Nearly a month had passed since we moved to the Lothering Town of Abram region.
The long building acquired from the Mayor is a two-story building reinforced with both stones and wood. Two lots at the end of right side are made into shops to sell household goods such as cotton buds, toothbrush and toothpaste. The three lots at end of left side are made into a bar. No renovation required as the previous occupant had renovated and used them as a bar. Three lots beside the household shops are already combined as a warehouse, thus are now utilized as place to assemble produces from Sandal village and also as shop to sell them to walk in customers. The warehouse is spacious that the carriage is store in there. The remaining two lots beside the bar is used as dwelling area. Our beds are on the upper floor, while furnished kitchen and living room on the ground floor.
At the entrance a signboard made out of copper said “Hiro Pavilion” and this is the only form of advertisement for the pub. The place isn’t flashy but there are many tables and chairs. Our pub's specialty is cheap drinks.
Because the population of the city is quite large to begin with, including the travelers who stop by. It is natural for the entertainment industry to prosper more when compared with other cities.
Hanabi is the bartender. Kurotsuchi and Clementine are waitress while Irijina is the bodyguard. Sekrit who can play music, sing and dance is the entertainer.
Selene and Ivanna handles the agricultural produce shop. Mirai and Sylvia are in charge of household shops.
As a rare household items salesman, I must have drawn a lot of attention form the people of Abram.
Although we were really in full swing, the shop begins to see reasonable foot traffic after a day or so. People mostly came to say hello or check out the place on the first day, but around this time, knights that work at the castle had begun to peak their heads in. They let me know that it was all because of the knight Lyla who I had met on the day before we officially open the shops.
She had mentioned some items she had seen in my shop, which reached by word of mouth to the knights and soldiers at the castle. I decided to gift her the most reasonable item she had her eyes on, a torchlight, as a token of gratitude for her part in advertising my shop. While this torchlight is not sold to the public, it is the most mind-blowing things Lyla ever seen in her life.
That torchlight didn’t cost more than an evening at a relatively high-class restaurant. Layla may have been stoic, but I never expected her to reject a gift of that price… Until she said that she “couldn’t accept anything, unless I was a lady of your land…” And meant it.
Her stubbornness went leaps and bounds beyond mine. After a nearly endless debate, Sylvia finally settled the matter by suggesting that “what if he lent it to you, and it will be good advertising for the shop as well.” Lyla still looked guilty, but now showing a little joy, as she used her torchlight home.
…Usually, knights work for lords who own their own territory or estate, which means they live in their master’s manor, or had their own quarters. Albeit in a middle to upper class area of town, it is rare to see a knight who rents a room, just like an artisan or a merchant did.
Besides, when you would see her in the streets, she would be wearing a down to earth (although well-made) outfit, and never shows off her master’s crest nor her own house’s. She isn’t a mercenary nor a soldier, but she is always something a little different from a knight.
I am afraid that asking her directly would come across as some kind of inquisition, and I have heard that Gustav’s mercenary team would return to Abram in a few weeks, by the time summer rolls around. If I still care to then, I would ask them about her.
It was early summer. For someone who toils away under his roof like a mole throughout the day, the sun is beginning to sting. My face in the light belongs to an owner who just opens a household items shop in Lothering.
I have formed relationships with too many people to call my entire lifestyle a lie, and I am beginning to understand that every aspect of my life only represent one side of me.
