“You call that a door?” Anne mocked. Instead of going with the obvious, she would rather find other faults to throw the money-seeking dwarf out of his game.
The young woman was wearing a modest black overall that matched her character, serious and confident. Only the conspicuous blue cat talisman, dangling on her neck, was somewhat out of the ordinary.
The bearing of a typical northeastern might have intimidated the usual borderlander dwarf, but not Dorgh. He had been trained in the province capital, and this wasn’t his first time. Instead of playing into her hand, he just answered with a reassuring smile and hurried.
“The location might seem remote but it’s actually in a privileged position by the only road to the forbidden forest. Any adventurer will have to pass through here, so it’s ideal for businesses”. The old manager also paid attention to sound confident and unconcerned while his eyes never left the potential buyer.
Being located in the middle of nowhere would naturally depreciate the building, but for Anne to be able to afford it, the price would have to go further down. Unfortunately, it was far from being the shabby warehouse described in the report she collected. It had at least three levels and covered an area of around 300 m². Although it looked plain and neglected, her confidence in getting the right deal swayed. Still, she wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
Dorgh stopped at the door and fished a rusted key from his pocket to open the lock. The squeaking sound was the perfect lead for Anne’s next argument. “Well, I still prefer a small store in town. It’s not like anyone would stop here for studying or research on their way to the forest…” She paid attention to sound disdainful and unexcited.
While he fought with the obstructions that sealed the building, Anne was simulating dozens of conversations that would lead to a cheaper price. The open door interrupted her thoughts, a timely reminder to hide her concerns.
From the outside, the wooden structure could only reveal the size, since the windows, which weren’t much better than the door, were closed and barred with nailed planks. But only after entering could she really grasp the situation.
The simple lounge with a counter and an open passage to an area with a few tables left no room for mystery, this place was built to be an Inn. Two back doors were secured behind the counter, which probably led to the restricted rooms. While the stairs between the counter and the table’s area should give access to the rooms. Anne took point, out loud, of all stains and flaws, while Mr. Dorgh rushed her to the “tavern” area. Since this client couldn’t be impressed by size, he wouldn’t give her time to find faults.
“Although the tables are considered furniture and thus not counted as part of the building, we left them as a gift to the new owner. You can see that they are practically untouched, just need some dusting… Well, this is the biggest room with enough space for quite a few people and there’s a separate entrance in case you want to use it independently. Also, there’s a large room behind that counter where the kitchen used to be.” Using a tone befitting of a town’s manager, the well-dressed dwarf passed through the tables and entered the supposed kitchen without giving time for Anne to act.
Unfortunately for him, the girl didn’t mind staying behind to better analyze the room. Dorgh could only sigh, realizing that he couldn’t rush her through the tour. He would have to change tactics. Maybe distracting her with small talk?
“Miss Anne, what do you think about serving food here? You said you’re opening a magic store, right?” He looked sincerely interested in her thoughts.
Somehow the question touched a sore spot, triggering an unplanned sigh. “Maybe some tea and light bakery, but no meals. Eh… Actually, I’m opening a bookstore.” Anne tried to hide her embarrassment by inspecting the room thoroughly.
“Oh… You’re opening a store to resell magic scrolls… That’s very interesting and… specific.” The dwarf tried to conceal his true thoughts, but let slip a mocking glance. How could someone earn enough just by selling scrolls? That would be difficult even in Riverend Town, so how could it work in the decaying Mountainend?
“By the Gods, I would never help those corrupt magitech empires earn a single coin! No sir, I’m opening a real bookstore!” Anne didn’t bother suppressing her rising pride.
However, her answer caused an even greater impact on Dorgh. What on earth did she mean by a bookstore? Wait, could she be…?
“Pardon for asking Miss, but are you a traditionalist?” He was genuinely unconvinced. It was rare to meet a youngster who wasn’t a fan of mass-produced magic artifacts.
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The dark-haired woman couldn’t help but find the word a little offensive, though the other party didn’t sound disrespectful.
“You could say so. I’m from an ancestral line of archivists mostly known as bookmancers.” She didn’t mind Dorgh’s confused expression and continued.
“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of us. Although I know others, I think I might be the last one practicing it in the whole country. I’ll spare you the boring details. We were once a respected class, even more than scholars, but with the ascension of magitech we became “backward” crafters.” Pride quickly transformed into sadness in her voice. The heavy responsibility placed by her mentor and grandfather could easily crush weaker shoulders.
