Before long, they found a large house nestled among the streets.
[IMAGES]
It was a beautiful property, boasting a multitude of rooms, a kitchen, an underground hot spring, and a vast courtyard, far exceeding their expectations.
"You won't regret this choice," the clerk assured them, handing Riley a contract. Riley carefully reviewed it to make sure everything was in order, then signed his name.
Afterwards, he paid hundreds of gold coins in advance, as stipulated in the contract, with the remaining balance due upon their departure.
Once the clerk left the house, Riley turned to Polites. "So, what did you tell her?"
Polities shrugged. "Oh, I just mentioned that I have connections with the boss of the North Star Company. Arther's company also deals with inns and rental properties."
"I see," Riley replied.
Polites then asked, "But gotta ask, why did you choose this house?"
Riley shrugged. "Why not? This place is perfect for us. It's good, cheap, and has everything we need. Plus, it's been a long time since I had a proper hot bath. But we should still stay on our guard."
Everyone nodded in agreement, knowing they couldn't afford to let their guard down, no matter the comfort.
Even though they were well-armed with guns and supported by a powerful ally who is an Illusion and Spatial Magic User, Melian, the Elf Queen herself, had warned them that there were nearly a dozen individuals in this city who were at the Transcendent Tier-1. This made Aquarius far more dangerous than any other place in the Third Civilization Zone, as the city had the presence of such powerhouses that even conventional weapons were almost useless against.
Causing any chaos here would be nothing short of suicide.
After nearly an hour of settling in and unpacking their gear, Mason had something in mind.
"I'm going to buy something at the market. Does anyone want to come?"
"Nah, you go ahead," the others responded.
As Mason left, Riley muttered under his breath, "Hope everything won't go bad," and began pulling several objects from his inventory.
He pulled out a set of surveillance drones, planning to deploy five of them to monitor their surroundings, just in case.
———————————————————————
Another hour had passed, and while Team Epsilon attended to their own tasks in different rooms, Mason returned to the rental home. Riley sat him down and made him explain more about the details of his expeditions into the city and what he had learned.
This included the economic state of the city, the transportation networks, and the distribution of goods to other nations. They also discussed the prices of various items in depth.
Much of this information was new to the group, even though they had endured hours of lectures from the elves. Mason's findings were far more detailed than anything they'd heard before.
In addition to his observations, Mason had also sold one of their sacks of Monster Cores, the spoils from the Liberation Navy's slaughter of nearly a million Sea Monsters during the New Year Tragedy. With the proceeds, he had purchased a magic artifact like a necklace that granted invisibility.
What made it special for him is that it doesn't require Mana to activate it.
However, as Riley processed this information, a sense of doubt crept in. Something didn't sit right with him.
"The Monster Cores sold for 2 Gold Pieces each," Mason explained. "But that's because they were Grade 6 Cores. Lower grades fetch less."
Riley recalled what Polites had told him about the pricing of Monster Cores and Magical Artifacts. They were categorized into nine grades based on their worth, with Grade 9 being the lowest and Grade 1 the highest. Grade 6 Cores came from Level 7 to 9 monsters, making them reasonably valuable.
"Two Gold Coins, huh…?" Riley muttered.
One of the first things Riley had asked Polities during their time in the nuclear submarine and in Hollowfall was about the currency and economics of this new world that his Motherland had found itself in.
In this world, transactions were made using coins from Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
A single Bronze Coin was enough to buy a low-budget meal. Two or three would get you something nicer, and five would leave you with a full belly, at least for the average person.
As a result, an average man spent about 10 Bronze Coins to survive a day. This was, of course, not accounting for accommodation and other similarly important factors.
100 Bronze Coins translated into a Silver Coin, which was roughly the average weekly wage of a working adult in this world.
100 Silver Coins equaled 1 Gold Coin.
With a Gold Coin, you could rent a good house for a year. Rarer did commoners get to use Gold Coins, so it was reserved for merchants and high-class individuals in society.
As for the Platinum Coins, they were only used by the wealthiest Merchants, Nobles, and Royals.
100 Gold Coins translated to 1 Platinum Coin, and with just one of it, one could build a house, buy prime land, or engage in top-end business.
A single Platinum Coin could make an average man set for life.
"Two Gold Coins seems like a lot," Riley remarked.
"Seems? It is a lot!" Mason shot back.
"You sold an entire sack of Monster Cores we brought, right? There were a few hundred in that sack. That should translate to about 600 Gold Coins."
"Yeah. It totaled up to 680, actually."
That was 6 Platinum Coins and 80 Gold.
"And how much did you pay for that magical necklace?" Rey asked with narrowed eyes.
"About… 180 Gold Coins…"
That meant he had 5 Platinum Coins left.
Riley leaned in, "Do you remember what the elf said about making magical artifacts? They mostly require monsters, especially their cores."
