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Chapter 25
He looked at me and the girl with frowning eyes, then grumbled, “Huh, since I haven’t seen your face before, it seems like you’re not from the regular merchants we deal with…
If you’re looking to sell items personally, there’s a procedure you have to go through.”
“What procedure do I need to follow?”
Although I wasn’t pleased with the sudden informal tone the clerk used, I tried not to reveal my discomfort and asked my question.
Then the clerk reluctantly replied, “But the process is complicated, so we usually don’t buy minor items.
It’s cumbersome, you know.
If we go through all the hassle and then find out that the item is worthless, we’re the ones who lose out, too, right?”
The clerk’s message, mixed with formal and informal language, was essentially this.
‘Don’t bother selling your item here since it’s too much of a hassle, so just get lost?’
At first, he had welcomed me, thinking I was a customer looking to buy something, but as soon as I mentioned selling an item, his attitude suddenly changed.
‘No, his attitude changed after looking at my appearance.’
I had deliberately dressed in plain, inconspicuous clothing, so it probably didn’t seem like I had any valuable items.
‘But can he treat me like this when he doesn’t even know what I’m trying to sell?’
Suddenly, a story I had heard in my past life crossed my mind.
Some said it was a true story, while others called it an exaggeration––it was about the employees at a department store’s luxury boutique snubbing shabbily-dressed customers.
‘I couldn’t experience that in my past life as I never went to such places, but I’m having a similar experience now in this life.’
It was interesting and weird, but that was all.
My desire to sell items in this place was completely gone.
“Well then, I can’t bother you with such a cumbersome process, so I’ll take my leave.”
“Yeah, take care.”
My mood was extremely ruined by the insincere response from the clerk till the very end.
But I had no intention of making a scene––not until I heard what the clerk muttered under his breath.
“These days, even those beggar-like random strangers come in and out, wanting to buy and sell magic tools…
Tsk!”
‘…
Beggar-like?
Random strangers?’
I stopped right before reaching the door and turned around.
My eyes met those of the clerk who had been badmouthing me.
“What did you just say?”
Startled by my cold tone, the clerk flinched, but he soon responded with a shameless expression.
“I just said to take care, young lady.”
“What about after that?”
“I didn’t say anything else.”
“…
Ha, really?
Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Didn’t you just refer to me as a beggar and compare me to a random stranger?”
“No.”
I was irritated by the clerk’s brazen attitude.
If he had apologized right away, I would have just let it go.
“Call the owner.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said call the owner of this store right now.”
“…
Young lady, if you make a fuss like this––”
“Should I just say it here instead?
I was being considerate since I thought that opening my mouth in a crowded place might cause sales to drop.”
“…
What are you talking about?”
“This store.
It’s not only failing to properly train its employees but also cheating customers by selling items at outrageous prices.”
As my calm statement came to an end, the people nearby who had been casually glancing at the commotion suddenly held their breath and fixed their gazes on us.
As if realizing this, the clerk shouted at me with a flushed face, “That’s a baseless accusation!
If you cause a scene like this, I’ll report you to the town watch for disrupting our business––”
“Report?
Great.
Should I do it right now?”
“…
Excuse me?”
“Here.”
I pulled out a magic tool from the display case and continued, “I’ll report this place that it’s gathered with scammers who deceive people by selling worn-out second-hand items as new.”
As my words finished, murmurs started to spread around us.
“Scammers?”
Doesn’t this store only sell top-grade new items from the magic tower?”
“No way, what she’s saying is actually true?”
The clerk mumbled with a pale face, “What the… that’s nonsense…”
But even while mumbling in a choked voice, his honest expression was evident on his ashen-colored face.
‘Anyone could see that my words had hit the mark.’
Just as I tried to detach my lips to add an explanation to my words while looking at the clerk with a cold look in my eyes…
“What on earth is going on?
Huh?”
A chubby middle-aged man came downstairs, gasping.
“Who is spreading this ridiculous rumor?
Is it you?”
The man, out of breath, pointed accusingly at me.
“…Are you the owner of this place?”
“Yeah, I’m the owner.
Hey!
Who are you?
Who sent you here?!
Did someone from a competing store deliberately send you to spy on me, thinking of me as a rival––”
“Instead of imagining such absurd things, it would be a wiser decision to apologize to me and the other customers.”
