This is definitely bad. How could it have disappeared? Did I lose it? I'm certain I put it on the table. Unless maybe...

He opened the lockbox back up and went over its contents. The sheen of the platinum coin was nowhere to be seen within the pile. What was even more surprising, is that the box seemed a lot emptier than it was earlier in the day.

Well I did exchange the platinum for 700 gold, so the box would be lighter no matter what. Nevertheless, it seems like twice that amount is missing from it. Am I forgetting something?

While losing such a hefty sum was quite a setback, it wouldn't do him any good to worry about it at the moment. Goldie had a job to do. He rationalized that he must have misremembered the amount of cash he had stowed away. It wouldn't make any sense for money to just disappear after all. He vowed to sort through all his recent transactions at the end of the day just to be sure. Even though it was very unlikely for more money to have gone missing, it couldn't hurt to check.

For now, there were customers to be tended to.

Over the course of the afternoon, his grievance about the vanishing cash faded to the back of his mind. The disaster of the evaporated platinum coin all but disappearing from his thoughts. In the end it was still a beautiful day in Flousshire, and no amount of bad luck was going to change that fact. Things were still running smoothly and his dream was still within his grasp. It was only a few more days until the arrival of the minister of commerce.

As evening started setting in, Goldie went through his usual end-of-day motions. His wares were returned to their respective containers, the entrance sign was flipped back to closed, and he carried the day's winnings into his study. Flousshire was too small and far away from any major metropoles for anything resembling a bank, so Goldie's savings were all stored in a vault at the back of his business. He was actually more careful than most. Very few shopkeepers even owned a safe, because nobody in Flousshire ever stole anything. None of the inhabitants felt it was necessary and doing so out of greed alone would never cross their minds.

A glance at his clock showed it was quarter to eight, the perfect time to end the day.

Whatever would I do without you. He smiled to himself.

As he walked over to the vault with his earnings he got a vague feeling of unease. It was a nagging at the back of his mind, screaming for his attention. He just couldn't put a finger on what was causing it. He reached for the vault so he could input the required combination, when suddenly his arm froze. A wave of panic overcame him. Something was dreadfully wrong, but the tide of emotion didn't seem like it was caused by an outside influence. In fact it almost felt like it was pushing some kind of influence away. After standing there paralyzed for over a minute, realization hit him.

"Of course!", he exclaimed. "I forgot to count the money!"

Just like that his arm relaxed and the strange force that clouded his mind dissipated. He went over to his desk and started his research. For precisely such occasions, Goldie wrote down how much cash he started each day with, and kept receipts for every done deal. He began the day with 2143 gold in the chest. Realistically he never needed that much cash on hand, but it paid to be prepared. In fact, today was a shining example of this considering the wealthy adventurer that came by his shop that day...

Wait a second; something feels off.

The nagging feeling he perceived before was returning.

I can't let myself get distracted again! I need to double check my earnings! Now where was I...

He returned his full attention to recalling the details of today's transactions. He started the day with 2143 gold and gained 10 more when Fred Bloom came over for his medicine. Afterwards Luther, the baker, came by and bought 28 gold worth of quality flower [...]. After a while spent reviewing his sales, he calculated the total sum of his earnings to be 388 gold. Of course he couldn't forget about the killing he made through the traveler, which meant he actually earned 688 gold.

His nose scrunched up as his ears started itching. He picked up the receipt and right there it stood:

2 C-grade amithyan crystals

5 D-grade crystals

30g dried seribic spice

x1 tarkinium dagger

300G profit.

No, that's not right. I'm definitely forgetting something else.

His memory about the interaction seemed fuzzy; like being covered in a barely transparent veil. He felt similar whenever he tried remembering the day of his father's death. His mother rationalized that his mind had suppressed the traumatic experience, but why would the same be happening now? He tried picking out the exact circumstances. He remembered the man well: He was covered from neck to toe in plate armor, had long, brown, slightly curly hair and a scar on his face. He remembered the fine carvings on the man’s right gauntlet and blade, and he even remembered the exact feeling of reverence that the warrior radiated.

