Chapter 232: Chapter 231 Money Isn’t the Problem, No Money Is the Problem Chapter 232: Chapter 231 Money Isn’t the Problem, No Money Is the Problem Richard was not interested in the girl’s proposal, but he had to admit that it was a reasonable suggestion within White Stone Tower Academy—it met the needs of many students who were auditing the classes.
Auditors who wanted to stay on at White Stone Tower had to continuously earn money to maintain their daily lives or save up to take elective courses at the academy. Moreover, the money they earned could not be a trivial amount.
It is worth noting that the level of consumption within White Stone Tower Academy was far beyond that of any remote village, and even cities like Cuijin City could not compare.
According to the current economic standards of this Medieval world, a skilled craftsman working in a city or town could earn roughly three to five silver coins each month. Some particularly skilled individuals might earn about ten silver coins, but that still did not amount to half a gold coin (the usual exchange rate between gold and silver coins ranged from 1:20 to 1:40), amounting to just a few gold coins per year.
A Small Noble, with an annual income from their lands of no more than a hundred gold coins, sometimes had to spend more than they could earn. If they wished to hold a lavish banquet and invite other nobles, they needed to plan and save up for a long time, and they might even need to sell their ancestral properties—essentially puffing up their cheeks to look like they were not struggling.
Middle-class Nobles, with a land income of a few hundred gold coins, could not afford to maintain a large army for long. They only kept necessary guard teams and would hire mercenaries temporarily if something came up—the effect this would have depended entirely on the mercenaries’ conscience.
Great Nobles and Old Nobles, owning extensive lands and multiple industries, perhaps had an income of up to a thousand or even several thousand gold coins. However, the more they earned, the more avenues they had to spend it on, and they strictly controlled the outflow to prevent wastage. Some Great Nobles even frequently abandoned infants, not because they could not afford to raise them, but to reduce the instability in the inheritance of their wealth.
The treasury of a nation, in good times, could reach ten thousand, several tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand gold coins, but deficits were also common. Of course, at the national level, gold coins were no longer the sole benchmark of strength; sometimes, even with consecutive years in deficit, a nation could still develop.
Yet it must be said that in this world akin to the Medieval times, whether civilians or nobles, everyone was relatively poor. Otherwise, Gro would not have been so desperate when he pronounced he would only bring out ten thousand gold coins at the auction.
Corresponding to income was expenditure. Generally speaking, an adult male, if considering only the necessities of food and shelter, could get by on roughly five copper coins a day in a town or city. That amounted to just 150 copper coins a month, which is one and a half silver coins.
As such, life was somewhat comfortable for craftsmen. For those without a craft, life could be difficult, but as long as they were willing to work hard, earning one gold coin in a year was enough to live on.
What about at White Stone Tower Academy?
One needed to earn at least a hundred gold coins a year just to maintain the most basic standard of living, comparable to the annual income of a Small Noble.
The reasons for this were manifold, one being the high cost of living.
Another was the academy’s various mandatory fees, such as accommodation fees—they allocated you a dormitory, and even if it was in poor condition or you moved out, they still charged you. Then there were the library book reading fees—you had to pay even if you never stepped foot in the library. And other fees like Casting Materials, security fees, and so on.
Therefore, even if an auditor was subsisting on cold water and stale bread, they still had to figure out a way to earn a hundred gold coins.
Further, if an auditor had any dreams or ambitions of achieving something in Spellcraft, they needed to take some elective courses, purchase Magic Materials and Magic Tools, and read valuable books that required a fee. Their annual expenses could easily surge into the hundreds, if not thousands, of gold coins.
It should be known that the numbers listed for the courses’ fees were not in gold coins, but in Crystal Coins.
Crystal Coins are the currency circulating in the Wizard World, difficult to counterfeit due to being made of special Crystal Stones, imbued with Energy, and engraved with complex patterns.
Generally speaking, although Gold Coins can be exchanged for Crystal Coins, there are significant restrictions, while the reverse—exchanging Crystal Coins for Gold Coins—is easy. This is because, for Gold Coins, Crystal Coins are very scarce.
The numbers listed as fees on the schedule refer to the amount of Low-grade Crystal Coins required. For example, the charge for auditors to attend the “Transformation Type Construction System·Hardened Skin Spell·Intermediate Mastery” course taught by Wizard Rach is a whole 50 Low-grade Crystal Coins.
Following the fluctuating but relatively stable exchange rate of “1000 Gold Coins = 100 Low-grade Crystal Coins = 10 Medium Crystal Coins = 1 High-grade Crystal Coin,” 50 Low-grade Crystal Coins is equivalent to 5 Medium Crystal Coins, or 0.5 High-grade Crystal Coin, which can easily be exchanged for more than 500 Gold Coins. On the black market, with some luck, it’s even possible to exchange them for 700 or 800 Gold Coins.
From this perspective, the High-grade Crystal Coin used as an Examination Exemption Certificate at the Cuijin City auction, which fetched a price of 7 or 8000 Gold Coins, was clearly overpriced. However, considering the additional benefit of an Examination Exemption Certificate granting entry to White Stone Tower Academy, the price could be considered acceptable. As for Gro, who splurged tens of thousands of Gold Coins, it seemed somewhat foolish.
In any case, studying at White Stone Tower is an extremely expensive endeavor, and for most people, especially auditors, it is utterly unaffordable—regardless of how noble their status. Even Noble families would need to drain their entire fortune to make ends meet at White Stone Tower Academy.
There are many options for earning money, but they all boil down to one thing—selling one’s value: such as cleaning the toxic and filthy magic testing rooms for Wizards, handling dangerous Magic Materials, or helping Wizards tally some data they are too lazy to count themselves, among other things.
Among the students, transactions involving the sale of personal value are also common, after all, socio-economic disparities exist everywhere—some students are somewhat wealthier, while others are quite needy.
Sometimes, even Elite Students might provide services to auditors for money. However, in most cases, auditors are in a subordinate position, willing to set aside their dignity to serve their fellow auditors, or even regular students and Elite Students.
In this context, the unknown girl’s request in the hallway for Richard, saying she would “pay for room cleaning,” was quite reasonable. However, Richard had no intention of accepting.
As Richard pondered the matter, the girl in the hallway looked at him and thought he was hesitating. She immediately offered, “If you help me clean, I’ll give you… um, one Gold Coin!”
Richard remained silent.
“Two Gold Coins!” the girl raised the price.
Richard still didn’t speak.
“Three Gold Coins! Four Gold Coins…” the girl continued to up her offer.
After a while, the girl, teeth clenched, called out, “Ten Gold Coins! That’s almost worth a Low-grade Crystal Coin, I can’t go any higher! Hmph, if it wasn’t for the fact that school hasn’t started yet and many people in this building haven’t come back, I could find someone to clean for a much lower price! You have to agree to it!”
Watching the girl’s incredibly imposing stance, Richard couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly, realizing that the girl before him was obviously one of those extremely wealthy Nobles, perhaps even a Duke’s daughter, or maybe even a Princess.
Richard looked at the girl and said, “Not interested!”