“…
What?!”
With bloodshot eyes, he glanced back and forth between me and the clerk before shouting, “Apologize for what?
I should be the one getting an apology from you, and I––”
“This item.
The surface is cleaned to look brand new, but not to this part over here.
You didn’t properly pay attention to this area.”
I rubbed the round groove in the center of the magic tool with my mana-infused finger.
As I did, the thin paint on the seemingly clean groove peeled away, revealing faint scratches.
Only someone who used mana would notice these minor marks, and only if they deliberately inspected them.
However, these marks were important.
“Having scratches in this part that supplies mana to operate the magic tool means it’s been used multiple times.
And something that has been used this many times and has sustained damage will break down sooner rather than later.
It would be a relief if the item just stopped working…
But if you’re unlucky, it could even explode.”
As my words finished, the store owner’s face also turned pale, just like the clerk’s.
“H… How…
How did you…?”
‘It’s because I have the memory of being deceived by the same trick.’
It was a swindle that Sylvia had also learned after being scammed with magic tools dozens of times.
‘If you can’t handle mana, you can’t know, and even if you can handle mana but don’t know the trick, you won’t think to peel off the paint on the groove and notice it either.’
It was a simple but long-lasting scam.
“You manage such a large store like this but are running scams.
How pathetic.
Tsk, tsk.”
I clicked my tongue on purpose, and the store owner squeezed his eyes shut.
He seemed to be imagining the trust and sales that would plummet today.
If he had been a stranger, I would have felt sorry for him, but knowing his shameless behavior just moments ago, I didn’t hesitate to speak my mind.
“Aren’t you going to apologize?”
“A… Apologize?”
An apology would help.”
“An apology, right.
Of course, he’ll do…”
The store owner turned to his flustered employee and barked, “Apologize now!
Immediately!”
“I… I’m sorry…”
While watching the clerk bow deeply, I spoke up.
“You mentioned reporting me earlier, right?
For disrupting business.
Go ahead and report me if you like.”
“N…
No, I will not.”
“Why not?
You were yelling so much about it earlier.”
“I’m sorry!”
I narrowed my eyes and warned the store owner and clerk.
“Don’t do business like this again.
Don’t be rude or insult customers loudly based on their appearance, or cheat them.”
“Y… Yes…”
I held back a sigh as I saw their broken spirits, which were completely different from their initial attitudes.
‘Seriously, people like this are everywhere.’
I turned around, not wanting to stay here any longer.
“Are you just going to leave like this?” The girl asked me, glancing behind her with a regretful look in her eyes as if she felt it was a bummer to end the situation this way.
I smiled at her and whispered, “It’s alright.
This place will go bankrupt soon even without me.”
As I closed the door behind me to leave, I could hear an uproar inside that sounded like an explosion.
“Was the item I bought last time a scam too?!”
“Mine as well!
Maybe that was why it broke after only using it twice…!”
Listening to their complaints, it seemed like the store owner would face a fraud trial soon.
The customers who heard the rumors would stop coming here too.
As I walked away with a lighter step, the girl who had followed me spoke in a sullen voice.
“Um, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“I… I led you to the wrong place…”
‘Oh god.’
The girl made a sad face, observing my expression.
She looked worried, thinking I might get angry when I had no intention to blame the little girl.
So, I reassured her with a smile.
“It’s not your fault.
My mood isn’t ruined because of you either.
So don’t worry too much, okay?”
“Yes…”
The girl, who had been hanging her head frustratedly, suddenly looked up again as if something flashed through her mind.
“I’ll definitely find the right place this time!”
Then she ran off and asked several passersby for help without waiting for my response.
After inquiring about some things with a number of people, she returned to me.
“I found another magic tool store.
It’s smaller than this place, but they say the owner is conscientious and the items are also good!”
“Really?
Let’s go there, then.”
The other magic tool store was not far away.
“Th… This seems to be the place.”
The store, which hadn’t even hung up a proper sign, had a rather shabby exterior compared to the previous one.
The girl looked upset again, seeing the crumbling, old building.
“Did I choose the wrong place again?”
I patted her shoulder and then opened the door to the magic tool store.
“Let’s go in and see.”