Day three of the New Year.
"Get your papers! Get your papers! The Lord has opened a new shop called the Pearl Pavilion! Don't miss it, everyone!" a paperboy shouted on the street.
"A newspaper, please."
"Give me a paper too."
"..."
Joe was walking down the road with Dale. The father and son were on their way to eat noodles when they heard the paperboy shouting about pearls, which caught Joe's attention.
Pearls were very fine things, and one of the most beloved items of the great nobles. They were even more liked than gold, especially by noblewomen, who were madly obsessed with them.
"Father, let's go eat noodles first," Dale said, having a bad feeling when he saw his father reading the newspaper so intently.
"Let's just buy some steamed buns. We're going to this Pearl Pavilion. We can eat noodles later," Joe said, folding up the newspaper and striding towards the Pearl Pavilion.
"Oh!" Dale pouted and reluctantly followed, buying a few steamed buns from a stall.
The Pearl Pavilion was located near the bank. It was a large building that Lucas had originally reserved for a future spice shop, but now that he had the pearl mussels, he was putting it to use.
When Joe and Dale arrived at the Pearl Pavilion, they saw many familiar faces. They were all merchants, along with a few curious commoners.
"Look, everyone, Mr. Joe is here too."
"Haha… Mr. Joe, are you also here for the pearls?"
"..."
"Mr. Joe, you came too," Bryan said in greeting. He had also come after reading the paper.
"Lord Bryan, why are you all just standing here?" Joe asked curiously.
"We came too early. The Pearl Pavilion hasn't opened yet," Bryan said with a shrug.
"Uh…" Joe was stunned for a moment before he realized. It was indeed early. Because he had to take Dale to school now, he had gotten into the habit of waking up early and no longer lazed around in bed like before.
"I wonder how many pearls there will be. I hope there's a lot, so the price won't be too high," Bryan said softly. He wanted to buy a few good pearls for his wife.
"It's a shop opened by the Lord. There should be plenty of pearls, right?" Joe's tone was filled with uncertainty. If there was a large quantity, this could be another business opportunity.
"Mr. Joe, what do you think pearls are?" Bryan rolled his eyes and said helplessly. "You have to remember, pearls are treasures from the sea. The number that flows into the western lands each year is minuscule."
"Then we can only hope the price isn't too high," Joe sighed. If there were many pearls, he might buy a lot of them.
In the crowd, Lucy and Jones were also present. They had also been attracted by the news of pearls. The two were hiding in a corner, afraid of being seen by Joe.
After all, Joe was Dahlia's father and had met Lucy and her companion before. If he saw them, their identities would be exposed.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
The sound of horse hooves was heard. A carriage was slowly approaching and soon stopped in front of the Pearl Pavilion.
"My Lord, we've arrived at the Pearl Pavilion," Chris reported in a deep voice, his cold eyes scanning the surroundings, forcing many people to back away.
Creeak~
The carriage door opened, and Lucas stepped out. He glanced at the crowd below and thought to himself that the allure of pearls was indeed great. Ninety percent of the city's merchants had shown up.
"Happy New Year, my Lord," Bryan and Joe said, leading the cheer. This was something they had learned from the newspaper.
"Happy New Year to you too," Lucas said, momentarily surprised before smiling. "You're all very early."
"Lord Lucas, we all came as soon as we heard there were pearls," Bryan replied.
"Alright, then let's go in," Lucas said, turning his head and nodding to Annie who stood behind him. "Have them open the doors."
"Yes," Annie said respectfully. She walked to the front of the Pearl Pavilion and knocked on the door.
CREEAAK~~
The doors opened in less than two seconds. There were already clerks inside preparing. After opening the doors, they stood to the side.
Lucas strode inside. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at a beast-ear girl standing nearby. The spots on her ears… was she a leopard beastkin? He didn't think much of it and entered the shop.
Mina stared vigilantly at that leopard beastkin. She felt a sense of danger from her, as well as a palpable, murderous aura. It was so obvious that she had to be on guard.
Thump, thump, thump…
As soon as Lucas's group of three went in, Bryan, Joe, and the others all surged inside. They wanted pearls desperately; after all, they could make a profit by reselling them.
"Uh…" After entering, the merchants stared blankly at the interior. The decor was too crude. It completely lacked the exquisite craftsmanship of other shops.
"My Lord, where are the pearls?" Bryan asked curiously. He couldn't see a single pearl in the main hall.
All anyone could see were a dozen large wooden barrels in the hall. Could the pearls be in the barrels? But that would be too many pearls, wouldn't it? Do you need large barrels to hold them?
"The pearls are right here," Lucas said, the corners of his mouth turning up as he patted the large barrel beside him.
"Really?" Bryan's eyes lit up. He rushed to the side of the barrel and looked inside. He was dumbfounded. There was only water and some flat, stone-like things in the barrel.
"My Lord, you must be joking, right?" Joe said, flabbergasted. How could this be considered pearls?
"You don't believe me?" Lucas raised an eyebrow and said flatly to the cat-ear girl, "Pick one. Open it and show them."
"Yes," Mina nodded. She rolled up her sleeves, reached her left hand into the barrel to grab the topmost mussel, and with a flick of her right hand, a combat knife appeared. She inserted it along the shell and pried it open.
"Th-there really are pearls?" Bryan's eyes went wide, staring in shock at the seven or eight pearls of various sizes inside the shell.
"It's incredible! To think that pearls actually grow inside this," Joe said in amazement, pointing at the shell. "My Lord, what is this thing called?"
"A mussel. You can also call it a pearl mussel," Lucas said with a smile, speaking slowly. "This type of mussel has a certain chance of containing pearls."
"My Lord, how are these sold?" Bryan asked quickly. He was already thinking about these freshly shucked pearls.
"They're measured and priced according to the size of the pearl," Lucas said flatly. He took a wooden box. Inside was a set of measuring tools.
.
.
.
.
You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
300 Power Stones for 1 extra chapter.
5 New reviews for 1 extra chapter.