TBE Chapter 91

TBE Chapter 91

The market was the same as any other market that Ezekiel had seen in all the villages that they had passed through. It was in some sort of plaza surrounded by houses. The villager who was guiding them was some sort of relative of the village chief and they were asked to pay five copper coins to sell their items in the market.

Ezekiel found it weird, though, that the man didn’t try to find out what they would be selling, but Simon did tell the villagers at the entrance of the village that Ezekiel was a woodworker but the man who was guiding them wasn’t present when Simon disclosed that information.

He wasn’t even sure if the five copper fee was an actual fee or just some sort of kickback that the man took from them, but Ezekiel didn’t mind since it was just five copper coins.

They chose a corner between a fruit seller and a vegetable seller since it was wide enough for their cart. Then Simon led Prince Charming behind their cart and tied it to a nearby tree. At first, the vegetable and fruit seller looked like they wanted to complain because of the donkey’s nearness, but when they saw that Simon was a little intimidating and that the man was diligent in cleaning after Prince Charming’s excrement, both merchants just nodded.

Since it was already ten in the morning, it was considered very late in the market, so there were plenty of people there already. Some of the villagers were curious enough to watch him, Simon, and his brothers prepare their cart so they could display the items that Ezekiel purchased from the system store.   

The preparation was simple enough. Ezekiel and his group just put the display cases that he had made before on top of the large storage chest, then put the wooden knickknacks from the system store to be displayed in the display cases. He also put the price of each item on a post-it note and attached it to the items.

This time, Ezekiel increased the prices by twenty percent, so those who wanted to haggle could do so for the maximum discount of twenty percent. It only took Ezekeil and his group a few minutes to display all their products, and when they were done, he allowed the boys to run off. Of course, they were followed by Yuki Onna to make sure that they were guarded all the time.

Simon remained there, trying to look intimidating since he was acting as Ezekiel’s bodyguard. The moment Ezekiel put in the sign that the store was open, the villagers, most the women approached his makeshift store and began studying the items he was selling.

Ezekiel and Simon kept hearing the villager women’s praises regarding the knickknacks that Ezekiel was selling, and it was understandable since most of them were made by modern-day Earth’s machines and that meant that the cut of every curve was precise and clean. He also chose items that weren’t painted but retained the original color of the wood at most were mostly coated by varnish.

There were breadboards, picture frames, pencil and notebook holders, jewelry boxes, cute chests, wooden vases, mini foldable ladders, foldable chairs, and foldable tables that were small enough to be considered as children’s furniture or toys, wooden decorative planters, and more. Each of the items that Ezekiel chose was unique and aesthetically pleasing, and all of them together only cost him 20 silver coins. If he sold all of them, he would earn a total of 1 gold coin.

Most of the prospective buyers asked for a discount. Ezekiel would start with five percent, and then the haggling would begin. If the buyer reached the allotted 20 percent markup, Ezekiel would resolutely stop, but mostly, by the time buyers reached a 10 percent discount, they would be happy enough to purchase the items.

Ezekiel knew that the main reason why his item was popular was because of the novelty of the villagers seeing something new, unique, and beautiful, and they also knew that something like the products that he was selling would only come in maybe a few times in their lives. The villagers weren’t foolish though that they would spend good coins on something worthless. They studied each of the items minutely and in detail, and everyone who looked at what Ezekiel was selling knew that the items were sturdy enough that they could be considered heirlooms.

By the time Ezekiel put up the sign that the store was closing for lunch, they manage to sell a lot of the items and he knew that by the end of the day, everything would be sold out.

Hiding behind one of the large chest, Ezekiel discreetly retrieved their lunch from his 4th tab space and then asked Yuki Onna to call his brothers. Soon, Robert and Luke arrived together with a veritable army of children although at a second look, there were only around five of them.

When the villagers’ children saw that Robert and Luke were preparing to eat lunch with their brother, they all ran off, probably to go home to eat food at home or something. The moment they were done with lunch, Robert and Luke ran off again to play with the children from the village, with Yuki Onna looking after them through the trees.

At first, Ezekiel asked Simon if Robert and Luke would be fine in the village, and their guardian just nodded, which confirmed the fact that most villages were safe enough for his brothers to play in. Simon did say that he was told by the older serfs that only the towns or the larger cities would be dangerous enough to allow children to play by themselves, especially if they’re not local.

They reopened their makeshift shop, and by four in the afternoon, everything was sold out. He earned a total of 1 gold and 12 silver coins. After that, Ezekiel and Simon cleaned up everything. They planned to leave the village and travel far enough away so that Ezekiel could conjure his Galder’s Towers since they were infinitely more comfortable than any inn located at villages. Some villages didn’t even have an inn.

After everything was cleaned, Simon hitched Prince Charming to their cart and began driving it outside the village. Ezekiel asked Yuki Onna to fetch his brothers, and soon Robert and Luke met them on the way outside the village. As usual, their villager friends followed them and kept waving goodbye at them. Whenever he saw that, Ezekiel hoped that they would find a home soon where Robert and Luke could create lifelong friends with and wouldn’t have to separate with them.

“How much did we earn?” Robert asked.

“1 gold coin and 12 silver coins!” Ezekiel boasted, and even Simon gasped, even though he was there with him while he was selling items.

“The villagers are so rich!” Luke said, and Ezekiel was glad that his youngest brother’s speech was now developing normally.

“Mostly because the items that I’m selling are unique. If we stay here, I probably would not be able to sell as much items the next day and by the third day, I probably wouldn’t be able to sell anything,” He told his brothers.

The sun was setting when they were far enough away from the village that Ezekiel and Simon felt it was safe enough for him to conjure their houses, so Simon drove their cart into the forest and stopped on the next clearing that was large enough for Ezekiel to cast the Galder’s Tower spell.

When their houses appeared, Robert and Luke ran upstairs to the washroom to play while Ezekiel and Simon began cleaning the cart and Prince Charming. After the donkey was fed, he asked Simon to go to the washroom to bathe while Ezekiel completed casting all the spells that he usually cast to protect them.

Yuki Onna was among the trees, making sure that no one could approach them unknowingly. He also awakened the butcher knives with the Tiny Servant spell as an added bodyguard, then he went to the third floor to bathe. Robert, Luke, and Simon were already on the second floor playing one of the board games that Ezekiel had purchased before, which was the Snakes and Ladders game. The game was simple enough, and the pictures on the board were amusing. Even Simon was enjoying a board game, and looking at him looking like a mature man laughing with Robert and Luke made the scene made him feel a little uncomfortable, but it wasn’t too bad since it only looked like Simon was playing with his sons or younger relatives.  

When he was done bathing, Ezekiel headed directly to the first floor. At first, he intentionally let the three boys continue with their play, but probably because they were already hungry, they followed him into the dining room.

Then they started their nightly lesson, which made the boys disappointed since they thought it was time for dinner. After the lessons, Ezekiel made an announcement.

“Since we earned some coins today, we’ll celebrate by having a hamburger and soda night!”

Robert and Luke cheered because they knew what a hamburger was, and Simon just followed the boys.

Ezekiel purchased six huge hamburgers filled with all the accompanying ingredients and three liters of soda. He spent a whopping 2 silver coins that night for their food celebration.

When the hamburgers filled with all the ingredients one could think of and the soda appeared, Luke started drooling while Robert clapped his hands. Simon looked at the burgers with wide eyes and mouth open and asked what kind of food they were looking at.

Ezekiel briefly explained what a burger was, and soon they started eating. He was amused when Simon began crying while muttering that it was the most delicious food he had ever eaten.