With everything decided, Miri, Anne, and Isaiah set off to return to Hemera in order to sell off the runes to Madame Laveau. Of course, the only one upset with this arrangement was Tusko, since he now had to carry three people instead of two, even if the extra person on board was a lightweight teenager. Because of that, the trip back to the city was even more tiresome, taking nearly an extra day than when they traveled from the city to the keep.
Once they’d returned to Laveau’s Runes and Wares, Miri and Anne presented all the runes they’d gathered to the shopkeeper as well as explaining the story of their journey to finding them. Madame Laveau was almost just as intrigued by the story of the two adventurers as she was about the runes themselves.
“Hmm, such a fascinating yet tragic story,” Madame Laveau remarked as she studied the runes they’d collected, using her hands to intricately feel their engravings and surface texture. “Sadly, a story like that is not an uncommon one, I’m afraid. Many runehunters out there got into the business because they are ultimately seekers of fortune. Thus, it is an occupation that is not without its fair share of unsavory characters, perhaps even more so than other types of adventuring jobs.”
“You’re making it sound as though you’re not a seeker of fortune yourself,” Miri said to the blind woman.
“Who do you take me for, young lady?” Madame Laveau replied with a cheeky smirk. “While it is true that I initially got into the career of runehunting for the money, I soon grew to appreciate the finer details of the runes themselves—details such as how it was created, how it was used, and how it was perceived by the general public through the stories it left behind. Runes may be seen by most as merely a tool of magic, but for me, it is more than that. It is a piece of history itself, one that deserves to be recognized and appreciated.”
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“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, can we just get to the point already?” Miri dismissed with a wave of her hand. “How much are these runes actually worth anyway? And don’t you dare try to stiff us. After what we’d been through, they better be worth it.”
“Oh, I can assure you that they are most definitely worth it,” Madame Laveau assured, placing all the precious runes in a neat row after examining them. “Given my estimates, the total amount of gold I can give you for all the runes should be around…150,000 gold.”
Miri, Anne, and Isaiah all gawked at the shopkeeper with incredible surprise. Miri quickly went through the conversion in her head. She’d estimated that, in this world, 1 gold was roughly equivalent to 1 dollar USD. This meant that 150,000 gold roughly equated to…$150,000. Splitting the money evenly, each person should be able to get about $50,000. Holy Goddess Queen of Salem! They’d hit the jackpot!
“150,000 gold?! Seriously?! Hell fucking yeah! Wooh!” Miri cheered excitedly, pumping her fists in the air.
“That’s a pretty large sum of money,” Anne said, almost stunned with disbelief. “It should be able to last us for a while.”
“That’s enough to pay off the rest of my debts,” Isaiah muttered, feeling as though a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest. “More than enough.”
“Yeah! I think this calls for a celebration, don’t you think?!” Miri suggested with a wide grin. “Let’s go have a party! Drinks are on me!”
