Me and the merchant chatted for a bit while we made our way to the town. I explained I'm from a different country far from here and didn't know how the monetary system worked. Bartholomew just shrugged and explained. "The gold coin is the currency of the Valeria Kingdom. 10 orichalcum coins are worth 1 gold coin. 10 silver coins are worth 1 orichalcum. 10 coppers are worth 1 silver and 10 bits are worth 1 copper. Then you've got the half bit, half copper, half silver etc. Then after that you have the Platinum coin worth 10 gold coins and the mithril coin worth 100 platinum coins or a thousand gold coins."
I took a moment to memorize the monetary system before I basically explained it back to him and he confirmed I had it right. I then asked, "What are all the coins worth though. I have no way of telling what an appropriate price for things is. He then went on to explain the values of most stuff like a good horse was worth gold, but a dire horse was worth a platinum coin.
I thanked him as we went separate ways after entering the town and I made sure to get the name of his trading company for the future. He wasn't high up, but any connection could prove fruitful in the future plus I liked the guy's honesty.
The town mainly followed the same aesthetic as Elm but with the wood bits being painted in bright colours. The streets were cleaner than I would have thought for a medieval society. I figured out why when I saw some slimes just roaming around and another with a giant piece of horse crap floating inside it. The town seemed to brim with life as it mostly severed the purpose of buying the livestock of the local villagers and selling them grain imported from other regions.
After some direction from a kind old lady. I found the adventurers guild. The registration fee was 5 silver which I paid. They then took me to a device in the back which basically acted as a check to see if I was evil. It shined light grey, and they just shrugged before. Giving me a little tag, which was made of bronze.
I was now a bronze rank and could take bronze rank or iron rank quests. I smiled and walked out after they took my mana signature, whatever that meant. I then made my way to a dark alley and returned to earth.
I immediately felt exhausted and collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later and felt ready to jump again. I turned on my phone and looked at ticket prices from London to Nagasaki.
I booked the next one and prepared to go. I undressed in the fantasy clothes I was wearing and swapped them for some tracksuits and a T-shirt. I went to the safe and grabbed my passport. I didn't need a visa as long as I was back within 15 days. That was fine.
I headed to the airport after five hours of browsing Reddit and Tumblr while watching a few anime. I caught an uber to the airport after letting my parents know I was heading to Japan for a bit. It wasn't the first time I had gone.
After boarding my seat in business class, I laid back and began to read the latest volume of in another world in my smartphone occasionally taking out my phone to check a kanji I didn't know. After reading the whole thing I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up and we had already landed in Nagasaki and were taxiing off the runway. I immediately got a cab to a blacksmithing workshop I had heard about. They had been making swords for hundreds of years, but mainly made ornamental ones for foreign tourists. They had a huge collection of handcraft blades that had hundreds or hours poured into each one.
I browsed the storeroom that held these blades, completely ignoring anything under 50,000 yen. I ignored the katanas since they would only show their true might when used on horseback. Most samurai in fact historically used Yari or Supaizu.
I found a Short tachi only about two feet in length. It was exactly what I wanted. It had the marbling effect which imitated Damascus steel, but the price tag was 1.2 million yen. Most swords are in fact unbalanced so as to get a more powerful cut with it usually being just above the Tsuba or hilt. This one however was matched only about a half an ich from the center of the corded handle. It felt like it didn't even exist in my hands It was so light.
The second on I went for was a Tanto which was about nine inches long with a straight blade. It lacked the Tsuba, and the sheath matched perfectly with the wooden hilt. Historically these were made for self-defence since they could be concealed easily.
I walked over to the counter which had a nice Japanese girl who I handed my card to. "Kochira ga watashi no meishi desu. Kore o futatsu onegaishimasu." She took the payment for the two swords and I left. I put them into a duffle bag I had bought with me and head to a good restaurant.
I had Unadon which is Unagi in Tare sauce on White Rice with Salad, Ginger Edamame and Miso. Some people didn't like Eel, but I loved it. I savoured the flavours before heading to a hotel for the night.