“You wish to open a runesmithing store?” The accountant behind the counter adjusted his spectacles curiously.

“Yes, and I need a smithy where I can work,” Vivi said. “The building doesn’t need to be spacious, but it needs to have at least two rooms. One for the workstations, and one for the store.”

Opening a business, it turned out, was not as simple as building a shack and starting runesmithing. In Shivenar, space itself was expensive. For a business to be opened, the city’s government wanted to keep all sorts of records and systems in check.

After discussing with Lucius and asking random citizens for help, Vivi learned that she needed to visit a place called a licensing house. She hired another porter, who led her into a popular licensing house in the lower and poorer half of the city. She’d waited in the foyer for almost an hour, until one of the accountants took her to an office.

The office wasn’t excessively rich, but it was styled well. Patterns were carved into the hardwood table legs, and the walls were adorned with paintings of jewelry. The accountant himself was a middle-aged demon wearing a comfy green sweater with a black vest on top. Vivi’s dress was, at the very least, on par with his outfit in terms of class.

“Interesting,” the accountant said. “Are you hiring runesmiths?”

“No, I am the runesmith,” Vivi said.

The accountant tilted his head. “You? Alone?”

“Yes,” Vivi said. “I would run the business alone.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” the accountant said, “it would be wise to carve weapons and practice runesmithing at home. Once you can craft competitive swords, it’s best to sell your works for commercial stores. Lone runesmiths, especially young aspiring runesmiths, will struggle with the upkeep of a full business. You will find much more success working together with existing businesses.”

“I have fifteen years of experience, and I will be selling three-runed swords,” Vivi said. “I don’t need anything complicated. Just a simple shack that preferably has a forge installed and walls that won’t burn down. I am also going to be forging my own base swords.”

The accountant looked at Vivi sideways, probably wondering if he should play along or tell her to screw off. “To confirm, you’re inquiring for a small smelt-proof establishment with two rooms, and preferably a location that attracts sales?”

“Any location will work,” Vivi said. “Mainly, I just need a smithy with enough space for all of my workstations.”

“Very well,” the accountant said. He pulled out a piece of parchment, which Vivi guessed listed the establishments available. He studied it for half a minute. “I believe there are two available locations that fit your request. The first is what I would recommend to any serious entrepreneur. It’s a two-storied blacksmithing house with a commercial low-floor. The building is sturdy enough to support smelting on the second level. The location is two blocks away from the main street in a surge-protected neighborhood.”

“That would work,” Vivi said. “How much will it cost?”

“The yearly cost for renting the estate is twenty thousand ether,” the accountant said. “After taxes and various fees, I estimate that the building itself will cost you roughly thirty thousand ether yearly.”

Well, we could afford a few months… Vivi thought. “What about the second one?”

“I don’t recommend this one,” the accountant said. “It’s an old blacksmith’s shack in the Lowmoor district surrounded by two taverns. The building is smelt-proof, though renovations are recommended, and nights are cold. The old owner died from old age, leaving all of his equipment behind. His son is selling the estate for a flat five thousand ether. After fees and taxes, the yearly cost, on top of the initial investment, is around a thousand ether.”

“I’ll take that one,” Vivi said without hesitation.

The accountant frowned. “Pardon my advice, but a lady like you will not have a good time in the Lowmoor district. Notwithstanding the folk that live there, the surge protection is not up to modern standards, and law enforcement is falling behind.”

“I’m stronger than I look,” Vivi said. “I’m buying it. Do I transfer the ether to you?”

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“I suggest taking a look at it first,” the accountant said.

If I go look at it, I might want to buy something more expensive, Vivi thought. And she really couldn’t afford anything more expensive. “I’ll buy it right now.”

The accountant still looked like he wanted to argue, but he eventually nodded. “Very well.” He opened a cabinet and started searching for forms and papers.

“How long will it take before I can open the business?” Vivi asked.

“The business can open by tomorrow. You will have to pay the business startup fee of fifty ether. Five thousand ether for the establishment, and a hundred ether for the monthly cost for rights to the plot of land. And as your business will focus on commercial sales, you will have to pay a hundred ether for the right to sell swords to customers. Fill these two forms, and pay each required fee, and the business will be open.”

The accountant slid two pieces of parchment to Vivi with an ether-powered pen. The parchment was filled with meaningless scribbles, until Lucius started translating the text.

