Jaune woke up in the morning as the early rays of the morning sun shone on his face.
"Whooh!" He exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes. "What a sleep."
He got up and took a stretch. He then went to the fireplace and looked at the nearly overcooked food he had prepared in the night using the last remaining heat from the fire. He then ate his breakfast on a stick after he had uttered his simple prayers and then indulged on his not so tasty delight. While he was eating he thought of the incident the other day.
"Raveloe, city in the east?" He muttered to himself. "How does such a thing exist? Am I in 19th century England?"
No. There are many reasons why this is not true. Raveloe was a fictional town from the book Silas Marner. So was he in the book Silas Marner? Well, he doesn't know, but he is sure that he isn't. Besides, he looked deeply into the people he had run into during the incident the other day. First was the bandits, or he thought they were. The bandits had clothing similar to medieval common clothing and wore sandals of that era, or the late high medieval ages. Also, take into account the little girl, which we all remeber was called Maeve if you readers are paying attention. She wore the same type of medieval clothing, especially the shoes she wore, which were made of leather, adding to the account that the bucket she carried was, as European as possible, made of wood. Such tools, though simple, were iconic and there was once a battle and a fight over a bucket. Going back, how was it possible that such people, with medieval clothes and tools, exist in a more modern time? If you read Silas Marner you would understand what I mean.
But, Jaune had his luck, and now he has found a civilization of people. No matter what if he were in a world full of fantasy or magic, he will just live with it. Now, knowing the location of a city nearby he could now sell the pelts which he had kept and sell them for some money. He could now upgrade his life for a bit.
Having packed his things after breakfast, he set out to the east, finding the little town of Raveloe.
As he walked he traveled past the forest and found the little town. You may think that it would take half a day to reach it but in reality it would take just three hours. The reason why he had taken nearly half a day to walk ten miles the other day was because he knew of nothing as to where he would go to. But now having a direction he could follow it took him just some time to find the town. As he entered into the outskirts of the town he was looked upon by the villagers who had never seen him before.
Of course the reason why was that he was wearing make-shift clothes from the animals he hunted. They had never seen a young man, wearing stone-aged clothing plus weilding stone-aged tools, enter the town before. Jaune did not mind this but decided to go on.
As he walked through the streets He saw alot of wooden houses, small sheds, taverns, inns, and a market where, of course, they buy and sell things. There were hundreds of people going around, minding their own businesses. The people's jobs ranged from those woodcutters, hunters, merchants, maids from inns and taverns, a few noblemen, and dozens of peasants.
He also took note of the soldiers gaurding the little town. He took interest of their equipment. Some had full, thin plated armor and were equiped with a wooden shield with their emblems shining valiently, others wore chainmail and had a variety of leather boots and shoes. All had a variety of weapons ranging from swords, spears, bows, crossbows, hammers, pikes, and many more.
One thing which caught his interest and surprised him the most was that a dozen or so of these troops carried a short, metal barrel which fired projectiles with black powder, the very thing that made modern weapons the way it is. It was called a handgonne, the earliest of all firearms and the word "handgun" has an interesting etymology. Usually, cannons of this time, the medieval era, were called guns, or as spelled gonnes, so basically this is where the term "handgonne" came from and the basis of lighter firearms like rifles, pistols, revolvers, and the term handgun. As for the reason how Jaune knew that they were guns was because it was weilded by soldiers plus it was a barrel. You could solve the rest with pure logic. If you can't, why do soldiers carry metal barrels without a cover and have a tiny hole at the other end? And why else put it on a stick?
Jaune was really surprised by this because he just realized that black powder exists in this age. Though some guns were unaccurate and unreliable, they were still effective against walls and light armor. Jaune had just realized that they were near the end of the late high medieval age, where there would be numerous reforms, not just in philosophy, but also in science, mathematics, literature, and technology. Black powder was just the beginning of these reforms that would change the world forever.
But he had calm down his excitement. He could focus on black podwer weapons later. He had to sell some needed good to understand the currency plus find more information using the money to entice the people to give him information. He could also help other people so that he could gain their trust.
So as he walked he stopped in front of a stall and talked to the merchant who was sitting down counting the money on his table.
"Hello, sir." He started, "Is this where I can selt these pelts?"
The merchant looked up in response. He stared at Jaune and also looked at the pelts at his back and stared at him again.
"You're a stranger aren't ya?" The merchant asked casually in a near, British slang. "And to answer your question yes," he paused, "you've come to the right place." He smiled. "My name is Thorne." He said as he introduced himself. "What kind of pelts do you have fore me?"
Jaune took from his leather bag the pelts and showed them to the merchant. As he examined the pelts he saw surprised to find a variety of them, ranging from fallow deer, hares, rabbits, red squirlls, and a bear. "What is your price?" He asked while trembling. The pelts he was looking at were not just finely cut but also were of the best quality he had ever seen. If he sold these pelts he could receive quite a fortune.
Jaune thought to himself. "Can you set up a price first?"
The merchant predented to think and after a short while he replied, "About five gold counts."
To tell the truth, the merchant, Thorne, was a greedy person. The real price was actually fifteen gold counts, a count being the currency and shown with the face of some sort of famous person. In reality, though, one gold count is equal to ten silver counts. But for Jaune it didn't really matter to him if the merchant wasn't telling the truth since he did not know the value of their currency. So he decided on a compromise and haggled with the merchant. "I set my price at seven gold counts."
"No, no." The merchant replied. "I set my price at five gold and five silver counts."
"Six gold and five silver counts and that's my final offer." Jaune said as he looked at the merchant.
The merchant thought carefully and replied. "It is a deal." The merchant handed him a small bag of money to him and said, "Thank you for your service and have yourself a nice day."
"Goodbye, good sir." He said as he looked into the bag and counted counted the pieces to check if it was the right amount. Now having money, he decided to buy some needed tools and supplies and gather information. He walked from the street into another stall and got an axe, a knife, and some clothes for a good price of one gold count and three silver counts. He also bought seed to make a small garden and some metal pots for just five silver counts. He now had just 5 gold counts or 50 silver counts in his budget.
Now, having bought his needed goods, Jaune decided to head for home. But before he could leave the city to head back to the forest he ran into someone he wasn't expecting to see again.
"My, it is good to see you again." A voice said from beside him.
Jaune turned his head around and saw that the familiar voice came from the little girl he saved the other day, the girl who is called Maeve.