Episode 121: I came to do some business. (2)
Claude tilted his head at the awkward reaction.
“If you want to sell cosmetics, don’t you have to be friendly with the nobility?”
“How many people would be friends with a poor baron? And do you think the nobles would trust and use you just because you’re friends with them? They’d probably throw you all away. You didn’t want to use them at first either.”
“But if you’re going to sell it to the nobles, shouldn’t you at least let them know that this exists?”
Jiselle shook her head.
“That’s true, but it’s no use for us to come forward and spread the word. We need to let the nobles find out on their own. Let’s find a place to stay first. It won’t be too late to promote it later.”
Claude nodded, feeling uneasy.
“It might cost a bit of money, but how about buying a building near the castle… in the city center?”
“high street?”
“Yes, a mansion is fine. No, a fancy mansion would be better for selling luxury items to nobles.”
The nobles never visit the regular shops frequented by commoners.
If you need something sold in such a place, send a servant to buy it.
For expensive and good items, we trade in person, just like going to a social gathering.
“That’s right. Whether it’s a mansion or a store, if you’re only going to deal with nobles, it’s best to decorate it as extravagantly as possible.”
Belinda also chimed in from the side.
It was a correct answer. But Jiselle’s reaction was still lukewarm.
“If you want to buy a nice house in the center of this neighborhood, you’ll need to spend about a year’s budget on our estate. Don’t you know how expensive things are here?”
Claude asked again, his mouth pursed in regret.
“That’s true, but… … we have to secure a place in the capital anyway.”
“Of course, we need to find a large mansion with a garden. We need to house the staff and store the carts. The cheaper the better. We can look for a place on the outskirts.”
“Then where do you plan to sell the items?”
“I said I’m going to buy a mansion. You can sell your stuff there for the time being.”
“It looks like it’s too cheap for a luxury item. Why would the nobles buy it?”
Jiselle said with a snicker.
“That doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, they’ll come rushing in with a wad of money.”
“Oh my, even though he has a lot of money, he’s still really stingy at times like this. Let’s first check if there’s any listings. It’s not my fault if no customers show up later.”
From the next day, Claude began searching the entire capital city in search of a decent mansion.
The downtown area near Wangseong had extremely high prices, but there were no properties for sale in the first place.
However, Claude, who could not give up his foolishness and gradually expanded his territory centered around the royal palace, eventually found a large mansion on the outskirts.
“A large, beautiful mansion, spacious and with a garden, just as you want.”
The broker smiled broadly and described the house in front of him.
But people couldn’t hide their uneasy feelings as they looked around.
It is very spacious. There is a garden. The mansion is tall and large. And most importantly, the price is cheap.
The problem was… … there was an ominous aura throughout the entire mansion, as if it were a house inhabited by vampires.
The flowers in the garden were gray and withered, as if all their life had been sucked out of them. Even in broad daylight, an unpleasant aura seemed to be emanating from the shadows of the dense trees around them.
Belinda looked at the broker with a blank expression.
“Is this the best?”
“This is the only spacious, large, and cheap house in the capital.”
“No, what on earth is the state of the mansion like this?”
“Haha, that’s probably because it’s not touched by humans. It’s just that the rumors about this place are not good. But they’re just rumors. It’s nothing special.”
There is a rumor that the spirits of those who died unjustly linger here.
I wondered why there were no people around this huge mansion.
Belinda cried out as if there was nothing more to see.
“Master, just look somewhere else! How can you live in a place like this and feel uncomfortable? You’ll just end up getting tired!”
A flock of crows cawing in the mansion as if responding to Belinda’s words.
Caw! Caw!
“Look, they think I’m right!”
Giselle looked around carefully, regardless of Belinda’s objections, then nodded to the broker.
“Okay, let’s take this house. How much is it? You said it’s cheap?”
“Your Majesty! If you sleep in this house, you might die from having all your mana sucked out!”
“How could that be? If anything comes out, it’ll probably be some undead. What’s there to be afraid of if you can just beat them up?”
Jiselle groaned and tapped the broker.
“Why aren’t you answering? How much is it?”
“Oh my, that’s an excellent choice. This house… … including the land, was easily worth over a thousand gold. However, considering that it hasn’t been well-maintained, I’ll give it to you for just 500 gold.”
The broker smiled happily. He felt relieved at the thought of finally selling this beloved item.
Considering the cries of those around you, I boldly lowered the price, so you won’t be able to not buy it.
At this point, it’s almost like giving it away for free, but… …as long as it sells, that’s fine.
But the broker didn’t know.
How unconventional is Giselle.
“200 gold.”
“yes?”
“I won’t buy it unless it’s 200 gold.”
Jiselle added with a grin.
The broker waved his hands in horror.
“No, that won’t do! Oh my god, you want to buy a mansion like this for 200 gold? Even 500 gold is a huge discount!”
“What good is a big mansion? It won’t sell anyway. Then just sell it somewhere else.”
“No, that’s… … . We honestly just left it alone because we were busy with other things, but if we wanted to sell it, we could. If we wanted to, we could push it away. Do you think we couldn’t?”
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A broker with a long history in the industry tried to show his courage.
Of course, it didn’t work on Giselle.
“Gisselle said with a sneer.
“Who said you couldn’t do it? If you wanted to, you could. But there must be a reason why you haven’t done it until now.”
“that……!”
“The bad rumors have already spread, and if we tear down the mansion, we’ll have to pay more to the workers. Even if we do that and get rid of everything, do you think anyone would live in a place that’s rumored to be haunted?”
