nagpurpolice Chapter 56 Bedtime Talk
Chapter 56 Bedtime Talk
After lunch, Zag took Snowball out, while Helford stayed home to look after Mrs. Marsh and keep watch over the house.
After all, we're in an unfamiliar place, and we don't even know what our neighbors do or what their identities are. With a loyal werewolf guarding the house, we can trust our safety.
Moreover, Herford could really tell the difference between being full at one meal and being full at every meal.
The flea market is in the northern part of the city, requiring you to cross the entire city center.
Brother Peter told him this.
"According to market prices, a wooden bed costs only 2 shillings. If it costs more than that, you can give up."
According to Brother Peter, buying secondhand furniture is indeed much more cost-effective.
A brand new floor bed, the kind used by servants in aristocratic households, would cost at least 10 shillings, but secondhand furniture at flea markets is much cheaper.
As for sofas and tables and chairs, there are even more options.
From inexpensive fabric sofas to seemingly brand-new leather sofas that appear to have been discarded from wealthy neighborhoods but are still appearing on the market, although the quantity and styles are not numerous, they do have everything you need.
After some careful selection, Zag bought two beds, a sofa set, a long table, and four chairs with backrests, for David's two children to use when they occasionally came to visit.
Fortunately or unfortunately, because the docks were closed today, many low-level sailors and fishermen were looking for temporary work everywhere – for them, if they didn’t work for a day, they wouldn’t have enough money to support their families.
Once labor overflows, the price of labor becomes pitifully low.
So Zag hired three strong men to help him move his furniture for only 1 shilling.
They borrowed a cart from somewhere, loaded the furniture that Zag had bought onto it in batches, and then spent the entire afternoon transporting the secondhand furniture from the flea market in the North District to the South District.
They even readily took over the trash in the garden, offering to remove it for free.
One of the workers, upon seeing the chairs surrounded by clutter, exclaimed happily, "These chairs are in excellent condition. Just fix the legs and they'll be perfectly usable. I guarantee my wife will jump for joy and give me a kiss when she sees them—these are her favorite chairs with printed cushions and backs!"
Another worker said, "But I still think that if you have this skill, you could probably fix them and sell them at the market. You could at least get several shillings... That's equivalent to a day or two's income, enough to buy a lot of food!"
"You have a point. Earning money is more important. If grain prices keep rising like this, I really don't know what I'll do. I still have two children to support!"
"Sigh, even the city lord doesn't seem to care..."
"They wouldn't care whether we live or die!"
As Zag helped the workers tidy up the clutter and trash, he listened silently to their complaints.
This kind of dilemma exists in every era, but in this case, it seems to be more dangerous and more likely to cause death.
By evening, for the first time in his lifetime, or rather, in all the long time since he transmigrated, Zag took a comfortable hot bath!
He had cleaned the bathtub, hoping Mrs. Marsh could enjoy it too, but Mrs. Marsh said that she couldn't take a bath; the heat would make her sleepy, and it would be dangerous if she fell asleep in the bathtub.
Zag thought about it and agreed wholeheartedly, so he could only take a comfortable hot bath, then spread a clean blanket and wool quilt on the bed, and lay down on it to sigh comfortably.
Indeed, the water supply and drainage system in Dongchui Port even had hot water available, which was something he hadn't expected at all.
He had always thought that the world's technological level was equivalent to that before the Industrial Revolution, or in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, when the joint-stock company system was just emerging, factories were gradually becoming widespread, but most laws were not yet perfect, and there were not many urban public facilities...
However, unexpectedly, due to the existence of magic, many needs that seemed technologically advanced in another world were not difficult to solve or expensive to implement in this world. On the contrary, some basic infrastructure that was not technologically advanced in the other world could not be developed in this world, such as the railway system.
At least Snowball had just given him a lesson: hot water supply was already in use by nobles over a thousand years ago. Even earlier, two eras ago, the ancient elves had popularized it in their societies. However, with the disappearance of the ancient elves and the fall of their civilization, much of their technology and magic was lost, which is why magical technology only began to slowly develop again recently, over a thousand years ago.
"Wait, 'recently'? 'More than a thousand years ago'?"
Zag keenly noticed the oddity in Snowball's words.
Under what circumstances would this harpy use the word "recently" to describe "more than a thousand years ago"?
With a conflicted expression, Zhage asked in the most formal, written manner, "Snowball, how old are you this year?"
"Fairies don't care about age," Snowball curled up into a dark, fluffy ball next to Zag's pillow, its tail swishing back and forth, "If I had to say, perhaps... more than three thousand years have passed since I became conscious?"
More than three thousand years!?
Zag turned his head and looked at Hakimi next to him, still feeling somewhat incredulous.
He could tell that Snowball must have lived for quite a long time, after all, it was a magical creature and it talked about things from hundreds of years ago as if they were old news. But he really didn't expect it to be more than three thousand years old!
The saying goes, "A woman three years older brings good fortune, a woman thirty years older brings wealth, a woman three hundred years older becomes an immortal." Well…
What about Hakimi's 3,000?
What is a higher standard than becoming an immortal?
Zag thought about it casually.
"Don't you remember your own birthday? Or do you simply not have the concept of celebrating birthdays?"
Snowball replied, "No, fairies don't have birthdays. We all awaken from the nest of the Mother Goddess, in batches, unlike humans who emerge from the womb. We don't have birthdays."
"But according to human custom, we usually celebrate birthdays... If you don't mind, let's make the day we met your birthday, so you can celebrate for a day every year and eat some sweet little cakes." At this point, Zag asked Helford, "Coal Ball, when is your birthday?"
"April," Helford said, not daring to speak loudly. Although the bedroom on the second floor was diagonally opposite the bedroom on the first floor, Zag had specifically tested it and found that it was fine unless one shouted loudly, as even the sound of a snowball could not be heard downstairs. But Helford still carefully lowered his voice: "April 1st."
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[Snowball's Commentary]: A fairy's true name is very important, just like a demon's true name.
That's why I will never tell that despicable, stupid dragon who's full of lies my real name!
Even if he celebrates my birthday, it's not okay!