My Servant System

"Well this is quite the haul... I said that already, haven't I? I feel like I said it before... Either way, that remains true once again too. All this Shell Stone... that alone is enough to make quite a large amount of armor. Then these ores... and the gemstones too! Really, while it was a boring adventure for us to have, it was so damn profitable. How much do you think it's all worth?"

Leone and I glanced at one another, taking our eyes off the beautiful rough gemstones resting on the leather pouch in my hand for the first time in minutes as we convened silently about their price.

"Probably... what, like 35 Gold for the cheapest one, and even that could jump higher in price depending on the demand? This... heliodor though, it's like... probably around 2 grams? 2 and a half? Which is like 10 carats, maximum 12? This is... expensive. Really, really expensive. Like, 5 Platinum to just even think about purchasing it, and maybe even somewhere in the realm of 45 Platinum. It's got... a lot of mana in it. That's why Leone and I have been so fixated on it! I mean, just look! This color, the size!"

I held the stone up and showed the Demoness, who seemed mildly impressed at the beautiful - yet rough - yellow gemstone that was about the size of the first segment of my index finger.

Inside, strands of Earth Mana lazily drifted around, giving the almost golden gemstone a vibrant hue that made it almost look illuminated, which was a rather large part of why they were so expensive.

After all, the gemstones I was accustomed to were already so gorgeous to look at; the way they captured the light and how perfect they looked when accented with silver or gold, the vibrant colors and shades that you could find amongst even just a single type of gemstone, what shapes they had been cut into...

There was so much that could turn this rough, colored stone into something so other worldly beautiful and that was amplified in this world thanks to the ethereal beauty that mana provided.

On top of looks, the stone had real purpose past being a gorgeous piece of art thanks to the mana inside of it, allowing it to have functions that made it integral to having some high quality enchanted gear, which could be considered national treasures thanks to their value.

"Besides that, these smaller topaz, garnets, even a peridot... all of them are quite the haul, though the problem now becomes how well Anput can integrate the stone itself into the things she makes, and if I can match my skill to their value with my enchantments. I wouldn't want to accidentally destroy one of them because I don't know how to utilize them properly. That would be a very expensive mistake."

Jahi nodded, her eyes still resting on the heliodor for a moment as she saw only the amount of Platinum it was worth, the small stone valued as something that would sustain a normal family for many, many years of decadence and maybe even multiple generations if they remained rather lax in their spendings.

It was an incredible little stone, and while the money would be great to have, it was better utilized by us inside a piece of gear for someone, perhaps as some kind of protective amulet that we could pass between one another for whoever would be in the most danger at any time...

There was a lot of potential in this stone, and it was easily worth its generational amount wealth.

Adelina and Nirinia were both staring at the heliodor with blank expressions, the two unaccustomed to hearing about that type of money even with their prominent statuses in the Empire; a dozen Platinum in current liquid assets was already rare amongst the normal Nobility, let alone having just a single item that was worth dozens.

Again, most wealthy families tended to have their wealth in a mix of liquid and non liquid states, though it heavily leaned towards non liquid in most occasions, so even a member of a Draconias Family and a future Knight of Cinder found this gemstone to be a crazy thing.

"Would it make you all feel better if I told you that the theoretical value of the crates all values in the Platinum range as well? The sheer amount of ore and Shell Stone is easily worth at least 5 Platinum, and after I alloy it that price doubles. So... yes, this carriage is currently worth more than most County's could even begin to imagine having on hand."

Anput's nonchalantness with it all made the two women turn to stare at her in surprise, which made the Jackalkin shrug as she said "I'm accustomed to the money; people offer my parents literal wagons of gold on the daily in hopes of earning their protection, and perhaps even their attention. I've seen mountains of gold ingots before, though it did little good for the people offering it... Did the Sultanate a lot of good though. The Empire is different since you lot use tax instead of direct tribute; easy to cut costs and find loopholes to pay less here, while those in the Sultanate know exactly how much they owe, unless they want to earn the ire of their peers."

"This carriage..."

Adelina blinked, looking towards the parcel in my hand before glancing at the small window behind us, where the extension to the carriage had been constructed to hold all of our loot.

"Is worth... multiple dozens of Platinum currently?"

Jahi raised a brow, crossing her arms and saying "It already had been just because of the occupants, Adelina. A Commander, a Squire, two of the Empress' guards, a Princess, a Begum, a Demoness, and a Dogkin who has ties to an Arch Fiend; each of us is worth our weight in gold. And none of us are exactly light... for one reason or another."

Leone and I frowned, glaring at the Demoness for her not so subtle meaning, while Adelina also frowned, glancing down at herself for a moment before looking towards Leone and I, her eyes clearly landing on our chests as she compared herself to us.

Anput was the one to lean over and - not so quietly - whisper "Don't bother... it only makes you feel worse. Trust me; I've experienced their bliss..."

While Leone blushed, I raised a brow as I turned my glare towards my mate, who only smirked back at me, before we all looked at Jahi as she sweetly smiled and said "Of course, I was speaking about their hearts of gold~! So gentle and caring and kind, they're both clearly~ so valuable because of their hearts and nothing~ else~!"

Nirinia snickered at that, the Djinn muttering "And that soul of cold iron your murderpuppy has. That's heavy too..."

Now I turned my glare towards Nirinia, only to look towards Adelina as she shrugged and said "That's true. It's worrying, but... I guess it could be worse?"

Everyone began to nod, so I just looked away and let out a huff, focusing instead on my beautiful and silent heliodor that couldn't hurt my feelings...