‘7 Gold and 50 Silver······.’
Aiman thought about the price he had received from Rakhoop for selling him three sheets of Hanji.
His mind immediately moved to a single calculation.
‘The amount I still need to escape serfdom is 292 Gold and 50 Silver.’
It cost 100 Gold per person to escape the status of a Serf, be recognized as a Commoner by the Lord, and receive a house and land.
Aiman’s family currently consisted of his father, Isaac, his mother, Teresa, and himself. Since there were three of them, he needed a total of 300 Gold.
He had possessed one hundred sheets of Hanji, but he had just sold three of them to Rakhoop, leaving him with ninety-seven.
If he sold all the remaining sheets, he would end up with a total of 250 Gold.
‘I’ll have to make at least twenty more sheets.’
Making them would not be difficult.
He only had to cut down more Paper Mulberry trees.
After all, everything required for production had already been prepared.
However, if he released a massive quantity onto the market all at once, it was obvious that Rakhoop would be displeased.
Paper was something used only by nobles and the wealthy.
If a hundred sheets suddenly flooded the market, Rakhoop would complain that he could not possibly sell them all. He would undoubtedly use the Bulk Purchase and the difficulty of moving such a large quantity as excuses to force the price down.
Aiman knew that tactic well from the clients he had dealt with while working as a Sales Representative in his days as Yeongman.
They would complain that accepting goods they could not sell was killing them, then ask him to lower the price.
That was precisely why he had brought only three sheets.
‘Three sheets a week should be about right.’
Aiman did the calculations.
‘Three sheets a week makes twelve sheets a month. That means I can earn 30 Gold every month.’
It meant that he would have to continue doing this for at least ten months.
‘Damn it. Ten months trapped in this cursed Serf status. Should I volunteer to go to the other villages every time?’
He was referring to the dispatches Aiman had mentioned while negotiating with Rakhoop.
Twice a month.
Since the dispatches occurred only twice a month, he could sell five to ten sheets on each trip without causing any problems.
‘Then I could sell around twenty sheets a month.’
Twenty sheets of Hanji meant 50 Gold.
That would cut the ten-month wait down to half a year.
Even so, the thought that it would still take a full six months to escape his status as a Serf drew a sigh from Aiman.
“Haaah, maybe I should relieve some stress by folding something with a sheet of paper······ Hm?”
Aiman had been feeling overwhelmed by how long he would have to remain a Serf.
He thought that doing some Origami might help him relax for a moment.
However, a familiar figure entered Aiman’s view.
The figure wore a robe made of silver silk, with a bird embroidered upon it in golden thread.
The attire looked extraordinarily luxurious, yet it was equally conspicuous.
Aiman had seen that robe before.
In the garden of House Jenkins, within the Serfs’ quarter.
Aiman immediately recognized the man wearing it.
‘Keiras!’
He was the Mage who had demonstrated magic to Ribal, the eldest son of Count Jenkins.
‘Is he alone?’
Aiman glanced at him and saw no one else nearby.
That made Aiman hesitate.
‘Should I speak to him?’
He quickly shook his head.
‘No. I don’t know what might happen if I do.’
Had Rick not warned him repeatedly?
A mere Serf must never address a noble first or even look directly at one.
Aiman did not want a mistake of his to bring harm to his family.
Even so, the opportunity seemed too valuable to simply let it pass.
Keeping his distance, Aiman watched to see where Keiras was headed.
‘Huh? He’s going into the General Store?’
When Aiman saw Keiras enter the General Store, he followed.
Rather than entering immediately, Aiman peered through the glass window and watched what was happening inside.
Rakhoop and Keiras were discussing the paper Aiman had made.
Seeing that, Aiman thought,
‘Is he interested in the Hanji I made?’
And if he was?
‘This is my chance.’
Aiman walked straight into the General Store.
JINGLE.
The doorbell rang, and Rakhoop and Keiras, who had been speaking while looking at the Hanji, turned toward him.
