It has been six days since Christmas Eve in another world...or five days. It is always difficult to count the long and leisurely days.
To put it another way, days that have changed can easily stand out in my memory - such as Christmas Eve a few days ago.
I met the famous infantry captain in the town and the only destined host in the restaurant - Qian Zhihe.
This is undoubtedly a "change", but it is just an ordinary "change" that remains on the surface of memory due to the "first meeting".
In fact, what concerns me more is another thing - the aborted bet.
Most people in small towns like to gamble.
Any discussion that generates different opinions will often develop into a gamble.
However, the stakes are usually very small, and few people care about winning or losing.
According to my understanding, this is almost equivalent to daily gambling behavior, just a way for people in small towns to test their luck that day.
Therefore, this is probably not a real "gamble", but a childish and interesting divination.
At this moment, there are two fortune tellers near me.
"I bet little sister Raya will sew mine first."
"Hey, why? I bet..."
It seems that the fortune tellers are arguing over the trivial matter of whose clothes will be sewn first.
I don’t know if Raya heard their voices, but she was still concentrating on sewing threads among the many hanging clothes.
That's right, I'm talking about "flying needle threading" in the true sense - using magic to control the needle and thread to handle multiple pieces of clothing at the same time.
This is an ancestral craft passed down by Raya’s family.
As for me~~ I have been living in a tailor shop since I was reincarnated into this world.
The first person who took me in was Raya's great-grandfather.
The person who named me "Gu Lao" was Raya's grandfather.
The person who entrusted Raya to me was Raya's father.
The current store manager is Raya.
Fifteen minutes later, I heard Raya exhale that she was done.
The work is over.
"Thank you for your care, welcome to visit next time~~"
I waved goodbye to the pair of fortune tellers.
"Is it time?"
I turned around and asked Raya.
"Hmm."
After receiving the response, I left the counter and hung a small wooden sign "Closed for Business" at the door.
Today is a big day.
——The tailor shop is about to be relocated.
The new address is very close to the town center.
Raya has hired enough workers and they are about to start construction. All we need to do is take our luggage to the hotel.
We finished packing, put our luggage on the reserved carriage, and then got in.
Raya relaxed her shoulders in relief.
"It's not easy."
I can’t help but feel that.
"Well..."
Raya's response was light.
The decision to relocate was proposed by Raya, and this was also Raya’s father’s long-cherished wish.
The use of budget, the selection of hotels, the location and configuration of new stores, various details in the process...
So far, everything has been arranged in an orderly manner by Raya.
It’s really not easy.
The driver blew a whistle, and then the car started moving.
If nothing else happens, we will be able to resume business after staying in the hotel for almost half a month.
"It's really nice~~It's more than half a month of vacation~~"
"Don't be lazy. You have to follow me to help the workers, so as not to let down their good intentions."
When they heard that it was Raya's request, the workers offered very low prices. After all, as the only tailor shop manager in the town, she brought a lot of convenience to everyone.
"Huh? I don't have much strength."
I subconsciously refused, but then I realized:
"Wait, you want to go too?"
"Of course."
"..."
"Although I can't be of much help, I still have to-"
Before she could finish speaking, I interrupted her:
"No, I'd better go, I'll go alone."
"Huh?"
My sudden change of password made Raya frown.
"You should have a good rest in the hotel, and I will thank them for you."
"How..."
"Don't mess around, the construction site is very dangerous."
I deliberately emphasized my tone.
"......?"
Raya looked at me, and gradually, the confusion in her eyes disappeared.
"Do you know?"
"Got it..."
"Well~~Leave it to me, Commander-in-Chief."
After receiving a satisfactory answer, my expression relaxed:
"Don't worry~~ As long as Miss Raya gives you orders, I will do it even if it costs my life."
"...Stop being glib."
......
After settling in the hotel with Raya, it was already noon.
After lunch, Raya went to discuss matters with Mr. Niruna, who was in charge of managing the workers. Since she had nothing to do with me, she offered to let me wander around to kill time.
Taking a walk after a meal is a good choice for the elderly, and I readily accepted her suggestion.
"Do you need me to pick you up later?"
"I know the way."
As if she was dissatisfied with being treated like a child, Raya glared at me.
"That's good, but if I'm not back after six o'clock, please come find me - I don't know the way."
"...I know."
Raya looked dumbfounded, got on the carriage and left.
Well, I understand, my words are not at all like those spoken by a person who has lived in a small town for more than a hundred years.
However, unfortunately, I have continued my habit of squatting at home in the technological world to this day.
Well... from a certain point of view, this is also thanks to the "eternal" atmosphere in the town.
Although the lack of electronic products has made me no longer a homebody, my nature is hard to change, and I still often lose my way while walking...
I took steps slowly, thinking as I walked.
Raya, who is in sharp contrast to me, has long since grown into a store manager who can take charge of her own business, even though she is only fourteen years old.
Rather than saying that I was asked by Raya’s father to take care of her, it’s better to say that I am being taken care of by her everywhere.
What was my fourteenth year like... Maybe a label of "dispensable" is enough to sum it up.
What a sad gap~~
...Oh yeah.
My thoughts stopped suddenly because I saw a familiar face.
The other person's appearance changed a lot, but I still recognized him through those shrewd eyes.
I walked up and patted his shoulder gently.
