"I'm sorry, but I'm sold out for the day!"
By the time the rush reached its peak, it felt as if the whole city learned the news and rushed over.
Never in my wildest dreams did I expect the sensation to grow so big.
It was as if the news were making waves, with each housewife released into the wild only increasing the rate of it happening.
The massive stock that I worked three long days to prepare?
Gone, in half a day.
Seven pigs' worth of soap just vanished, reducing my stock to a round zero.
But it was all worth it.
With four gold coins spent on the pigs, renting the warehouse, all sorts of materials and then the marketplace fee, I've only had about a single gold coin left. Fifteen silvers worth. Nine hundred bronzes.
Just enough to make an attempt, desperately small as it would have to be, at selling something.
But by now, I've nearly made my investment back tenfold!
And all of that… with one hell of a pile of meat for me left to give a final fry and sell out.
But by now, there was absolutely no need for me to do that. And just for the sake of building up good relations with the public…
"Since I'm off to prepare more soap, I will leave all this meat here!" I called out, instantly getting everyone to look over.
By now, the whole area filled in with people, making me feel weirdly small and vulnerable in the middle of it all.
And if that wasn't enough, I could already see some sort of officials making their way through the crowd to inspect what the hell was going on.
"If possible, I want everyone to just enjoy this as a gift. I should be back sometime soon with more soap! And in the meantime…"
I turned to the two guards that pushed through the crowd and arrived right at my stall.
"Gentlemen, if you could oversee the donation of all this leftover meat, I would love to let you collect voluntary donations for the sake of my appreciation of this town's magistrates and rules they enforce for everyone's benefit."
A mix of a hefty bribe and ass-licking so good it was to kill for.
Make them collect donations over food that wasn't theirs, before calling them heroes for doing so.
There was no sweeter nectar to the two guards that reached me first.
Then, came the turn of the officials.
"I'm afraid this stall doesn't fit the criteria of your tax bracket, buddy."
Contrary to the guards, those guys were smuggishly confident, as if nothing in this place would even dare to entertain the thought of opposing or refusing them.
"Ah, just in time!" I clasped my hands together with an almost jovial yelp. "I was wondering when I will get to talk to you. If possible, I would like to open a proper stall here. Could you please help me out?"
With the crowd still present, I could almost feel the sum of all the stares that instantly weighed them down.
It was one thing to profiteer on the job. But now that the public saw something they all greatly wanted to keep, not even guards or officials could interfere too much for their own perceived goals or benefits.
In the end, I just had to pay them off. And thanks to a good day of sales, I had just the money to do so.
Which all tied to my next goal - establishing my company.
It was one thing to sell stuff from a half-mobile stall. But to trade from within a proper shop?
That came with its own prestige… while also gatekeeping me from reaching the next stage of my company's development. Or, what was even more interesting, the rewards that waited beyond my current realm.
Which is why I was perfectly happy to pay everyone off to just get things done.
The comparative cost of all the bribes simply couldn't compare to the profits I stood to gain from completing my missions!
By all means, it was the perfect case of win-win-and for everyone involved- win.
"In that case, please, clean up your station and pay a visit to the trading guild," the official happily stepped back before pointing out with his arm. "You need to reach that intersection and turn right, that's where you will find the building. And if possible, we would like to escort you there right now."
I nearly laughed the man in the face.
I was quite clear on what was happening.
Someone saw the money I made. And now I would find out whether they just wanted a share or were out for my blood.
"Actually, there's a shop I'm thinking of renting. So, could we maybe just deal with it while I go there to check it out?"
With my money in my pocket and the stall, the skewers, all of it rather cheap, I could just shrug and leave.
The meat would be gone within two hours. And it wouldn't be even a quarter of an hour before someone would steal the whole stall for parts.
"After a hard day at work, you still have the strength to go location-hunting?" one of the officials commented with amazement.
A comment the context of which wasn't lost on me.
So they knew for how long I continued with my sales, all the way to the point where I sold all thousand of my soap bars!
Just over a hundred customers.
And with the profits from the skewers, my fortune grew to nearly forty-five golden coins!
An armed escort and a way to spend this money before something were to happen for me to just lose it, though?
There was no way I would let such an opportunity pass!
"The property I'm interested in, is number seventy-four…" I squinted my eyes as I attempted to recall the exact address that came up in one of the conversations I had while making the sale. "East avenue?"
A look of understanding flashed in the officials' eyes. Then, it grew into a seed of respect.
"Let's do just that, then," the other official nodded his head before turning towards the east. "For that property, it's going to be three gold coins weekly rent, and a gold coin worth of weekly tax. If your business will be successful, you will also assume responsibility for the part of the street assigned to the business."
Before we could even make a first step, the official already started to explain everything.
"In other words, after adding all sorts of miscellaneous costs, you need at least five gold coins a week just to upkeep that location. Are you really sure that's something you can afford out of pocket?"
I merely smiled at the suggestion.
"That's perfectly fine with me. The one caveat here, though," I added as I pulled four gold coins and fifteen silver ones to make up for the missing fifth gold. "I…"
The moment I started, my vision coiled again.
The reality stirred.
And the act of settling the deal that established my company was enough for the last mission to pop, causing my whole system to enter the next phase.