CH 105

I learned about the currency value

I looked at Leo as she greeted Sebastian.

We had been living in this mansion for a while now, and so Sebastian was able to tell if Leo was in a good mood or not.

Well, perhaps butlers needed to be extra perceptive about such things.

“Mr. Takumi. As you will begin your sword training tomorrow, I thought I should give you this.”

“Is it…the same sword?”

“Yes. The one you used in the forest.”

Previously, when we had explored the forest, Sebastian had handed me this sword, just in case.

It was short, light, and easy to use. I had swung quite a few times to cut vines and branches, and was decently familiar with it.

Still, it did start to feel heavy after a while.

“And this too.”

“What is it?”

The next thing Sebastian handed to me was a small leather bag.

When I took it, I felt both its solid weight, and the sounds of metal scraping against each other inside.

“Your payment for the herbs you made this morning. According to the contract, you are to be paid as soon as you produce the herbs. But there was a delay, as the purpose was to demonstrate your Gift for His Grace.”

“Ah, I see.”

That’s right. I had done that for actual payment.

I had only been thinking about Mr. Ekenhart’s desire to see Weed Cultivation, that I forgot about the reward.

I emptied the leather bag over my desk, and saw that there was quite a lot of silver and gold inside.

Ah, now that I think about it, I didn’t know the currency value in this place. This was a good time to ask Sebastian about it.

Leo, this might go over your head, so you can sleep quietly.

“Sebastian, I don’t know much about money matters in this world… Could you teach me?”

“…That is true… You did say that you came from a different place. Then I must explain it to you.”

For a moment, a light flashed in his eyes. I think he was happy that his moment had arrived.

You could always count on Sebastian to give you a good explanation.

“First, the one with the least amount of value. Uh, here is one. An iron.”

Sebastian picked up a gray coin from the pile and showed it to me.

An iron, huh?

“It is made from melted scrap iron, but nevermind that. A hundred of them will get you one loaf of bread. And a hundred of these together…makes a copper.”

“Hmm.”

“Wuff.”

Leo was also listening to Sebastian and nodding her head.

Shouldn’t you get some sleep…? Also, can you really understand?

I didn’t know if Silver Fenrirs understood anything about money, however, Leo did seem to be enjoying herself.

“Ten coppers should be enough to feed one person for a day. Well, that would depend on your lifestyle. Regardless, a hundred of these makes a silver.”

“I see, a silver.”

It wasn’t silver-plated, but actual silver.

While it was dull, it would likely shine beautifully if polished.

“And ten silvers makes a gold, which is the most valuable. From what I understand most commoners receive their wages in silvers and coppers.”

“Why silver…and not gold?”

Wouldn’t that be like…receiving your salary in thousand yen bills instead of ten thousand yen bills in Japan?

I guess if you wanted it to look like there was more…

“Gold is difficult to use at stores. If you were to buy one loaf of bread with gold, then it would be very inconvenient for the store to give you change, and it would take a long time.”

“Ah, I see.”

Unlike paper bills, gold and silver coins took up a lot of space.

I wouldn’t want to have to accept so many coins as change…

After that, Sebastian’s lecture on money continued for quite a while as Leo and I listened.

And while my understanding of it wasn’t perfect at the end, I did have a decent grasp on how money worked in this world.

1 gold = 10 silver, 1 silver = 100 copper, 1 copper = 100 iron, and 1 iron was similar to 1 yen in Japan.

So a 100 iron loaf would be 100 yen in Japan.

In other words, 1 copper = 100 yen, 1 silver = 10,000 yen, 1 gold = 100,000 yen.

Hmm…wait a minute… Didn’t they say that one Loe was 1 gold… So that was 100,000 yen for a single herb!?

Now that I understood the value, I looked at the payment I received with a feeling of franticness.

Uhhh, irons, coppers, silvers…gold…there were 13 gold coins…

So a simple job of using Weed Cultivation to make Loe and other herbs had made me more than 1.3 million yen…

“Um…Sebastian…”

“What is it?”

It was the kind of amount I would usually have to save up for. I had never been paid this much all at once.

My salary at my old job was less than one fifth of this…

“It is in accordance with the worth of the herbs you grew today. Besides, Lady Claire was actually worried that we weren’t paying you enough.”

“No, no. I would never say that this was too little!”

“When it comes to the herbs you grew today, particularly the Loe…the market value is said to be 5 gold…but it can rise as high as 10 gold. Considering this, I can understand why she might feel that 1 gold is too low…”

In spite of my words of protest, Sebastian calmly explained to me of Loe’s value.

I had heard many times that it was a luxury, but…

A plant that was worth 10 gold…a million yen… It was no wonder people were so stunned when I had made them so easily… I could buy a cheap, used car with this.

While I sat there, quite stunned, Sebastian ended his explanation, bowed, and took his leave.

And so I was left there, with a great deal of money that I didn’t expect to have. However, Leo had a rather smug expression on her face, as if she had learned a lot.

…This Gift really is something… But I can’t let myself get carried away. So I’ll try not to think about it too much…

Yes, it would be best to not think so much about money… Like Mr. Ekenhart and the others said, I now understood why I might have a target painted on my back.

Though, I had been paid, and it was a bit late to be coming to such realizations…