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I'm reading a children's story called きつつき商売. Here's an excerpt:

『音屋』

それだけでは、なんだか分かりにくいので、きつつきは、そのあとにこう、書きました。

「できたての音、すてきないい音、おきかせします。四分音符一こにつき、どれでも１００リル」

I'm assuming リル is some sort of currency, but all of my normal internet searches aren't helping me figure out specifically what it is. What could リル mean in this context?

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Yes, it seems to be the currency the woodpecker is selling its sounds for.

It seems other people where wondering the same thing, including native speakers so this is definitely a word made up for the story, and it isn't made very clear in the story either.

See this Q&A where someone asked the same question (and how to read 野ねずみ).

「リル」と言うお金の単位を[聞]いたことはありませんので、きっとこのお話の中でのみ使われる、作者が作った単位でしょうね。

This blogpost also talks about this story, and if you do a quick search for リル on the page you'll find several people in the comments wondering what this currency may actually be, how much it's worth...

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  • ♩ is [四分音符]{しぶおんぷ}, not 四分音譜. (そのブログを書いた人は、漢字を間違ってます)
    – user1016
    Jan 20, 2014 at 12:42
  • @Chocolate I guess you're right, I first thought that musically a single quarter note doesn't make much sense, but it's the rate per quarter note and anyway grammatically would be weird so... I removed this unnecessary remark from the answer, thanks :)
    – desseim
    Jan 20, 2014 at 17:52
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It's just a currency made up for the story. I don't think it has any special meaning.

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