Chapter 281 - Thirty Gold Coins

“Thirty gold coins…” Somm restated Yuzu’s request flatly, his dark eyes squinting ever so slightly in response.

He met Yuzu’s gaze with a calm seriousness, showing neither rejection nor acceptance of the amount, however inwardly his mental state was much different.

He was in shock!

The request was thirty gold coins.

This amount of money was out of reach for most people.

To put it into perspective, a low skilled labourer might make twenty silver marks a year. A master carpenter or other skilled trade would make on average fifty five silver marks a year. 

An amount of thirty silver marks was enough to straight up buy out a dozen city blocks of housing in a large city. A security company escort of two guards would cost around eight marks a day, paying for horses, transportation and of course the security service itself.

One gold coin was worth one hundred silver marks.

What was thirty gold coins? 

It was a literal fortune!

Yuzu watched the guru-chi with a shark-like gaze. Though he had kept his expression neutral and not responded negatively or positively, she still saw the subtle signs that revealed his state of mind.

His face was concealed by a thick cloth wrapping that hid most of his expression, but upon hearing the amount his pupils dilated ever so slightly. His motions were calm, but unnaturally rigid. When he turned to look at Yuzu it was too deliberate, too intentional. He lacked the casual demeanour that he should have if the request was simple for him to deliver on.

When Somm was serving in his capacity as the advisor to a kingdom, thirty gold would have been nothing for him. If she had made the request in the first few hundred years after the fall of Ying Chu he would have accepted the request with some consideration.

But time eroded his resources. Raising oji to fulfill the prophecy took more than time and effort, it took gold.

There was a common saying: Copper served the commoners. Silver was for the wealthy.

In the Exalted world, this phrase had a third part: Gold is Exalted.

It wasn’t simply a matter of value and scarcity, it had to do with the mystical properties of the metal. Gold was perfectly suited to absorb and manipulate the mystical energies which formed the basis of rituals. 

Thirty gold coins was not just wealth, it was wealth that was specifically valuable to an Exalted.

Though Yuzu had only been part of the Exalted world for a short time this wasn’t a coincidence on her part. She had been very intentional in making her request.

When Somm performed the ritual to send Nilya to the Trial of Requirement the focus was a gold coin etched with a rune, which was consumed as part of the ritual. Back when Yuzu visited the forest shrine with Argus he had emphasized the value of gold in rituals and had gifted her a gold coin imbued with his powers of concealment. This coin was still at the shrine in the aetheric plane, which was unfortunately out of reach.

Yuzu had arrived in Fuha with no money and hardly any possessions. She had managed all this time with her meagre resources, but this was not a sustainable position. Her cooperation with the guru-chi was timely, but it was also a temporary arrangement. Especially with her plan to leave Somm and Nilya once they reached the city, she needed resources for the future.

This fact was as true for the guru-chi as it was for Yuzu. Her request put him in a tough place.

In the brief seconds that it took Somm to react to Yuzu’s request she had already discerned all the information she needed from him. Though she had used Fate Cycling to try the request, in fact she didn’t need to. She couldn’t use the fate strings to see how many gold coins were in Somm’s possession, but seeing his reaction she already had her answer.

Setting prices for goods and services to maximize profit was Yuzu’s natural environment.

In the past, perhaps he could have fulfilled the request with a casual wave of his hand. But for the Somm of today, he was but a wandering wise man making only a pittance off of the poor villages that he passed through.

What was thirty gold coins? 

Thirty gold coins was an extremely steep price.

Somm was reeling internally. Though he had kept his expression neutral and looked like he was seriously considering the request, inwardly he was boiling over with indignant rage.

Thirty gold coins?! 

Fifty years ago he spent ten gold coins to purchase a corruption absorbing relic to handle an emergency. The price had been inflated due to the urgency and the specific details of the situation.

Three hundred years ago he had mentored the Exalted son of a noble for three months to help him take the final steps to becoming a Disciple. His reward was a hefty commission of twenty five gold coins.

Seven hundred years ago when he held the enviable position of royal advisor to the third prince of the Byran Empire he only made a stipend of thirty gold coins a month. 

As for recent history, Somm had never been poorer.

In Nilya’s village after staying for a week and receiving not only payment for his services but also gifts from the entire village, his entire profit had been a total of twenty three copper coins. This was on the low end of his usual earnings for his travels, but even in more wealthy settlements he rarely made more than a silver mark or two.

