Why is he suddenly raising the price? Is he hiding something? Ceres’s brow furrowed slightly.
Noticing her reaction, the shopkeeper quickly added,
“I-It looks like you might be in a tight spot, so... I can offer up to 300 gold.”
“......”
“Ahem, 350! You wouldn’t be able to get this price anywhere else.”
“......”
“...400?”
What’s wrong with this man?
Rons kept raising the price every time she stayed silent with a displeased look. At this rate, it seemed wiser to try another shop.
She picked the mana stone back up.
Seeing her about to leave, Rons practically shouted.
“...1,000?”
Then what was that 200 at the start?
Ceres’s eyes narrowed slightly.
So you were just testing me?
“1,000? That’s ridiculous.”
Just then, an unfamiliar voice slipped into their conversation. It belonged to the young woman who had been browsing the shop earlier.
“Anyone can tell at a glance that the quality of that mana stone is exceptional.”
“N-Now, miss, it’s not appropriate to interrupt like this...”
“Oh my! Does it not have a special attribute as well? Could it be ice?”
The woman, who seemed to be a mage herself, immediately showed keen interest in the mana stone.
“Even an ordinary mana stone will fetch over 5,000 gold if its purity is high.”
“5,000 gold?”
“Yes. And if it carries a special attribute like this, then it becomes a completely different matter. At that point, the price is whatever the seller asks.”
“......”
Ceres threw a sharp gaze at the shopkeeper, as if asking whether the woman’s words were true.
“Ah, no, well... a special attribute mana stone needs the right buyer to be properly valued. Even if you take it elsewhere, it’s unlikely you would be offered that much...”
“Even so, 1,000 gold is far too low. Do you have no conscience? You’re basically a bandit.”
“M-Me, a bandit?!”
The shopkeeper’s face flushed red.
The woman turned back to Ceres.
“For something like this, it would be better to take it directly to the Magic Tower and sell it there.”
“Magic Tower?”
“Yes. At the very least, they will offer you a far better price than this place.”
Magic Tower...
After letting out a quiet sigh, Ceres decided that this wasn’t the place to sell it after all.
“By the way, if you don’t mind, may I record the stone with my recording device?”
Just as Ceres was about to put the mana stone away, the woman stopped her, clasped her hands like in prayer, and made a request.
“I would like to show it to my master. It’s my first time seeing a mana stone with such a special attribute... would you allow me?”
“...Do as you like.”
Since recording it wouldn’t affect the mana stone in any way, Ceres set it down again at the woman’s request.
“Wow, the quality of this mana stone really does seem exceptional. I haven’t been a mage for long, so I can’t say for certain. But it feels like the mana density is higher than any stone I’ve seen so far.”
The woman turned her recording device this way and that while letting out murmurs of admiration.
After capturing the mana stone from every angle, she smiled in satisfaction and nodded like that was enough.
Ceres tucked the mana stone away and prepared to leave.
“Excuse me! Just a moment! I can offer you a better price!”
Rons, who had been hovering nearby and watching the entire exchange, hurriedly tried to renegotiate. But Ceres had already lost interest and walked out without so much as a glance back.
“Ah...”
Rons let out a regretful sigh and rubbed his face.
Should he have started with a higher offer? She had looked completely clueless about the world, so he had tried to lowball her first.
He had run this shop for years, yet it was his first time seeing a mana stone with such purity and quality. If the deal had gone through, he could’ve made a fortune...
“Sir, could you find the items listed here for me?”
“......”
The woman spoke to him with a bright smile like nothing had happened. Rons shot her a resentful look, still bitter that she had just ruined his deal.
***
“Hey, are you seriously not drinking?”
“Yeah.”
“Why not?”
“You idiot, I told you I’m not drinking with you.”
“Why?”
“Because you become a dog when you’re drunk!”
“What?”
The spiritual haven of mercenaries, “Where Your Steps Come to Rest,” was packed as always with no empty seat in sight.
However, there was one noticeable difference. Far fewer people were ordering alcohol than before.
“You don’t see that?”
“That?”
On the corner wall that a mercenary pointed at, a piece of paper was posted.
<Shop Rules>
1. Causing a drunken disturbance will result in a 3 day ban from the shop. Companions present will also be banned for failing to stop it.
2. Fighting inside the shop is strictly prohibited. Anyone caught will be banned for one week.
3. If someone is banned three times or more, their entire mercenary guild will be barred from the shop for one week.
“...What is that?”
“What do you mean? You can see it, so why ask. If you want to get drunk, do it alone when I’m not around.”
“When did they put that up? W-Wait, does that mean I can’t drink here anymore?”
This idiot can’t even promise he won’t cause trouble when drunk, can he?
The mercenary shot his companion an incredulous look and pointed at the paper again.
“You see that? If you get caught three times, everyone in your mercenary group gets banned for a week too.”
“Yeah.”
“You know our guild leader says he’d die if he can’t eat the stew here even for one day, right? He told us that if we’re going to cause trouble, we should quit the guild first.”
“Ugh...”
At some point, ever since that notice went up, the mercenaries had started watching the new owner, Ceres, more carefully.
How strange.
The one most surprised by this change was none other than Mark, the longtime cook and employee who had kept the place running all these years.
When Ceres first wrote that and tried to put it on the wall, he honestly doubted it would do anything at all. He couldn’t believe that rough mercenaries would follow rules written on a single sheet of paper.
But...
Strangely enough, the mercenaries seemed to feel a strong sense of obligation toward what was written on that small sheet, as if something terrible would happen if they didn’t follow it.
Is it because of that line?
At the very bottom of the notice, a single line was written:
[If these rules are not followed, the shop will close.]
“What? It will close?”
“No way, you’re joking, right?”
“If this place disappears, where am I supposed to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner?”
“...Wait, you ate all three meals here? Are you insane?”
“And what about you?”
“I only eat two!”
“What? My hangover stew is going to disappear?”
“Hey, hey! That idiot is trying to drink, stop him!”
...That actually worked?
Even as Mark watched the atmosphere of the shop change with his own eyes, he could hardly believe it.
He had vaguely guessed that the mercenaries liked this place, but to this extent?
The old owner did say something like that once.
Everyone who came here was a good person. They cared for and valued this place more than anyone else.
But watching them wreck the place every time, Mark could never agree that they truly valued it, no matter how much they seemed to like it.
But now...
The sight of mercenaries quietly sitting in their seats and eating almost made his eyes sting.
To think a moment of peace like this would be given to him. If the late owner had seen this, how pleased he would’ve been.
Of course—
“Oi, you crazy b*stard! I ordered that!”
“What nonsense. First come, first served!”
“Fine, you asked for this. Let’s settle it!”
“F*ck off and die!”
The rough language filling the shop hadn’t changed. But the fact that no weapons were flying around was enough to bring a smile to his face.
“D*mn it, today I’m really sending this bastard straight to God...!”
There were even moments when those rough voices vanished entirely.
Creak.
As the door opened slightly, a small figure peeked inside.
“—!”
The shop, which had been filled with nonstop shouting and curses, fell silent in an instant.
“Ah! Miss Julia!”
Spotting her quietly looking around the shop with wide, curious eyes, Mark hurried over. Her neatly braided pigtails made her look especially small and delicate.
“Where’s Ceres?”
“She stepped out for a bit. You didn’t come alone, did you?”
Shake, shake.
Behind the child who shook her head, he finally noticed the maid Jay stepping into the shop carefully.