I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 29 Small Money
However, to DuPont's surprise, although it was a bit difficult and wobbly to stand up, the skeleton soldier quickly found a good balance. Apart from walking a little slower than usual and the red flames in its eye sockets dimming, it was almost unaffected.

This counterintuitive scene made DuPont marvel at the wonder of magic.

This skeleton weighs less than 20 pounds at most, so how can it bear five times the weight?

It seems that magic really cannot be deduced by common sense. If we still look at things according to the system of the previous life, we will definitely suffer a great loss in the future.

It's a pity I don't have a magical spatial bag like Man Shi, otherwise I wouldn't need to worry about this.

A man and a skeleton staggered down the mountain. The village militia were startled to see the skeleton soldiers wandering around before sunset, but they quickly let them pass after checking DuPont's mage badge and his purpose.

"I hope Your Excellency will dismiss this servant promptly after the transport is completed, otherwise it would be bad if he frightened people, as there has been some unrest in some places recently."

DuPont nodded in understanding and asked who collected the wolf carcasses before heading to the village tanner.

“This wolf pelt is of good quality, and the wolf is larger than normal. It can fetch a good price.” The tanner was a middle-aged man who looked to be about 40 years old, but his hair was unusually thick. He examined the pelt and said with some regret, “It’s a pity that the fur on the chest and abdomen is punctured, and the eyes are also scratched. These two areas are the best and most expensive parts for making gloves and hats. This will cost several taels of silver.”

DuPont remained silent. Seeing that he didn't respond, the leatherworker felt a little awkward. Finally, after looking at him carefully again, he cautiously asked, "Sir, do you know Lord Manshi?"

“He’s my friend, and he gave me this wolf to practice on.” DuPont finished speaking and saw the other man breathe a sigh of relief. He thought to himself that Man Shi’s prestige seemed to be quite high: “How much can this wolf sell for? We’re short of money and want to exchange it for some good wine.”

"Rest assured, sir. Since you are a friend of Manshi, we will naturally offer the fairest price. Selling this wolf pelt for 25 silver is not a problem. However, the wolf meat is not worth much. It might only be worth around 4 silver at the tavern. I think you know that the taste of this meat cannot compare with the livestock we usually eat. Of course, if you break it down yourself and then negotiate, the price may be higher."

"Then 29 silver will do. You can decide what to do with it." It's not worth wasting time on such a small amount of money.

Upon hearing this, the leather craftsman's face broke into a genuine smile, almost causing him to grin his rotten teeth.

DuPont thought to himself that the old man must have tried to drive down the price quite a bit, but in business, everyone has to make a profit, and saving time is the most important thing.

He carefully put the money away; his once-empty purse was now filled with 3 gold and 13 silver coins, giving him a small sense of security.

At least we don't have to worry about trivial things like having food to eat anymore.

Just as he was about to leave, DuPont suddenly thought of a question: "By the way, if I could hunt a bear, what would the approximate purchase price be?"

"It depends on the size of the bear and whether the fur is intact. If it has been hit by magic, fire, or lightning, it may not be worth much. Acid and poison can also damage the quality of the bear skin." The tanner gestured and said, "If you can maintain the quality of this wolf skin, then a 400-pound grizzly bear skin will be worth about 8 gold, while a 600-pound male bear skin can be sold for 15 gold."

“As for brown bears, the size difference is huge, ranging from 500 pounds to 2000 pounds. A common one around 800 pounds can sell for 30 gold, while one over 1000 pounds is around 50 gold. Larger ones are much rarer; a 1600-pound bear might sell for over 100 gold. You'd need to check with the town for specifics; my little shop can't afford that.” DuPont was somewhat surprised: “The price increases that much for every certain weight?”

“Things are valued for their scarcity. With the recent good harvest, city dwellers with a little spare money like to buy these kinds of things to show off. We don’t care about that here. The most important thing is to have enough to eat and wear.”

"What about the bear meat?"

“Bear meat is quite expensive, even more so than beef.” The leatherworker wiped his mouth, looking nostalgic. “Although it’s gamey, it’s quite delicious if you use a lot of ingredients. There are also alchemy shops in town that buy bear fat at high prices. They say it’s melted down and made into cold-proof essential oil, which sells very well in the north. We don’t need that here.”

"Okay, if I'm lucky enough to get one, I'll bring it to you. By the way, are there any suitable deeds in the village recently, suitable for low-level adventurers to practice on?"

"Oh, this?" The leatherworker thought for a moment. "I heard that there's a haunted graveyard about 10 miles north of the village, and further north, there's a goblin tribe that threatened a passing carriage, but the horses were fast and didn't cause too much harm. If you're interested, you can go to the tavern or the village chief to take a look."

A haunted graveyard and a goblin gang that can't stop a carriage.
Upon hearing this news, DuPont immediately perked up and began to make plans in his mind.

Since there are no high-level dungeons nearby, the graveyard naturally won't have any particularly high-level undead creatures. Both zombies and skeletons are relatively easy monsters to deal with.

However, encountering ghosts would be troublesome. Without enchanted weapons and offensive magic, ordinary people have almost no way to harm ghosts. If you want to go, you must prepare some holy water, holy oil, or other items that can add the attribute of radiance.

In contrast, goblins, or goblin tribes, are the targets of countless novice adventurers. These cunning yet weak creatures may not be able to defeat an adult male in a one-on-one fight, but their high reproduction rate and short growth period make them one of the scourges of the countryside of Faerûn Wilderness, making them suitable practice targets.

However, there aren't many people who really enjoy hunting goblins, since these creatures can be quite troublesome at times.

A small goblin tribe might have fewer than twenty members, but it could also have as many as forty or fifty. Sometimes there are also troublesome leaders and other individual goblins who shoot arrows with feces, which is quite disgusting.

Besides, goblins are notoriously poor. It's safe to say that if it weren't for the bounty offered in the village, very few people would want to fight these disgusting and cunning little green monsters.

The loot was pitifully small, and the lair was stinking, making them far less appealing than the kobolds in the same ecological niche. However, the adventurers tolerated it for the sake of the bounty and the fact that they were easy to deal with.

Upon arriving at the clothing store, DuPont, now with spare cash, naturally didn't choose to mend his old clothes. Instead, he changed them completely from head to toe, using the old clothes to offset 30 coppers, spending a total of 5 silver coins. Moreover, the quality of the new clothes was no worse than his apprentice's robe, and the color was similar as well.

The owner of the clothing store was an old woman who was very happy with DuPont's praise: "That's right. The ordinary clothes in the academy are actually made by tailors like us. Sometimes, in order to meet the deadline, the quality of the clothes may not even be as good as those sold in the store. If you have time, you can come here to pick out clothes. The prices are cheap and we can even make them to your measurements. They will definitely fit better than the ones issued by the academy."

DuPont's lips twitched upon hearing this. If he remembered correctly, the apprentice's robe cost one gold coin, while his own outfit, including his underwear and a mask, cost less than half that.
(End of this chapter)