Chapter 17 …
About fifteen minutes later.
A village marketplace bustling with countless passersby.
Business was going extremely well.
“Everyone! How about a basket of strawberries that are great for your skin?”
First, Lysian used his face to draw in customers. Then, nine out of ten people passing by got caught by his good looks and wandered over as if enchanted.
On the makeshift stall, there was a large basket filled with strawberries labeled For Sale, and beside it, a smaller basket holding strawberries labeled For Tasting.
“Here, one per person—please have a taste!”
I handed out strawberries one by one to the gathered crowd. A few people flinched when they noticed my hair color, but that was all—just mild surprise.
They were probably all thinking the same thing.
Why would that wicked woman of Terni come to a market like this? Must just be someone with a similar hair color.
Thankfully, in a remote town like this, there weren’t many people who knew Muriel’s appearance exactly.
Even the name “Muriel” wasn’t widely known, so people only remembered her vaguely as the wicked woman of Terni or the lord’s evil wife.
And it seemed the rumor that Muriel had been exiled to the polluted lands hadn’t spread much yet.
“Wow, these strawberries are amazing.”
“They’re really sweet and tangy!”
“I’ve never had strawberries like this before!”
The people who tasted them widened their eyes and burst into exclamations of amazement.
I put on a smug expression, as if I’d known this would happen.
That’s right.
I trusted the flavor of the strawberries I’d grown…!
Once you tasted these special strawberries, there was no way you’d just walk past them!
“How much is one basket of strawberries?”
“Seven rubels~”
Rubels were the currency commonly used throughout the entire Altera continent.
Seven rubels was roughly equivalent to about 9,000 won.
By Korean standards, it wasn’t that expensive—but here…
“Isn’t it a bit pricey?”
“Yeah…”
I’d expected that reaction.
I cleared my throat and spoke up.
“If you buy strawberries right now, you get these fresh vegetables here at a whopping 50% discount!”
And one more thing.
“If you buy two baskets of strawberries, I’ll give you one more basket for free!”
That’s right—the most tempting sales tactic of all… buy two, get one free.
Even selling them like this, I was still making a profit. Why?
Because it cost me nothing—no fertilizer, no time, no labor!
The only labor involved was planting the seedlings and harvesting, so it wasn’t even hard. And the time it took for the crops to grow was shortened with my farming skill.
There were no taxes or land rent to pay either. The polluted lands belonged to no one.
And there was a reason I was selling the vegetables at a 50% discount.
There are way too many people selling vegetables!
Everyone seemed to have a home garden, laying out seasonal root vegetables to sell.
Naturally, when many people sell the same items, competition gets tough.
So you’re left with just two options: be better at selling than others, or sell cheaper.
“Well, it’s a bit expensive, but it’s so good… it’d be a shame to just pass by.”
“I think buying one basket would be okay.”
“What do you think, dear? Should we try just one basket?”
That was when it happened. Pushing through the hesitant crowd, a burly middle-aged man thrust out a wad of money and shouted boldly,
“Hey, shopkeeper! Give me two baskets of strawberries!”
“Thank you very much, sir!”
I answered promptly and quickly packed three baskets of strawberries into a paper box, handing it to him.
Then a large silver coin landed squarely in my palm—a single ten-rubel coin.
The fierce-looking man laughed heartily, clearly in a good mood.
“I’m forty years old, and my wife’s having a late baby! Fruit’s the best thing for a pregnant woman, you know! Sell lots, shopkeeper! You can keep the change!”
His voice was so loud it felt like it was battering my eardrums.
Thanks to that, people who had been about to pass by glanced over to see what was going on. Perfect advertising.
I clasped my hands together and silently prayed for the generous man and his wife.
Thank you, sir! I hope your wife stays healthy too!
After that, business wrapped up in great success. You know how it is—when you’re debating whether to buy something, and someone boldly buys it first, you suddenly think, Should I buy one too?
Thanks to that man who broke the ice, people rushed to buy strawberries and vegetables, and in less than an hour, the stall was completely empty.
Both the strawberries and the vegetables were sold out.
“Eighty… eighty-two… eighty-three…”
At the moment, Lysian and I were counting the money together.
I handled the rubels, while Lysian took care of the smaller denomination called delins.
“All done. A total of 3,456 delins.”
“Al—already?”
I stared at Lysian in shock at the unbelievable speed.
In front of him, copper-colored coins were stacked neatly like a tower.
