Mavi - The man from the other world

Chapter 6

Avi washed the dishes while Kirstin and Leigh cleaned the inn's courtyard and hall. He was deep in thought, contemplating the consequences of his offer to let Mitch stay with him. He would have to be extra careful to ensure Mitch didn't notice anything suspicious. Kirstin entered the kitchen.

"The guys are back. They brought Mitch's clothes. The rest, they managed to secure at the shop. He didn't have much..." she murmured with a resigned sigh. "The house was all he had left from his parents..."

Avi closed his eyes, feeling a pang of guilt. Maybe he should've just swallowed his pride and smiled at Stokes.

"Have they eaten?" he asked, not turning around.

"I don't think so. I'm sure Mitch hasn't," she said, her gaze fixed on his back. "He thinks food is a waste of money."

"Have them sit down; I'll bring food for them, you, and Leigh," Avi replied without looking back. He continued scrubbing the dishes in the wooden tub.

Kirstin hesitated before leaving to inform the others and call Leigh. Avi dried his hands on his apron, then gathered plates to serve their meals. There was still enough meat and salad, and he added a bit of butter to make Kirstin happy. He checked the buckets and found there were a few mugs.

Avi stepped into the hall carrying a heavy tray, and Leigh quickly came to help him. Together, they served dinner to the others, then Avi returned to the kitchen to prepare the mugs of what little remained of the drinks.

"Sorry, but this is all that's left for beverages," he murmured without meeting anyone's eyes. "Enjoy your meal."

He moved away to check the accounts. He'd quickly learned how to manage the currency of this world. He could trade 100 copper coins for a silver coin, 50 silver coins would yield one gold coin, and 10 gold coins equaled a platinum coin.

He'd also discovered that he couldn't set prices the same way he would in dollars. So he charged half of what he might in a different setting, but in copper coins. If he'd normally charge 28 dollars for brisket with salad and bread, at the inn he'd charge 14 copper coins. For each mug of tiya, he charged 5 copper coins. He'd figure out other prices later.

He started counting the coins, stacking them in groups of 100. He was pleased to see he had 12 silver coins. He set aside the payments for Leigh and Kirstin, leaving him with the equivalent of 11 silver coins. That wasn't enough to replace the bathtubs, so he'd have to settle for some repairs and maybe... offer his own bathtub for use.

He grabbed the leather wallet and placed what should be the equivalent of 8 silver coins, leaving behind four small stacks of copper coins. He separated one of the stacks into two equal piles and put them into two smaller leather pouches. In a larger pouch, he placed the equivalent of 3 silver coins.

"Ladies, here's your payment for the day." He handed them the two smaller pouches. "Thank you so much for all your hard work today; I definitely couldn't have done it without you."

Kirstin raised her eyebrows, surprised to be paid when she'd said she would be happy to accept food in exchange. She then saw Avi give Mitch another slightly larger pouch.

"Here's 3 silver coins to go toward the cost of fixing the reliquary," Avi nodded. "I still owe you 6 more silver coins."

Mitch picked up the pouch, feeling the weight of the copper coins. He held back the sigh of relief that almost escaped him. If he did the math correctly—and he was pretty sure he did—then he had about 22 silver coins and 25 copper coins. He still needed 40 copper coins to cover all the shop's bills, and 20 copper coins to pay Mrs. Lou to do his laundry for the next two weeks.