The street outside was lined with shops. Cain saw a general goods store nearby and decided to check it out to kill time. As he was about to enter, he saw someone he recognized—more accurately, he saw some ears he recognized. They had both grown a lot in the past five years, but he still instantly knew it was her.
“Hey! Parma!”
It was the girl with cat ears he had met at his social debut in Gracia.
“Huh? Ah! Master Cain? What are you doing here…?”
Parma was restocking the shelves when Cain called out to her. Cain showing up out of nowhere surprised and flustered her.
A voice from within the store called out, “Hey, Parma. Did someone you know show up?” Seconds later the owner of the voice emerged from a back room. He resembled Parma’s father Sabinos but was slightly older.
“Oh, are you a friend of Parma’s? What a cute young boy.”
“Uncle, Master Cain is a noble!”
“What?! Pardon my rudeness.” Parma’s uncle lowered his head in a polite bow.
“My deepest apologies, Master Cain.” Parma ear’s drooped down as she apologized.
Cain was too fixated on her ears to care about her apology. She’s as cute as ever! I want to touch her ears…
“Don’t worry about it. I’m by myself today. There’s no way to tell just based on how I look, anyway. I’m Cain von Silford. The third son of the Lord of Gracia.” Cain responded as normally as he could, attempting to conceal how captivated he was by Parma’s cat ears.
“…The margrave’s son? I truly must apologize for how rude I was being.” Upon learning that Cain was the son of a high-ranking noble, the man practically kneeled down on the floor in apology.
“It really is fine, it doesn’t bother me. More importantly, can you show me what you have for sale here?”
“Of course! Please take a look. Ah, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Parma’s uncle, Tamanis. Thank you for taking care of my younger brother, Sabinos.”
“It’s nice to meet you. By the way, what is Parma doing here at the capital? Does the store in Gracia not need her?” Cain was curious as to why Parma had left her father behind and come to the capital.
“I’m here at my uncle’s store to gain experience. I came here with my dad when he ordered new goods.”
“I see. Then we’re probably going to be seeing a lot of each other from here on out.”
“Master Cain, you’re here for the debut party, right?”
“Yeah, my elder sister is also enrolling in the academy this year, so the entire family will be staying here. I was planning to head back to Gracia after the debut, but on our way here a lot happened, and His Majesty saw fit to ennoble me and grant me an estate here in the capital.”
“Master Cain is now an independent noble and can lead his own family?! That’s incredible news!” Parma clapped her hands in front of her chest with sparkling eyes. Tamanis already struggled to interact with Cain after learning he was the son of a margrave—learning he had a noble title himself just made Tamanis shrink back even more.
“Thank you. Let’s continue to get along.”
Cain looked around the store. It mainly sold miscellaneous goods as well as some wood-crafted products. Seeing the wood-crafted products, Cain thought about the leisure product the gods had tasked him with creating. Perhaps they could help him create a version of Othello here. Cain had a good impression of Parma, her father Sabinos, and her uncle Tamanis, so he decided to give it a shot.
“Parma, Tamanis, I have something I’d like to discuss with you, if you’re okay with it. I’m thinking of producing a leisure product. I was wondering if you would be interested in manufacturing and selling it.”
Tamanis instantly switched to merchant mode upon hearing Cain’s words.
“Master Cain, please come to the back. We can discuss further there.”
There was a drawing room within the store specifically created for business discussions. Tamanis offered Cain a seat and provided him with some parchment. Cain started sketching out his idea. He drew an eight-by-eight grid and noted that sixty-four round pieces painted black on one side and white the other were necessary. He also outlined the rules of the game.
“The game will be called Othello. I’d like you to create a prototype first. I’ll then register it and leave the manufacturing and selling of this product to you. What do you think?”
“Yes, of course.” Tamanis, who was breathing heavily, vigorously nodded. “Please entrust this matter with us. If the manufacturing and selling of this is left entirely to us, then you’ll only receive twenty percent of sales as an inventor’s fee. Is that acceptable? That is the typical percentage used when contracting with the God of Commerce. To break it down further, thirty percent goes to material costs, ten percent to sales tax, twenty percent to transportation costs, and twenty percent to the company’s expenses.”
Tamanis explained how the contract would work. The conditions were acceptable to Cain, so he agreed.
“That’s enough for me. Let me know when you finish the prototype and I’ll review it. I’ll also teach you how it’s played. Here’s some funding to cover development costs.” Cain took a small pouch from his breast pocket and fished out a gold coin, placing it on the table. He had received ten platinum in total as a reward from the king, but as he rarely spent money it had simply been gathering dust in his Item Box. Spending a single gold coin wouldn’t affect him much.
“That’s too much!” Tamanis said, as he hurriedly attempted to return the coin.
“Please view this as an advance payment,” Cain explained with a smile. “After I’ve finished checking the prototype you create, you’ll have to start mass-producing them. You can use this money to cover those costs. You can pay me back after you strike it rich.”
Tamanis got up from his chair and straightened himself. He then placed his right hand over his chest and gave Cain a determined look. “Very well, then! Leave this matter with us. We of Saracaen Company, including my brother, will give it our all and see it done!”
“Once you’ve finished the prototype, contact the Silford residence. I’ll come visit you afterwards.”
Their discussions complete, Cain told them that he was currently in the middle of shopping with his family and had to return.
Cain left the store and found Reine and Sarah waiting for him outside by their carriage. They had apparently finished shopping and Sebas was loading their garments into the carriage. Reine had an angry look on her face.
“Jeez! Cain, where did you vanish off to? I wanted you to comment on the outfits I was trying on!”
“You can show me your outfits back at home, elder sister,” Cain responded with a smile. “Trying them on at the store isn’t enough to know anything.”
“Jeez! Look forward to it when we get home, then!”
Cain had hoped she’d forget, but Reine dragged him off as soon as they got home. Cain was powerless to stop her. She tried on all the new clothes she had bought, one by one, and had Cain evaluate each and every outfit. It took roughly two hours.