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[T/N: “Hey lady, eyes down here”, blame the ED for tempting me]
“Right, before buy’ng anyting, I would’ike to know whais this “tea” of yas. Ah’ve traveled quite the bits back in me days. Hadn’t seen ‘nything quite like it.” “Tea is just… tea? Umm… give me a moment. Laum, mug of hot water and a pinch of tea leaves in a bowl!” “On my way!” *sha da ei ei* After a mix of sounds with utensils b.u.mping, cart squeaking and water splas.h.i.+ng, the rat-tailed teenager walks down and hands over the requested material. He gives a quick bow to the shopkeep before going back onto the cart. Clair’s eyes follow the tail until it finally disappears completely.[ED: WANDERING EYES, DOHOHOHOHOHO]
*koho* De’muel coughs politely again, getting Clair’s attention. “See these here?” The youth holds out the mug of slightly steaming water and tea leaves, letting the shopkeeper inspect them. The woman grabs one of the leaves, giving them a rub before putting it back in the bowl. Turning toward the mug, the woman produces a flat stick of some sort from within her s.h.i.+rt and used it to flick some water out of the mug. She nods at the youth, satisfied. He then hands them both to the woman. “Just pour the water into the bowl.” The woman does as the youth asks, tilting the mug of water into the wooden bowl of leaves. Slowly, the leaves unfurl as the liquid turns from colourless to a light golden brown. The sharp citrus aroma drifts up to her nose, causing her to smile unconsciously. “How much be it for this tea of yas?” “A gold a bag, 60 silvers for half a bag, 40 silvers for a quarter bag. A bag can make 600-800 mugs.” The woman narrows her eyes. “This be ya best price?” “We will be happy to give some of our others products to try, to go along with your purchase.” Clair’s eyes narrows further before breaking into a smile. “Who is ya master that’s ye apprentice under?” “Eh… we don’t have a master, we were taught in an Academy near Feia though.” “Academy eh? Ah, the one them guards been talking about. Okay, I will take a bag. Who else be buying from ye?” “Thank you for your purchase.” De’muel smiles back as a sale finally happens after so long, Mikhal doesn’t count really as he was already obsessed with the tea. “Ah, we are currently on our way to make a delivery to Mikha… I guess I should get used to calling him Sir Mikhal huh… we will be doing that after we are done here in the market.” “Sir Mikhal eh, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of that hedonist pig Donavic, no idea how such a good wee kid come from sucha father.” De’muel can only twist his smile wryly before redirecting the conversation back to the business at hand. “We will make our delivery here later, is sometime around noon alright? Would you want to pay then or pay now?” *gubi* The woman quickly drinks the bowl of tea in her hand before handing both the bowl and mug back to the youth and puts away her stick. “Cha, no problem at tha’ time.” The woman reaches into something under her long blouse as she loosens a string near her waist with her other hand, producing a single gold coin. She rolls the coin on her fingers before expertly flicking the coin in the air in De’muel’s direction, who catches it with both hands. “Good to be doing business with ye.” She offers her hand, which the youth shook with a smile on his face. The woman takes another look at the youth’s horn before walking out the alleyway. There are some shopkeepers that are looking intently in her direction, ranging from curiosity, suspicion, envy, all the way to hostility. She is well known within the market, has been since she started working, to pa.s.s the time, now being the wife of a city guard. Her reputation as a peddler was good and it followed her all the way here. But it was a few years before the appearance of the Immortals that she made her name, where she bought an excessive amount of salted mutton. She learned from banter with farmers and poor scholars alike and arrived at the conclusion that meat will become scarce later in the year, thus stocking up on the goods ahead of time. She made a small fortune this way, which her husband boasted about. She took on similar opportunities throughout the years, earning her the respect of many and the ire of her compet.i.tors. Those that looked favourably upon her eventually ended up calling her “Boss”, likewise, she treated those that treated her well for her ability with kindness, offering advice and help on numerous occasions; one such occasion is now as she heads to toward the one known as Harold. She’s well aware of the reason for the steep discount on the tea’s bulk purchase price, it is to influence the selling price of tea by the resellers. By making it 40 silvers a quarter bag, it means that resellers can sell it at a price at under that to make a profit. Since they already get a steep discount when they buy it in bulk, it’s a win-win for the wholesaler, reseller and the customers. Not to mention, promoting other products instead of giving more discount when asked for. This means that whoever is behind the pricing must be someone with a remarkable level of foresight.[T/N + ED: For those that don’t understand it, the price for one bag of tea is 1 gold, the price for the quarter bag is 40 silvers. Using the quarter bag price, it would be 1 gold, 60 silvers for a whole bag. A regular person would not buy in bulk. Since the reseller gets the bag at 1 gold, they’ve a 60 silver range to work into their profit as long as they sell at a price where it’s less than 40 silver per quarter bag, thus customers will buy it from the reseller instead of the De’muel and company as the reseller would be cheaper to purchase from -ie, buying 1/16 bag at 9 silver would be cheaper for the customer, while the reseller would still make a nice profit. Additionally, due to storage reasons, a regular person isn’t going to be purchasing bulk amounts in any case. There’s also the problem of consuming it all before it expires or insects/molds gets to it. A merchant holds onto a larger quant.i.ty for less time than a consumer. The quarter bag is the base price, not the whole bag - thus the wholesale bag is a steep discount to incentivize bulk purchase for resellers - no further discount is available, but further bulk purchase gives ancillary goods - tying in all their products.]
