KWB 8

The shop fell silent once the farmers departed. I calculated today’s earnings.

‘The pre-made shell fertilizer and the scrolls inscribed with drying and grinding magic… completely sold out.’

For now, I had cleared out all the inventory unnecessary for running the shop going forward. All that was left in the back storage room right now was lemons and sugar. Ah, I had also taken advance orders for the lemonade potion from a few of the farmers. They said it would be nice to gulp down while working, or something like that?

‘I was told that an article related to our shop would be published in the , too.’

That the problem which had nearly bankrupted all the farmers had been resolved. If so, publicity wouldn’t be an issue. Not a bad start.

Seeming to share the same thought, Ian and Nanny’s expressions were bright.

“I’ll go check if there are any more ripe lemons!”

Excited, Nanny hummed a tune and headed out to the back yard.

I stared intently at the coins resting in my palm. Money. Money that would keep Nanny, Ian, and me from dying of starvation in the streets.

As I rolled the coins back and forth in my hand, Ian spoke up.

“You seem to fond of money.”

“Is there anyone who hates it?”

At least I loved it.

Ian said, “I heard you’re planning to sell things other than fertilizer.”

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t dare judge the young lady’s decisions, but I think deciding not to sell fertilizer anymore is an excellent choice. Once the land normalizes, the demand for fertilizer will disappear soon enough.”

Trailing off there, Ian hesitated.

“Still, there’s bound to be a limit to how far farmers will travel back and forth all the way here from their farms just to buy ade potions….”

Even the lemons we had would last for a bit, but they’d run out quickly too.

“Right. Farmers are our business partners, they can’t be our primary customer base.”

For that, this location was much too deep in the center of the capital.

I looked out the wide-open window.

36 Maple Street.

Right in the immediate vicinity were a cake shop, a bakery, an apothecary, and the mansions of wealthy commoners.

This wasn’t Seoul, South Korea; it was the capital of the kingdom.

Therefore, customers who’d travel all the way from Seoul to Daejeon just to buy good bread simply did not exist here.

“The customers we need to focus on are…”

I muttered as I reached up to tie back my hair, then froze halfway.

‘Right. I went and sold the ribbon.’

Even if you don’t have money, you still get hungry.

And you can’t work if you don’t eat.

While the paper for the scrolls and the packaging wrappers for the fertilizer were covered by the inventory my older brother had prepared, from now on, I’d have to pay money for all of those things, too.

So, I had stripped away everything down to the very ribbon tying my hair to raise funds.

I told Ian, who was blankly watching my hand drop awkwardly back down:

“Start getting ready now. It’s about time for them to show up.”

“Is someone else coming?”

“Now that we’ve secured our suppliers, it’s time to secure our customers.”

To reiterate once more: this wasn’t Seoul, South Korea, but the capital of the kingdom.

In a place where most people got around on foot, the primary trade area (the zone where a store’s closest customer base is concentrated) was vital.

People living or working right around here who would drop by out of habit every single day as they came and went.

The Green Roof Magic Shop’s biggest customers.

The patrons we needed to pay attention to.

Fixing my gaze on the cake shop visible across the street, I said:

“So.”

I picked up the water jug resting on the counter and handed it to Ian.

“You know what to do now, right?”

Go down to the lake and fetch some water.

“Use this money to buy sugar.”

I dropped a coin into Ian’s palm.

“And use whatever’s left to buy yourself dinner.”

As Ian reflexively cupped his hands, his fingers briefly brushed against mine.

Ian dropped all the coins.

“Static electricity is quite severe.”

Quickly scooping up the rolling coins, Ian bolted out of the shop.

Whatever was making him in such a rush, he practically ran with those long legs of his. His fine, dark hair fluttered about the back of his head.

“…….”

‘That Ian. I thought he was quiet and gentle-mannered, unlike his appearance.’

Seems like the kid has a bit of a clumsy streak.

“Uwaaah!”

I watched an old man walking from the opposite direction catch sight of punk-looking Ian’s face and instinctively raise his cane in self-defense.

“Time to clean up.”

I headed into the laboratory to scrub down the empty space where the stack of scrolls had been.

A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

“What? A magic shop is moving into number 36?!”

The residents and merchants of Maple Street had been furious since morning.

“A magic shop means that musty stench, billowing smoke….”

“They always mess up their experiments in the middle of the night while everyone’s sleeping and—bang!—explosion noises go off!”

“Are they really allowed to open such a nuisance of a shop without even getting the residents’ consent?”

That’s right.

To the people of the kingdom, magical medicine was a wonderful commodity that worked wonders—clearing up nasal colds quickly, curing athlete’s foot on dog paws, and so on—but in reality, magic shops themselves were not welcomed facilities at all.

The acrid stench pouring from bubbling cauldrons when brewing magic potions.

The sickly-colored smoke drifting out from the chimneys.

And the mages themselves—were they ever arrogant? Even when they constantly caused explosions or started fires during experiments, they acted utterly shameless and brazen about it!

“To top it off, it’s not even a regular magic shop—I heard they’re selling fertilizer!”

“What? Fertilizer?”

“It made the !”

“Seriously, why sell fertilizer here?! Does that mean they expect us to live smelling manure all day long, what is this?!”

Enraged, the residents of Maple Street gathered in front of the cake shop.

“If I’d known a magic shop was moving into the neighborhood, I wouldn’t have moved here!”

“Me too! There was a magic shop nearby, but I checked that it had only been a vacant sign for almost ten years before I opened my shop here!”

“That putrid stench right next to a cake shop….”

“Absolutely not!”

The uncle from the nearby bakery, the lady from the cake shop, a retired royal official… The furious residents of Maple Street gathered together and headed straight for number 36.

[Green Roof Magic Shop]

“They’ve already changed the signboard!”

Glowering at the newly changed store sign, the residents stomped over and barged right into the wide-open shop.

Bam!

“Hey, you there!”

Smashing the already-open door as if to break it, the person who greeted the intruders was—

“Who are you?”

A girl who looked barely fifteen years old.

Dark curly hair that someone had clearly spent a long time carefully brushing. Large, round green eyes. A slender face.

Her clothes were shabby, but that only made her neat, upright posture stand out all the more.

The startlingly cute-looking girl blinked at the residents who had suddenly burst in—

And then broke into a bright smile.

“Welcome.”

At that moment, the residents couldn’t help but think:

‘What… she’s just a kid?’

[Green Roof Magic Shop]

Revenue: 0

Expenses: 0

Total Assets: 75G

Opening in D-3