Surprisingly, the bearded man looked interested rather than sympathetic. “Is that so? Maybe Mountainend will help your enterprise succeed. A big and affordable place like this would surely come in handy…”
Here we go again… Anne felt ashamed for being fooled by the savvy manager. “I don’t think so, the town looks lovely, but this place is too deserted and the size is actually a problem, how can I take care of it by myself? And I can’t imagine many customers passing by to help me earn enough to pay someone to help.”
Sadly, the current situation of Mountainend had become a huge disappointment for both the town administration and the locals. Ten years ago, when the Impassable Wall showed signs of crumbling, the whole continent turned its attention to the borderlands. At that time, Mountainend was lucky enough to be one of the towns closer to the Wall, or so they thought.
The Mayor and local merchants all gritted their teeth to invest in a road to the capital and renovate the town. Unfortunately, the expected Adventures never came. In fact, that’s not accurate. Some came but quickly migrated to the soon-to-be wealthy Riverend Town, located 200 km south. A few still chose to take the Mountainend path, but not nearly enough.
“Well, let’s not rush to conclusions. Come on, see this oven? It has been barely used… Oh, that’s the staff door that leads to the entrance and another one to the other restricted areas. Let me show you the stables before we go to the second floor…”
They went to a few facilities, before entering the staff room area on the first floor. Dorgh was a little uncertain of how to explain an important detail to Anne, while she pretended to not be paying attention to his hesitation.
“Oh, there’s a wonderful natural event that would surely add a nice detail to your store. This room was built to be a staff room, but an unexpected spatial rift appeared. I can assure you that it’s nothing dangerous if left untouched. I think you can spare a room, right? Hehe… Let me open the sealed door and show you that it’s not dangerous… See, truly marvelous. You could even make it an attraction for spatial scholars…” Dorgh was working hard to keep his uneasiness hidden.
He was afraid that Anne would dismiss the building out of fear of the rift. However, she looked utterly uninterested, even a little annoyed. “Hum… Marvelous is definitely a word for it, but also troubling. It’s something more that I would have to spend on to keep the curious customers safe. You say that it’s not dangerous, but I wonder if I would be held accountable if someone tried to play with it and got hurt…”
The tour lasted a little more than an hour, with Dorgh trying to control the potential buyer's impressions and she trying to point out all of the building’s shortcomings. The town assets manager didn’t shame his early years of training in the province capital. For every problem, he would come out with at least two creative solutions. Yet, the main problem remained unsolved, any business success was tied to an unlikely fulfillment of the town’s potential.
“Let’s get this over with, it’s already past noon and we need to go back to town to see the other options…” Anne positioned herself in the direction of the door, showing that she had already given up on the building.
For the first time, Dorgh showed signs of being nervous. He cleaned the sweat with a pocket kerchief while saying: “The place is a little far from town, but think about the possibilities that come with this space. Even if you don’t need it now, you could expand later or rent some rooms… Ahem, although this place was built by a wealthy merchant, it was acquired by the town, and since you could be considered an investment, we can talk about installments…” Like a dangerous merchant, he emphasized it being built by the wealthy and her ‘obvious’ potential.
“Mr. Dorgh, you seem like a nice guy, so I’ll be sincere with you. This is my last chance to save my ancestral craft, I already spent too much money on hopeless attempts. I only have a few gold left, and taking installments in such a risky business is failing before even having a chance. I hoped Mountainend would be my opportunity, but… I can only go to Riverend Town and try to make year’s end with a simple stall. Sorry to have occupied your whole morning and making you spend with a coach. Here… it’s not much, but take it as a token of my gratitude.”
The crestfallen northeastern woman took a silver coin from an obvious deflated pouch and passed it embarrassedly. She too had to change strategies, otherwise, the building would be as good as gone.
Fortunately, her act seemed to have moved the cold businessman. “Miss, how could I take it without doing a proper job? This place is truly worth a lot, it isn’t an exaggeration to say that the original owner spend at least 30 gold on the construction, unfortunately, his timing wasn’t right. It might still take a few years for this town to become a bright spot on the borderlands. But don’t doubt it, in the future, it’ll become the pearl of the province.” The dwarf lightened the mood and tried to bring some excitement back to Anne, while he stalled to think of a doable price.
“Perhaps, the Miss will help that day come earlier. So, as a town servant, I can give you a better price in the hope that you’ll help the town grow. How about… 12 gold coins? It’s already half of the evaluation price point and I can’t possibly go further down…” He felt pained to give up so much commission. He was only prepared to go as down as 15 gold, but they were already losing hope of selling the building. Better something than nothing, and he really hoped that Anne could bring some novelty to the town.