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Anyway, I got permission to enter the shop.
It would be a shame to just browse and leave, so I'll buy something and go home.
With that in mind, I went inside the shop and looked at the shelves.
From small items to accessories, books, and furnishings.
There are quite a few items.
However, while looking at the lineup of products, my eyes suddenly went to the price.
"Huh? Isn't this a stone used for magic transmission?"
Yes, the same magic stone used for magic transmission, which is also used in the royal palace.
In other words, it's a luxury item.
It was being sold for the same price as a disposable pen I saw in town today.
"Um, this..."
"What? Are you going to buy it?"
I frantically shook my head at the gruff old woman.
"No, no!! It's not that, but isn't it too cheap..."
It's too cheap.
It doesn't seem like the amount of magic power contained inside is extremely small either.
But this price is...
"Excuse me, but who sets the prices?"
"Huh? Why do you care about something like that..."
I looked around the shop, thinking that might be the case, at the old woman's words as she looked at me suspiciously.
If you look at it more closely, there are furnishings and jewels that are of such good quality that they could be used in a noble's mansion without any problems.
However, the items in the very back of the shop are at a reasonable price.
All of the items with strange prices are near the entrance of the shop.
"Do the people who stocked the items in the back and the front of the shop differ? You should change all of the prices around here. It's a waste when you have such good items... You should put items of better quality in the show window too."
When I had spoken that far, I noticed that the old woman, who had been snapping at my words until now, hadn't said a word, and when I looked over there, her mouth was open in a daze.
"Um?"
Tears flowed from the old woman's eyes.
"E, eeeh!? S, shop owner!?"
When I hurriedly called out to her like that, the old woman sniffed.
"I'm sorry. You said you were looking for a job, right?"
"Y, yes. I'm looking for a place to work."
"I can't pay you that much. The job description is from stocking to displaying the items. There are also some people who try to haggle the price because they think I don't know anything. Of course, I'll have you handle customers too."
"Eh!? A, I couldn't ask for more, but is it okay to entrust such important things to me!?"
While I was flustered by the old woman's sudden change of heart, the shop door opened with a clatter.
"Grandmaaa! I'm home~! Oh, a customer!? I'm sorry."
A girl about my age with golden wavy hair said that.
"Julia! You came back at just the right time. This person will be working here from today. You! What's your name!!"
"R, Rai."
"That's what he said! Rai! This is my granddaughter, Julia. Ask Julia about the details of the job!!"
"I, I will...??"
When I said that, pushed by the old woman's momentum, Julia smiled and extended her hand, showing off her freckled cheeks.
"I'm Julia! Nice to meet you, Rai-san!!"
"Rai! Your first job is to change all of the prices!"
After shaking hands with Julia for the time being, the old woman snorted and went to the back of the shop.
What a storm of a person...
"I'm sorry about my grandma. She's been like that ever since Dad disappeared."
"...What happened to your father?"
Probably the former shop owner, or rather, the shop owner who set the correct prices.
"Dad went out to stock the shop, and never came back. Everyone says he was killed by demons."
"Th, sorry."
When I apologized for stepping into the family's affairs on our first meeting, Julia chuckled.
"It's okay! If you're going to work here anyway, you'll find out sooner or later, and it would be more awkward to find out later, right?"
"Well, yeah, that's true. Then, I got hired all of a sudden, but nice to meet you again. I'm going to the academy, so there may be times when I can't come to the shop depending on the time, is that okay?"
"You're going to the academy! That's okay, I graduated from elementary school and have been working here ever since. Leave the daytime to me!"
After finishing the conversation with Julia, I was thinking about the old woman from earlier, wait a minute.
"What's your grandmother's name, Julia?"
"Ginebra. But she doesn't seem to like being called Ginny."
So her name is Ginebra. She's been running this shop alone since her son disappeared, huh.
Whose shop was it originally?
Was it Ginebra-san's husband's shop? Then Julia's father, her son, inherited it?
Or was it Julia's father's from the beginning?
Even if she didn't know much about stocking or selling antiques, she wanted to keep this shop.
While thinking about that, I was silently revising the prices, and Julia was watching the situation intently.
"Julia? What's wrong?"
"Ah, no! Am I distracting you?"
While returning my gaze from Julia, who had lowered the corners of her eyebrows apologetically, to the products, I denied it.
"No, not really. But I feel your gaze a lot. Was there anything you were curious about?"
"Where did you learn to appraise things, Rai-san?"
Where, even if you ask me.
Certainly, everything looked the same to 'me' at the time, but now it looks completely different.
Moreover, it has become possible to understand the prices, that is, the value, instantaneously as a matter of course.
I can't thank you enough for the elite education as royalty, no matter how you look at it.
"My family, I guess."
"Your family, huh. I'm supposed to be from here too, but I don't know anything at all."
Julia, who said that a little embarrassedly, lined up next to me and looked at the pot I was holding.
"My dad did most of the stocking and customer service. I'm studying now, but I can't seem to figure it out."
I put on most of the new prices myself, she said again, a little embarrassed.
Well, even if her family is an antique shop, Julia, who has just graduated from elementary school, can't replace her father, who has been running an antique shop for many years.
"Should I teach you? Even if I say that, there are more things I don't know, so I can't do anything that great."
When I said that and turned my face to Julia next to me, she made a slightly surprised expression, and then smiled happily.
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