The way to the village was peaceful, nothing happened. When I was getting close to the village, I saw a small commotion. From afar I saw some people surrounding a cart, I couldn't see what was happening through that group of people. But, I saw my brother in his new body nearby.
I walked over to him to find out what was going on. "Sup bro! What's going on over there?" I asked while pointing to the group of people surrounding the wagon. My brother looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "Sup! That over there? Apparently it's a merchant." he spoke while also pointing at the small commotion.
I look once again at the group of people and try to see the merchant, but to no avail. Then I turn my attention to my brother. "Did you find anything? I managed to find some clay not far from here." He was slightly surprised as he spoke, "well... I found something good too, but I don't exactly know if it was troublesome to bring it here so I left it hidden nearby."
"What did you think?" I asked intrigued.
"Honey". He responded in a whisper.
I understand the reason for your concern, if the rules here are similar to those in the Middle Ages of the Earth, honey could be something of great value. For a 12 year old child it could also be extremely dangerous to own such a thing. If we can sell the honey, the beginning of the pottery process would be easier. But if something goes wrong when selling this honey, we could both end up like stingless bees, dead.
After pondering a bit, I decided to observe the negotiations. Then I entered among the people around the cart and finally managed to see what the merchant looked like. A man in his 40s with a thin beard and an oval face, he is slightly overweight and is wearing yellow-dyed clothing, probably made of wool.
On a large but simple table. There were some of his goods: grains, fabrics, iron things and the like. he was right behind, sitting on a wooden bench with his arms resting on the table and a typical merchant smile on his face. Beside him, two guards provided security, and right behind them were parked: the cart that I had seen first, and now I could see two more carriages. These are probably used to take people. I can't see the rest of the guards from where I'm standing, but they're probably nearby.
I spent a few hours observing the negotiations, people came to buy and sell their things. Even some people I had never seen before appeared, they probably live a little more isolated from the village. I was also able to estimate the value of coins based on how much people paid for items purchased, and how much they earned for items sold. I reached the following conclusion:
Iron = $0.10
Copper = $1.00
Bronze = $10.00
Silver = $100.00
Gold = $1,000.00
Platinum = $10,000.00
Iron is worth approximately ten cents, that's the price of the low-quality bread we eat every day at the orphanage. If I bought bread of this quality on earth, it would probably cost ten cents, so I arrived at these values. The price of more expensive items like fabrics also corresponds to the price you would normally pay on land. the margin of error for my attempt to estimate the value of the coins is quite low.
I also noticed that some people negotiate privately. The first was a hunchbacked old man with a gray beard who asked for confidential negotiations. Soon, some others followed suit. The rest of the people just openly negotiated what they wanted, but the possibility of negotiating confidentially eliminates the headache of selling the honey. I still don't know how much my brother got but I hope it's enough to secure some supplies needed to start our pottery business.
I turn away and head towards my brother who was now sitting in the shade of a nearby house. I asked in my usual tone. "Hey, where's that?" He stood up with a serene look and gestured for me to follow him. We walked between some houses and soon entered the forest area near the village, after a few trees he stopped. "It's here, wait there", he said as he grabbed the tree branch to climb it. With some effort he managed to climb up, "That weak body is a piece of shit." His complaints about how weak these healthy bodies have become an everyday occurrence.
He climbed some more branches and took something out of the foliage. After positioning himself stably, he looks at me and calmly says, "Hold on" as he lets go of what he was holding. A "Holy shit" ends up escaping my mouth with the unexpected throw of our most precious possession to date. It wasn't very high, around 4 meters high, but it gave me time to position myself and grab the falling package. For a few centimeters the package does not fall with full force to the ground.
I slowly look up, with eyes of indignation and say "If that shit goes down, I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." He just laughs briefly and ignores me as he starts to climb down the tree. Now with the package in hand I can see that it is a tattered bag, the same bag that we normally use to transport the bread that is bought for the children at the orphanage. She is slightly wet. My brainless brother probably washed it before putting the honey inside.
Actually opening it, it's honey. To be more specific, two honeycombs. The entire structure of the honeycomb was somehow preventing all the honey from flowing out of the bag that was made of rags. At that moment, my brother jumps from the last branch and lands next to me. My curiosity doesn't allow me not to ask. "Where there is honey there are also bees." I didn't see any sting marks on it, that's the reason for my question.
With a victorious smile on his face, he pats his chest and starts to boast "Ha! No matter what kind of battle I have to fight, I will always win!"
I think it's better not to comment on the battle that was the precursor to our reincarnation in this world. It's better to let him be happy for a while longer.