“Not at all. It’s also important to note that the previous business failed. There might be some issue with the building or the location.”
“You just said it looked nice.”
“On the surface level, yes, but who knows what’s happening underneath? Also, what about the neighborhood? Are the other shopkeepers good people, or are they going to ruin my day every day? And what if this is a place that has bad luck? What about…”
“Ah, stop! Stop! There’s no problem with the shop or anything else!”
“I’m just saying.”
“I just want to know one thing. Is what you said about the fish the truth?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll check it later, and if it was a lie, I won’t let it go.”
“Please do so.”
“Hmm. I might come here from time to time to buy some, then. I’ll sell it to you for 220 golds. Don’t try to negotiate any further. That’s final.”
“Alright. I’ll buy it.”
The procedure after that was fuller of administrative factors than I expected. We had to go together to the administrative office in the castle, I with the money and she with the land and title deeds. After waiting for some time, a Chian’s official took care of making the exchange official. Even in this medieval world, they took people’s possession of land and real estate very seriously, probably due to many disputes about the topic in the past. It made sense since the money I just spent, for example, wasn’t negligible at all. I wouldn’t say it would be enough for a person to live until the end of their life, but it would certainly help a lot.
I now owned something real and immovable for the first time, and bliss filled my whole being. This was why I was a trader. This feeling of success and growth was just too good.
The next step was practically next door. I went to register my business in the corresponding office, calling it “Urtek”, just like I did in the inner world. They didn’t care much about whoever was trading in the markets, but owning a real shop location and corresponding business was another story. Showing my silver token solved any potential issue early on, and the whole process was taken care of quickly.
However, I was far from done. At this point, a normal person would have remodeled the shop until it was ready to open, but I didn’t need to do that here. Or more precisely, I didn’t need to take care of any of this myself.
One of the cheapest things in the outer medieval world wasn’t food, raw materials, or any sort of goods. It was labor. Human resources were so abundant and inexpensive that it would be a mistake not to take advantage of them.
My trader friend Giya was a good example. He was a merchant, which is quite a decent job, worked in Geola, the richest city on the continent, and had a spot in the day market. Even with these three conditions, he only earned between five and ten silvers a day. I was certain I could find workers for hire for a silver per day in Alfiro.
Since the shop was already in a good state, I only needed two people. One clerk and one guard, the latter taking care of both the clerk and the shop’s security. The clerk could spend the first few days of work preparing the store for its opening while I acquired the goods I wanted to sell.
Finding someone to employ was a little different from finding a place for sale. On top of asking around and having a network, there was a system relatively similar to the one in the inner world. It was possible to post a job advertisement on boards all over the city, but the effect of doing so was uncertain. The main issue was that a lot of people didn’t know how to read, making the whole process tricky. As such, it was mostly used to recruit skilled people, sometimes also to post some important news, or even to transmit messages between people who weren’t present in the city at the same time.
I didn’t need someone who could read, but they still had to know basic calculations. It was hard to say whether that counted as a skilled person, so I chose to go with networking for now. I went back to see the woman who sold the shop to me and brushed her as skillfully as possible behind the ears.
“Ma’am, ma’am, I’m looking for a clerk for my shop. Do you know someone good?”
She looked fed up with me and sighed.
“Stop doing that already. You’re in luck. I happen to know the perfect person.”
I removed my hand and grinned happily since I hadn’t expected much.
“Really? Wow, you’re the best, ma’am.”
“No need for flattery, especially before I finish speaking.”
“Is there a problem?”
“It depends on you. The one I recommend is one of my slaves. He’s bought his freedom by now, and he’s been unsure about what to do next. What do you think?”
This was interesting. And here I thought Makji was a country without hope for slaves, but they at least allowed them to buy their freedom.
“Can he do calculations?”
“He can do it all. Reading, writing, calculation, housework, sex. I always teach them everything useful.”
I wasn’t sure if sex was a useful skill to possess. Maybe it was, here?
“That sounds amazing. We need to ask if he’s interested.”
She nodded and called for him. The rank 1 feline man looked quite well-treated and healthy, except for a few scratches and bite marks here and there that were common on males in Makji. I had started to recognize these as consequences of having sex with feline females, who often used their claws and fangs during the act.
He immediately agreed upon hearing my proposal, looking at me relatively warmly.
“What’s your name?”
“Morph.”
“I’m Tila, nice to meet you. What are your salary expectations?”
My question made him pause, and he alternated between looking at me and his previous owner for a long time before answering.