Abe the Wizard

Chapter 4 Liberty Town

The reason why it's called Liberty Town is because there used to be an ancient castle called Liberty Castle here. With more and more people coming here, houses were built around Liberty Castle, gradually forming the present Liberty Town. The current mayor of the town, Baron Rex, lives in the ancient castle.

When they arrived at Liberty Town, the sun was already approaching noon. After a discussion, Abe and Norman decided to go to the church first and spent ten silver coins to have a priest use "heal minor injuries" to treat Norman's leg wound.

Coming out of the church and looking at the tall and solemn building, Abe couldn't help shaking his head. It's still a money-making business for the church, just a low-level divine skill, and they charged ten silver coins for it. Ten silver coins could feed an average family for a month, but for the priest, it was just a wave of the hand.

Guided by Norman, they arrived at a shop on the east side of the town that purchases leather goods. When the shop owner saw the shadow leopard, he was very surprised. Aside from a wound on its back, the shadow leopard was in good condition, and being a valuable creature, the owner readily purchased it for 10 gold coins.

Norman was quite satisfied with the price, while Abe, not fully understanding the market, agreed to the deal after seeing Norman nod in approval.

With these 10 gold coins, along with the one given to him by Zack and the five he saved up, Abe now had a total of 16 gold coins. In this town, gold coins still held considerable purchasing power, making Abe feel like he had some money.

Their visit to Liberty Town was purposeful. Abe let Norman handle the purchase of goods, keeping his own purchases secret.

Arriving at the central location of Liberty Town, they entered Liberty Trading Company, which had a sign featuring the silhouette of the Liberty Ancient Castle. The storefront was large, and at this time, there weren't many people inside.

Abe approached the counter and looked at the merchandise inside, which included various daily necessities, as well as jewelry, clothes, and more, resembling a large general store.

"Are you Master Abe?" A chubby middle-aged man with a smile all over his face emerged from behind the counter and greeted Abe with a noble salute.

Although the other party's noble greeting was not standard and inappropriate for this setting, Abe still politely returned the greeting. It's difficult for commoners to learn noble etiquette, so the fact that this chubby middle-aged man could use nobility etiquette was quite impressive.

"Yes, do you know me?" Abe asked.

"I am Tim, the owner of this shop. I noticed the emblem of the Bennett Knight's Thorn Shield on your cuff, and I also know your brother, Master Zack. That's why I took the liberty to address you," Tim replied with another peculiar gesture.

The Thorn Shield was the emblem of the Bennett family. To become a qualified noble, remembering as many noble emblems as possible is essential. In Abe's memory, he had received extensive education in literature, music, and noble etiquette, with heraldry being a particularly important subject.

"Mr. Tim, do you have individual gemstones here?" Abe inquired.

Addressing Abe politely as "Mister" made Tim very happy. Although the young knight before him was not a nobleman, his status was still very distinguished. Showing respect to someone of high status pleased Tim greatly, and he quickly responded, "Yes, Liberty Trading Company can provide various gemstones for you, Master Abe."

Saying this, Tim instructed someone to open a large box on the counter, revealing several rows of gemstones. These gemstones were quite small, and in a place like this, few people could afford them. Larger gemstones had different uses and wouldn't be found in such a shop.

Abe selected six similarly colored and sized rubies from the box and asked, "Mr. Tim, how much for these?"

"You can have them for six gold coins, Master Abe," Tim replied without much haggling. Abe knew that local merchants wouldn't overcharge their fellow townspeople, especially not to a legitimate heir of a knightly family. Thus, he took out six gold coins from his pocket and handed them to Tim.

Tim accepted the coins and brought a cloth bag to put the six rubies in before respectfully seeing Abe out of the shop.

Leaving Liberty Trading Company, Abe found an unoccupied alley and took out three of the rubies from the bag. He touched them lightly and stored them inside the Heradric Cube, silently reciting the synthesis formula. If he pressed the synthesis button as planned, the three rubies should disappear, replaced by a larger ruby of higher quality.

Suppressing his excitement, Abe lightly pressed the synthesis button below the 12 slots in front of him. The three rubies emitted a white light and disappeared, giving way to a larger ruby with a perfect reflection of sunlight. The crystal-clear red gem sparkled beautifully under the sunlight, radiating a pure and luminous glow. This ruby was one rank higher in both size and quality compared to the initial three, and although Abe didn't know its exact value, he believed it far exceeded the three gold coins spent on it.

He then proceeded to synthesize the second ruby, placing the two rubies in the cloth bag. Contemplating where to sell them, he was certain it wouldn't be at the Liberty Trading Company. It wouldn't make sense to buy six rubies from there and then sell two superior ones shortly afterward.

After walking down the main street for a while, he spotted an auction house ahead. It was the Edmund Auction House. Looking at the sign, Abe recalled some information about it from his memory. The Edmund Auction House was the largest auction house in the duchy, with branches in almost every town of the Kamay Duchy. Its 500-year history served as a guarantee of its reputation, and each year, the branch in the capital would auction off some rare treasures, attracting the attention of nobles and wealthy individuals from across the Kamay Duchy and neighboring regions.

"Welcome to the Edmund Auction House. How may I assist you?" A standard oval-faced beauty, dressed in a magnificent silk gown from the East, with long golden hair and bright, clear eyes, welcomed Abe with a midday greeting.

"Call me Ivette. Young and handsome sir, I am the manager here. Let's discuss upstairs," Ivette said, leading Abe to the second floor's lounge. Once seated, they were served two cups of coffee. Having walked for half a day, Abe couldn't resist taking a sip of the excellent coffee. Even though he couldn't pinpoint its origin, he knew enough about coffee to recognize its quality. Due to their financial difficulties at home, it had been a long time since he had enjoyed such good coffee.

Ivette observed the young man before her, knowing that showing respect to a person of high status wasn't about their age; this was the standard the auction house upheld.

Abe took a cloth bag from his pocket and handed a ruby to Ivette, asking, "Miss Ivette, please assess the value of this gemstone."

Taking the gemstone and examining it closely in the light, Ivette lifted her head after a few minutes, somewhat excitedly stating, "Perfect cut, flawless structure, transparent under lighting—this ruby is exquisite. Will you part with it? I'm willing to offer you the highest price of 300 gold coins."