“that is……!”
“No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense, so isn’t that why I just left it alone until now?”
“therefore……!”
The broker, whose true intentions were completely revealed, rolled his eyes and broke out in a cold sweat.
Jiselle patted his shoulder and whispered.
“Oh, this guy is not communicating well. If you’ve come this far, you should move quickly.”
“No, but still 200 gold… … .”
“Well, it’s less urgent. Okay. Let’s go look somewhere else.”
As Jiselle turned around, the group followed her without hesitation. No one tried to stop her.
“Okay, just a moment! I’ll lower the price a little bit.”
The broker shouted urgently.
Even after shouting, I thought, “Oh no,” but it was already too late.
Jiselle looked back leisurely and warned.
“You have to think carefully before you speak. You only get one chance. If you don’t like it, I’ll really go this time.”
“… … .”
The broker who was about to call 300 gold shed tears of blood inside.
I wondered if I could catch a pig, but it turned out I could.
The broker went to great lengths to sell this mansion.
I even tried to ask the noble to give it to me for free, but I was politely but cleanly rejected.
I can’t even sleep properly these days because I’m thinking about what to do with this troublesome land.
It may not be just my imagination that my forehead has gotten noticeably wider recently.
‘Let’s just sell it. Then at least I can sleep well at night!’
The broker, who had been thinking for a moment, eventually nodded his head weakly.
“I will sell it for 200 gold.”
“I thought about it carefully.”
Caw! Caw!
Crows circled above the mansion, cawing as if welcoming its new owner.
* * *
The contract progressed at a rapid pace.
It was the result of the minds of Giselle, who wanted to buy a big mansion cheaply, and the broker, who wanted to sell it quickly, coming together.
Belinda and Claude sighed and grumbled behind Giselle as she wrote the contract.
“Why on earth are you buying a house like this? You should buy a house that is a little smaller but still comfortable.”
“Who would come to a house like this to buy something?”
Jiselle smiled brightly, ignoring the people’s complaints.
“I told you, it’s okay. Those are all superstitions and rumors. Do you think you can buy such a big and spacious mansion at this price? You have to live frugally.”
“Alas, who can stop the stubborn young master?”
“Okay, let’s go in first.”
Jiselle opened the door forcefully.
Kkiiiiiiaaaah!
Claude shrugged at the screaming sound. In this house, even the sound of the door opening is creepy.
Jiselle looked around and nodded.
“Hey, it’s really big. It just needs some cleaning and repairs. If you decorate it appropriately, it’ll be really nice… … ”
“Eww! That thing! What is that thing! It’s a monster!”
“Gyaaaaah! Attack! Attack!”
Suddenly Belinda and Claude screamed and jumped back.
“Oh my! This is surprising! What is it?”
When Giselle got annoyed, Claude started fussing and pointed to a corner of the lobby.
There was something standing in the darkness with long, flowing hair.
Jiselle, who had instinctively placed her hand on the hilt of the sword, examined it closely and smiled in vain.
“What? It’s just armor.”
A rich duster hung over the old suit of armor. It looked exquisitely human in the dark corner.
Only then did the other group members confirm the identity of the monster and smile sheepishly in relief.
“Okay, now that we have a place to stay, let’s start with cleaning and repairs. Let’s also hire some laborers. And let’s chase out all the baby crows inside the house.”
Caw?
At Giselle’s command, people sighed and started moving.
After a while, several mercenaries who had gone out to rescue the laborers returned with troubled expressions on their faces.
“It’s not easy to find workers.”
Because the rumor of ghosts was so widespread, even if you offered them extra money, the workers wouldn’t come.
Everyone shook their heads, unless they were really in need of money.
I had no choice but to buy the materials myself and have mercenaries and servants do the repairs.
Thanks to the large number of people who followed Jiselle, the mansion repairs were completed in three days.
Of course, it wasn’t decorated as extravagantly and splendidly as other noble mansions.
I just filled it with daily necessities so that I could stay there for the time being and cleaned it thoroughly.
Still, the gloomy atmosphere is much less than it was at first.
If the garden, which had turned gray, was completely cleared out, the image of a ghost town would disappear completely, but unlike the interior, garden maintenance was a problem that could not be solved in a short period of time.
“Let’s fix the garden later. Let’s help those guys then. I guess I’ll have to live with them for the time being.”
Caw! Caw!
Unfortunately, we couldn’t chase away all the crows.
After kicking out all the people living inside and installing new windows, no one came into the mansion again.
But the expelled ones settled down in the garden and showed no intention of leaving.
“But now that we have enough to make a decent living, let’s start promoting the cosmetics. We have to sell them quickly.”
“What are you going to do? You said you weren’t even going to attend the banquet.”
“Let’s give gifts to every noble mansion in the capital.”
“… … Cosmetics?”
“huh.”
“Heh heh… … .”
Claude barely managed to hold back his scream and let out a deep breath.
“So… … you’re saying that if I just give it as a gift, it will be considered publicity?”
“yes.”
Claude couldn’t stand it anymore and finally screamed.
“No! Even if you ask me to use it, I won’t use it. Do you think I would use it if you gave it to me as a gift? I’d feel bad so I’ll just throw it away!”
“Of course nobles would be like that.”
“Someone who knows!”
Jiselle smiled, stroking her chin.
“It will not be sent to the nobles, but to the servants who work under them.”
