Free Web NovelToday wasn’t an exception. I took some candy out to give him. He immediately extended his hand toward it, swiftly putting it into his mouth. The two siblings, who had spent years in the slums, didn’t react to the situation, but I had to try to teach him some basic manners.
“What do you say when you receive something?”
“Shank yoo!”
I tried hard not to get swept by his cuteness while Erin watched our interaction, or more precisely, watched me with disdain.
“Don’t spoil him too much.”
I couldn’t let that pass.
“You’re saying that?”
She scowled without responding. If I spoiled Orun ten points out of ten, she was more around twenty out of ten. Most of her life revolved around her little brothers, especially the smaller one.
At that point, Poitr, the shop manager, came our way. When he was right next to me, he tried his best to bend his horse's upper body to whisper in my ear, his face looking like he was plotting something.
“Boss, who are these children? They can’t be yours, right? Your younger siblings?”
I was twenty-one while Erin was fourteen. Of course, they couldn’t be my children. Instead of continuing the “conspiracy”, I spoke out loud.
“No, they’re children I’m sponsoring. They might come here occasionally, so let me introduce them to you. This is Erin, this is Aren, and the younger one is Orun. You don’t need to pay attention to them if they come. They can stay and roam around as long as they want.”
“Oh… Nice to meet you, Erin, Aren, and Orun. But, what do you mean by sponsoring?”
“Exactly that. I’m paying for their studies. In exchange, they’ll work for Urtek when they’re ready.”
“That’s a really long-term vision… I know some of the big companies and nobles do this, too. I didn’t know Urtek was large enough to sustain such a system.”
“They’re the first ones. It’s a recent agreement between us, so we’ll see how it turns out.”
The kids were attentively listening to everything I was saying. They seemed surprised to know that this sort of arrangement existed already. The main difference between those sponsors and me was that I found them in the slums, which was something normal sponsors would never do. They also probably focused on children who were gifted one way or another, while I only cared about one thing: loyalty. Skills could be learnt, knowledge could be gained, but loyalty was different. Acquiring someone’s loyalty was the hardest thing in the world.
We chatted a bit more before I gave them a tour of the store. Now that it was getting late, the place was less crowded, allowing us to walk around without disturbing the clients. I enjoyed their reaction when they noticed the prices on the third floor.
“20 golds? That’s insane! Who the heck would ever buy that?”
Erin's straightforward remark made the clerk and manager scowl. I, on the other hand, gifted her with a brilliant grin.
“Several people did.”
“No way, you’re lying. It’s 20 golds! We can live for years with that money!”
“Geola is full of rich people who can spend that amount without thinking too much about it.”
“That can’t be… Is being a merchant that easy?”
“Haha, of course not. These things are expensive, but they’re fully worth the money. If that wasn’t the case, even wealthy people wouldn’t buy them.”
“What do they even do?”
I tried my best to give a summary of the products. After doing this the whole day, the words were getting out of my mouth almost automatically. However, they reacted to all the wrong things.
“An oven for 20 golds? And people bought them? Do you hit people’s heads when they come into the store to stop them from thinking completely?”
I chuckled.
“It seems my employee missed you when you came in. I can do it for you now, if you want.”
I approached jokingly, which only made her sneer.
“As if I’m afraid of a rank 0. I’m learning martial arts now. I’ll fight you anytime.”
“Rin, don’t say that.”
These truly weren’t the words someone receiving sponsorship should say, but I didn’t mind. This was much better than forced and crisp formality. Aren looked a bit worried about his sister’s attitude, though.
“I’ll fight you too! I’ve learned how to attune my body!”
Orun intervened since the situation seemed fun to him. If he knew that much, it meant he was at least listening a little to the lessons, which was great. His small form, trying his best to look ferocious, was quite the sight.
“I give up, I don’t stand a chance if I have to fight you two together. Alright, it’s almost time to close the shop. Let’s finish our tour and clean up.”
We went through all the floors, slowly announcing the store closure to our visitors. As expected, the first floor was the one the children were the most interested in. The nice thing is that people could ask for meals to be warmed up after buying them. After all, we were selling ovens two floors up. It cost us nothing to have one installed on the first floor.
This was a calculated move, since the nice smell of cooked food kept floating out from the entrance, enthralling other potential clients. And while they waited for the food to get warm, they had their first contact with a selnic item, and could also visit the other floors to see what we had.
Unfortunately, Orun soon seemed disappointed by our product selection.
“You don’t have candies, Tila?”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. Should we sell those, too?”
“Yeah!”
I could imagine him using the store as an infinite supply of candies. The bunnies often made snacks, but those were slightly different from candies. I should ask them if they knew how to make some. If not, I could find a deal with a supplier.
Attracting children's attention was the perfect opportunity to sell other stuff to the accompanying parents.
Orun was a business genius.
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