🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 10
Belouang, where the two people and one divine beast arrived, was the busiest town in the area.
Not only was the shopping district thriving, but a night market opened every week, and wandering performance troupes visited often.
“Wooow! Look over there!”
[Kiikii!]
Vivian puffed excitedly as if she had discovered an entirely new world. Seeing Vivian so excited, Kiki beside her also started making cheerful noises for no reason.
“First, we should exchange the jewels for money and buy a carriage. That way we can have the luggage delivered to it. We can buy clothes afterward, right, Vivi?”
“Yeah!”
Honestly, it would have been fine even if he did not buy her clothes.
It was her first time seeing this many people, and her first time seeing buildings this tall. Clothes were not important at all.
“Let’s go to a restaurant, eat something delicious, and look around too.”
“Yes, yes! I’d love that!”
Vivian bounced on her feet.
The carriage stopped.
“Alright, we’re here. Let’s get down, Princess. Heave-ho.”
“Heave-ho!”
Jean lifted Vivian right out of the carriage. Kiki was already clinging to Vivian’s shoulder, so there was no need to help him down.
After looking around, Jean lowered himself and whispered to Kiki.
“Um, Divine Beast. Just in case, you must not wander away from us. People here have never seen a monkey before. Someone might try to sell you.”
[How dare they! If anyone tries anything funny, I’ll turn into a shark and bite them, so do not worry!]
“He says he’ll turn into a shark and bite them. He says we don’t have to worry!”
Jean pressed a hand to his forehead. A shark suddenly appearing among people who had never even seen the sea in their lives? He did not even want to imagine it.
“That is absolutely… not allowed. Just stay on Vivian’s shoulder. Vivian, you must not talk to the Divine Beast outside either. Understood?”
[So that’s where you got your insolence from. You take after your father, Vivian.]
“Kiki, who did you take after to become so cheeky?”
At Vivian’s words, Kiki immediately fell silent.
Jean took Vivian into a jewelry store.
There was one large man who looked like a guard, and another man wearing a monocle standing behind the counter.
“Welcome.”
The monocled man, presumably the shop owner, quickly sized the two of them up.
Their clothes were neat but hopelessly out of fashion, and the child was so skinny she clearly had not been eating well. The father and daughter were strikingly beautiful, but probably ordinary customers otherwise.
He made his judgment instantly.
Then his eyes widened slightly at the monkey hanging onto the child.
“What kind of animal is this?”
“It’s called a monkey. They live in large numbers on the distant New Continent.”
“Ohh, an animal you can only see in the New Continent. It looks cute.”
[Heh heh. This old human has good eyes.]
Hearing that it came from the New Continent, the owner mentally upgraded his evaluation of the customer.
“Are you looking for a gift?”
“No. I came to sell jewels.”
Jean pulled out a pouch.
If he exchanged too many jewels at once, they would not offer him a fair price, so he had only brought as many as would fit in one pouch.
“Ah, yes. I’ll need some time to appraise them. Could you wait a moment?”
“Understood. Vivian, let’s stay here quietly.”
“Okaaay.”
It was Vivian’s first time entering a shop with such an atmosphere, and she instinctively shrank back.
So she quietly whispered to Kiki on her shoulder.
“Aren’t you amazed here? There are so many jewels.”
[What’s so special about having lots of jewels?]
“Oh, right.”
Come to think of it, this Divine Beast had been sleeping inside a treasure chest overflowing with jewels. Of course these would not amaze him.
While Vivian looked around the store with curious eyes, the owner finished the appraisal.
“These are jewels of excellent quality. May I ask where they came from?”
“They are keepsakes left behind by my wife.”
In truth, they were jewels taken from the treasure chest.
Most of the belongings his wife had left behind had already been sold while he organized his finances for business. The only things remaining were items she had often worn, things he could not bring himself to sell.
“Oh dear, my apologies. I asked because there are no certificates. Fundamentally, the stones are large, free of impurities, and beautifully colored. However, the craftsmanship is a little disappointing. Here, if you look closely, you can see the cutting is somewhat crude, right? The symmetry is off as well. Because of that, from certain angles they look dull instead of transparent. I don’t think they were crafted by a particularly skilled artisan.”
“Is that so?”
Jean asked suspiciously. To him, the jewels had looked flawless.
He started wondering whether the owner had taken him for an easy target and was trying to force the price down.
“With all that considered, I’d say about one thousand gold in total. That’s already a very generous price.”
One thousand gold was several years’ worth of living expenses for a commoner family. In fact, many people would never even touch one thousand gold in their entire lives.
But based on Jean’s past experience, it was only about half of what he had estimated the jewels to be worth. His suspicions deepened further.
Then Kiki, perched on Vivian’s shoulder, snorted.
[Vivian, that old human over there is trying to scam your father.]
“Huh?”
[All the jewels in that chest originally belonged to the imperial family. Naturally, they were top-grade jewels cut by the greatest craftsmen! How dare that insolent human belittle the treasures stored alongside me!]
The only part Vivian properly understood was that the jeweler was trying to scam Jean.
But that alone was enough.
Vivian secretly tugged at Jean’s sleeve.
“Vivi?”
“Dad, wait a second.”
Instead of scolding her for interrupting the conversation, Jean bent down toward Vivian. He knew well that she was not the kind of child to speak up without reason.
“Dad. That man is trying to scam you.”
“…How do you know that?”
“Kiki said so. He said the chest he was in came from the imperial family. He’s really angry, saying everything stored with him was top quality.”
“The imperial family…?”
A strange light flashed through Jean’s eyes. Certainly, it was odd that a Divine Beast supposedly left behind by the empire’s founder dragon had been on a deserted island instead of with the imperial family.
Some kind of accident must have caused it to drift to that island.
Jean raised his chin and replied to the owner.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean I should find someone who properly recognizes the value of these jewels. Do you think I came here without knowing their worth?”
“Sir! We run an honest and transparent business! We would never cheat customers who don’t know any better!”
“However, it seems your eye for craftsmanship is lacking. Vivi, let’s go somewhere else. There’s another jeweler nearby.”
“Sir! Wait, please wait! I’ll add another five hundred gold!”
The moment Jean mentioned going to a competing shop, the owner even came out from behind the counter to stop him.
But Jean no longer had any desire to conduct a large transaction with someone he no longer trusted.
Fortunately, the other jeweler offered an honest price, and Jean was able to make a very satisfying deal.
With his pouch now much heavier, Jean smiled at Vivian.
“Thank you, Vivi. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to sell them for such a good price. I also thought that man’s offer sounded too low, but if I hadn’t heard the Divine Beast’s words and gained certainty, I might have settled for less than the real value. Thank you as well, Divine Beast.”
Before his regression, Jean had often seen high-quality jewels, but he had never professionally studied appraisal, nor did he know the current market prices.
[Heh heh. Bow before me, human!]
Kiki stood proudly on Vivian’s shoulder and puffed out his stomach.
“—Bow before me!”
After being praised by her father, Vivian puffed out her stomach too.
After securing a huge amount of money, Jean bought a roofed carriage unlike anything Vivian had ever seen before, even hiring a coachman. Then he took Vivian’s hand and headed toward the final destination of the day.
In front of a shop with a refined atmosphere.
Since Vivian still could not read the letters on the sign, she had no idea what kind of store it was.
“Dad, where are we?”
“Mhm. It’s the place that’s going to make beautiful clothes for our princess.”
“Pretty clothes! Yay!”
[Get me clothes too, human!]
