Not bad at all, I say! I licked my fingers clean after finishing the plate entirely off then finished it off with black beer. Ehhh… black beer is not really great at least. It's more like shitty beer I had in my old life when I tried one of those cheap beers. Maybe I should introduce some alcohol after getting a few books to 'train' my medicine field as I'm pretty sure that chemistry part is covered by the medicine field as making alcohol requires some chemistry knowledge to make them.
Although, small uplift plans like cheap utensils, alcohol, etc will have to be put off for little bit while because I'd need the capital to set those ideas up properly which it means that I'll need to do few jobs plus quests for while until I have enough money to afford my ideas to make stable income.
I wonder if this town does offer bounty or general work, the question is where to find those jobs? Through their bounty representatives or guild halls? I'm not so familiar with medieval history stuff to be honest, so I'll have to rely on this Gaemon's memories to cover that area or ask locals around.
Well, time to get up and head for the bartender to make arrangements for renting the room for a week until I can situate myself in this town properly. I walked to the bartender, clearing my throat, getting his attention.
"Well met, lad. What can I do for you?" The bartender respectfully asked, washing drinking mugs with dirty rags. I can see that he's middle aged, has pot belly, hairy chops on his sides of the face with a bloated look in his eyes as if he's permanently drunk all the time.
"That lovely wench has told me that you have few spare rooms to rent, correct?" I bluntly asked as I pointed my finger at Betsy who was groped by some men who were too touchy.
He nodded. "Aye, we do. It'll cost ya for a copper star for a night."
I hmm'd at this price, seems to be reasonable. "Would a silver stag be enough to cover for a week? I need some time to acclimate myself to this area as it's new to me."
Widening his eyes at the offer I made, he smiled, revealing his rotten teeth, making me cringe inwards. "Aye, I can do that. Are you a knight by chance, I reckon? Only knights have that kind of money to afford this."
Well, well, that was smart for him to notice the difference.
"Aye, I'm ordained knight from Dragonstone, you can call me Ser Gaemon Waters if you prefer to." I respectfully admitted, nodding my head as the bartender widened his eyes at this admittance.
"Ser… forgive me, I didn't know!" he stammered as he bowed his head in the form of respect which I waved it off.
"It's no trouble, my good man. I don't mind. So, back to the topic, is my offer of one silver stag acceptable for a week?" I placatingly asked him, calming him down.
"Aye, that is acceptable." He bought his hand out, expecting the money. I promptly dropped a silver stag on his hand then he took it to bite it down to test the coin to check if it is authentic or not.
He looked up and nodded at me. "Follow me, ser."
I nodded as I started to follow him as he led me to the second level with numerous rooms as we were walking by, I could hear some noises from some rooms as one of the rooms had, ahem, lewd noises. That is going to get annoying fast at night when I sleep as it seems that each room has thin walls. At far end of the hallway, we stopped at the room where he took the key out from his keyring then twisted his key in its lock, unlocking it then he grabbed the iron handle, pulled outwards, revealing the comfy room with straw bed and basic furnitures like wooden tablet, night stand and a chair. Reminds me of the inn room from Skyrim to be honest.
"Ser, that is enough for you?" The bartender quietly asks, waiting for my answer.
"Aye, it is fine for me. May I have a copy of the key? I'll be out for some time to explore around, if you don't mind?" I politely asked. "In case, I'll pay an extra silver stag for that."
The bartender widened at the mention of an extra silver stag as I could see his greed popping out in his bloated eyes as I flipped a silver stag to him which he hastily caught and then offered his key to me for this room only as I nodded to him as he walked away, whistling in tune.
I perked up as I heard silent notification from my pipboy that barter skill has leveled up. Nice, bribing counts as leveling the barter skill up, eh? Could come in handy, best to use it sparingly as some people may not take bribery very well.
Hmm, so time to explore as i still have eight hours left before it gets dark, according to my watch on pipboy, so I closed the door then locked it up then turned around, heading for the exit. Considering that I am a Fallout player with this limited video game system, I should be prepared for unexpected shit to come at me. The good thing is that I have my ol' trusty friend with me in case I fondly pat my 10mm pistol like a beloved pet.