The forms themselves weren’t too complicated. Vivi had to list her name and origins, of course, and she had to list the details of her business.

Does your translation magic work for my writing? Vivi asked.

“Not straight up,” Lucius said. “We’ll have to get clever. If you tell me what you want to write, I can project the letters you need to write onto the paper.”

Sure, I’ll try, Vivi thought. She began telling Lucius what to write. Odd letters she’d never seen began appearing in her vision. The demon language. With Lucius’s assistance, Vivi drew the shapes of the letters on the parchment.

With everything filled, including a name for her smithy, her written promise to not break any city rules, and a signature that Vivi was indeed buying the shack for five thousand ether, she handed the forms to the accountant. He checked them.

“Your business name is…” The accountant furrowed his brows. “Lost Raindrop?”

“Yes,” Vivi said. “Is that not allowed?”

The accountant still looked disapproving, though it seemed he’d given up on arguing. “It works. An odd name for a runesmithing store, though. All I need now is the payment and a scan of your core, and I’m ready to arrange a meeting with the previous owner of your new business.”

Vivi did as asked. She scanned her core and transferred a total of 5250 ether. Lucius winced at the transaction, but he didn’t argue. He had seen how much runeswords sold for. Vivi still had 8214 ether remaining. That was more than enough to invest in good workstations.

After a few more hours of waiting for arrangements, a porter led Vivi to the Lowmoor district to see what kind of investment she had spent a third of her ether on.

***

“Vivian, is it?” the seller said at the destination. “I’m Grend, the owner. You’re buying my dad’s old smithy?”

Vivi nodded. Grend was around fifty, smiling with a full line of crooked teeth. His breath smelled slightly musty, but his jacket was clean enough. He lifted a pair of keys and dropped them for Vivi. “All yours. The locks require some force. At least one of these keys usually works. Replacing the locks would probably be wise.”

“I’m used to stubborn doors,” Vivi said.

“Indeed, indeed, if you learn the trick of the door, a screwed up lock merely adds protection,” Grend said with a laugh. “I didn’t expect such a young lady to be interested in this shack, but I am pleased to see it receive love.”

The house, in Vivi’s opinion, didn’t look too bad from the outside. The sandstone brick foundation appeared solid, and the hardwood walls only had a few splinters sticking out. Sure, the white paint looked like it had first cracked twenty years ago, and the roof consisted of a single flat steel plate that definitely wasn’t waterproof, but Vivi had plenty of time to fix things before the next rain season hit the fifth level.

The lock gave her trouble for a bit even with Grend’s instructions to use force. She tried different strategies, fiddling around with the key, until a pop came from inside the lock. That didn’t sound healthy. But the squeaky door opened, revealing a dark black stone interior.

“It’s definitely a project house,” Grend said. “I hope you have fun with it.”

Vivi added ether to her eyes to see in the dark. She felt like she was stepping into an abandoned piece of history. A scent of rusting metal entered her nose. The interior floor and walls were built of sturdy stone. A wooden pillar in the middle supported the ceiling. The pillar looked like it was ready to snap, and the roof was secured on with what looked like a length of rope.

Beyond the house’s flaws, however, the smithy was strangely beautiful.

A curtain separated the house into two parts. The entrance had a commercial section with weapon racks and a counter. The actual smithy was behind the curtain. As promised, all of the tools and equipment had been left behind. The emberstone forge in the corner had cracks on the surface, but it looked fine on the inside. The anvil was sturdy, and the hammers were well loved. Old projects were still laying on display, and the smithy even had a metal gallery, filled with iron ingots. A small bed had been crammed in the corner alongside a small drawer for non-blacksmithing belongings.

“Ugh, looks like we have a lot of work to do,” Lucius said. “Maybe it would have been easier to earn more ether first to buy a better workshop?”

It’s perfect, Vivi thought.

“What do you mean ‘perfect’?” Lucius asked. “It’s one of the worst, oldest rathouses in the city. We’re going to be earning millions with our runeswords. Surely, we deserve to start with a better… Ehhh!? Vivi, are you crying?”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. Grandpa would have loved this place. It’s… awful, but it’s beautiful.

Lucius hid away in her consciousness. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to insult anything.”

Vivi laughed, smiling over her tears. Insult it all you want. This workshop is exactly what you said. A rathouse. We’re going to turn it into the most successful smithy in the city.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep