Opening a Shop (Part 1)

Heavy snow fell for three days straight, but it could not dampen anyone's enthusiasm. Romon's potion shop was progressing smoothly under the eager gazes of countless people, and the preliminary preparations were proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Contrary to what everyone expected, Romon had not rashly chosen a location in the busiest part of Rika Town.

When choosing a shop location, people usually looked for areas with the greatest flow of people, believing that the more foot traffic there was, the better the location. Some looked at the rent instead, believing that the more expensive the rent, the better the shop.

In truth, such understanding was still insufficient.

When looking for a shop, focusing only on foot traffic or rent could sometimes lead one down the wrong path. Foot traffic was certainly important, but what mattered even more was whether the people passing through that area were the effective buyers of your goods.

In other words, whether the price paid for the shop's location was worthwhile, and whether it could generate the greatest possible profit.

Romon's thinking was simple. The main customers of his potion shop would be the many adventurers who came to town every year to venture into the Thorn Forest. Well, speaking of that, Romon found it rather strange. There were several times more adventurers this year than before, and there seemed to be an unusual air about it.

Leaving that aside for now, besides adventurers, his customers would be the most ordinary townsfolk. Therefore, he did not want to open his shop in the center of town.

The first reason was that the shops there were relatively expensive, whether rented or purchased. He did not have much money in hand at present, and he did not want to waste it on this.

The second reason was that those living in the center of town were mostly prominent figures. Even if they fell ill, most would go to the Temple to seek treatment from priests. They would hardly lower themselves to buy his medicine. Besides, there was still the conflict between him, the priests, and the tax officer.

Most ordinary townsfolk, meanwhile, lived scattered around the outskirts beyond the town center. Opening the shop on the outskirts would make things convenient for the townsfolk while saving him some money.

The third reason was that if adventurers in the Magic Beast Forest were injured, they would certainly pass through the outer areas before returning to the town center. Opening the shop outside the town center, not far from the town gate, would both provide convenience for adventurers and bring him benefits. Why not have the best of both worlds?

Still, a plan was one thing; putting it into practice involved quite a few twists and turns.

Although he had decided to set the shop outside the town center, Romon found it difficult to determine exactly whose shop he should rent or buy.

Because Rika Town was not large, nearly every shop was one of a kind. For example, there was only Motte and his wife's inn; the other shops were much the same. There was no so-called competition, because the level of consumption was only so high. Any given trade could barely support the income of one household. Precisely because of this, the town's shops had largely remained stable. Aside from the newly expanded businesses in the central area, there simply were no vacant storefronts to be found.

In the end, through the introductions of the merchant Barnel, Romon reached an agreement with the owner of a small shop not far from Motte's inn. For 150 silver coins, he bought the shop.

The shop was not particularly small, but the town residents' spending power was low, and the goods sold there were not very complete, so business had never flourished. As it happened, the owner's younger brother had become the manager of a trading house in a small city and wanted the owner to go help him. His monthly salary there would nearly equal half a year of the owner's income, so naturally the owner readily agreed. That trading house happened to be the very one Romon had visited with the caravan last time. One wanted to sell, and the other wanted to take it over.

In the end, after Barnel mediated between them, Romon bought the shop and the land it stood on at a relatively cheap price. At last, the matter of his shop location was resolved. Looking at the utterly unremarkable little shop and thinking that he now had a business of his own, Romon felt immensely excited.

"Romon, when will you open? Tomorrow? Remember to invite me when the time comes. We still didn't drink our fill last time." The merchant Barnel patted Romon's shoulder and said with a smile.

Romon looked around the shop, whose floor was covered in grease and grime, then shook his head. "Not yet."

"Why?" Following his gaze, Barnel nodded. "True enough, it needs at least some cleaning. Romon, do you want me to call a few people over to help?"

Romon hurriedly thanked him, but he did not merely want to clean the place up.

New shop, new look. Besides, he intended to treat this soon-to-open potion shop as his first venture, so naturally he could not begin carelessly.

"I'm planning to renovate the shop. It should open in about half a month," Romon said after some thought.

"Half a month?" The merchant Barnel did not quite understand. People in this world did not yet have much concept of packaging. In his view, as long as the room was cleaned, the necessary things were put in place, and the sign outside was changed, could it not open for business?

Still, he was merely an intermediary. Romon was the owner, so after a moment of surprise, he nodded. "All right. Just don't forget to treat me to a drink when the time comes!"

"No problem. I'll definitely treat you then. I only managed to take over this shop thanks to your help." Romon was in an excellent mood, so he readily agreed.

Thus, the next half month was filled with the tense, busy work of renovating the shop.