Exiting the tavern and I can see the street is quite busy, filed with lot of people wandering around, as those architecture designs on houses looks nice, I squinted my eyes, so they're using different kinds of stones depending on the quality, for example if you see more prettier stones like granite or marble, it would be for wealthy people while cobblestone or bricks would be for poorer people.
In fact, it reminds me of a few pictures from Europe I googled in my old life where it had few pictures showing medieval style houses with cobblestone as foundation with a lot of wooden things like roofs, walls, etc. Although, there are no proper glass windows here as I know that they don't have cheap glasses in this area yet as only Myr glassmakers has total monopoly over that. So instead, they use wooden shutters in replacement for cheaper prices.
Looking down at the people, I can see that they were wearing different kinds of clothes, some in poor quality, some in great quality, as most common I see is that men were wearing tunics, breeches and some kind of leather shoes or something while women would be wearing dresses in general. Yikes, my clothes would get some attention, as I can see some of them were staring unashamedly at my clothes.
Better to be on my guard in case as I gripped my sword's hilt tightly while I schooled my expression as I walked farther to the bowels of the town. I swiftly walked through the alleyways to find the marketplace.
Oh? There is a group of raggedy clothed people with crude weapons following me as I noticed them as they aren't doing a good job at hiding their moves from me as I turned around, taking my 10mm pistol then aimed at them.
"Best to leave, folks, if you want to live." I drawled slowly at the idiots who loudly scoffed at my casual warning.
"Get 'im!" A fool bellowed then he started to run to gut me like a pig with his shiv while others started to follow him as I sighed at those idiots. I aimed my pistol at the nearest idiot that is about to eat a hot lead in his belly as I pressed the trigger then the pistol roared in thunder as it propelled a hot lead, ripping through the fellow's belly, spurting bloody fountain as he yelled in pain and fell down on the ground. Others stopped and gaped their mouths open at this display and even one pissed his pants, making a foul piss smell on the ground which made me crinkle my nose at it.
"Well, that poor fellow is going to die. Are you willing to join him, gents?" I coldly asked with my pistol trained on those idiots. That was more than enough for others to grab the fellow and flee in fright. I sighed in relief, glad that I don't have to kill more people, as I still feel uneasy at this bullshit. I tilted my head as I heard the notification about gun and speech skill leveling up. What? Oh yeah, intimidation counts for speech training? Nice to know.
I holstered my pistol then swiftly walked away from the area as I don't want to answer any questions if there are guards coming up, so off to the marketplace. It didn't take long to find the marketplace as I asked a few locals for directions as it appears that the marketplace is usually in bazaars, in the middle of the town as I can see various vendors, so I stopped at the food sections as I'll need to stock some food up in case.
"Greetings, I'm curious about the prices for various fruits and vegetables you have in stock." I casually asked, leaning on the top counter, seeing the vendor as he's well dressed in deep colors with graying hairs on his head and his face is clean shaved with green eyes and laughing lines on his eyes and mouth.
"Well, you'll be pleased to know that most of the fruits and vegetables in my stocks are reasonably priced as they're directly sourced from different locations in Westeros and even some from Essos." The vendor proudly presented his wages to me in his 'enlightening' speech. I suspect that he must have practiced it to the point where he can 'attract' buyers.
I signaled him to go on which he started to list all prices for all fruits and vegetables on the display, as it appears that most of them seem to be priced at a penny to a few pennies at most aside from a few exotic looking fruits being priced much higher, much as a copper star or two.
Hmm, I'll want apples, carrots, turnips, onions, turnips, pears, plums, lime, figs and peaches. However, I'll need to get a bin to carry them all because I can't use my inventory system to grab them all in one go in public, so I'll need to do it discreetly.
"Do you include wooden baskets to sell too? I'd like to have one, I'm willing to pay an extra price for it." I offered, as the vendor looked thoughtful then turned around to find a spare bin and bought it for me. That wooden basket looks decent to me, as it's a wood bin with metal rings to hold the wood together followed by a wooden handle to carry the basket, perfect, it'll do fine.
"The basket will cost you three copper stars." Vendor kindly offered to put my hand on my chin to give a thoughtful look.
