Chapter 219 – Small Detour
It had been ten days since I came with fresh fish, and now was the time for another “delivery”. Fisherman Ouxai was surprised to see me come back for more. He looked unbelieving as I told him my idea was successful. I offered him a weekly deal, and he gladly accepted, considering I would pay two times the market rates.
A few hours later, I loaded the fish in my carriage and teleported to Makji. My plan was simple. I just wanted to have a small “detour” while driving my carriage. After entering the city, I turned to one side instead of heading directly to my shop. Just like the previous time, a bunch of people reacted strongly to the smell of my goods. I moved forward, going from streets to alleys randomly, touring the town like I was a tourist.
Some people stopped me, asking me to sell them the fish immediately, but I responded that I would sell it at my shop. Just like that, many inhabitants asked for its address. Some weren’t stupid either. They called out to me when they saw I was going in the opposite direction from my store, but I ignored them all.
I only came back when I was sure a good percentage of the locals were aware of what I had in my carriage. When I reached the store, a large crowd was already waiting inside and outside of it. We asked everyone to go out and form a queue, and some disputes arose here and there. For the first time since starting the job, the guard currently sent by the martial center had something to do.
When everything was set up, we let customers enter in small groups and became very busy for a short while. We also restricted the quantity each person was allowed to buy to satisfy a maximum of clients.
As for the ones who had finished buying, some rushed out to eat the fish, but others stayed to check the other goods for sale. Raw materials and minerals weren’t of much interest to the majority of folks, but they nevertheless noticed the prices, and I was certain business would increase much more in the future.
The fish was sold in less than thirty minutes, leaving a bunch of latecomers in despair, having not acquired anything. When the last client left the shop, my worker let out a long sigh, looking extremely tired, together with the mercenary guard. They regained their energy as I gifted them two fish I had kept for them, thanking me profusely while they were at it.
As I expected, the following days saw an increase in foot traffic inside the store. What was more surprising and unexpected was when rich-looking non-feline people came to negotiate with me for my goods. They weren’t interested in my stock. Instead, they placed orders for large quantities of copper, lead, and iron.
By now, I knew well what they aimed for. They had seen my low prices and wanted to use me as a wholesaler, saving them the need to create caravans of their own. I refused all of them, preferring to deal with local blacksmiths and artisans instead. My goal wasn’t just to earn money but also to earn recognition from the inhabitants. I had no use for dealings with other merchants for now.
After a while, I noticed that Morph understood how to manage the store and decided to leave it mostly to him. I only came once a day to verify the money and inventory were right, to restock, and to pay my two employees. Just like that, I had created a money machine that needed only very little involvement.
However, a few days later, I was greeted by a very gloomy-looking clerk.
“What’s wrong?”
“That is, well… Um…”
“What happened?”
He looked down, stuttering.
“…W-When I came in the morning, I noticed the… inventory wasn’t right. We were missing some of the raw metals. And some semi-precious stones too.”
“A thief?”
“Probably…”
So it finally happened. I thought thieves wouldn’t be interested in what I had in store, but I was wrong. There were indeed some crazy people ready to steal raw iron and random stones. They must have been pretty desperate to do that.
“How did they enter?”
“I’m not certain. The lock wasn’t broken. The doors and windows are intact.”
That sounded like someone good at picking locks. Or maybe a shadow mage, the worst enemy of honest merchants.
“How much was the loss?”
“Around two gold worth in total.”
“Hmm.”
Considering these were heavy, they hadn’t been able to take that much with them. Still, two golds weren’t nothing. I turned toward the guard on duty today.
“Do you know what we should do in this case?”
“The best is to report it to the city guards. We did that already.”
“Thanks. What did they say?”
“Not much. They said they’ll keep an eye on the situation and try to catch the thief.”
“In other words, they won’t do anything.”
“…Right. I don’t think they can catch a skilled thief unless they come face-to-face with them. It’s not like they can keep an eye on all stores every night.”
“What do other shops do?”
“If you’re rich enough, you can buy an enchanted item related to security. But then, if the thief is skilled enough, they’ll just steal that expensive item too. Large stores employ guards at night, too. Otherwise, the best you can do is to reinforce the lock.”
It was still only the first time, so I wasn’t certain there was a need to go all out. Plus, if I were to spend so much money on an uncertain method, it would cost me more than what could be stolen, making the whole idea worthless. How annoying. That’s why I hated thieves.
“I’ll visit a blacksmith to order a better lock. You two continue working as usual until then.”
“Understood.”
Read 30 more chapters here: https://subscribestar.adult/dictatelion or here: https://www.patreon.com/Dictatelion