Shut-in Magician: 011

They left Ciana City as planned and headed towards the Royal Capital. Afterwards, they just had to pass a few villages and their journey would be over.

Shiu learned a lot of things from old man Stan during the rest of their trip. Currency value was one of those things.

Half of the continent, such as Steigbahn, used currency called Roca. The currency could fluctuate depending on the situation of the country but it was convenient to use the same currency. Shiu thought it was like Euros.

Kingdoms at the edge of the continent used other currencies such as Adol and Rocal. There wasn’t any particular problems because they could be exchanged into different currencies. However, Roca had the highest value and furthermore, there were gold coins in Augusta Empire and its value was three or five times more. The reason why it was worth so much was because they didn’t mix it with other things and it was high quality.

They bartered a lot in the countryside where Shiu lived. Shiu had grew in the mountains and had never seen a higher value money.

Hereafter, he would be making magic bags and old man Stan told him, “Your money will probably increase.”

“It’s still early to do calculations but I don’t know about white gold coins……” Old man Stan smiled wryly at Shiu’s mismatched knowledge.

A normal person could only do simple addition and subtractions and not mental arithmetic. Conversely, white gold coins were used to discipline children. ―― Do ○○ until you can earn a white gold coin ――. It was strange for someone not to know that.

However, white gold coins weren’t something that an ordinary person owned, they were used in business deals by royalty and merchants.

Money value in ascending order was: rai stone, semi-copper coins, copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, large gold coins and then white gold coins, each being worth ten times more than the previous. However, rai stones were used by children and people in the slums, so it wouldn’t be seen much at the Royal Capital. Shiu also didn’t see it in the countryside.

Were semi-coppers coins on the same level as children’s snacks? Sweet potatoes were worth two or three semi-copper coins. It could also be counted as thirty Roca. People usually brought things in currency units at stores. When Shiu went to buy a snack he asked, “Three pieces of semi-copper coins?”

Old man Stan first explained that this wasn’t a set rule, as currencies tended to differ between the countryside and Royal Capital as well as between kingdoms.

“A meal at a restaurant for commoners usually costs about five copper coins per person. A day’s wages for commoner’s ranges from one to three silver coins and it’s common for them to be paid weekly. Knights usually get paid monthly, their pay starts from twenty gold coins. Large gold coins are used by wealthy people. They use it to buy expensive things. If you have a magic bag, then gold coins are better because they’re easier to use. Money is heavy so you shouldn’t be foolish.” Therefore, old man Stan has been purchasing things with large gold coins lately.

Shiu made him a small leather waist pouch to use as a wallet during their journey. Of course he had applied spatial magic to it, so it was the same size as a small warehouse, but it was enough to put money into. He had also bestowed it with user authority so it wouldn’t be stolen by thieves.

Just to be sure, Shiu would add Stan’s relatives to the user authority.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to take out the fortune if he passed away in an unforeseen accident. It would have been better for Shiu to stay by his side, but they decided on this course of action because of his future plans.

Making a spatial storage was easy but it took a long time to make the bags. But that also became easy after Shiu got used to making them. Result, knowledge, magic power. Once he understood that, he didn’t need to make it by hand anymore. Magic was really amazing.

Conversely, it could also be said to no fun, so Shiu found pleasure in making new bags and thinking of new formulas. It was also fun to do everything manually.

He had nothing to do inside of the carriage and the closer they got to the Royal Capital, the safer it was, there was nothing for him to do as an guard. Feles was still a child so he slept a lot and it was the same for old man Stan.

Anyhow, he did nothing inside of the carriage, except thinking of new bag designs and studying magic through trial and error.

When Shiu finally heard that they’d arrived at the Royal Capital, he was excited just like a little child.

By this time, Shiu was supposed to feel this himself, but he felt somewhat nostalgic when he felt his body catch up with his spirit. Although, he had a weak constitution since childhood in his previous life and he didn’t think that it was fun for the world to be ruined by war.

“Wow! This is such a big city.” He was deeply moved by the familiar scenery. Did he see this scenery on TV? Or in a picture? Or was it a fantasy world from a book?

Before his eyes was a beautiful city surrounded by a big wall. There was a lake in the far distant and the cityscape in front of them gradually got larger and larger. There was a large wall obstructing the streets, but rather than uncomfortable it felt peaceful.

The coachman and old man Stand said, “We’ll show you the view from a hill that overlooks the city,” and took a detour, but Shiu could certainly oversee the whole city from the hill and it was a wonderful place.

