I decided to sell some jewels tomorrow. I’d said my goal for coming here was rest and fundraising, so I had to accomplish both to avoid suspicion. There were plenty of shops that would be willing to buy jewelry in the royal capital, and the market price should be better here than in provincial cities.
“Shoo! Shoo! This shop isn’t for beggars like you. Having your kind loitering around would make us look bad, so scram!”
“If you’re here to beg for food scraps, at least go around to the back!”
Sheesh, talk about a bad attitude! I’m not here to beg, damn it! Sure, I’m a commoner, and stray priestesses are generally poor, but I’m a cleric! And my boss is supposed to be Celes!
I’d just been visiting jewelry stores and looking for a place to sell my goods, and this was the treatment I’d gotten. I was thinking how things were never this bad in provincial cities...and then it hit me. Temple officials who only cared about money were despised in rural areas, while free priestesses who performed funeral prayers, gave blessings at festivals, and offered prayers to ward off illnesses and more for a very reasonable price were cherished. On the other hand, the royal capital was full of Temple advocates, so free priestesses were looked down upon. Plus, today I was wearing my so-called stray priestess outfit, which were cheap and durable clothes that I wore for touring the provincial regions.
All right, time to go back to the inn and change!
“Hmm, I can do eight gold coins and three small gold coins for this one. This other one would be seven gold coins...” the jeweler said.
“Oh, I see. Thank you!” I replied and walked away.
“What? Hey, wait! Hold on!”
A jeweler had started taking me seriously once I’d changed into expensive-looking clothes, but because of my appearance, age, and the fact that I was looking to sell instead of buy, he’d tried to rip me off with ludicrously low prices. I had no time to waste on bogus appraisals, so I immediately took my leave. I would’ve agreed if he’d offered me twice as much, and they would’ve made a hefty profit even then. Maybe he would’ve offered a fair price if he knew I wasn’t an idiot who didn’t know the market price, but I wasn’t gonna deal with dishonest businesses that judged customers and looked down on them because of their looks, even if they then offered a better price afterward. So they got one chance at an offer, then they were out. I heard him desperately trying to stop me from behind, but I ignored him.
This was a private shop, so whatever price the owner wanted to offer was up to him. That was where private businesses differed from a semi-public organization like the Commerce Guild. Similarly, it was ultimately my choice whether I wanted to sell my jewels at a shop or not.
I didn’t really feel like selling to the Commerce Guild. I’d had enough of that experience from last time. The Commerce Guild in the royal capital would likely give me a proper offer, but it was pretty much guaranteed that info would leak out if I sold at a guild, and it’d probably lead to more hassles down the line. That was why I wanted to deal with a normal store.
I just needed to have a record of me selling goods for funds, but without the other party assuming I was a sucker and without lining the pockets of bad guys.
Okay, on to the next shop!
“This would be eleven gold coins.”
“Eight gold coins and five small gold coins.”
“We can offer a special price of nine gold coins and five small gold coins, plus an additional six silver coins!”
Gaaah! You all think I’m some naive child...
“If the next shop tries to rip me off, I have some ideas of my own...” I grumbled, and walked into the next and final shop.
“You’d like to sell some wares? Excellent, please follow me to the back.”
They’d at least started hearing me out after I’d changed into nicer clothes and put on my accessories.
I was taken to the back of the shop, then a female associate walked up to the man who was taking care of me and said, “Chief, the boss is calling for you.”
“I’m taking care of a customer right now. Ask him to wait for a bit.”
“He insists you go now; it’s urgent,” the woman said. “He just wants to ask you a quick question. He said it’s top priority.”
“What?! Top priority?” the man said, then turned to me. “My sincerest apologies, but please wait a moment.” He then turned around and called out, “Hey, bring our guest some tea and snacks, quickly!”
Well, sometimes businessmen just had to attend to sudden and urgent matters. That was understandable, especially since it was the shop owner calling for him. I told him not to worry about it and gave him a little wave.
A few minutes later, the chief returned, looking rather pale. Maybe he’d been given some bad news, but it wasn’t as if I could help him, so I didn’t think much of it. I handed him the jewels for appraisal, and he took some time to inspect them.
“Twenty-four gold coins and four small gold coins... And this one would be twenty-one gold coins and two—no, three small gold coins...”
Oh! That’s the price I’d been expecting, give or take one small gold coin!
The price was still much lower than retail, but they obviously had to make a profit too.
“Sold!” I exclaimed.
Nice, I found a shop that offers fair prices in the royal capital!