"Hmm...! Huh? You...you are?"
He was startled and looked at me carefully for a long time, but he couldn't remember who I was. It was too much.
"I am the fool who bought you two bottles of water to quench your thirst, Mr. Profiteer."
I stared at him expressionlessly.
As a result, his hunched shoulders gradually relaxed:
"It's you, I don't have any extra water to sell."
"I can see that."
His clothes were very shabby, probably made from a quilt, used to temporarily keep him warm. His whole body was full of vigilance, and he didn't look like a businessman at all.
Oh~~That’s it.
"This is the first time I have seen a traveling businessman go bankrupt."
"..."
The profiteer I teased curled his lips unwillingly.
"Did you encounter a robber?"
"Why, why do you know?!"
The other party instantly cast a surprised look. He had never looked at me before.
"I guessed, but now I know."
Of course it’s not a guess.
At that time, after he deceived me of twenty dimensions, the Divine Eye gave me the message:
[The chance of Mr. Profiteer being robbed before entering Woolworth is 70%]
Look~~even my plug-in thinks he is a profiteer.
"Let me guess again - it happened on your way to Woolworth?"
"Hmm...! What's your relationship with that group of people?!"
"...Don't be so scared. Do you think I know the bandits near Woolworth?"
"Then you..."
"Okay, okay, I was just lucky enough to guess the truth, but you... why are you back again?"
I don't know exactly where Woolworth is...but it sounds like a big city, so it must be far away from our small town.
After encountering a robber, this guy did not place himself nearby, but came here...
"Could it be that... in your mind, most people in this small town have little knowledge, so you want to use this opportunity to continue your businessmanlike behavior?"
The town is remote and backward, so most people are easily deceived by outsiders with ill intentions.
I didn't expect him to answer me honestly, but as a member of the town, I had to question this guy with a "criminal record".
The other party smiled bitterly and spread his hands:
"Don't worry...it takes capital to do bad things."
"Oh, you're not penniless, are you?"
"Hmm...let's see...there are less than a hundred dimensional copies left."
He groped among his clothes.
Is there only so much money left...The robbers are really ruthless.
"Well, it seems that I can't do any bad things, but I can just have a few drinks."
"How many drinks?"
"There is a good and cheap pub nearby."
"...Are you inviting me? Forget it...Drinking in broad daylight is weird enough. Besides, I have to find a place to stay. Besides..."
"You can only have the strength to think about these complicated things after drinking, right?"
"..."
"My treat."
"No, everyone pays what he deserves."
I nodded slightly and walked forward.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Barrick."
......
Forty minutes later, in the pub.
"Oh~~You are still good at drinking, brother Barrick."
"Who is your brother? I'm obviously older than you... hiccup... you, your ability to drink is pretty good... hiccup..."<
/p>
Barrick's previously pale face was now flushed red from the wine.
"This is such a nice place...burp...cheap...burp..."
"After all, it is a pub that entertains locals, and the price is not much higher than the cost."
"What a great place...burp..."
Barrick kept burping and talking, he was already drunk and a little confused.
I also felt vaguely drunk, but I was undoubtedly much more sober than him.
While drinking with Barrick, he slowly revealed his information to me:
He and his wife and daughter originally lived in a small city in the west. Two years ago, he experienced his first bankruptcy. With the remaining funds, he became a traveling businessman and has traveled back and forth to various places since then.
I looked at his dark face that had been washed away countless times by wind and dust. The wrinkles on the left and right marked him with signs of aging in advance.
According to what he said, last time he took a shortcut with his colleagues and happened to pass by and came to the small town of Vige.
"Then you think: I won't come here anyway, so you might as well become a profiteer."
"Haha... Then I met you... burp..."
"Then my luck is really bad~~"
"Hiccup... don't complain, it's really my fault... hiccup... But I regretted it as soon as I got your money... hiccup...
...."
"Oh? So you never spent it until it fell into the hands of robbers?"
"No...after I left here, I gave the money to the beggars on the roadside...hiccup..."
Is this the so-called power of conscience?
Well...it's just twenty coins, not to mention it's for charity, so I'll just treat it as charity after a long absence.
But...
"Excuse me for talking too much, but you are so indecisive that you cannot be considered a qualified profiteer."
"Hiccup...yeah..."
Barrick did not refute, and then sighed heavily.
"Even an ordinary businessman can't be a good person...I've been bankrupt twice, and I can't even get enough money to go back this time..."
"This is an unexpected factor, not your ability."
I comforted.
"Hiccup... I can't handle emergencies... Isn't it a matter of my ability?"
"Well..."
Oops, the conversation suddenly came to a real topic.
The atmosphere suddenly became depressing. This was a situation I wanted to escape from.
"..."
"..."
"Have you ever asked me... hiccup... why I went bankrupt... but still came to your town?"
"Hmm."
"Hiccup... Because during the few days I stayed here, I found something that I longed for so much that I still couldn't forget it after I left... hiccup...
..I was so devastated after being robbed...I didn’t have enough money left to go back to the west...I think that only when I get here...hiccup...can I calm down." "...Oh? What do you mean?"
"Stability, long-term stability, hiccup..."
Barrick's slightly squinted eyes suddenly opened. He winked at me and said the exact same answer that I had in mind. Then he leaned back on the seat as if he was relieved and smiled with two rows of big yellow teeth.