Chapter 106 - Medieval Real Guilds

After entering the city, Richard saw that the roads of Cuijin City were very wide, with the main road being more than ten meters across, paved with even bluestone slabs. However, possibly due to the long construction time, most of the bluestone slabs were damaged, some places were covered in cracks, while others were potholed, filled with black sewage.Pedestrians moved carefully among them, avoiding the difficult areas. Occasionally, horse riders galloped by, their hooves splashing the sewage around, causing pedestrians to curse and dodge.

The air was somewhat murky and the smell was unpleasant, but other than that, everything else was bearable.

Along the broad road, the buildings on either side were two or three stories high, filled with continuous shops. Shop assistants stood at the entrances with smiling faces, enthusiastically attracting customers, while inside the shops, there was haggling between customers and owners. From time to time, the taverns were noisy with laughter, and the blacksmiths’ shops clanged as weapons and farming tools were forged and displayed for sale…

Pandora, carrying a suitcase, looked around with wide eyes, feeling somewhat disgusted by the poor environment, thinking it paled in comparison to the freshness, cleanliness, and nature of the forest. Yet, she was curious about the bustling scene, something never seen in the forest.

Richard pulled Pandora along as they walked, eventually entering a decent-looking inn.

As expected, the first floor of the inn was a tavern, noisy with quite a few people holding beer mugs, drinking and joking.

Richard did not pay much attention to this and walked straight to the counter.

Behind the counter stood a middle-aged innkeeper, chubby like a beach ball. When not smiling, his face bore a hint of cunning, and when he did smile, his eyes all but disappeared and his lips curled up to his nose, instinctively making one want to guard their wallet.

“Hehehe, what do you need, guest? Staying, or something else?” The innkeeper greeted Richard proactively without waiting for him to speak. “If staying, we have rooms at various prices, available for short or long stays. We also offer other services, like finding you relaxing company or people to solve difficult problems…”

Richard raised his eyebrows, already knowing the role the innkeeper behind the counter played—a fixer, or a Medieval middleman. They utilized the advantage of inns and taverns meeting all sorts of people to broker deals and earn commissions. In fact, many Medieval innkeepers and other shop owners often juggled this profession, which explained why craftsmen and mercenaries liked to gather in such places.

The so-called mercenary guilds or thief guilds, in a world akin to Medieval times, couldn’t possibly exist in reality. Even if they did, they would be enormously different from how they are depicted in some novels. According to those descriptions, guilds capable of coordinating multiple cities or even half a continent could easily establish their own countries rather than settling for commissions and service fees. Furthermore, any sensible ruler would never allow such guild organizations to exist.

Thus, in a world similar to Medieval times, taverns and inns were, in a sense, guild halls where people could find jobs or hire someone by interacting with the innkeeper.

However… Richard was currently just looking for a temporary place to stay.

Looking at the innkeeper, Richard spoke, “Just a room will do for now, I have no other needs.”

“Ah, okay.” The innkeeper responded to Richard’s words without being upset about not earning extra money, still wearing a smile but with much more efficiency. Quickly, he extended his hand and crisply said, “The best room costs one silver coin a day, which is one hundred copper coins, and the worst room costs five copper coins a day. We also have rooms for ten copper coins, fifteen copper coins, twenty copper coins, and fifty copper coins, so you see…”

“The best,” Richard said, handing over a silver coin.

“Alright, I’ll go arrange that for you…” The innkeeper said with a full-faced smile, gesturing to call an assistant, but his gaze swept over the silver coin in his palm, and his voice suddenly halted in his throat, his expression freezing for a few seconds as his brow slightly furrowed.

The next moment, the innkeeper looked at Richard, his eyes flickering, still speaking politely but elongating his words, “This—guest came from abroad, right? You’re not from the Jade Kingdom?”

“Er, correct.”

“Well, it’s like this. The room prices I mentioned were for silver coins circulated in the Jade Kingdom, but the one you gave me seems to be from another country. Er, don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying anything else. Perhaps your silver coin might be more valuable than the Jade Kingdom’s but… here in Cuijin City, not outside, nor other places in the Jade Kingdom, some foreign currencies are not quite accepted, and I wouldn’t wish to take advantage unknowingly…”

Richard nodded in understanding, not upset, as he had no reason to be. After all, just like not the entire world speaks the same language, not the entire world uses the same currency.

Indeed, using the same language, currency, and system of measurement facilitates communication. The same culture and political system even more so aid joint development between each other. But reality is, after all, reality…

Prepared for the lack of universal currency, when he left the Blue Lion Kingdom, Richard had carried only a small part of his gold and silver coins, and more luxury items like gemstones. His plan was to sell the gemstones upon arriving in unfamiliar lands to exchange for local currency.

However, now considering the various types of currency he had received from the Mysterious Wizard’s Iron Ring, he might not need to use gemstones.

Looking at the innkeeper, Richard lightly touched the Iron Ring on his hand, activated it with mana, and flipped his hand to produce another type of silver coin, “Is this the official circulating silver coin of the Jade Kingdom?”

The innkeeper shook his head, “Er, no…”

“How about this one?” Richard took out another coin.

“Er, not this one either…”

“This one?”

“Still not…”

It was only after Richard tried the sixth type that he finally found the genuine circulating silver coin of the Jade Kingdom, which he handed over to the innkeeper.

Seeing the innkeeper finally accept it, Richard’s eyes twinkled and he asked, “Besides silver coins, can gold coins also be used?”

“Er, of course, as long as it’s a currency circulated in the Jade Kingdom, as long as you have it. But…” The innkeeper hesitated before adding, “But… if you’re staying for a short time, if you give me a gold coin, I would need to give you a lot of silver coins in return, which isn’t convenient. So, I’d suggest it’s best to use silver coins to pay.”