"Where did this ore come from?!" A few seconds later, Annie turned to the White-haired Old Man and asked in a slightly hurried tone, "How much is there? What's the price? I'll take it all!"
"Oh, is that so?" The White-haired Old Man showed no excitement at Annie's words, as though there was no commission to be earned from consignment sales. Just as before, he gave Annie an indifferent glance and said slowly, "Let me think about that. I'm getting old, and my memory isn't so good. I seem to recall it was—"
Halfway through, the White-haired Old Man dragged out his words longer and longer, and then... there was nothing after that...
Annie waited a full half minute. When no answer came, a surge of anger rose uncontrollably from her lower abdomen. She raised one hand, ready to drag the White-haired Old Man out from behind the counter and interrogate him by force.
Just then, she noticed the White-haired Old Man suddenly looking toward the entrance.
Hm? What? Curious, she followed his gaze toward the door and saw a young woman about her age walk in, her long hair falling to her shoulders.
Her gaze met the other woman's naturally.
"You..." Annie opened her mouth, intending to ask something.
But then, a thunderous boom rang out.
Somewhere outside Newburg, a massive explosion sounded. The already rickety wooden shelves in the shop immediately began creaking as though they could no longer bear the strain.
What? Annie froze.
She saw that the young woman who had entered was also stunned, clearly just as unaware as she was of what had happened.
Instead, the White-haired Old Man behind the counter was the first to realize the truth. He darted out from behind the counter and ran outside, shouting at the top of