“Are you not finished yet, Muriel? Should I help you?”
“No, I’ll do it.”
If someone jumped in while I was counting, I felt like I’d get confused. I widened my eyes and focused intently on counting the silver coins.
A short while later—
“All done!”
I neatly gathered the money on the stall and clapped my hands together.
Altogether, it came to 259 rubels and 56 delins.
With that amount, we could buy everything we needed and still have money left over. It was a bountiful harvest!
“Did you make a lot of money, Master? Nini doesn’t really understand human-world things…”
The spirit peeked her head out of my pocket and asked in a small voice.
I smiled and gently patted the water-drop-shaped spirit.
“Yeah. I made quite a lot.”
“That’s great! I’m really glad!”
As expected, Ninabel was a bit foolish and affection-starved, but she had a kind heart. She was happy for me as if it were her own success.
“It’s already four o’clock. Let’s look around the market, buy some snacks, and find an inn before it gets too late.”
“Sounds good. I was getting hungry anyway.”
“Pick anything you want to eat! I’ll buy everything!”
When I shouted excitedly, Lysian let out a soft chuckle. The look he gave me was so gentle and warm it made my chest itch.
I subtly avoided his gaze and walked ahead—but I didn’t get far before he caught me.
“You shouldn’t walk alone in a crowded place like this, Muriel.”
“……”
He gently took my hand. No—at some point, his fingers slipped between mine and locked tightly.
Our fingers intertwined firmly, our palms pressed together without a gap. The spot where we touched felt hotter than usual.
For some reason, I felt like running away.
But it was undeniable that walking hand in hand like this was safer.
So, sweating nervously, I had no choice but to pretend everything was normal as we toured the market.
“Freshly baked bread! Just out of the oven—nice and warm!”
“Salt, pepper, spices, and tea leaves for sale!”
“Come see today’s catch from dawn! Fresh sea fish!”
The market was an absolute madhouse. Merchants were shouting everywhere, making my ears ring and my head spin.
To think I managed to run a successful business in a place like this… Was I actually more skilled than I’d thought?
It’s not just luck… Muriel’s luck stat is terrifyingly low, after all.
But when I thought about it carefully, that part felt strange too.
Despite having abysmally negative luck, since adapting to this world, I couldn’t really recall having bad luck…
If anything, things had gone well.
Is all of this thanks to the system god’s blessing?
I glanced at the empty air, half-expecting a message to pop up. Right on cue, a blue window appeared.
(¬‿¬)
What was that?
It was just an emoticon with no clear meaning.
If you looked closely, it seemed like the system used emoticons whenever it was too lazy to explain—or didn’t want to answer.
Suspicious little jerk…
“Muriel, look over there.”
“…Huh?”
Where Lysian pointed after tapping my shoulder was—an apparel shop.
In front of the old, worn-looking store, a wooden sign read: Closing Sale! 80% Off!
Figures…
Perhaps because of that, the place was packed with customers.
“Shall we take a look? It’d be good to save some money.”
“Hm… sure?”
So we headed straight for the clothing shop—still holding hands tightly.
But to choose clothes, we had to let go.
“Be careful. With this many people, accidents can happen.”
“Yeah. You stay right next to me.”
“…Of course.”
First, I picked up an ivory-colored shirt that wouldn’t fade in the wash and didn’t stain easily.
The fabric was nice, and judging by the size, it would fit Lysian well. The price was… 1 rubel. Wow, that was insanely cheap.
What a steal…!
I quickly draped the shirt over my arm and eagerly looked through more clothes.
These pants would look good on Lysian too!
They were only 3 rubels. Practically free.
Excited, I picked out three tops and two pairs of pants, stacking them neatly on my arm.
Then I turned to Lysian with a bright smile…
“……”
“……”
He was holding a dress, a blouse, a skirt, and a pair of pants—all things that looked suitable for me to wear.
No way…
What was this situation?
I let out a small, awkward laugh.
“So… you picked clothes for me, and I picked clothes for you? Neither of us chose our own?”
At my question, Lysian replied with an equally baffled smile.
“I’m always thinking about you, Muriel.”
“……”
Which meant, conversely, that I was always thinking about Lysian…
“…If you’re done choosing, let’s hurry up and pay!”
Forgetting our promise to stay together, I hurriedly dashed to the counter.
Lysian’s cheerful laughter followed me like a tail.
