Elizabeth was out of luck. She hadn’t managed to win the lottery earlier, so now she could only wait gloomily while her roommate, Hayley, returned to the shop, brimming with excitement, talking about how adorable the puppy she’d chosen was.

The two of them wandered over to the shelf on the far left.

"Elizabeth, look! Here’s the special puppy food for Glazed Iceflame Hounds! I just fed some to Number Nine, and she loved it! Oh! And there are collars, too!" Hayley exclaimed as she pointed to the shelf, which displayed bags of puppy food priced at five gold coins for ten bags, along with a leather collar.

"This collar looks even more delicate than the one Number Nine is wearing right now. I have to buy one for her," Hayley said, pleased, as she picked up a dark red collar.

"Is this something you hang around their necks?" Elizabeth asked, intrigued, picking up a leather collar to examine it closely.

Hayley nodded. "I think so. There's a little ring here, probably for hanging something on it."

"And I noticed earlier that Number Nine had a small name tag around her neck that said ‘Number Nine,’ but it was just tied with a simple rope. Replacing it with this leather collar would look much nicer."

"Look! The tags are over here!" another girl shouted, spotting something on a nearby shelf and calling out to Elizabeth and Hayley.

It was a thin, palm-sized copper plate shaped like the profile of a Glazed Iceflame Hound, with the name "Number Eight" engraved on it.

"Is this what you saw on Number Nine’s collar?" Elizabeth asked, picking up the copper tag and inspecting it.

The craftsmanship was excellent. The edges were finely smoothed, and though it was made of copper, the elegant wooden box it came in made it feel more luxurious than cheap.

Hayley shook her head. "Not exactly. The one on Number Nine was just a plain rectangle, not as fancy as this."

"And it looks like you can have your pet’s name engraved on these!" Hayley added excitedly, reading the product description. "They even come in different shapes—besides the Glazed Iceflame Hound silhouette, you can choose a bone shape, a bow, or a heart!"

"And it says they’ll release gemstone and crystal versions in the future too!"

The girls’ natural shopping instincts kicked in, and they quickly gathered around, animatedly discussing their favorite tag shapes.

Lorente, the ever-shrewd businessman, watched with satisfaction as these little trinkets, which he had commissioned Simon’s father, a regular blacksmith, to make for less than a silver coin each, were now a hit on the shelf, priced at one gold coin.

He pulled out a notebook filled with neatly trimmed blank pages, organizing the names of those who had placed preorders and those who had paid in full, along with their contact information. On the cover, Lorente carefully wrote the words Glazed Iceflame Hounds and then tucked it into the counter.

At the moment, it was the only notebook in the counter, but Lorente was confident that soon there would be many more, each bearing witness to the rise of the Blue Star Pet Shop.

The first day of business had gone far better than Lorente had anticipated. He had initially expected that it would take some time for adventuring parties traveling to and from the Black Forest to discover the shop and start spreading the word.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

For now, Lorente had no plans to advertise the shop. The main reason was that he still needed to wait for certification from the Magic Council. Once he had that official seal of approval, more people would believe in the legitimacy of his magical pets.

Previously, Lorente had considered launching a big promotional campaign right away. However, after a detailed discussion with Lancelot, he decided against it.

But, as they say, "Man proposes, God disposes." Lorente could never have anticipated that a single delivery of supplies, handled by a group of knight apprentices, would lead to 27 orders in one day.

Aside from one student who didn’t place an order, the remaining 27 either secured one of the nine full-payment slots or paid the deposit.

By the time Lorente shut down the teleportation array and closed the shop at 7 p.m., all nine full-payment slots had been filled, with 50,000 gold coins each. Additionally, 15 customers had already paid their 10,000 gold coin deposits.

As he closed the shop, Lorente couldn’t help but smile as he calculated the day’s earnings in his ledger. In just one day, he had accumulated a staggering 630,000 gold coins.

The gold coins came in various forms—some in large crates, others as thin crystal cards. These crystal cards were essentially the equivalent of bank cards in this world, issued by the Empire, crafted by the Magic Council, and certified by both the Church and the Knights’ Order, making them highly trustworthy currency.

