It seemed that it wasn’t too peaceful in the elven lands. After the war, the elves’ Queen wanted to put in place open-minded policies, but wasn’t accepted by all elves. Most of them wanted chose to be conservative. The conservative elves wanted to live in peace in the forest. They had no intention of interacting with humanity in any shape or form. They may have just joined hands in an alliance, but elves still didn’t like humans. Lucia, an elf who fought alongside humanity, wasn’t willing to open up and get along with humans, either. By the looks of things, the conservative faction had decided to overthrow the Queen. Subsequently, it appeared that elves would continue closing themselves off and avoiding interaction with humans.
It wasn’t my place to interfere with the elves’ circumstance; however, I figured that if Lucia succeeded, then her conservative faction would gain the most power among elves. In that scenario, though, they wouldn’t interact with humans, Lucia and Veirya would still be on good terms. In that case, Lucia would be able to guarantee that elven goods were only transported to Veirya’s place, but wouldn’t trade with others. That, in turn, would create a monopoly.
Nonetheless, I stand by my word: I couldn’t guarantee that Lucia would succeed. If she failed, I would’ve dug Veirya a hole by helping Lucia. I was still broke; I couldn’t take on such a risky trade. I didn’t want to help Lucia, but I wanted the fat return on investment from the elves.
That wasn’t a secure investment, sadly. When I don’t have money, I’d be happy to make a gamble, but when I do have money, I’d choose a secure investment, especially now that I was in a situation where I couldn’t afford to suffer a loss. The flavouring trade was a more secure investment this time.
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Current time on the streets…
Veirya lowered her head. She looked at Leah, who Veirya tightly held the hand of, “Leah, you said. A child. Likes food and pretty clothes.”
Leah sighed then nodded. In truth, Leah didn’t know what a girl was supposed to buy on the streets. With that said, she knew more about girls than Veirya did. From Leah’s standpoint, she’d be very happy just to be able to eat tasty food and wear clothes with nice colours.
“Let’s go buy clothes, then.”
Veirya sternly nodded. She then tightened her grip on Leah’s hand and continued forward. She didn’t know if there was clothing for purchase on the specific street; she only knew that you could buy things on the street. Additionally, her only experience with shopping for clothes was last time when she went to shop for clothes with Lin Dongqing. Also, when they bought the clothes, he said a whole bunch of stuff that she didn’t quite understand.
“Do we have to say those things when we shop for clothes?” wondered Veirya.
The two of them walked along the street for a while. Leah, who had sharp eyes, noticed a store with a sign hung out with one glance. Though she didn’t exactly understand humanity’s text, judging from the cloth hung outside, she presumed that they sold clothes. Veirya paused; then, she took Leah in.
It wasn’t a large store, but the store depth was quite impressive. The lined up wooden stands were set out around the shop in lines. There was cloth and material to prevent the goods getting wet that had yet to be removed. The store wasn’t decorated. Judging from its appearance, the owner must have simply set up shop for the meantime and lined up their goods. There was no clothing hanging on the walls. The clothes were probably in the wooden chests that had yet to be open. Presumably, the store had yet to be completely up and running.
Hearing the sounds at the entrance, a man came out from the back of the shop. He smiled at Veirya, “Ah, Lord Veirya, hello. Our store is not in business, yet. Come back in a few days’ time.”
Veirya calmly looked at him, “Buy clothes.”
The owner looked at Veirya whilst feeling awkward, “Ah… yes… but, we are not in business, yet… our goods have no compl-“
Veirya tilted her head. In a very puzzled tone, she responded, “Buy clothes. Don’t you have stuff here? Why not sell?”
“No… we have not yet…”
Veirya’s patience had run dry. She looked at the man and coldly demanded, “Sell to us.”
The man was scared stiff by Veirya’s gaze. He fearfully took two steps back then paused for a moment before responding, “H-H-How about we make you some…? Umm… see what sort of material you like… you…”
Veirya released Leah’s hand and said to her, “Leah, choose. What material.”
Leah looked at the owner with sympathy. However, she was soon distracted by the allure of the stuff around. The owner pulled off the material used to prevent the clothes from getting wet, thereby revealing the beautiful and colourful variety of materials underneath the sunlight. This place didn’t have the strong atmosphere of ascetic monks as it did with the chapel. The materials at the store came in lots of colours. It was Leah’s first time seeing so many colours. She found herself at a loss for how to choose. Veirya didn’t rush her. She, instead, silently stood in place and watched Leah run around.
The owner wasn’t worried about Leah damaging the materials. Instead, he went up to Veirya. With a smile, he remarked, “Your daughter is truly very pretty. She will grow up to be like you. She is our most captivating flower.”
“Daughter?” repeated Veirya, who then lingered. She looked at Leah’s back. “I am her, mom?”
The man lowered his voice, “Are you not? I always see her father taking her around. This is the first time I have seen you take her shopping. However, Lord Veirya, please do not reprimand me for being nosy. I saw that man with an elf just before. They looked as though they were very close.”
Veirya nodded and gave a cold response, “All right. I will deal with it.”
“I want this colour! I want this colour!! This colour is so pretty! This colour is the same as a morning glory. I want this! I want this colour!”
Leah suddenly came running back with joy. With a bit of cloth that looked to be a blend of light purple and white. She ran up to Veirya with a bright smile and instinctively went to grab hold of Veirya’s hand. But nonetheless, she realised it before she did and blankly looked at Veirya, instead. The smile on her face gradually disappeared. Her smile was replaced with an angry look, a result of feeling ashamed. Thus, she retreated two steps. Veirya continued looking at her with an expressionless look. Nevertheless, she looked at Leah very seriously. Veirya’s gaze began to frighten Leah, so she continued retreating.
“That colour, then.”
“What did you want? I can make formal wear, normal clothes for winter and summer and sleepwear. I can make two per type. Which type were you after?”
“I want every type. Two. Of every type. Other colours, too. White and black.”
That might arguably be the most Veirya had ever said in one go. The owner looked at Veirya with a stunned expression, “Th-That is too much, no…?”
“No. Make them.”
“All right, then… all right. Miss, please follow me to the rear so that I can take your measurements.”
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