Profit

Finally found a stable, it took longer than I thought, I even had to stop midway in order to have a meal, I'm almost out of bread now.

What I discovered on this journey to find a stable is that the city is not round if I assume that the square is in the middle, which is doubtful, then the entrance I took is in the south or the lower part of the city, the sea is on the western side which makes a lot of sense taking into account that this city is called Westerngrad, probably build near the western ocean.

Anyway, I headed the opposite direction of the sea, namely east or the right side, and it took me a lot longer to get to the gate, than from the south side.

Also, all the inns or hotels or whatever they are called seem to be placed along the main street heading to the eastern gate so I took a bit of my time figuring out the price of staying at one of those.

My results are that the cheapest is surprisingly half a coin a day, and the most expensive one, which I was not allowed to enter is worth and I quote ''Go sell your horse and come back it will last you a couple of days then'' while he didn't tell me a price they were nice enough to write it up above their entrance.

The letters are also in English but they use a strange font which makes it extremely difficult to read, the letters barely look alike and the words are all linked together, at first i thought they were written in another language.

They also don't use Arabic numbers but a sort of simplified roman numbers.

The price written was 65 coins a day, which was depicted as five lines with a cut in the middle followed by another line then a weird symbol to separate the numbers then five lines with a cut to make for a total of 65, I had confirmed it by acting blind and asking a passerby if he can read what it says they're due to my eyes being bad, he was nice enough to do it.

With this adventure that took me until late afternoon, I am probably one hour or so away from nighttime, the sky has started darkening already, I wonder how long I spent wandering the square.

As I get to the stable and knock on the door a woman comes out, I put on a smile and say.

''Good evening miss I come to talk to you about selling my trusty steed, I trust that I came to the right place'' She is a bit old for miss but it never hurts.

She does not seem impressed and just looks at the horse behind me then sticks her head inside the door and screams ''Bran come over someones selling a stumpy''

Did they call it a stumpy, well that's rude, sorry buddy.

A man walks out dressed in a yellow brocade shirt and welcomes me with a smile.

''Hello sir, excuse my wife she has a bad day today'' the woman scoffs and goes back inside.

''It is no problem, sir, as the madam told you I come to sell my horse, I sadly ran out of travel funds''.

Now if I am not wrong the horse should be at least 130 coins, but you never know, I won't sell it for less than 150.

''Come inside the stable, we shall talk there, how may I address you sir'' he asks while guiding me to the big building next to his house.

''I am called Caspian, a merchant by profession, and you sir'' the man does not seem surprised.

''My name is Bran, it is a pleasure to do business with a fellow merchant. Now come inside and let me inspect your horse''

''But of course, mister Bran, do take a look, I have not had the opportunity to clean it before coming to you so excuse the filth'' I say while entering the barn, it is quite cozy inside, with a lamp hanging by the wall.

''I do not mind mister Caspian, many travelers such as yourself leave their dirty mounts with me for care and cleaning while they reside in the city, they rarely sell them tho, what made you decide to do so'' He says while walking around the horse looking at all its nooks and crannies.

I nod. ''As a fellow merchant I shall not hide it from you, I have had an unfortunate encounter with some odd beasts on my way here and I ended up losing most of my items, I now need to sell this horse in order to live, I hope you understand'' A little pity goes a long way.

He looks at me and his nose scrunches up a bit in displeasure probably due to my dirty and tattered clothes, at this point you can't even tell the material underneath all the filth.

''I see, that is quite unfortunate, do not worry I will give you a fair price for the stumpy'' Why does it call it a stumpy.

''Is stumpy the name of the breed sir?'' He shakes his head and points at the horse.

''No, they are tiny horses so we refer to them as stumpys around these parts''.

The horse is normal-sized, maybe even a bit bigger than normal, if this is a stumpy how big are normal horses.

''Do you have a price in mind mister Caspian?'' I nod and point at the horse.

''How about I give you the horse with all its gear for 300 coins'' Bran instantly shakes his head.

''That is too much, at most I can give you 150 coins for it'' Well that was easy, its almost all I wanted, but the more I can get the better.

''I know that I ask for much friend, but I am in dire straits, I have no family in this great city so I require the coin to somehow return back home, I hope you can give me a hand'' A grown ass man making puppy eyes is not dignified but all that be damned I need to eat.

''I understand your circumstances mister Caspian and I truly want to help, but as you have seen I have a wife with several children and the times are hard, how about 170''

''I see you are a family man Bran, I too am married and left home in order to make money for my newborn child, I hope to return to them, both my lovely wife and newborn daughter will starve without me'' Look at me make up an imaginary family to make more money.

With a somewhat complicated look, he says ''in hopes of helping a fellow merchant and for me too to one day be given a hand in my times of need I will give you 200 coins for this stumpy, I hope you can return to your family''

With tears in my eye I shake his hand and thank him several times, he then goes to a side door and opens it, inside I can see a warm room with a table with dinner on it and several young children peeking at me, I too stare at them with a grim face until Bran returns at which point I start smiling and waving at the children.

''You have a lovely family friend'' He nods and hands me a heavy leather bag.

''Indeed, thank you, here are the coins, you may count them if you so want''

I shake my head and make my way to the exit, it is dark outside.

''No need friend, I trust you, I hope to see you again soon, this time with my family behind me''

Bran smiles back and closes the barn doors. I take a breath of cold air and let out a puff of mist.

''I am never coming back here again''