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean are we on an errand for someone or somethi..." Jasper glances at his sister and is frightened by the smoldering look she gives him as if working for someone angered her. Jasper swallows his next words and thinks clearly about his next words and all his anxiety comes out,"Look, i don't get it what is our end goal here. Where are we really going? You talked before as if you were going to drop me off somewhere in Vestalis but you are instead taking me to a bank and seem to have no intention of leaving me. I am very confused,Sis."
Jennifer expression softens after hearing her brothers anxiety "Jasper ,although I cannot tell you about our last destination where I will be dropping you off. I can tell you that its a place quite far from here."
"So, we are leaving Vestalis in a few days?"
"Yes, about 3 days."