Excuse me, how do you write the word "poor"?

The box beneath the book chest creaked open, revealing a dim interior lined with a thin layer of coins. Gret carefully poured them out, separating them by color and laying them out one by one to count. He counted once, then counted again.

Ten Gold Coins.

Eight Silver Coins.

Among the Gold Coins, one was particularly unusual.

Gret picked it up and examined it closely. Nine of the ten Gold Coins bore the profile of a crowned woman with a beautiful face on the obverse and a rose entwined with leaves on the reverse. He recalled these were likely from his own country. The obverse seemed to be a queen's head, while the reverse was supposedly the royal crest.

The last coin, however, featured a bearded man wearing a crown on the obverse and a winged Two-Headed Eagle on the reverse. The crest and the portrait were different. Considering the other Silver Coins also had rose patterns on their reverses, this peculiar coin must be from a foreign land.

As for how it ended up here, its value, or if it could be spent directly, Gret searched his memory but found nothing.

Regardless, these ten Gold Coins and eight Silver Coins were the last savings his father had left him. Buried under the bed, hidden beneath the book chest, with instructions not to touch them unless absolutely necessary.

The reason for having both Gold and Silver Coins was to prevent a young, weak child from inadvertently causing trouble by spending Gold Coins carelessly.

...How much should I take out this time?

Gret pondered seriously, counted out eight Gold Coins and put them back in the box—including the Two-Headed Eagle coin—and then put back three Silver Coins. He meticulously restored the box to its original position, cleaned away any traces on the floor, and clutching his coin purse, darted out of the house and rushed towards the paper and ink shop.

In Hartland City, Gret could only recall one shop that sold paper and writing supplies. The shop was located near the square in front of the Lord's Mansion, about two hundred meters south along the main street, making it a prime location in the entire city. The street was bustling with traffic, and carriages bearing family crests came and went, with gentlemen and ladies passing by frequently.

Two horse lanterns hung to the left and right of the shop entrance, their light illuminating half the street. Beneath the lanterns, there was even a doorman, dressed in a white shirt and suspenders, struggling to put up a wooden board, about a foot wide and over two meters tall.

When Gret arrived, the doorman gave him a surprised glance. His eyes swept over Gret's obviously altered fine linen shirt, his mud-splattered pant legs, and his patched backpack. The doorman's lips moved slightly, but he still lowered the board and went to open the door for Gret.

Stepping into the shop, a wooden counter about waist-high divided the store into two sections. Behind the counter sat a bored-looking young clerk in a white shirt and black vest, a black bow tie neatly fastened below his neck, wearing a dejected expression that clearly said, "Don't bother me, I want to go home."

Outside the counter, there was nothing else. Inside, in the cabinets behind the clerk, various rolls of paper, Feather Pens, ink, stationery boxes, and the like were displayed in a dazzling array, filling an entire wall.

Gret craned his neck to look at the paper rolls. The clerk glanced up quickly and asked lazily:

"What do you want to buy?"

"Paper."

Gret had only spoken one word before being interrupted. The clerk, without even looking up, casually replied:

"Parchment is two Silver Coins a sheet, and white paper is four Silver Coins a sheet. How much do you want?"

"That expensive?!"

Gret was shocked. Two Silver Coins for parchment, that was understandable, as it came from sheep; but four Silver Coins for a sheet of white paper?

Could this be Chengxin Hall paper!

No, no, that wasn't the main point. If ordinary white paper was twice as expensive as parchment, how had papermaking survived, and why hadn't it gone bankrupt from being squeezed out by parchment?!

The young clerk rolled his eyes impatiently. He didn't answer, instead crossing his arms and adding, with his chin raised:

"We sell in quantities of ten sheets or more."

Two Silver Coins per sheet, ten sheets would be twenty Silver Coins, or two Gold Coins... How many sheets would it take to copy an entire book? Would a thousand sheets be enough? Calculating that, this alone would cost two hundred Gold Coins...

Aside from the box of alchemy equipment and surgical instruments, if he sold his house, furniture, and everything else, he probably couldn't afford it. Gret calculated and asked with a sliver of hope: "Is there anything cheaper?"

"Cheaper?" The clerk raised an eyebrow. Just as he was about to say something else, an old man hurried out from the back of the shop:

"Yes, yes! What kind are you looking for, sir?"

The old man was dressed more luxuriously than the young clerk. His coat was trimmed with velvet, and the buttons on his round belly gleamed, almost bursting off. As soon as he came out, he glared fiercely at the clerk, then put on a smiling face:

"Our shop has all sorts of goods. The cheapest is writing paper from Walwick, four Silver Coins a ream. Slightly whiter and smoother is official paper from Northumberland, one Gold Coin a ream.

The white paper you just heard about is a regular order from the Magic Tower outside the city. It's said to increase the success rate when copying scrolls, and it's better than parchment. It's only four Silver Coins a sheet, and that's already cheap!"

...So it was special paper for copying magic scrolls. Gret suddenly understood: although papermaking had become widespread, high-end paper products weren't that easy to produce. Let alone magic paper, which represented tangible power; in his previous life, a ream of top-grade Xuan paper could fetch ten to twenty thousand.

"How many sheets in a ream?"

The young clerk pouted. The old man, however, didn't seem to think the question was too basic and continued with a smile:

"25 sheets, absolutely no shortchanging!"

emmmmm... Gret quickly calculated. 25 sheets per ream, 4 Silver Coins, so a thousand sheets would be 160 Silver Coins—or 16 Gold Coins. He had a total of 10 Gold Coins, 8 plus 2, making 10 Silver Coins, and 7 Copper Coins. It definitely wouldn't be enough to copy the entire book.

And a new recruit in the City Guard, like him, earned 5 Silver Coins a month; a squad leader earned 15 Silver Coins a month. 16 Gold Coins for a thousand sheets of paper was almost a squad leader's annual income—but would a thousand sheets be enough for a child to learn to read and write for a year?

It certainly wouldn't be enough, right?

In this era, reading and writing were truly privileges exclusive to the upper class...

Gret mused for a moment. After his contemplation, he continued to inquire about prices:

"Can I get a discount for buying in bulk?"

"One order, which is 20 reams, is 7 Gold Coins and 5 Silver Coins! Our shop offers home delivery!"

"What about pens? And ink?"

"Feather Pens, Goose Quill Pens that can be sharpened at least 20 times cost 2 Silver Coins each! Refined Goose Quill Pens that can be sharpened at least 50 times cost 4 Silver Coins each, and come with a pencil sharpener! Regular writing ink, 2 Silver Coins for a one-ounce bottle, 8 Silver Coins for a large five-ounce bottle!"

They really knew how to do business.

Gret gave a wry smile. This kind of differentiated pricing, a trick to attract customers, was so similar to the family packs, bulk packs, and combo packs in supermarkets in his previous life.

He weighed his needs and took out his wallet:

"First, buy four reams of regular writing paper and a refined goose quill pen. I only brought 2 gold coins and 5 silver coins. Can you sell me a large bottle of ink?"

Paper, pen, and ink came to a total of 2 gold coins and 8 silver coins. Gret immediately tried to haggle down the price by ten percent. The young shop assistant watched with a cold gaze and couldn't help but sneer, "If you can't afford it, don't buy it! -- Do you even have gold coins?"

Everyone's so busy on weekdays...

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