* * * * * *don don don* De’muel is knocking on a worn out door of a modest house made of stone with a small courtyard and garden. Although it is must better than the small wooden houses used by the serf families within the region, it doesn’t appear to be a house intended for a n.o.ble. “h.e.l.lo? We have a delivery for Sir Mikhal.” *ta s.h.i.+ ta ta* “Give me a minute!” A distant, chime-like, voice answers from within as sounds of movement leaks out through the door. *gacha* *kara* The sounds of latches being unlocked is soon followed by the door opening. A pet.i.te, youthful looking girl - with blonde hair that reaches the middle of her back, clear blue eyes, and full figure - greets the youth. “Sorry, you said you have something for Mikey?” De’muel tilts his head for a moment, wondering who Mikey is until he realized it’s probably Mikhal’s nickname. *keho* The youth clears his throat as he reorients himself. “Yes, hi, I’m De’muel. We are delivering the goods he purchased last night. Would you like us to move them to the pantry?” “Pantry?” De’muel scratches his head as he comes to the conclusion Mikhal probably forgot to mention it to his wife. “Sir Mikhal ordered some food and tea from us, unless you would like us to move it elsewhere?” The girl tilts her head to the side while putting a finger on her chin, looking upward. “Ah! Is this the tea Mikey said he had while out on that mission?” The girl gives a radiant smile before guiding De’muel to the kitchen that’s just further into the house. The house is plain, but full of warmth and charm. The furniture is well-worn, but is clean and tidy. The old wooden floor looks even more worn-out, but it looks to be well taken care of. There are a few vases with flowers here and there with a fur rug between two large padded chairs before the fireplace in the living room. Inside the kitchen is a metal, wood-fired stove that’s being used, with several pots of water being boiled, it looks like she’s just getting ready to make brunch when they arrived. After the girl shows him the way to the kitchen and the cellar, the youth goes back outside to give instructions to his siblings, whom carefully starts to move the barrels into the cellar while bringing a few bags to the kitchen. “Would you like something to drink? Where are you all from? It’s rare to see so many demihumans all together. Ah wait! Are you people from that Academy that saved Mikhal?” The girl cheerfully asks in a talkative manner. “Yes, but it was our teachers that saved him.” *gaba* The girl suddenly rushes forward and gives the youth a big hug, wrapping around his torso and pinning his arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” De’muel’s face turns red slightly from embarra.s.sment, but he couldn’t break the embrace as the girl is surprisingly strong. His siblings couldn’t suppress their smiles as they continue their work. “Um… You’re welcome.” The bull-horned youth finally managed to squeak out a weak reply. The girl finally lets go. “You people have to stay for brunch! I was making it just now, anyways.” “No, no. It’s alright, we still have more deliveries to make.” The girl pouts cutely, causing De’muel to want to question himself. “Umm… Actually, someone can stay for brunch. Let me, eh… get him right, I will be right back.” The youth heads back outside as his siblings couldn’t resist a chuckle at his awkwardness. De’muel can only roll his eyes at them each time. A moment later, Laum follows behind, holding various utensils and tools. The girl busies herself talking with his other siblings while she tends to the fire in the stove. Seeing that he’s back, she dusts herself off before facing the newcomer. “My, that’s certainly a unique hairstyle.” Laum smiles at the compliment, “it certainly helps when I’m working.” “This is Laum, he’s a fellow student at the Academy. His strongest point is cooking, so I will be having him teach you how to cook some of the goods, since we are giving them away as samples to go with the purchases.” The rat-tailed teenager with the rattail waves a bit before putting his tools down on the kitchen table. “Hi, Laum! Pleased to meet you! Oh, you can just call me Marie by the way, I guess I forgot to introduce myself.” The girl gives off a small laughter before resuming. “I’m Mikey’s mom, here, let me help you with those. Oh, I have these tools too, let me get them out.” The girl goes through her drawers getting the various items to match the ones on the table. De’muel’s eyes bulged at the revelation, barely recovering in time before the girl turns back toward them. His siblings likewise nearly lost control of the barrels they are moving. Laum looks between his siblings in confusion in the meanwhile. After completing their tasks, the demihumans bid their farewell, leaving Laum and an escort behind. Marie thanks them all, and hugs each of them in turn, including Sammy which cause a chorus of *kero*. * * * * * *gakon* *gakon* *kan* “Lorine! Get all the kids inside!” Hmm…? What’s that noise? *kua* I let out a yawn before licking my lips. Eh? EH? My mind clears up upon recognizing the scent of blood. There are also the scent of the clawed rabbit, and there seem to be many of them. I look around the usual room, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone here. Usually the brown-haired man or the girl would show up, looking at some skins or doing something else, occasionally getting me some delicious bread to eat. *eeeeeee* A sharp scream pierces the air. A scream I’ve heard before, following my nose and ears, I rush outside of the room. A scene of chaos unfolds before my eyes, men with pitchforks, sharp curve thing on stick I haven’t seen before, hoes and shovels are fighting with tens, if not hundreds of those clawed prey. [T/N: If you haven’t figured out by now, anything that Gui can kill and eat is considered prey to him.] *s.h.i.+* I turn around and jump away just in time to avoid a claw that was coming at me. *garuru* I growl at the prey that dares to try and attack me in surprise and starts fighting back.