16 – The Convoy

While this world had rail travel, people hardly used it for daily commuting. Nor was the Convoy as widespread as the public transit systems Vivi knew back home. The Convoy linked cities throughout the continent, but only major ones, and was for transporting goods as much as people. The train having already arrived, she saw workers hauling crates away, hurrying to meet the tight schedule.

Her turn at the ticket booth arrived, and she stepped up. A pimply-faced boy no older than sixteen greeted her. A brief exchange followed in which Vivi questioned him on the different types of passage.

Unsurprisingly, the lowest tier was an economy ticket where commoners could pack in for an affordable ride—relatively speaking—between cities. According to him, it was an especially good value today since they would be light on passengers. Everyone would be able to stretch their legs. Most people in Prismarche were staying for the full festival, not leaving after the first day.

Higher up was an equivalent to business class, then first class, and finally something he called ‘access to the Lounge’, which he explained only after being pressed.

For the first time in her life, she had enough money to not have to worry about wasting it, and the train ride would be over twelve hours. Why not make the trip in comfort? She had coin to spare.

The cost was two mithril per leg. She would have to pay a similar fee for the next chunk of distance too.

How valuable was two mithril, in terms she could understand? Since all coins traded at a ten-to-one ratio—though the different denominations weren’t of a uniform size—that meant twenty gold coins.

Gold was valuable. Everyone knew that. But some people didn’t realize how valuable. Those standard-size ingots that weighed under thirty pounds were worth well over a million dollars. Learning that, Vivi had gone on an internet crawl out of curiosity. A shocking tidbit was that a standard quarter, if made of pure gold, would be worth more than a thousand dollars. For that tiny bit of metal.

Seeing how Seven Cataclysms’ gold coins were roughly twice the size of a quarter, meaning four times the volume, that meant four thousand dollars each—probably more.

Of course, she had no idea if these coins were pure gold. They were probably mixed with some ratio of other metals, because thanks to its softness, pure gold made for poor coinage. And trying to compare purchasing power across time periods, much less worlds, didn’t make sense. She knew that without a degree in economics.

Still. If she did some math? Two mithril, equaling twenty large gold coins, each of which was worth roughly four grand?

Eighty thousand dollars?

For a train ride? Per ticket, per leg of the trip.

She blanched, but she’d already handed over the coins. She’d done the calculations while walking away.

It explained why Saffra had a horrified look on her face. “You bought one for me? Why?”

Vivi frowned. If the girl had taken the perspective that she shouldn’t have wasted the money on either of them, that would have been fair. But if she had bought one for herself, why wouldn’t Saffra deserve a comfortable ride too?

“Coin isn’t an issue,” Vivi said dismissively, and that was the truth of the matter, even if her frugal half paled at what she’d done. “Also, that reminds me.” She pulled out a pouch filled with forty mithril, mentally staggering as she realized just how much money that was. “Your half.” She would pass over the entire bounty, but suspected Saffra would protest.

Saffra took the bag with a furrowed brow, untied the string, and peeked in. She stiffened at what she saw.

“My half of what?” she asked, suddenly tense.

“Those two had bounties on them.”

Vivi knew she’d done something wrong by how Saffra froze, clamped the bag shut, and swiveled her head to Vivi.

“So why are you giving me half?” she snapped, eyes wide, her posture panicked. “I almost got myself killed. And Allen too. I didn’t help at all.”

“You were the one who—” Vivi started.

“I wasn’t careful enough. I didn’t take the precautions I should’ve, and in the end I sat there useless and was saved by a miracle no one in their right mind could have expected. Half? Why would I get half?” She shoved the bag toward Vivi. “Take it. Take it back. I don’t want it!”

Vivi took the pouch, if only because she sensed that now wasn’t the time to argue the point. Saffra was shaking slightly, and seemed ready to sprint away.

Vivi wasn’t good with people, and here was the evidence. She had done something callous without meaning to. Far from a first in her life.

She had also vastly overestimated how much Saffra had ‘bounced back’ from the events of the prior day. In retrospect, she was a massive idiot. Being assaulted and nearly captured alive wasn’t something a thirteen-year-old girl ‘got over’ in a single night.

Someone else might have had the right words to smooth things over, but not her. And she’d learned saying nothing was better than digging the hole deeper.

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“Sorry,” she offered, if nothing else.

Saffra had composed herself by the time they reached their destination, but she was still looking miserable. “I’m sorry too,” she mumbled.

The Convoy—the train itself—was an impressive sight. It was larger than most trains, at least as she knew them, squat and blocky, layered with armor thick enough to stop a cannonball.

Which, upon a moment’s reflection, made sense. This vehicle sailed through thousands of miles of monster-infested territory. Seeing how the rail lines spanned to the remote reaches of Prismarche, the Convoy traveled through very dangerous territory too. Her eyes drifted to what looked like gun turrets stationed every few cars. She sensed mana thrumming through the devices. They looked like they could pivot around, and were presumably piloted from beneath. No doubt magical artillery for fending off the worst of the monsters. She wondered what sort of firepower they packed.

A man checked their tickets, eyes flicking to the badges on their chests—Vivi wore her gold-rank badge in hopes she wouldn’t automatically be assumed a child—and tore the stub off and handed back the rest.