The itch on his ears wavered, getting replaced with something more akin to a burning sensation. It was like his ears had fallen asleep and the feeling was spreading outward from them.

Goldie tried piecing the interaction together in chronological order. It had been 3:36, he remembered showing off his wares for some amount of time and explaining where he got such rare goods from. The warrior seemed very excited. A while later, the warrior had decided on a few items required for the production of several elixirs and he even wanted the tarkinium dagger nobody in town was interested in. After having been told the price, the man's face fell, and he held up a single coin.

A single coin?

Goldie furrowed his brows and concentrated even harder.

That can't be right. The items were worth 300 gold, there's no way-

Without warning his head exploded into pain. It felt like thousands of tiny hot needles were being driven into his head's every pore. However, even through this pain his mind was clear. The veil clouding his thoughts was lifted and rage unlike any he had ever felt before erupted from the depths of his conscience.

"I LOST 700 GOLD!!!", Goldie yelled.

How could I have forgotten something like that!? That's impossible!

He steadied his breathing, the all-consuming anger fading almost as quickly as it arose.

How I forgot about it isn't important. I need to calmly analyze the situation. The reason I wanted to count my cash wasn't because I idiotically lost the platinum coin. It was because I had a feeling there was even more money missing from my lockbox.

So he dutifully reverted to his initial task and commenced counting the money in the chest sitting on his desk. Subtracting the 700 gold loss from the 388 gold gain, the final count should lie at 1731 gold. Yet, the total he arrived at after spending the past hour counting was only 1257 gold. Not only that, but it was like someone purposefully picked out only the most valuable coins. Neither of his two 100 gold coins were still there. Actually, there wasn't even a single coin worth more than a few gold remaining at all!

How did this happen? Did someone rob me? Nonono, that can't happen. I've never even heard of a robbery in Flousshire. That's absolutely preposterous.

His usually smiling lips contorted into a frown.

Then again; It is just as preposterous to assume I somehow lost the money. I can buy having somehow misplaced the single platinum coin, but over fifty of the most valuable coins somehow tumbling out of a box seems absolutely absurd. The third possibility is that it just disappeared into thin air, which literally cannot happen, as far as I know. Therefore, I really just have a single plausible scenario: Somehow someone stole the money.

When could this have been possible? Goldie was in his shop the whole time, always keeping his customers in sight. Even when multiple people arrived they just stood in line and waited their turn. Nobody could have gotten in through the back, since the windows don't open and as far as he could tell they weren't shattered.

The only way in or out would have been through the roof, which would likely have been seen from the street. Even if by some means a burglar crawled in through the top, they would have still needed to come down the stairs, remain unnoticed while sorting through the money, taken out only the most valuable coins and gotten back outside. All while I was standing inside the store. The whole situation just seems totally unfeasible. I don't think anybody has it out for me and even if they do, I cannot fathom how skillfully they broke in. It's like the person responsible came from another world.

In the end he decided there was nothing he could do. After another two hours spent frantically searching for the missing platinum coin, he decided to give it a rest. He'll just store more money inside his vault and keep far less cash outside in his lockbox. He walked up to the vault and once again moved his hand to the number lock. Right before commencing to turn the dial another uneasy feeling washed over him. It wasn't like last time though. This time the hair on his neck stood on end. His gaze wandered over to the window. He could have sworn he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. Looking again nothing out of the ordinary could be seen outside.

That was weird, but better safe than sorry.

He wandered over and pulled curtains over the windows. Afterwards he finally input the required code and safely stowed away the rest of his money. At 10:42, he finally left his shop and walked home. He ate a quick meal and went to sleep at precisely eleven.

Now that I think about it... today really wasn't that great a day after all.