Asking right now would be a fatal mistake, he should take a different approach and slowly guide
the subject.
Anyways, since I was a useless salesman originally, my business skills were also very poor.
Although the number felt like a lot, but he did not know the value of the money, and thus could
not determine whether this amount was appropriate. He absolutely has to avoid accepting too
low a number or raise the number too high, otherwise he will expose his own ignorance.
No, the fact that they didn’t say that they would give him four large cows was enough to make
him breathe a sigh of relief.
About to fall deep into depression, his mental state quickly settled down. Ainz reassured himself,
he was really thankful for his undead body, at the same time he learnt something.
And that was, copper coins and silver coins was this village’s main currency. At the same time
he also wanted to know where do these two currencies stand against each other, but he had no
confidence about this information.
First he had to learn more about the value of copper coins. Not knowing something basic could
become rather troublesome. But to know nothing about the value of currency would be
extremely suspicious.
Before he started wanting to learn more about this world, he wanted to keep a low profile.
So that was why he kept on thinking, trying to avoid an even greater failure.
“It would be hard to carry so many small coins, I hope can be exchanged with coins of a bigger
value.”
“Forgive us, it would be great if we could use gold coins to pay you. But… our vil age doesn’t
have any gold coins…”
Ainz suppressed the urge to heave a sigh of relief.
The vil age chief’s answer turned the conversation into the direction Ainz wanted. So Ainz
thought harder about his next question:
“So it’s like that. In that case, I simply wish to use the money I receive to buy goods from the
vil age, I just want you to give me enough for that purpose.”
Ainz secretly opened his Item Chest from within his robes and removed two YGGDRASIL gold
coins from it. One of the coins had a woman’s profile while the other had the profile of a man.
The first coin was introduced after the [Valkyrie’s Downfall] Event, it was a revision of the
currency used by the players until then, while the latter coin was the old currency that was used
before.
Although both coins had the same value, both of them had different meanings for Ainz.
The older coin had accompanied Ainz from the moment he first started playing YGGDRASIL
until the founding of Ainz Ooal Gown. It was during the peak of his guild’s activity when the
game introduced the new coins, but since they had already completed all their equipment, the
new coins were simply put into their Item Chests.
Becoming a skeleton mage, using magic to defeat monsters on the map, receiving gold coins
which floated in the air. Going into a labyrinth on his own and defeating ferocious monsters on
his own, obtaining a mountain of gold coins through great difficulty. After his guild members
went through the labyrinth, sold all of their gained data crystals, earning these gold coins
symbolizing their glorious history───
But Ainz threw away those nostalgic memories.
Keeping the old coin, he took out the new coin.
Once he placed the gold coin on the table, the Village Chief and his wife both opened their eyes
in surprise.
“Thi-, this is!”
“This is the currency of a far away land. Can it be used here?”
“It should be possible… Please wait a moment.”
Ainz heaved a sigh of relief after hearing that it could be used, in the meantime the Village Chief
left his seat, went into another room and brought something back you would only see in a
history book.
That would be an antique balancing scale.
Next was the wife’s job, she took the gold coin along with a round object, seemingly comparing
their size. After she saw enough, she placed the coin on one side of the scale and placed a
scale weight on the other.
This looked like a process called 'weighing currency'.
Ainz dug through his memories, thinking over the meaning of the wife’s actions. If the first step
would be comparing the size of this country’s currency to the other, then the next should be
confirming the gold content of the coin.
It looked like the gold coin was heavier, since the weight on the other side of the scale began to
rise. The wife puts another weight on the scale in order to balance both sides.
“Looks like it’s about the weight of two gold coins…. Please, may I ask if it is possible to scratch the surface…”
“Wi-, wife, you are being too rude! Please forgive us, my wife has said some insolent words…”
She seemed to think that the coin was gold plated. However Ainz wasn’t real y unhappy, or
angry.
“Go ahead… but if it’s really made of pure gold, you better compensate me with its full value,
okay?”
"N-, no need, I am really sorry."
The vil age chief’s wife apologized and returned the coin.
“Don’t mind it, I want to know something else. What are your thoughts about this coin? It looks
like a carved sculpture, right?"
"Yes, it looks very nice. Which country is this currency from?"
"Now this ─── this country doesn’t exist anymore."
"Oh, really......"
"…… Although it has the same weight as two common gold coins, coupled with the artwork one
should expect a rather high value, am I right? "
"That might be...... but I’m no merchant and don't know how to properly judge an artworks
worth......"
"Hahaha, you are right. So if I were to go shopping, this coin would be the equivalent of two
common gold coins right?"
"Well, of course."
"Actual y, I have several such coins. What kind of goods can you sell me? Of course, I’l only
buy as much as you’re wil ing to provide and it doesn’t matter to me if I have to pay the normal
prices. You can even freely check out the coins. Please—— "
"Ainz Ooal Gown-sama!"
Ainz was startled by the vil age chief’s sudden shout, whose expression had become even more
serious than before.
"...... Calling me Ainz is enough."
"So it is Ainz-sama?" The village chief was very skeptical at beginning, but after nodding several times he continued:
"I am well aware of what Ainz-sama is trying to say."
Becoming rather confused, Ainz wondered if a big question mark would pop up above his head.
This must be a misunderstanding, but since he had no idea what the village chief was planning
to say Ainz had no idea on how to react.
"I am well aware that Ainz-sama does not want to sell himself short, since it is understandable that you expect a fitting reward for your hard work. To hire a person as powerful as Ainz-sama,
we would need a lot of money, but you would like to receive something else in addition to the
three thousand copper coins, am I right? "
Being unable to follow village chief’s train of thought, Ainz’s mind was in a mess and he couldn’t
help being grateful he decided to wear this mask. Ainz took out the gold coins in order to
estimate how much he would be able to buy with it since he wanted to roughly evaluate the
market prices in this world. How did things turn out like this?
Without giving Ainz time to speak up, the village chief continues:
"However, just as I said before, the maximum amount this village can pay is around three