“Hmm?”
“Y-you······ Why are you here······?”
As Keiras looked at him, Aiman spoke.
“Ah, I did not hear how much the paper was going to be sold for.”
Keiras tilted his head at those words.
“Was that child also intending to buy this paper?”
Keiras appeared to have assumed that Aiman wanted to purchase the Hanji because he had said that he had not heard its selling price.
Aiman therefore revealed his connection to the paper.
“Buy it? No, I am the one who made that paper and sold it to him.”
“Hmm? You made and sold it?”
Keiras tilted his head in confusion.
Aiman hesitated briefly at the question.
It was because of the ridiculous law that forbade a Serf from speaking to a noble.
Although Keiras was a Mage, he was also a noble who held the title of Count.
Aiman had previously seen Keiras standing with Ribal.
Whenever Aiman concentrated his gaze on someone, that person’s name appeared. If he tapped the name with his index finger, an Information Window opened.
That was why, unlike Rakhoop, who only knew that the robe was something worn by Imperial Mages, Aiman had known that Keiras was an Imperial Mage.
[Information]
Name : Keiras Silverian
Gender : Male
Age : 30
Status : Count
Information : He has recently reached the 5th Class and is one of Delkadar’s Imperial Mages.
His master is Lucia Silverian, one of the Seven Archmages.
Keiras’s Information Window clearly displayed his status as a Count.
Nevertheless, Aiman thought,
‘Couldn’t I just say I thought he was only a Mage? Then it should be fine to talk to him, right?’
Besides, Aiman was only ten years old.
A child might simply not know such things.
Aiman rationalized his actions that way.
He nodded in response to Keiras’s question.
“Yes.”
“Hooh, you made this at such a young age? You cannot have devised it alone. How did you make it?”
When Keiras asked how he had made the Hanji, Aiman thought,
‘I am actually Kim Yeongman from the Republic of Korea, but somehow I possessed the body of a Serf’s son and did this to escape my status! If I tell him that, he’ll think I’m insane.’
He could not tell Keiras the truth.
He needed a plausible excuse to conceal it.
Aiman rapidly worked his mind and fabricated an entire story.
“I am very fond of paper. An elderly traveler who saw how much I liked it taught me how to make it.”
“You are fond of paper?”
“Yes.”
Keiras considered his answer for a moment.
He did not seem to understand what Aiman meant.
Eventually, unable to imagine why such a young boy would like paper, Keiras asked him directly.
“Why?”
“I enjoy folding it.”
“Hmm? You enjoy folding it?”
Keiras wore an expression that seemed to ask what that was supposed to mean.
Aiman rejoiced inwardly.
He had piqued Keiras’s curiosity.
It was obvious from the expression on the Mage’s face.
Once someone’s curiosity had been aroused, showing them something afterward made it much easier to capture their interest.
Aiman believed that his Origami would intrigue Keiras.
He also had another motive.
‘If what I saw back then really was what I thought it was…….’
Would seeing Aiman’s Origami make Keiras think of magic?
If it did, Keiras’s curiosity about Aiman would grow even stronger. If Aiman was fortunate, he might even be able to use it to forge a connection with him.
Aiman asked Keiras,
“Would you like me to show you?”
“Very well. Let me see it.”
Keiras wanted to see the Origami.
Aiman did not have any suitable paper with him, so he pointed his index finger at the sheet Keiras was holding.
“Would it be all right if I tore off a small piece of that paper and used it?”
“This?”
Keiras had not yet paid Rakhoop.
Since Aiman had already sold the paper, its ownership belonged to Rakhoop.
Aiman had already understood the situation.
He therefore offered compensation for using the sheet.
“Yes. If compensation is necessary, I will give you a fresh sheet in exchange.”
“In that case, I see no issue. You said you would take 1 Gold off the price, correct? Here is 17 Gold.”
From Keiras’s perspective, it was not a bad arrangement. Aiman would replace one of the three sheets with a new one after using it.