As for gold, gold was not a denomination that existed in Fuha. Where was he going to get gold coins?

Shou Tao had not even delivered yet on her promise to help Nilya succeed in the trial and she was asking for such a massive amount!

Furthermore, he was not just not just a random Exalted wanderer. He was a guru-chi, revered and respected across the land. He was an immortal who could heal grave injuries with a single touch, grant power and strength to a mortal beyond their imagination. His wisdom and knowledge was a treasure in itself that powerful Exalted paid him handsomely for.

In his thousand years of life he had never charged someone thirty gold coins for a single deed.

That this girl demanded such a sum from him was almost insulting!

However.

…

However.

Somm kept all these thoughts to himself as he kept his expression calm, hiding his internal conflict.

He did not forget that Shou Tao had saved him from corruption, saving him from a terrible, excruciating death. That she had warned him of that Bacchi was coming for him, resulting in their quick departure from the village.

This was a fact that Somm had already confirmed. He had left a trap for his elder brother at the village, and not long ago it had been sprung. If Somm had stayed at the village and rested to make a full recovery he had no doubt that Bacchi would have found and killed him in his weakened state.

Thus, this mysterious girl had saved his life twice now.

There was one thing Somm had learned long ago, a personal truth which he followed with almost as much reverence as his pursuance of the prophecy: A debt owed to another must be paid off in full. If he didn’t follow through on his debts, in his own experience, corruption would start to fester within him.

He did not forget that his future was on a knife’s edge at this moment, that he was relying on Shou Tao to bring Nilya back not just safely but successfully. If Nilya died or if he came back without a hollow ember, his status as a guru-chi was effectively finished. What use would Somm have for gold then?

This girl is backed by a higher power as well. Somm considered deeply. Who knows what that power’s motives are, what it’s really seeking?

When Shou Tao introduced herself she stated that she had been tasked to save Nilya and himself. True to her word, she not only provided assistance but continued to cooperate and provide updates on Nilya’s progress in the trial world throughout the day. Yet up to now she hadn’t asked for any compensation. 

But Somm was not so naive to believe these actions came from benevolence and good will. It was tempting to believe that he was ‘chosen by fate’ to fulfill this prophecy, but the chances of that were extremely unlikely. Putting his faith in that simply because Shou Tao had shown up at his moment of vulnerability was naive. 

To blindly take the outstretched hand of charity is to deliver oneself to the hidden dagger in the other.

The thirty gold coin request was steep, yet there was a logic to it. He did not know how powerful the entity behind Shou Tao was, but even if it was a god, it still needed resources. This entity’s assistance came with a steep price, but it was a very simple and understandable one.

“I do not have thirty gold coins on me.” Somm said, “But I can give you twelve for now. When we reach the city, I will be able to provide the rest.”

This amount was carefully calculated by the guru-chi. It was ample compensation for saving him from corruption, it made the final portion contingent on bringing Nilya back successfully. Depending how the rest of the journey went he could lower the price, particularly since Shou Tao seemed to be relying on him to keep Bacchi away.

If Somm protected Shou Tao from Bacchi, he might even be able to take compensation from her, justifying a life for a life.

“Twelve?” Yuzu asked calmly, her expression not changing as she let the question hang in the air.

Though nothing about her demeanour had changed, Somm felt an intense pressure weigh down on him. He felt like he couldn’t avert his gaze, like he was paralyzed by some formless force. Her eyes were deep, dark pools, piercing into him as if she could read his mind. 

Knowledge domain? He wondered subconsciously, though he refuted the thought immediately. He had lived in the Knowledge-aspected Byran Empire for hundreds of years and had many methods to defend against their powers. The talismans and charms he wore provided defensive measures against a myriad of domains, yet his spiritual intuition did not detect any sort of attack.

A cold sweat formed on his brow as Yuzu let a silence fall between them. He had all the reasons for his number in his mind, all the justifications, but that simple question from her made him falter. 

“Fourteen.” His voice caught in his throat as he only managed to croak out, “I can provide the rest in the city.”

Yuzu’s expression didn’t change as she suppressed a victorious smirk. She didn’t even have to use her powers, but from the look in his eyes she knew that he had no more to give.

“Deal.”