"Y-Yeah, I remember," Mason replied, though his stuttering suggested he didn't fully understand the process.
"For example, the necklace you bought likely uses a Monster Core from a magic beast who relies on Invisibility. The Core will be converted into the essence of the necklace, while being powered by a Mana Crystal to activate its effect."
Other materials like Adamantite, known for its excellent Mana conductivity, would also be involved.
"The point I'm making is that Monster Cores are very essential in crafting magical artifacts. So it doesn't make sense that the Monster Core of a Level 9 Magic Beast would only be valued at 2 Gold Coins, given its rarity."
When considering the transportation cost necessary to bring Grade 6 Cores from distant regions which had them, and the other conditions of commerce, such as time and certainty, it was clear that whoever had a direct source of Grade 6 Monster Core straight from the kingdoms, was encountering a sweet deal.
Such a merchant could either resell the Cores for a much higher price or manufacture magical artifacts at a lower cost.
No matter how you look at it, they would have a significant advantage.
"That's why the Cores should have been more expensive…"
Mason's brow furrowed in genuine curiosity. "So, what are you saying exactly?"
Riley sighed. "Obviously, you've been scammed."
———————————————————————
'Mason was a sharp and professional guy, but sometimes I forget he's shit at currencies and economics…'
Right now, Riley was walking down the city street with Mason and Polities for some help, and he could sense the awkwardness in the air around Mason.
'I guess that's why they were able to take advantage of him so easily…' Riley thought, a reminder of why he had committed to studying this world very thoroughly before deciding to interact with its denizens.
Mason had jumped the gun, and as a result, he had ended up being scammed.
'I'll have to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again…' Riley resolved, which was precisely why he had brought Polities along to begin with.
Right now, Riley was currently wearing clothing that they considered to be a more fitting disguise compared to the two.
At the same time, he also wore a black mask he had designed during his time aboard the nuclear submarine.
It was crafted from Orichalcum, and it fit his face perfectly. He had done this little side project to pass time, so he hadn't expected it to play such an important role now, because Polities stated that it perfectly concealed an individual's Mana, making people mistaken for his power to be hidden by the mask.
That is unless it is a stronger individual or someone possessing a Magic Artifact that could bypass the disguise.
Anyways, besides all that, his cloak was raven black, obtained by sewing a dark robe he acquired in Hollowfall, combined with the fur of the Black Griffon they had killed in the cave earlier.
He had learned a lot of commonplace and handwork techniques from studying, so it wasn't very hard to do these things.
"Is that very comfortable?" Polities asked, stealing a glance at Riley.
His face was currently obscured with his mask, so it was pretty much impossible to tell what kind of expression he was making.
"Not really…" Riley responded to the question.
The Black Griffon's fur was very bristly, and they also didn't smell nice now that he was a little sweaty.
"But it's better than wearing those noble clothes. They always look gay to me."
Once Polites heard this, he instantly regretted asking his question.
"Touché…" He whispered.
After walking together for a short while, Riley couldn't take the silence anymore. He glanced at Mason, who was now completely silent, and gave a short sigh.
"We should probably head to a store for a change of clothes first."
Mason nodded immediately with relief evident in his eyes.
The streets of Aquarius were bustling with people, but Riley quickly spotted a high-end clothing store nestled within a sleek building. It looked like the kind of place where only the wealthy shopped, and judging by the affluent patrons going in and out, Riley's instincts were correct.
The streets in Aquarius were awfully crowded, but Riley quickly spotted a high-end clothing store nestled within a sleek building. It looked like the kind of place where only the wealthy shopped, and judging by the affluent patrons going in and out, Riley's instincts were correct.
'We need to look very presentable for the people we're going to meet…'
With no other options in sight and knowing the importance of appearances, Riley chose the shop. As they entered, he was slightly underwhelmed. The store didn't hold a candle to its counterparts on Earth. It had a certain charm, but it lacked the opulent ambiance and extravagant displays he was used to from back home.
'I never visited high-end places in Austronesia, but even the regular stores there were better than this place.'
He couldn't fault the people here, though. Comparing this world to Earth was inherently unfair.
They were soon greeted by an attendant who guided them through the store and answered their questions with practiced politeness. Thankfully, no one asked them to remove their masks.
'They must be used to serving anonymous customers…'
"I've got Platinum Coins, so show me the good stuff," Riley blurted out bluntly, tired of the mediocre items they'd been shown so far.
"A-ah! Right away, sir!" The attendant stammered before leading them upstairs to the true VIP section.
In this place, all items began with 1 Platinum Coin. Not only was it much better designed than the ground floor, each was meticulously packaged and clearly of higher quality.
"You two, find yourselves good-looking clothing," Riley instructed Mason and Polities. "Nothing over two Platinum Coins."
For Riley, he planned on restricting himself to the same budget.
…That was until he actually began shopping.