Author’s Note:

Hi, Anonaway. You know who you are. :P

I was writing notes for future chapters and I noticed how hard it was to calculate money with the system I wrote.

Though it is not that important, I would like my story to be consistant.

I changed the conversion rates for all the coins so that it's easier to calculate (for me).

I also added the name of the base units, Rutes.

10 Small copper coins convert to 1 large copper coin which equals to 10 Rutes.

10 Large copper coins convert to 1 small silver coin which equals to 100 Rutes.

10 small Silver coin convert to 1 large Silver coin which equals to 1000 Rutes.

10 Large silver coin convert to 1 Gold coin which equals to 10000 Rutes.

100 Gold Coin convert to 1 Platinum Coin which equals to 1000000 Rutes.

Chapter 67- Detour

***July 8th, 965 A.F. (Night)***

***Dwarven Capital (Prancing Bear)***

***Ajax McGuire***

We sat in the middle of the room. It wasn’t the same room that I had a couple of days ago. I made a deal with the innkeeper. Instead of staying for two months, both Geordi and I will stay at the Inn for one month only, meals included. Naturally, we upgraded the room with two beds. Even though I have no problem sharing a bed with Geordi, it would still be the best if we have our separate beds.

We ordered room service so that we could have privacy while Geordie is practicing his lines. I stabbed at a thick slice of steak with my fork. With the knife in my right hand, I slowly cut the meat up into bite size pieces. The steaks are piping hot on the outside with the pink-red juices flowing from the center with each cut. After I had finished, I raised one of the pieces to Geordi who was sitting across from me, I waved it back and forth, letting the aroma of the steak dancing in front of his nostrils.

“Come on. You can do this.”

“My name is Geordi Laforge. My parents passed away when I was a baby. Your family adopted me at a young age. You are my cousin, Ajax McGuire. Your mother is Auntie Catherine. Your father is Uncle Duncan. We are from Belhern Village. We were sent by Uncle Duncan to sell Belhern Whiskeys in cooperation with... In cooperation with Mayor Tom McCloud from the town Caedona. I am currently staying at an inn named “The Prancing Bear” in the Northern Quadrant. I don’t know anything. Please talk with my cousin Ajax as he is the one that makes all the decisions.”

“You stuttered. Say it correctly.”

“Please just give it to me. I can’t stand it anymore.”

As soon as I heard that, I did a facepalm. This is dangerous. If someone heard that out of context and saw his flushing androgynous face with a bit of drool on the corner of his lips, they would definitely come to the wrong conclusion. Obviously, Geordie has no idea of what he just said. To stop his begging, I decided to stuff the meat in my hand into his mouth. Damn, that sounds wrong as well. I meant I fed him the piece of steak that was on my fork.,

“Tomorrow, if I don’t hear you say the whole thing without stutter, I wouldn’t even let you eat a single kernel of corn. Got it?”

“Thish ish delishous!”

“Stop talking with your mouth full.”

Blissfully, he chewed the steak a few more times and swallowed with an audible gulp. As soon as he was finished, he opened his mouth with the expectation that I would feed him another piece. I threw the fork in my hand at him, making sure it landed blunt end first of course so that it wouldn’t hurt him too seriously.

“Ow!”

“You might be blind, but you still have hands.”

“You are such a meanie.”

“I never said I wasn’t one.”

Geordi stuck his tongue out at me, making a face before he put his focus back on the food in front of him. I had already finished my portion of the meal beforehand, so I sat in quiet contemplation. I need to think about what I need to do with the barrels of whiskey that I have. A day that these barrels stay within my possession is another day's of potential profit thrown away.

During the day, I have pretty much scouted out most of the Northern Quadrant of the Dwarven Capital. I have made notes of all the important points of interest in the back of my mind. For example, places that I need to visit for sure like where the merchant’s guild is or the slums which I need to avoid like the plague.

The first place I need to visit, though, has to be the adventurers guild. From what I have gathered from the passersby, if I had business with the Boneforges before hand, I could deal with the adventurers guild instead. If there is someone in the guild that has the authority to make the same deal with me, I wouldn’t mind selling the whiskeys to him. Even if I can’t find anyone to make a deal with, I could potentially find some.clues on what to do next. I don’t know if it is a good idea to bring him along with me.

“Say Geordie.”

“MHmmm?”

Still with his mouth full, Geordie looked up at me with a slightly tilted head. He quickly swallowed the food in anticipation of my question.

“Tomorrow, I will go and try to sell the whiskeys that I have. I am giving you two choices. The first one is staying inside the inn. You can order whatever food like. You can do whatever you want as long as you stay inside.”

“No way, that sounds boring.”come with me to the adventurer’s guild. But you will have to promise that you will stay silent and follow closely. If you get lost on the way, you will come straight back to this inn and wait for me here.”

“I will do that.”

“I am serious about being completely silent. If you say or do something that jeopardizes my deals, I will leave you behind. Selling the whiskeys means a lot to me.”

“I promise that I will be as silent as a mouse.”

“Good. Just remember that you made this promise.”

“You know, mice aren’t that quiet right? They make tons of noises. Of course, you might not be able to hear them but…”

“GEORDIE!”

***July 9th, 965 A.F.***

***Dwarven Capital***

***Ajax McGuire***

As we stepped outside of the Prancing Bear, I double checked to make sure I have brought everything that I need. My pouch for spare coins, the letter from the mayor, and most importantly the ring that my mother gave me.

“Geordie are you ready to go?”

“Ready when you are.”

I looked up at the sky. It was dark with clouds, ready to rain anytime. We need to hurry up and get to the guild before it starts raining.

“Alright let’s get to the adventurers guild before it starts..oof.”

A small cloaked figured bumped into me before running off at full speed. I immediately checked my coin pouch and noticed that it was gone. Damn this cliche event. Nothing ever goes as I have planned.

“Geordie, wait inside the inn. Someone just stole my money.”

“Can’t I just come with you.”

“It’s too dangerous, and besides, you can’t keep up with me running at full speed.”

Without giving Geordie a chance to rebut, I took off with full speed chasing after the thief. I didn’t have much choice. If I let the thief go, it would set my plans back way too far for me to make the deadline of earning sixty gold coins in two years. I have to catch the thief and recoup my money.

The head starts that the thief had quickly vanished with the help of my supreme stats. Seeing that I was chasing after him, he tried to disappear into the crowd, but it was to no avail. I took to the high grounds by climbing onto one of the buildings, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, always keeping an eye on my prey.

The thief was desperate to get away. He turned in the small alleyway to try to lose me. I quickly followed suit, jumping down from the building and running into the alley. He almost managed to shake me loose, but I saw the tail of his cloak as he turned around the corner.

After several minutes of zigzagging in the dark alley, I followed the cloaked figure to an entrance way that leads downwards. Looking around the area, I followed the thief into the slums. This could be the thief’s hideout.

*drip* *drip* *rumble*

When I was trying to figure out what to do, an ominous thunder resounded in the background. It started with a few drips of rain first, but it soon it became torrential. Even the sky is limiting my choices. I didn’t want to be soaked, so I went into through the entrance. I looked around to make sure there was no one around before I pulled out my dagger from my ring to protect myself. I was ready for a fight.

I slowly lowered myself down the staircase with the dagger just up my sleeves, ready for a fight to break out anytime. At the bottom, I found another door which was slightly ajar. When I tried to push open the door quietly, it suddenly swung fully open. Behind the door stood a dark-haired dwarf. The sleeveless shirt he wore showed off the muscles and his scars. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine that his torso was the same. He smiled at me with a menacing grin.

“Hey there little guy. Are you lost?”