"I'll fetch a silver stag to buy a sizable amount of fruits and vegetables I want to be added in the bin." I haggled, hoping that he'd take the offer since I don't have additional changes aside from silver stags so by purchasing basket followed by amount of fruits/vegetables with a full silver stag, I would able to get three to five pounds worth of fruits and vegetables at least, provided they don't use weight system to measure the price as I don't see scales on the vendor at least.
The vendor raised his eyebrow, not expecting that much money to be offered by me then grabbed my hand to give me a firm handshake. "Ser, you got the deal!"
So I dropped a silver stag on his top counter which the vendor quickly grabbed. He then asked me what fruits and vegetables I wanted which I listed all to him as he grabbed specific types to add to the bin as it didn't take long for him to fill the basket by three-fourth full.
"Much thanks, good man." I respectfully said, nodding at the vendor as I started to turn around and walk away to find a good spot to 'hide' myself from the public to store my freshly purchased foods as I'll need to do this repeatedly for other foods like cheese or meats or anything that grabs my interest. Oh, neat, I heard another notification that my barter skill leveled up again. Also I can grab a few vegetables from the stores that don't exist in this world like tomatoes, peanuts, potatoes, etc,. later.
Found a perfect spot, the alleyway way where I don't see any people as I was able to use my pip boy to 'scan' the foods in the basket then transmitted to my storage then I checked the storage on how much spare weight left I have as I know that I put two more points on strength which it would give me around 150 lbs worth of carry weight. And it's done, it looks like I only have five pounds worth of food including from wild harvesting stored up followed by a quarter pound worth of 10mm ammunition which I added more earlier for long term, so it leaves me with 144.75 lbs left to use.
Okay, so I'll have to be careful with how much stuff I can cram in my inventory as meats and liquids are going to be heavier plus possible loot from adventures or whatever, unless I level my strength further in future plus grabbing that neat carry weight boost perks.
Oh yeah it reminds me, I'll need to purchase a basic camping kit from the store, preferably one that includes a military cot bed and cooking kit. It'll probably be pricey and a bit more heavier as a good camping kit can be as heavy as ten to twenty pounds. Best to hold on until I have some quests or jobs done to make more money in case, so the tavern room will do it in the pinch for some time. Now I really need to get back to buying meats and other things in the marketplace then ask around to find barristers or guild halls for jobs.
I briskly walked back to the marketplace with my empty wooden basket, looking round for meat vendors until I found one that had plenty of red meat hanging over the vendor stall as I approached the tall and hulking figure in his bloody apron as he was busy butchering meat with his large cleaver. Man, why does it remind me of a few horror movies I saw where people wear their bloody aprons and wield massive cleaver? I quickly shook my head to clear those morbid thoughts then cleared my throat to get his attention which worked as his head tilted up, widening his eyes at me.
His face looks like it's smashed inwards as I can see his pug-like nose with thin lips followed by unnatural thick eyebrows that look like wild bushes and his shaggy hair spraying out in different directions on his head, making him look like a deranged wildling or something. His eyes look weird, as it's dark gray but one is lazy while one is staring at me.
"'Ello there, ser. What can I do for you?" A bulking figure gruffly rumbled like stone crashing into each other. I subtly winced at the noise, and it seems that he isn't used to speaking much, so I'll keep it brief and be quick about it then.
"I'd like to purchase a pound worth of salted pork, beef, mutton chops, bacon and sausages if you have it." I idly asked as I roamed my eyes across the meats laying over the top counter and some hanging from the stall's ceiling.
The bulking figure furrowed his eyebrows, turning to a giant thick black coarse forest, no doubt that he's trying to do math to give me a price for it. I patiently waited for his reply as it's taking little while until he put his gigantic cleaver down.
"It'll cost ya for fifteen silver stags for all the stuff you mentioned." He boomed as I winced, fifteen silver stags for a pound worth of all the meats I mentioned? Maybe I can try to haggle with him a little bit to make it a bit more reasonable, perhaps?
