Leo made his way into Alf’s office which was just behind the counter. He didn’t bother to knock as he swaggered his way in as if he was entering his own home or a lackey’s office.
A young man was in the office seated behind a large red oak desk. He had black hair, silver eyes, and a fair complexion that seemed like he had not seen sunlight for years. He was perusing through a mountain of documents and scrolls that had filled the desk to the brim. He didn’t seem to notice Leo’s intrusion as he was busy mumbling numbers, location, deadlines, and quality to himself as he carefully and speedily scrutinized the mountain paper piles on his desk with a pen in hand.
At his back was a painting of the ocean and a shelf that was half-filled with scrolls and books. It looked more like a scholar’s office than a merchant's.
At the front of the desk was a pristine white soft couch that seemed to have been made of the fluffiest of feathers. There was a sleeping cover on it and by its haphazard positioning, it seemed someone had been regularly sleeping there. At the side of the couch was a black marble table. On the table was a white ceramic kettle with a tiny magic rune that was glowing in a faint red color. There were two cups at the side of a similar design to the kettle and two jars. One was filled with white sugar cubes while the other had small round biscuits.
Leo carelessly sat on the couch moving his body around trying to find the perfect sitting position before he shamelessly poured himself a cup of sweet and refreshing jasmine tea. He grabbed a handful of biscuits and greedily shoved them into his mouth before he drowned it with a gulp of the tea.
“Alf seems like you slept in your office again. How can a green-grade member of the merchant guild still be working this hard? Don’t you have enough money already to last three lifetimes? It’s not like you have a bottomless hobby or a three-year-old siren to feed. Take a break, and live a little. Your skin is even paler than a vampire's or a moon elf's.” Leo snidely remarked in an unclear tone due to the biscuits still in his mouth.
“Huh...Leo!! How long have you been there? I see you’re making yourself comfortable in my office again. Taking liberties as you please. It’s 20 silver coins for the biscuits and 10 silver coins for the finely brewed Jasmine tea that you’re drinking like an oaf.” Alf said as he put the pen and the documents in his hands down. He stretched his back to shake away the fatigue before he leaned back comfortably in his seat.
Leo was wide-eyed as he almost spit out the biscuits and the jasmine tea in his mouth once he heard what Alf had said.
“Alf ...You You...” Leo had to stop abruptly as he had choked on the biscuits in his mouth. He reached out for the tea before his hands paused midway and decided against it. He patted his chest a few times before the coughing and choking stopped.
“Is this how you treat your friends Alf? No hospitality whatsoever is afforded to your customers. And to think I sacrificed sleep and came this early to give you some good business. Yet this ‘noble friend’ of mine dares to charge me 20 silver coins for biscuits that are harder than drake’s scales. You've gotten bolder since your rise in ranks huh? No longer putting your friends from before in your eyes now that you have charter deals spanning a few kingdoms.
Fine then, I guess I’ll just leave and sell my blue sapphire wool and Mira’s weapons at another merchant store where I am appreciated. I bet just from the quality of my wool this time they would add in a free crate of jasmine leaves and a lifetime supply of biscuits, unlike a certain black-hearted merchant.” Leo said with righteous indignation as he madly rose up and started making his way out of the office.
Alf was still comfortably slumped on his seat seemingly having no intention of stopping Leo from leaving. He put on an amused look as if he was watching a good show. Just as Leo had opened the office door to leave Alf leaned on his desk as he said,
“I wonder if you will be able to find the things Mira asked you to get at all the other merchant stores. It’s been quite a while since Mira’s last purchase order. Her supplies must have run out and seeing how she’s trading in her weapons she must need a substantial amount and variety of ingredients. But feel free to take your business elsewhere Leo. Who knows you just might be able to find all the things Mira asked you to get and not miss even a single thing. I'm just putting this out there, my couch is off-limits in case you get kicked out. You can go sleep at Padrig’s place. I feel he wouldn’t mind the company.
