What? Oh…oh no… I realized I’d made a bit of a blunder. I was in the reception area of the guardroom used by all the knights…and it was just Nelt and I!
Dad, Renge and the others had all warned me not to be alone with any of the knights because either, they’d try to seduce me or talk to me about religion. They warned me and yet, here I am…
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but please talk to my father about such matters. I was told to turn down all requests for meetings.”
“P-Please, can’t you find it in you to oblige?!” he pleaded.
“I’m sorry. I-If that’s all, I’ll be leaving now! Goodbye!”
Time to run!
Having delivered the goods, I fled the reception area. I don’t like the way that went! Since it’s clear I’ll be hearing a lot from Nelt in the future, I’ll need someone to act as a mediator between me and the knights going forward. Which means I need to have the storeroom cleaned up and a commercial block set up there, so the knights can purchase their heat rash medicine without having to come to me!
Better strike while the iron is hot!
I made my way to the fort’s west gate block. The place was packed with stacked wooden crates full of who-knows-what, the floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, and the air was chilly. There were windows near the ceiling…but overall, the area was dark.
That said, the place being chilly meant that foodstuffs and medicine that needed cold storage would last long here. Plus, it was spacious. If a store’s roughly twenty feet long, we could set up twenty storefronts in here! I thought as I walked around. We could set up a passage, make supply spaces in the back of each store, and use the remaining space at the very back as a place for the merchants to drink and talk shop. Just like back home in the Rofola Lodge, where they can order alcohol at night…
Yeah…I’ve got a clear image of what I want. That said…what’s in these crates?
They were each about three square feet and quite large, with ten rows of four crates stacked atop each other. I couldn’t pull one down myself.
“Tina, you probably shouldn’t be walking around on your own,” a voice suddenly said.
“Wh-Whoa!” I turned around and gasped. “Renge!”
And there he was! In his familiar cloak and fluffy scarf. I looked around, but no one else was with him.
J-Just the two of us…in this empty storeroom…?! I started to panic.
“I, umm…I was hoping to rent this space out to people interested in setting up stores within the fort…to make like a small shopping district…” I stammered as I told him my plan.
“Oh…interesting idea. Like where we first met in De Marl?”
“Ah, yes! Like that!”
That brought back memories. I first met Renge in De Marl five years ago. Nowadays, we could ask Renge to deliver us any rare ingredients on demand, so much so that Mister Giyaga’s stock became full of things from the demi-human continent.
Right! I thought suddenly. If there was a store here that deals in medicinal ingredients, it’d be a huge help! I should ask Mister Giyaga if that’s possible…
“Yes,” Renge mused, “for how spacious this place is, it’s a shame it goes unused. I think it’s a good idea.”
I smiled for a moment, then frowned again. “So, I was thinking of getting this place cleaned up first, but… It’s too big, so I’d need help to do it. Plus, I don’t know what’s in these crates.”
“Why not look and see?” he suggested.
I pointedly glared up at him; he was almost a foot taller than me. “Could you check?”
“Sure,” he said, maybe a little too hastily like he’d realized his mistake. “Give me a second.” Renge floated up and opened the lid on one of the top crates. Peering inside, he shook his head and said there was nothing in it.
“They’re all…wait!” I clapped my hands together. “If they’re empty, we can use them to store merchandise!”
“True,” he said as he floated back down. “They should be useful. But they’re a bit moldy.”
“That’s nothing we can’t wash away, and we’ll put them to use once they’re dry. If the other crates are all empty, they can be used in the stores. Now, we’ll need to buy some lumber to build foundations for the stores… Maybe make scaffolding for stalls… Oh, yeah, can we call a carpenter over?” I asked, rambling off one thought after another.
“Well, the buildings are one thing. But won’t we need other merchants here?” Renge pointed out.
“O-Oh, right!”
I was excited about setting up an apothecary store. But that’d just make for one store out of twenty. We’ll need to find nineteen other people interested in this venture. One store won’t make a commercial block, after all.
“Oh, right!” I said as a bolt of inspiration struck. “I could tell the women devoted to the fashion show and have them set up a clothing store. People could buy the clothes designed for the shows in their own sizes! And that way, the women would be able to support Fort Deshmel. And that way, I could sell cosmetics at my store, too! Yeah, that seems profitable! But wait, that’s still only two stores. Some eateries seem like a good idea. But my only option for that is to spread the word and hope prospective vendors step up to the plate. Maybe I could make a poster for that?” I muttered as I paced back and forth, buzzing. “Oh, gosh, there’s so much to do…!