"How about thirteen silver stags instead, my good man?" I haggled to the butcher who put his meaty finger at his thick chin, giving me a thoughtful look then nodded. Marvelous, saving me two silver stags in case as I grabbed thirteen silver stags from my pouch and put on the top counter where the butcher slowly counted those stags then started to grab all meats then wrapped it up in cheap linen to put in my wooden basket as I heard another notification of barter skill going up again. Neat, so it makes it to be three levels up.
Well, that's done for the meat part, now onto cheese & bread vendors then I'll be done for the day. Originally, I was thinking about purchasing milk but I decided against that because they don't have a safe method to make milk like pasteurization, so I'll rely on stores for that.
Ah, what smell from the cheese vendor! So many varieties, it reminds me of a good cheese shop from my old life, as I can see few yellow cheeses, so they have cheddars and some white, oh mozzarella. Maybe? I'll find out when I have a taste. I even can see blue ones, eeew, I hate those blue cheese types.
"Hello there, fellow. I'd like to buy two yellow and white cheeses." I asked, pointing at the two wheels laying on the top counter.
"4 silver stags for two whole wheels." A woman offered, putting her arms to her comely hips. She is decent to look at, I suppose, as she was wearing a basic cotton dress with a leather apron followed by a cowl covering her lengthy blonde hair and her face is comely enough as she has a crooked nose with rosy lips and dark green eyes.
Huh, oh yeah, it makes sense considering that women in this world also make cheeses, at least in smallfolk level based on what I remember from the books. Either way, time to pay her as I pulled four silver stags out and dropped them on her hand then pouched it to her leather pouch on her hip then grabbed a wheel of yellow and a wheel of white cheese and gave it to me which I added to my basket along with the meat.
I walked back to the same spot, checking the surroundings again in case then used my pipboy to store all the meat, cheese and wooden basket away then find someone else to speak with to find out if there are officials or guild halls that are offering jobs for me to take.
Perhaps a guardsman or two would have more information as they would have more experience compared to mine for this town, so I slowly walked to the guardsman as he was wearing his purple surcoat with the sigil of a silver eagle with purple field as background along his indigo cloak draped over his shoulder to back followed by chainmail and a half metal bowl helmet with wings. He was also carrying his sword and dirk followed by shield on his left arm and spear in his right hand. I can see that he's closer to middle age as his brown beard is peppered in gray and salt, tanned skin with few laugh lines. His hair is mostly hidden by his half helmet with chainmail cowl, so I assume that it'd be dark brown, similar to his beard. Although I can see two nasty scars, one is cutting through his nose and one at right cheek that looks like a claw. Not a pretty sight to see.
Making myself as non threatening as possible, I put my hands up, far away from my sword hilt or gun while walking slowly then stopped at a certain distance away.
"Hello, guardsman, I have a question if you are willing to answer for me?" I politely asked as the guardsman narrowed his eyes at me, roaming his eyes on my figure.
"Aye, I can do that. What's your name?" The guardsman gruffly asked, tilting his head a little bit.
"Ser Gaemon Waters." I introduced myself as the guardsman raised his bushy eyebrows, he wasn't expecting to see a knight like me.
"Well met, Ser. I am Longshanks. Ask your question." Longshanks respectfully asked, changing his tone entirely. Huh, it appears that knights are a bit higher ranked than guardsmen in terms of ranking?
"Where can I find any work that pays well for my ranking as I'm in need of some coins to make?" I bluntly asked. "I don't mind any kind of work, really as I'm considered as a hedge knight as I left Dragonstone for a new life."
Longshanks had a look of thoughtfulness as he rubbed his beard with his armored gauntlet. "You can try Bailiff officials at their halls three streets away, they sometimes offer bounties to hunt ne'er-do-wells or murderers or bandits or speak with our Lord Mallister to see if he's willing to employ you for some time in his castle."
I nodded. "Much appreciated, Longshanks, I'll try those bailiffs for bounty work." as I grasped his hand to give him a firm handshake.
"Good luck, ser." Longshanks called out as I started to walk away, heading for the Bailiff officials to see what they can offer. So, I should do one or two bounty jobs from Bailiff plus whatever quests are offered by my pipboy today then I'll be able to make a decent amount of money in one day.