Your choice Leo. Oh before I forget I found two interesting beast eggs. None of my appraisers have been able to figure out which species they belong to. I was about to commission the adventure guild for an appraisal before I decide to sell it,” Alf said with a cunning glint in his eyes as he put on a small smile.
Leo’s back quivered a little when he heard the words interesting beast eggs. He stood rooted at the office door.
“Damn this Alf!! typical of a merchant with their glib tongue.” Leo thought to himself before he turned with a joyous smile on his face as if he was meeting a long-lost friend.
“Alf, buddy you know I was just kidding. There is no one I trust to fleece me dry than the Gold rose company. I know I will always get my coin’s worth in this place. The company run by one of the youngest merchants to become a green-grade member of the merchant guild. Those other shops are not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as you. I was muddle-headed for a brief moment but thankfully my best friend Alf was there to set me straight. Alf, you are one of the rare merchants whose a friend first and a merchant second.
You said 20 silver coins for the biscuits and 10 for the jasmine tea, right? Here have a gold coin. That tea being sold for just 10 silver coins is a steal. Those jasmine leaves are the finest I’ve ever tasted even better than the ones produced by the wood elves in Darwood state or the berries produced by wild elves in the Greenvine kingdom,” Leo said with an almost pious satisfied look that made one really think that the jasmine tea was the tastiest thing he had ever had in his whole world and nothing comes close.
He fished out a gold coin from his pocket and placed it on Alf’s desk. The gold coin was intricately designed with an image of bank pillars with the beautiful curving inscription of the acronym GQB.
This was a gold coin minted from the Goblin Quivirah Bank whose headquarters were in the Goblin Quivirah Kingdom. Different nations around the world have their own minted coins. The coins in circulation in every nation out there are copper, silver, and gold.
One gold coin=100 silver coins, and 1 silver coin= 100 copper coins.
The minting of currency is strictly handled by the imperial or royal families. Each kingdom/empire has its own standard of composition for its coins. Some gold coins from certain kingdoms/ empires have a higher value than those in other kingdoms because of the gold composition of their coins. Therefore the purchasing power of those coins varies within each nation. However, there is one place whose coins are universally accepted in every nation around the world even powerful empires. These are coins from the Goblin Quivirah Kingdom.
The Kingdom has the largest gold reserve in the world and is of the highest recorded quality. Even the sky gold which is a highly sort after ingredient, especially as an ingredient in magical inscriptions and magical conductivity, is in large supply there. Their output of gold is so high that they have 7 cities of gold. The goblins are known to be highly meticulous in alchemy, geomancy, mining, and processing. This makes the gold they produced to be of the highest quality. It was from the abundance of their gold reserves that they decided to start the Goblin Quivirah Bank which later mushroomed and spread all over the world with their coins being widely accepted currency all over.
Most merchants especially large-scale ones prefer to conduct their trade in coins from the Goblin Quivirrah Kingdom. This is to avoid the risk of loss due to currency value that would come should they accept gold coins from other kingdoms. Coins made from the kingdom have the initial GQB whose initials stand for the Goblin quivirah bank.
Alf watched Leo's posturing before he rapidly snatched the gold coin away like a hawk leaving Leo with a dumbfounded expression.
“Alf isn’t following the script today at all. Wasn’t he supposed to fake modesty and let me keep the coin?” Leo thought to himself as he threw a grieved look toward Alf who threw back a mocking smile in response.
“Where’s the list?” Alf asked as his whole demeanor changed into one of business. Leo who was still grieving over the loss of his gold coin passed Mira’s list to Alf as he depressingly walked over to the couch before he started wantonly drinking the tea straight from the kettle and grabbing large handfuls of the biscuits. He was trying to get his money’s worth.
Alf shook his head in a sigh.
“Leo, always petty to the bone.” He silently thought to himself as he quickly started going over Mira’s list.
