Raiden walked in the busy market with Woolie, who was perched on his shoulders, taking in sights of so many people at once that he had never seen before with stars in his eyes.
(ㆁωㆁ)
On the other hand, unlike Woolie, Raiden was having a really bad day. He had already been to a dozen plus shops around the city that bought wool. But most of them either bought it in bulk quantities or were scammers who paid little for it.
Now, he finally reached his last stop for today. If this didn't work out, he might have to travel to a bigger city to sell it after all.
The shop in front of him looked really shabby from the outside, with a tilted signboard that read 'Sarah Textiles'.
Ignoring the shop's outward appearance, he strode straight inside it. He learned not to judge a place by its looks after his first two incidents in the world. Who knows, this might as well be the style of big shots after all.
A bell chimed from the top of the door, signalling his arrival as Raiden looked inside the shop.
It was a relatively narrow shop, with a long counter that extended from one end to another, and enough walking space for two people. All the walls were lined up with bundles and rolls of clothes of different kinds, with warm lights overhead giving the whole shop a cosy feel.
Behind the counter sat a young woman, smoking a cigarette while watching some kind of videos on her phone.
Hearing the chime of the bell, she looked up to see a young guy walking in with Woolie perched on his shoulder.
Even though she knew he might not be a paying customer, every single bit of penny counted in her dire financial situation.
Putting out the cigarette in her hand, she came forward to greet him with a smile on her face.
"Greetings, young man. How can I help you? Are you looking to buy clothes or special fabrics? Trust me, I have the best rolls of clothes on the entire market, and we offer custom-tailored clothes too!"
Looking at the enthusiastic woman in front of him, Raiden felt awkward. He didn't have any money to buy any clothes. So he changed the subject.
"Hello, beautiful sister, thank you for your reception. I am actually here to sell you this fleece, top quality guaranteed." Raiden spoke in a salesman-like tone, while thumping his chest.
Seeing no reaction other than the twitch of the corner of her eyes, Raiden knew his chances were decreasing. So without a break, he spoke again.
"You must be wondering what kind of sheep this wool is sourced from, right?? Let me tell you, our farm actually believes in ethical farming. We only pick up wool that has been dropped naturally, no artificial shearing. Not to mention our sheep are fed BMO and GMO-free, natural grass and top quality Milkos Formula. We have various handlers that take care of them every step of the way and provide them with the best environment. Even on the same level, I guarantee that wool from our farm is superior to others. You will definitely not regret buying it."
After finishing his sales pitch in one breath, Raiden took a deep breath before picking up the water bottle on the counter to quench his thirst.
On the other hand, the women behind the counter felt speechless after hearing all that gibberish.
Looking at the guy once again, she let out her honest thoughts, "Tell me seriously, little brother, have you ever by any chance, worked in sales? Or maybe in a pyramid scheme?? Are you one of their agents, here to con me or something? What BMO and GMO-free, those things stopped existing a long time ago."
Hearing her words, now it was Raiden who felt stuck. How could he know about this? But maybe his pitch was not entirely useless after all, as the woman continued to speak.
"Hell, you know what? I'll give you a chance. Show me what you have. If it's as good as you hyped it up to be, I'll buy it."
"Yes!!" A smile finally came onto Raiden's face as he let out a small shout, before hurriedly opening up his backpack and pulling out a ziplocked bag containing 3 kgs of Wool. He handed it over to the girl, who adjusted her glasses, pulling them and taking a closer look at it.
"Hmm... Quality is not bad, likely at the 'Fine Quality' level. Feels soft and premium too. And... Oh?" The girl looked up at Raiden, who was looking at her with desperate and hope-filled eyes.
"Young man, did you source this wool from a variant? Most likely him?" She asked in an all but certain voice, looking at Woolie.
Woolie, who felt he was the centre of focus, stopped looking around and looked at the girl who was staring at him, before greeting her with his paw.
"Woolie!~"
"How did you know?" Recognising the woman as an expert, Raiden asked. She was the first one to figure out that wool came from a variant, out of the dozens of shops he visited today.
"It is easy to recognise for a true expert. Don't worry, it's a good thing. Tell you what, I will pay you 6,000 Credits per kg for it." The woman said, taking off glasses before looking at him.
"6,500!!" Raiden countered instinctively before regretting it. He finally found a buyer after so long, but what if she said no?
"6,200. That's the most I can do." The woman replied.
Seeing that the woman was open to negotiation, he spoke up again, more hesitantly this time.
"Umm... How about 6,250 Credits?"
"Deal."
Just like that, Raiden sold Woolie off. I mean, sold off Woolie's fleece.
The woman asked for his bank account details, and a second later, his phone chimed with money.
Account Credited with 18,750 Cr. Current Balance: 65,092 Credits.
"Pleasure doing business with you, kid. If you want to sell more in the future, you can come straight to me."
"No, no, the pleasure is all mine, beautiful sister. I'll be back soon with more!!" Raiden spoke with a grin on his face. He was pretty happy after earning his first pot of money.
"Wait!!"
Just as Raiden turned around and was about to leave the shop, a shout came from behind him, making him turn around and look at the girl.
"Is there something I can help you with, big sister?"
The woman looked hesitant, clearly struggling to voice out whatever she had in her mind.
"You said you... have a farm, right? If you have more of the same quality wool, sell it to me. I'll buy them all!!"
Now it was Raiden's turn to be confused. Farm, Wool, where will he get it from? He was all bluffing.
Looking at the woman who seemed desperate in front of him, Raiden suddenly had an idea and came to a decision that would change their lives forever.
"You want Wool, right? Sure, I can provide it!! I'll provide as much as you want!!"