Josh was the first to rush out of the factory after work today.
And so, he was the first to see that the newly built shop had opened.
This was no small piece of news. Castel was only so big; while the islanders had not reached the point of knowing one another personally, they knew the few shops on the island very well.
This little building newly erected by the roadside had drawn attention ever since its foundation was laid. After asking around, people received a startling piece of news:
This was actually a shop opened by the lord himself.
A lord, running a shop?
Those two words felt especially awkward together. A lord ought to be associated with things like taxes and the town hall, not a shop that bought and sold goods.
Because Castel was far from the mainland, even merchant caravans rarely came here. People's understanding of shops was still limited to selling little things they had made themselves.
Like Zorn's pottery shop, or the preserved fruit Mickey made.
Could the lord make things to sell as well?
But Josh had a different thought.
Though he did not particularly like the factory, he was quite fond of the olive oil and soap produced there.
And recently, everyone on the soap production line where he worked had been given a bar of soap, along with detailed instructions on how to use it—perhaps overly detailed, since they had explained it over and over again.
Unlike the other islanders, who carefully put their soap away, Josh was not so reluctant to use his. After trying it out, he discovered with surprise that this soap was excellent for cleaning almost anything: washing hands, bathing, even doing laundry.
What wonderful stuff. It would be even better if there were more of it.