man looked ashamed for not properly introducing himself. “I am Clint Beggley, though you already knew my last name. I apologize for not telling you earlier. I was too worried that I wouldn't find the right person and then excited that I had.” They both laughed and continued walking towards the store. They turned right onto Smoke Street and Alaric could already tell which building was the store. It had a little warehouse and stable attached to it with a sign hanging out front that read “Beggley Trade Goods”. Clint led them through the stable first showing that the horses were healthy and good for pulling the wagons. They then moved into the warehouse, which was only about a fourth full, but it still had plenty of goods to sell for awhile.
The goods consisted mostly of fabrics, flour, sugar, silverware, and other various every day things. Clint explained that they always had customers because of the basic things that they sold. Alaric looked through the store and found that it was fairly well kept. As they were walking about the store, a young man appeared around a corner. “Ah, this is Arthur. Since my father has been ill, he was hired on to take care of the store here.” Alaric nodded, “Well, if I'm going to buy the business, I'll have to most likely keep him on, since I've got a full shop here already. How much does he get paid?”
“Arthur gets five dollars a week.” Alaric was a bit shocked at how little the man was paid, but said nothing for the time being. “I've decided to accept the deal. I will take ownership of the business and its resources.” Clint beamed in delight, “You won't regret it. You'll make your money back in no time. You'll see.” Alaric pulled the silver from his pocket and handed it to Clint. Clint in turn handed over the deeds, and they shook hands to seal the deal. Clint took his hat off as he left, “Thanks for taking over this place. I can keep doing what I'm good at.” A thought dawned on Alaric, “You work for the city guard, correct?” Clint nodded, “I do.”
“Have you heard of a human trafficking ring in the city?” Clint's face got more serious, “I have, but no one wants to do anything about it. They hold too much power, and have too many men to deal with effectively. They also move about so much, we can't keep track of them.” Alaric nodded his understanding, “I found the same to be true. I would like something to be done about it. I've been trying to find a way to take them down. Could I count on your help, once I've figured out a plan?” Clint nodded vigorously, “Of course. I know a few other guys that would love to get rid of them too. You head over to the guard station on the east side of the city between noon and midnight and I'll be there.” Alaric thanked Clint, and Clint continued out the door. Alaric took a look around his new holding and sighed. Emilia was going to berate him again. Some people might think him cowardly, letting a girl and technically an employee, berate him, but truthfully, he didn't mind it. He liked having someone that told him to be careful with his spending. It kept him grounded. Not that he really obeyed the advise, but, he appreciated it.
Alaric made his way back to his original shop and, upon arriving, saw a crowd outside. Alaric approached the crowd to see what the fuss was about. It was Emilia, showing people how the clothes washing machine worked. Alaric hadn't gotten it inside before he had taken off with Clint. Someone must have seen it outside and gotten curious. Emilia explained that you put the clothing inside the device, as well as water and soap. Then you turned the wheel on the outside to cause the inside to spin the clothing around. You would then open a nozzle to drain out the soapy water, add more water and spin it again a few times to rinse the clothing. You would drain it again, and the clothing would be clean. At least, that was the idea.
The crowd consisted mostly of men who were interested in the machine as a way of washing their clothing more quickly. One man asked how many machines were available. Emilia replied that currently there were only two available for sale, as the inventor had yet to find someone to manufacture them. Another man said that he would be interested in manufacturing the machines for a cut of the profit. At this point Alaric interjected, “I could arrange for you to meet with the inventor.” The man walked over to Alaric and gave him an address to contact him, when a meeting could be arranged. Another man walked over to Alaric almost immediately after, “How much is being asked for those machines?”
“I believe we're looking for twenty dollars each.” The man nodded, “Could you come with me then?” Alaric followed the man to a building a few blocks away. It made sense that he didn't have the money on him, as most people didn't carry around that much. It was too dangerous and asked for trouble. They entered the building and the man turned around to speak to Alaric. “I firstly wanted to inform you that the leaders of the various states are meeting this week to discuss a universal, credit type, currency to be used in the states. Just using gold and silver coins has become too dangerous for people. Not to mention carrying all of that metal can get heavy. So the economy will most likely be changing. I'll give you ten dollars for each and buy both machines.” Alaric frowned, not sure whether he should believe the man's story or not. However he did believe the man was right in that the machines probably weren't worth that much silver. “Fifteen each, and, if the economy does change as you say it is going to, I'll give you the equivalent of two dollars back to you for each.” The man thought about it for a moment and then smiled, “It's a deal then.” He opened a drawer and pulled out the silver, handing it to Alaric. Then the two of them walked back to the store for the man to get what he had paid for.
Alaric stored the money and helped the man cart the machines off. After returning from that job, he explained to Emilia what he had done. Luckily for Alaric, Emilia didn't seem upset at the idea of expanding, so he didn't have to worry about a scolding that day. As evening set in, Alaric and Emilia closed down the shop and went to collect Arthur, to get acquainted with him over dinner. It was going to be interesting having so many shops to handle, but Alaric was excited at the idea of actually expanding the business.
Chapter 6
A few days later, the news, that a customer had given Alaric, was proven true. The new currency was available at the banks. It was printed on a cotton type paper, which would help keep it from disintegrating if it got wet. The currency was still based on gold and silver and the dollar amount that was tied to a certain weight of gold or silver did not change. This was good news for Alaric, as it meant he would not have to pay that customer any money back. At first people felt that it was just devaluing things. In a way that was true. A credit system could be dangerous if too much of the paper money was printed or if too much of the actual gold and silver was spent outside of the country.
The bank was offering to give twenty five percent more money in the credit than the actual gold and silver was worth for anyone who would turn in the metal currencies. To many people this looked like an amazing deal and people flocked to the banks in droves. Alaric however saw that it was only good in the short term. By giving out more money than the gold and silver was actually worth, the economy would likely suffer in the future. Alaric elected to keep the metal coins that he currently had if such an issue were to ever arise.
Another thing that Alaric discovered about the change was that the bank branches in the individual city states made the decision of whether or not to give that extra money. So there was a chance other city states would not suffer while places like Aerahagen could. Thinking about the purchase he had most recently completed made Alaric question whether or not Clint had known that this change was coming and wanted to make the sale before everything changed. After all having the extra gold and silver gave Clint options if things went south. Of course, that would also mean that Clint did know a thing or two about business and money and just didn't want the responsibility of operating a store.
Alaric, of course, would accept the new credit money as he realized most people would likely switch to it. The paper money was also much easier to transport and less obvious to any would be thieves. An issue that would spring from it, however, would be that certain stores would not accept the new currency, at least not right away. Having people that wouldn't accept the new currency could make buying things difficult. Alaric also decided that he needed to visit his property in Ravenburg. Wanting to take things to sell, as well as taking that many goods by train tended to be expensive, so Alaric decided he would go by wagon. He also realized that traveling alone would be dangerous, so he set out to look for someone he could hire on as a guard.
After searching the city for several days, Alaric found that most guns for hire with