Thanks to their convenience, these high-denomination crystal cards were widely used in major transactions, even by other intelligent races like elves and goblins.

Lancelot had given Lorente one of these crystal cards earlier.

Six hundred and thirty thousand gold coins. In two lifetimes, Lorente had never seen such a sum of money.

Not only was he amazed, but Ruth and Sylem were equally stunned.

The three of them sat dumbfounded in their spacious and comfortable living room, eyes fixed on the three large wooden crates in the center, each about half a person’s height and filled to the brim with glittering gold coins.

Though these three crates held only 30,000 gold coins in total, the visual impact was far more striking than the low-key elegance of the crystal cards.

"Mom, why don’t you go to the academy tomorrow and tell them you won’t be going back," Lorente finally broke the silence.

"Oh... sure," Ruth replied in a daze. "Lorente, is this real?"

"It’s real, Mom!" Lorente chuckled, seeing how overwhelmed she was by the sight of so much gold.

"Son, you’re sure this money is legitimate, right?"

"Of course, Mom. Think about it—customers aren’t stupid. I’m earning this money fair and square, not robbing anyone! What could be wrong with that?" Lorente laughed.

"But... this is just so much!" Ruth’s voice trembled.

She had always believed in her son. No matter what others said about Lorente being unremarkable, she had never taken those words to heart. She was confident that whatever Lorente did, it had meaning. But even so, she never imagined that her son would achieve this level of success.

On the first day of opening his shop—630,000 gold coins.

It was beyond her wildest dreams.

In fact, Ruth started to fear that she was dreaming and that when she woke up, they’d be back in their small house.

"This is just the beginning, Mom. You’d better get used to it. Tomorrow, you and Sylem can go to the Knights’ Academy, and while you’re at it, stop by the property office and buy this place," Lorente said, feeling the thrill of newfound wealth stirring within him.

"Alright, I’ll go tomorrow and resign from the academy. After that, I’ll stay here and help you manage the shop," Ruth said, clearly excited.

"There’s no rush, Mom. You should take a couple of days to relax and catch up with your friends," Lorente said with a smile. "Didn’t you mention seeing a new café near the academy? It’s beautifully decorated and popular. You said you envied the noble ladies who went there. Well, now you’re just as well-off as any of them! Take some time and enjoy yourself!"

Lorente wrapped his arm around his mother and smiled. "From now on, your two sons will take care of you! All you have to do is enjoy life—drink tea, buy jewels. How does that sound?"

Ruth’s eyes glistened with emotion as she looked at her eldest son.

Since her husband’s death, she had raised her two sons on her own. She’d done all kinds of tough jobs, from scrubbing dishes for others to sewing clothes under dim light. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that one day her son would pile 630,000 gold coins in front of her and tell her she was going to live a life more luxurious than that of a noblewoman.

"As for the shop, I can manage it on my own for now. We can think about hiring help when things get busier later," Lorente added.

Ruth couldn’t help but laugh. "Hire help? What for? I’m perfectly capable of handling these tasks. Do you really want to turn me into some pampered noble lady?"

"Hehe, of course! If it were practical, I’d even hire you a couple of personal maids," Lorente chuckled.

"You mischievous boy! Well, I’ll go make you dinner. Noble lady or not, someone has to cook!" Ruth said, feeling uplifted as she tapped Lorente on the head before heading to the kitchen.

As soon as their mother left, Sylem eagerly grabbed a handful of coins, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Lorente. "Brother, I want to get a new knight’s sword and some armor!"

"Go for it! As long as it can be bought with money, get whatever you want!" Lorente said, waving his hand grandly. "From now on, you’ll get an allowance every month. When you advance to the rank of First-Class Knight, I’ll get you custom gear."

"Really?!" Sylem leaped up excitedly. "The top student at our academy got a set of custom gear as a reward, and it’s amazing! But it would take a lot of points to earn something like that. If I were to buy it, it’d cost tens of thousands!"

"Tens of thousands? That’s nothing! I’ll get you a trainee set tomorrow, and when you level up, we’ll get you the First-Class set!" Lorente declared with the swagger of a newfound tycoon.

Sylem’s heart swelled with excitement. After all, who wouldn’t enjoy the thrill of spending money like water?