Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 47 - 44: Donkey Hide and the Young Man
"Let me see..."
Rorschach took it. The water hadn’t soaked into the taut donkey hide, and the midday sun made it shimmer with mottled points of light.
"A Spirit Talisman! A hide tanned by the Shanshi people... I know this trick. It’s from that old antique dealer... Ninety percent of his wares are fake... I only carry it because I have nothing else!"
The script on it was ancient Jabber Language:
To possess me is to possess all, save for a life that is lost, which you experience with every passing moment.
A willing trade is a fair one, no matter what rests on either end of the scales.
May your wish be satisfied, may your wish be fulfilled.
Each time one of your desires is realized, I shall shrink. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
...
"The gods will permit it... I hope so!" Valon said, his voice trembling.
"You know the Jabber Language too? You’re not a Mage or a Priest, so you must be from the Nobility."
"Nobility!" He gave another bitter laugh. "That title is worthless."
"Ninety percent fake... Mr. Valon, the one you have might be genuine." Rorschach handed the donkey hide back to the young man. "But I must advise you, it would be best to turn this sinister hide over to the Church."
’According to the Magic Detection, the donkey hide was suffused with a faint Spiritual Light. If I hadn’t been holding it while casting the spell, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all.’
"You’re telling me to give away my last possession—if you can even call it that!" The young man took the hide back, clutching it tightly.
"If you don’t want to sell, then how about selling it to me for one gold coin?" ’The hide might be worth studying,’ Rorschach thought. ’Granting wishes, taking life... It sounds like a devil’s bargain. But in this Otherworld, there are only Evil Gods and their servants, and they disappeared along with the True Gods during the Silent Age.’
"One gold coin..." Valon shivered. "Sir, you and the other two esteemed Mages saved my life. I haven’t even had the chance to thank you properly! But is this piece of donkey hide really worth a gold coin? I can’t possibly swindle you!"
"If you don’t want to sell, then never mind. Good luck." Rorschach was getting hungry and didn’t want to waste any more time. He headed toward Valuva’s Stomach with Pascal and Paulina.
Valuva’s Big Market was quieter than the last time Rorschach had visited. Two children, one clutching a chicken and the other a link of sausage, ran past one after the other with bits of straw still in their hair. On the edge of the market, next to a butcher shop, was a small restaurant with a few patrons already seated inside.
A woman in a greasy apron served them. "What can I get for you three? Today we have roast chicken, stewed pike, beef, and the freshest vegetables."
"And pies! Lamb-filled pies, just about to come out of the oven!" The kitchen was right behind the dining area, and the owner added with a booming voice, his potbelly preceding him.
A customer behind Rorschach took a sip of pale ale. "You’re in luck, catching their fresh-made pies. If I had the money, I’d eat a whole one by myself!" ’Looks like this place has good pies,’ Rorschach thought.
"Since I’m treating, you two can choose first." ’It was then Rorschach realized that this little restaurant didn’t have menus—many of its patrons were likely illiterate.’
"I’ll have the vegetable stew and a slice of pie, then."
"Is the beef stewed in a clear broth?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then we’ll have an order of the stewed beef and two slices of bread."
Rorschach, feeling they had plenty of main dishes, decided to add a roast chicken as well.
The other customers glanced over at their table. They were clearly some of the restaurant’s rarer, big-spending patrons.
The stews arrived quickly. ’They must keep them simmering in a pot and just ladle out a serving when someone orders,’ Rorschach figured.
The stewed vegetables were served on a wooden platter. They seemed to have been roasted before being boiled, as the edges were slightly charred. They lay limply in the broth. The "clear-broth" beef stew earned its name because the broth wasn’t thickened with potato chunks or flour, giving it a clear, amber color.
In a palace or a restaurant on the middle levels of the Starlight Torch Tower, the carrots, celery, and onions used for the broth would have been strained out. Here, however, these "dregs" filled the small cast-iron pot halfway, bulking up the meager portion of beef.
"Wait, don’t eat yet." Paulina wiped the table, looking disgusted at the lingering grease she couldn’t get off.
When the steaming hot pie was served, Rorschach noticed Paulina fiddling with something under her robes. He activated his Magic Detection, and a fine Spiritual Light flashed across all the food on the table.
Rorschach lowered his voice. "Purification Food?"
Paulina nodded.
Pascal looked astonished, as if seeing her for the first time. "When did you learn a Natural Spell?"
"I once considered studying at the Tower of Forest..."
"Right, food safety is important..." Rorschach ladled the clear broth into bowls for Pascal and Paulina. "This reminds me of a story. Two human Adventurers were poisoned, and neither a Priest nor a Druid could counteract the toxin."
Pascal asked while fishing out some beef, "What kind of poison is so strong that even a Druid can’t cure it?"
"Don’t interrupt... that’s not the point." Rorschach tore off a piece of bread and dipped it in the vegetable broth. "Then a Giant steps up and says in clumsy Common Tongue, ’Lemme try!’ He casts a single Divine Art, and not only are both of them cured of the poison, but they’re also sparkling clean, as if they just had a bath."
"How’d he do that?"
"With the same Magic Paulina just used."
"Huh?"
"I know! The big guy casting the spell was an Ogre!" Pascal announced, smugly revealing the punchline.
"Interrupting people at the punchline isn’t what a good audience does," Paulina said, seeming to have a lot of pent-up frustration with Pascal.
Pascal drank the rest of his soup in one go. "Only because Rorschach’s joke is ancient... Ah well, let’s just eat."
The lamb pie was, as promised, excellent. Tender leg meat, cut into strips along the grain, was mixed with onions and pepper and wrapped in a flaky crust. The trapped juices and fat, along with the dough they soaked into, were an irresistible combination. The aroma of the pie instantly filled the small restaurant and the mouths of its patrons.
"That’ll be sixty-three copper coins, sirs." With Twenty Copper Coins to One Silver Coin, Rorschach had no trouble paying, but he was still a little surprised. "We didn’t even order any drinks."
"Sirs, you ordered all the best ingredients. Plus, grain has been scarce heading into winter, so we had to raise our prices."
After the hearty meal, even the winter wind outside didn’t feel so cold. He and Pascal went to the market’s seafood section to buy a pound of small assorted fish for Gaisde. The prices at the market were indeed higher now. Rorschach saw that Floran had set up a table and chair next to the seafood section. On the table were a set of standard weights and a booklet with charcoal-penned notes. Floran himself was fast asleep, a felt hat pulled down over his eyes.
"Prices for everything have gone up." ’It’s only been ten days,’ Rorschach thought, ’but the cost of vegetables and grain has already risen by ten percent.’ Even with his limited, former-engineering-student grasp of economics, he could tell the inflation was serious.
"Rorschach, are you planning on carrying that smelly haul all the way back?"
"Oh, right." Seeing that no one was watching, Rorschach used Touch of Frost to freeze the fish solid before stashing them in his Storage Ring. ’I need to clean this ring out one of these days...’
Returning to Du Peng Avenue, the first thing they saw was that same opulent den of vice. Just as the two of them were passing by, a young man came tumbling out onto the street, followed closely by four large thugs.
The young man landed flat on his back, his upside-down gaze meeting Rorschach’s. It was Valon, the man who had failed in his earlier attempt to enter Hell.