At the center of his eyes was the Royal Capital, and in the corner of his eyes, in the distance, was Schiral Lake. He could see mountain ranges to his left in the distance. One of the mountains stood high and was called Royer Mountain. It looked as if Mt. Fuji was towering over the Alps Mountains. There was a large forest between the mountain range and the Royal Capital and they maintained the trees near the outer walls. There were also smaller forests and fields around the Royal Capital, giving it a tranquil appearance. The highway passed through this and Shiu and company came through this way.

The Capital itself was protected by a robust wall. Shiu assumed that the almost elliptical shape wall was made accurately according to the city plan. On the contrary, the road outside the wall leading to Schiral Lake was a mess.

Shiu viewed Schiral Lake with 《DISTANT VIEW》and old man Stan, who was standing next to him, explained, “There’s a villa in the vicinity of the lake. It was originally far away from the Royal Capital, but somewhere along the line, the population grew. There were more houses so it got closer to the Royal Capital.”

The area surrounded by the city’s outer wall was built as planned. It was well-organised into each block and the roads were wide and stretched out into each of the city gates. The roads met at the centre and eventually led left straight to the place Shiu thought was the Royal Castle. The castle vicinity was beautifully arranged like a fan.

“This was relocated as the capital, so they designed it beautifully.”

“I see.” There was greenery in the stone pavements. Shiu thought, as expected of the Royal Capital.

The main road was also very wide and the carriages can pass each other with ease.

“There are many towers lined up to the left of the Royal Castle. There’s also a forest behind the castle which is the king’s land. There are soldiers standing there, so you can probably tell that it’s a restricted area.”

Old man Stan taught him many famous places while pointing to them with his finger. “The area surrounding the Royal Castle is the block where the nobles live and the block encircling it is where the rich people live. Basically it’s separated by the wealthy merchants who have ranks like nobles. The commoners live in the centre to the right of the capital.”

“It was planned like that, wasn’t it?” Shiu muttered as his eyes frantically viewed the scenery.

“And the streets increased and got closer to the villa by the lake shore when this was relocated as the capital, so they couldn’t readjust the city. But I think it’s beautiful compared to other cities and towns.”

“It is.”

Even the way Shiu spoke was now like a child, old man Stan only smiled heartwarmingly as he watched him.

They were only there for a moment but Shiu, who had returned to his senses, apologized and the carriage departed again.

The coachman and old man Stan said, “It’s fine because you were excited about the Royal Capital that we live in,” but it was still embarrassing to be seen stupefied for a long time.

The carriage went down the hill and onto the road along the outer walls.

The outermost wall was really high so that it could protect the Royal Capital, like that of a fortress. Of course, there were also soldiers on guard there but it was peaceful and they waved their hands at the carriages on the streets. It was evident from the hill that oversaw the whole capital that commoners being able to enter the capital was a sign of peace. There was also a garrison on the side of the hill, but no one took notice of it.

There were many gates that lead into the capital. They were necessary because the Royal Capital was spacious. Old man Stan said, finally, and took a detour from the small shop, the carriage heading towards the main gate.

Anyone could pass through the main gate but the middle was for royalty and titled nobility as well as privileged guests. Commoners entered through the side checkpoint. Those who passed through the gates every day, such as merchants and adventurers, had their own identification cards and could easily pass through the gate if they showed it. Old man Stan’s carriage was also for merchants but he had Shiu with him this time so they would be inspected. Even so, Shiu had his guild card to use as identification and old man Stan also put in a good word for him, so it ended in just a few words.

Shiu passed through the magnificent gate while wondering if it was fine for him to pass through so easily. He looked at the plaza in front of the gate and ――

There was a large goddess statue at the center of the plaza and he could see a large amount of water flowing down form the statue. There was also a small park surrounded by plants nearby. Although there was probably no one inside, it was so beautiful that it looked nice to play in.

Around the park was stone pavement. It was beautiful and gradually connected to the road. The colour of the pavement was different in some places, to differentiate between the roads used by carriages and beast mounts and the ones used for walking.

The coachman perceived Shiu’s amazed expression as the surprise of a child who had just left the countryside, smiling in return, “How is Loire, Steigbahn’s Royal Capital? It’s amazing, isn’t it? You’ll continue to be surprised every day.”

Shiu nodded. It was strange to see how proud the coachman was of his city but he could understand his feelings, “It’s a very beautiful city, I was surprised.”

“That’s right. I travelled around a lot when I was younger but I still think Loire is the best.”

The horse trotted slowly and the coachman continued, “There’s plenty of water and greenery.”

Then old man Stan, who was next to Shiu, took a quick look at his face and spoke, “Federal Kingdom also has a lot of water and greenery. It’s an art city so it’s equally beautiful.” He bantered.

Either way, Shiu concluded that the both of them had travelled quite a lot.