Seeing this, Uncle John stopped refusing. He reached out to take the heavy bundle of wild boar meat, a grateful smile appearing on his face as his fingers rubbed against the rough burlap wrapping.
“Then... I'll shamelessly accept it,” he said with deep emotion. “We all heard about what happened yesterday. Knowing you care this much warms my heart.”
As he spoke, he secretly felt glad that his past investment in Matthew had truly paid off.
Seeing Uncle John accept the gift, Matthew nodded to himself, feeling much more at ease. He then asked, “Uncle John, do you know where Old Joel lives? I have some hides and other items I'd like him to look at.”
“Old Joel?” Uncle John carefully placed the bundle of meat on a nearby shelf and wiped his hands. “Go out of the mill and follow the main road toward the south end of the village. You'll see a house with lots of dried herbs and old hides hanging by the door, and a pile of grocery baskets in the yard. That's his place. He goes to town often, so he should be home right now.”
“Great, thank you, Uncle.” Matthew noted down the directions, chatted with the two of them for a bit longer, and then left the mill.
He headed toward the south end of the village.
Before long, Matthew arrived at the south end of the village.
He slowed his pace, his gaze scanning the houses on both sides of the road. Sure enough, before walking very far, he spotted a house just as Uncle John had described. Several bundles of dried herbs and a few processed old hides hung under the eaves. Grocery baskets of various sizes were piled up against the courtyard wall, making the place look rather cluttered.
The courtyard gate was half-closed, and a faint rustling sound of someone tidying up came from inside.
Matthew took a few steps forward, stopped in front of the gate, and knocked gently on the half-open wooden door.
“Is Uncle Joel home?”
The rustling inside stopped, and a robust voice called out, “Who is it? The door isn't locked, come on in.”
Matthew pushed open the gate and stepped inside. The courtyard wasn't large, with raw animal hides, rattan, and various sundries scattered across the ground.
A short, stocky older man with graying hair and a weathered face from years of traveling was crouching on the ground, sorting through several bulging burlap sacks.
The old man looked up, squinting as he sized Matthew up, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
“I'm Matthew. I came to ask if you buy hides,” Matthew said politely as he entered the yard, setting down the rolls of wild boar hide and rabbit skins he was carrying.
Joel nodded slightly, stood up, slapped the dust off his hands, and walked over to the hides Matthew had brought.
“Alright, let me see what you've got.”
Matthew untied the cloth bag, took out the processed rabbit skins first, and handed them to Old Joel.
Old Joel took the rabbit skins and deftly unfurled them. He pinched the fur to feel its thickness and softness, and carefully inspected the integrity and tanning of the skins.
“Rabbit skins. The quality is decent, and they're processed quite cleanly with barely any damage.”
Old Joel set the rabbit skins down and offered a price.
“Seven copper coins per skin...”
Old Joel then counted them. There were twenty-four rabbit skins in total, which Matthew had accumulated over this period.
Hearing the count, even Matthew was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected the Practiced-level Vine Trap to be so efficient.
“That's a total of one hundred and sixty-eight copper coins. I'll give you one silver coin and sixty-eight copper coins.” With that, Old Joel counted out sixty-eight copper coins from an old cloth pouch. Then, he produced a single silver coin stamped with a crooked profile of a head.
“Count it, young man.” Old Joel tied his money pouch back up and pointed to the silver and copper coins on the table. “Check it here. Once you walk out that door, I won't take responsibility if the count is wrong.”
Matthew didn't mind and swept the coins up.
Meanwhile, Old Joel's gaze shifted to the brown leather inside the cloth bag, his eyes flashing with a mix of greed and astonishment.
A wild boar hide!
This was a rare item.
Anda Town was located on the outskirts of Abilan County, where high-quality leather was extremely scarce.
As a result, the price of something as tough and durable as wild boar hide naturally skyrocketed!
The wealthy lords in town loved this sort of thing.
Seeing Old Joel looking at the wild boar hide with a trace of greed, Matthew felt reassured.
He spoke up, “Why don't you take a look at this for me?”
With that, he handed the wild boar hide over.
Old Joel took it and carefully inspected its size, thickness, and integrity, as well as the quality of Matthew's preliminary tanning.
The hide is processed exceptionally well. No large gashes, and the fur is perfectly preserved. This will fetch a high price!
After all, wild boars were by no means gentle creatures. To kill one, it was very common to leave massive wounds on the hide.
Yet, this hide barely had any visible cuts!
It was a top-tier piece!
Old Joel looked up, a knowing and teasing smile on his face. When he looked at Matthew, his voice carried a hint of flattery.
“Whoa, such a massive wild boar hide, and in such great condition... The village was buzzing with rumors yesterday about some kid who killed a frenzied wild boar all by himself to protect the canal diggers.”
“Not bad, Matthew. Our village has produced quite the extraordinary figure.”
He patted the dust off his hands, his tone carrying a mix of teasing and praise before shifting to a more professional note. “The hide is intact, and the tanning is decent, though your technique is still a bit green. For this wild boar hide, I'll offer you... hmm, thirteen silver coins.”
Matthew was taken aback!
Thirteen silver coins! Is a single hide really worth that much?
Seeing Matthew remain silent, Old Joel panicked slightly and quickly added:
“I, Old Joel, can guarantee this price is absolutely fair in the village. Even if you went to town, not counting travel expenses, a fresh face like yours might not get this much.”
“Fifteen silver coins! Flat price. If you agree, we trade right now.”
Old Joel agreed on the spot, immediately counting out the coins and handing them over without hesitation.
Looking at the silver coins in his hand, Matthew thought to himself, I still asked for too little. But even so, this far exceeds my expectations.
At this point, as if remembering something, he reached into the cloth pouch at his waist and pulled out the wild boar's tusks.
“Could you take a look at these tusks for me too?”
Old Joel agreed, picking up the pair of tusks. He weighed them in his hands, then held them up to the light to carefully inspect their grain, integrity, and the condition of the roots.
The pair of tusks was thick and curved, with sharp tips and bone fragments still clinging to the roots. Their quality was exceptional.
“These are nice tusks. Intact, uncracked, and the roots are still attached. Excellent material.”
“Some craftsmen in town like to buy these to make decorations or handles.”
“But they aren't worth as much. I can give you four silver coins.”
Matthew pondered. This price was actually different from what he had anticipated.
He had thought the tusks would be the truly rare item, but it turned out the hide was.
However, he didn't dwell on it. As long as the overall outcome was good, that was enough.
“Alright, four silver coins it is.”
“Deal.”
The two exchanged the money and goods, successfully completing the trade.
Twenty silver and sixty-eight copper coins! Quite a bountiful harvest!
Seeing this, Old Joel's eyes flickered with a hint of slyness as he asked, “Young man, now that you've got the coin, would you like to see some good stuff?”
“They're all goods I brought back from town this time. Some of these are hard to come by in the village.”
Matthew nodded. This was actually another major purpose of his visit. “Uncle Joel, do you have any arrows here? I need some of better quality.”
Rate on N.U.