Yet the transaction never went through.
Aiman saw to that.
Just as the two men were about to exchange payment, Aiman stared at Rakhoop in disbelief upon seeing him attempt to sell three sheets of Hanji to Keiras for 17 Gold after reducing the price by 1 Gold.
“Wow, you bought them from me for 2 Gold and 50 Silver each, yet you are selling them for 6 Gold? That is outrageous. And all the while, you bought them from me for far less than you pay Wholesalers.”
Aiman’s intention was simple.
He was already displeased by how Rakhoop constantly looked down on him for being a Serf.
Hearing the price Rakhoop intended to charge Keiras had left him dumbfounded.
Aiman decided that while he was building a connection with Keiras, he might as well teach Rakhoop a lesson for looking down on him all this time.
Keiras’s hand stopped just before he could pass the 17 Gold to Rakhoop.
Rakhoop alone was left in a panic.
He had been on the verge of making an enormous profit, and when he saw Aiman attempting to ruin the deal, he rebuked him.
“W-what…… What do you mean? I agreed to the price you asked for, did I not? Then the price I sell it for is my business!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! You damned Serf!”
In truth, even Aiman had no intention of disputing Rakhoop’s argument.
Rakhoop had paid for the goods and purchased them, so he did indeed have the right to choose the price at which he resold them.
But to call him a damned Serf?
Until now, Rakhoop had seemed content to think it privately. Now, he was openly belittling Aiman for being a Serf.
Did he not realize who held the cards here?
Aiman began running the figures through his head.
‘At 6 Gold per sheet, I only need to sell fifty sheets to make 300 Gold. No, I will have to lower the price by 1 Gold to persuade him to buy from me. Even then, sixty sheets will make 300 Gold.’
There was no guarantee that Keiras would purchase sixty sheets of Hanji.
However, Aiman felt that if he could turn Keiras into a customer, selling sixty sheets would be entirely possible.
Aiman had learned two pieces of information from Keiras’s Information Window.
A Count.
An Imperial Mage.
In truth, Aiman did not fully understand how influential either of those positions was.
However, the experience Yeongman had accumulated in society before possessing Aiman’s body had taught him one thing very clearly.
‘There’s a reason people say that money makes money.’
Once someone acquired a wealthy customer, that customer’s network could bring in even more customers.
Aiman therefore believed that if he gained Keiras as a customer, further sales of Hanji would follow through the Mage’s acquaintances.
He could earn twice as much without going through Rakhoop.
Aiman was not foolish enough to allow such an opportunity to slip away.
‘I was willing to force myself to tolerate dealing with a man who looks down on me for being a Serf. But if I seize this opportunity, I may not have to anymore.’
After organizing his thoughts, Aiman addressed Keiras.
“Sir Mage.”
“What is it?”
“At that price, you should not buy it here. Buy it directly from me instead. I will sell it to you for 5 Gold per sheet.”
Aiman had lowered the price by a full 1 Gold from what Rakhoop intended to charge and was now attempting to steal his customer.
Rakhoop burst into a furious outcry.
“You crazy little—! You—!”
Only then did he remember that Keiras, an Imperial Mage, was standing directly in front of him, and he promptly closed his mouth.
Keiras looked at Rakhoop before turning back to Aiman with an intrigued expression.
“Hooh, is that so?”
“Yes. You will have to go to where the paper is anyway, so we can complete the transaction there. I will also show you the Origami I just mentioned.”
Not only would Aiman show him the Origami that had aroused his curiosity, but he was also offering the Hanji for 1 Gold less than Rakhoop.
From Keiras’s perspective, it was not a bad proposal.
At Aiman’s offer, Keiras withdrew the 17 Gold he had been about to hand to Rakhoop and gave the shopkeeper an apologetic look.
“This is rather unfortunate. My apologies, shopkeeper. I am afraid you will have to sell this paper to someone else.”