Shopping Tour (2)
“Ah, right. Brother Hubert, did you ever get yourself a book band made?”
“No, why? Is there something unusual about them?”
“I heard Brother Chris’s book band is all the rage at the academy.”
“Is that so? I’ve been stuck in Garuda territory, so I haven’t had a chance to ask my older brother about academy trends. I was just thinking I need to soon, since I’ll have to prepare.”
“In that case, why don’t we get one made for Brother Gerald as a present for his enrollment? Shall we go now?”
“Good idea. Let’s take a look.”
After buying pendants and cufflinks from the workshop, we headed to the jewelry shop that always handled Atre’s and Lucas’s nameplates.
“Manager, sorry for barging in with such a large group. Could you make a book band for Brother Gerald’s academy celebration?”
“Shall I use the same design as Young Master Chrisford’s?”
“Please use amethyst for the gemstone, but otherwise the same. And could you also bring us a sample? I’d like to show it to some friends.”
“Certainly. Please wait a moment.”
“Reinhardt, gemstones on a book band?”
“Brother Hubert, it’s not expensive gemstones. They use offcuts and fragments from the gem cutting process. You’ll see once you look.”
The manager returned with a case holding the book band and some charms.
Picking up the book band, Brother Hubert said,
“The plate section has gemstones arranged into a name?”
“You can do initials, a full name, or even a family crest.”
“So the design can be anything, since it’s just tiny stones arranged together. Perhaps I’ll order one too.”
“Reinhardt, these flowers and animals made from gemstones—what are they?”
“Those are charms. Ladies use them as decorations for their handbags at tea parties. Mother has several floral ones she rotates between, so I’d say they’re pretty popular.”
“I see.”
The manager confirmed this, saying jewelers in the capital often reported large orders for them from women.
Apparently, noble ladies prefer flat, decorative designs, while young debutantes like three-dimensional ones.
When I asked Brigitte and Diane, they said they owned a few.
“This is my first time seeing this one,” Brigitte said, holding a charm that looked like a ribbon made of tiny pearls strung together, tied into a bow. There were two versions in different colors.
“Brigitte, why don’t we each buy one? Matching designs would be lovely.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Brigitte bought the yellow-pearl version, while Diane took the pink-pearl one.
“I imagine drilling holes into pearls this tiny must have been difficult,” I asked the manager. He explained that small pearls had recently begun appearing in the Eminira Dungeon. Craftsmen had experimented until they found a way to make them usable.
“With pearls this uniform in size, you could make some interesting rings or necklaces.”
The manager immediately had an employee fetch a box of loose pearls and strings of small pearls.
While we waited, he set paper and a glass pen on the table, smiling eagerly. “Please, sketch out your ideas in detail. If we adopt your designs, Lord Gerald’s book band will be on the house, and we’ll deposit the usual design fee with your merchant guild.”
For rings, I suggested crisscrossing bands with five pearls set where they crossed—making a double-band design. Or a simpler single band with one pearl.
When the employee returned with pearls, I arranged them roughly: a two-strand necklace, a three-strand twisted like a rope, or mixing different sizes for variation.
“These might not sell as luxury goods, but they’d make affordable fashion accessories—something common folk could buy. If you don’t want to sell them here, how about opening a souvenir shop in the new district?”
“You mean, we’d be allowed to open a shop in the new district?” the manager asked, clearly intrigued.
“If I ask Grandfather, it should be possible. But you won’t make much profit. The new district’s concept is an entertainment quarter for townsfolk to enjoy casually. The shops must price things so people feel they can buy a little treat or a keepsake.”
“That’s fine. We could open a dedicated store for accessories made from small pearls and offcut gemstones.”
“One more condition—the new district’s souvenir shops must sell items exclusive to that district. You wouldn’t be able to sell them anywhere else. Is that acceptable?”
“That’s not a problem. We’ll separate the lines—no diamonds, sapphires, or rubies for that shop. Just small, low-value gems. And since dungeons have recently been yielding a lot of tiny crystals, pearls, tourmaline, and aquamarine, this is perfect.”
“Really? I hadn’t heard that.”
“Yes. The Adventurers’ Guild recently asked if we had any way to make use of all these small finds. With this, we can. Thank you, Young Master Reinhardt.” The manager beamed.
Well, if it solves their problem, that’s good enough.
“So this is how businesses expand, huh…” Brother Hubert muttered.
Raphael, Brigitte, and Diane all nodded knowingly.
Expansion is a good thing, isn’t it? The way they said it, it almost made me feel like I was doing something bad…
What do you think about this chapter?