However, what puzzled many people was that during the renovation of Romon's soon-to-open shop, the glass windows were covered with thick curtains. They could only hear the constant clanging from inside, which truly made people curious.

Yet even when they asked the workers who came every day to renovate the place, those people had already promised Romon they would not reveal the secret. Thus, no matter how they were pressed, they merely wore mysterious expressions.

As a result, not only were the adventurers and ordinary townsfolk in need of cheap potions paying attention, but even the few wealthy households in town were quietly discussing Romon's strange actions. They were filled with anticipation for this new shop.

"Hmph, putting on a mysterious show again!" At night, in a room within the Temple, a young priest viciously threw a letter onto the table.

As though that still did not vent his anger, he picked up the letter again, crumpled it into a ball, and held it over the candle flame to burn. Only after watching the letter and envelope gradually turn to ash in the flames did the young priest feel somewhat better.

The letter had been given to him by the tax officer. Since the tax officer had recently been busy compiling and settling the year-end tax reports, he had not had time to meet with him. However, he had sent someone to deliver a letter.

The letter said nothing else. It merely detailed some of the recent events in town, including Romon's various actions during this period.

The priest held himself in high regard and rarely left the Temple, so he learned of many things happening in town through the tax officer's channels.

Seeing the flames leap up and the letter nearly burned away, the young priest leaned over and gently blew. At once, a layer of ash rose into the air, then drifted away on the wind.

"Romon... don't be happy too soon. I... will not let you off!" As though speaking to Romon, and also as though speaking to himself, the young priest leaned back in his chair and said viciously.

Ever since Romon had appeared, the smiles the second young lady gave him had kept surfacing in the priest's mind, filling him with hatred.

At that moment, a gust of wind swept through. The candlelight in the room began to flicker violently, then went out with a soft hiss. The entire room immediately sank into darkness, leaving only a certain sound of breathing.

"Nick, be careful. Walk slowly." In the home of an ordinary farming family in Rika Town, a youth was carefully walking around the courtyard.

This was an exercise he did every day. First, he would walk a few laps around the courtyard, then take a slow circuit around town to strengthen his body.

At his side, a plump middle-aged woman watched him with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, thank the heavens, thank the goddess! My son has finally pulled himself together! Thank you for your protection! Thank you! Thank you!"

From time to time, the middle-aged woman clasped her hands before her chest, closed her eyes devoutly, and silently spoke toward the sky.

"Mother!"

"Nick, what is it?" Hearing her son call, the middle-aged woman hurriedly opened her eyes and looked in his direction.

The youth stretched his body where he stood, then said to her, "Mother, please go back inside. It's cold outside. I can take my walk alone today."

"How could that—" The middle-aged woman still wanted to say something, but her son's next action gave her a fright.

The youth's expression suddenly darkened. "If you don't go inside, then I won't practice anymore!"

"My child, I'll go inside, all right? Just don't exercise for too long either. It's cold outside. There's no need to rush our recovery, okay?" Unable to outargue her son, the middle-aged woman could only give him repeated instructions before returning to the house.

"You shouldn't spoil the child so much either. Haven't you seen that after all Nick has suffered, he has become much more sensible?" The middle-aged man working inside the house raised his head and said.

The middle-aged woman looked back outside and muttered, "But it's so cold out there."

"Only after weathering hardship can one truly become a man." Watching the youth walk away, the middle-aged man sighed.

"This is also thanks to Romon!" they said with emotion.

At that moment, Nick had already slowly walked out of the courtyard. Looking at the snow filling the sky, the smile he had maintained all this time vanished, leaving only a face full of confusion.

The money at home was nearly gone again. Though his parents had not told him, he had become extremely sensitive and could naturally sense it.

The family savings had long since been spent on restoring his health. Although Romon and the others often sent money over, Nick, who had begun to understand things, felt that he could not continue like this.

He had volunteered to go hunting. Romon and the others had already done enough for him; he could no longer keep taking their money for nothing.

Besides, they could help him for a while, but not for a lifetime. He knew his own body. Even if he recovered as well as possible, he probably would not be able to do heavy farm work again.

But if he could not be a farmer, what could he do? Was he really going to let his parents support him for the rest of his life?

Lost in wild thoughts, he walked slowly onward. After exercising for about an hour, he finally returned home.

Only after arriving home did he discover that his parents were discussing something.

"Nick, Romon came by just now. He said his potion shop will open in half a month, and he asked us to come."

Really? Romon's potion shop was finally going to open? Nick took the three red invitation cards, and for a moment, his feelings became extraordinarily complicated.

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