The Villainess Will Live a Good Life

9. Market

Nana quit visiting the meadow as often and focused on other things for a time. She was too tense to really let loose and would rather achieve goals.

Today, she was going to the Middle and it was more beneficial to be in her common form. Carrying her pouch of money and carved jewelry, Nana went shopping. The common currency were stones and crystals mined from the earth called kon. Kon were not only pretty, but they also had other uses. Nana had too few to waste, but she did test out a small clear kon once. While it couldn't help her tired muscles recover, it did give her a burst of energy. It reminded her of caffeination or a sugar rush.

Precious metals were also widely accepted in this city as currency. Bartering and trade were strong practices too, hence why Nana brought some of her crafts. Her goal today was to start understanding the market. If she wanted a lavish and easy life in the future, she needed money. To make money she needed to sell wares. To sell those wares, though, she needed to know what they were worth.

Nana did trade and bartered hard for certain items. She got plenty of deals simply because of her gender. Her favorite stalls, so far, were the lone vegetable and seed shop and the pottery stall. Of course, Nana enjoyed looking at the other craft stalls too. They were nice and helped fuel her own ideas, but she wasn't purchasing from them.

Nana continued to make several trips into the market over the course of the next two weeks. Sales were slow after the attack, but were finally picking back up. The weather was cooling down rapidly as the season of frost drew closer. Families needed to stock up on goods, so the market was fairly busy. Those who had excess traded to those who did not. And the ones who were wealthy shopped for new goods as usual.

Nana did see the purple fox once over the course of the month, but their interaction was short. More notably, she met Kabuki and Sano several times. Kaito notified them at some point of their wellbeing and very much alive status. Since Kaito spoke to them, Nana naturally knew that they and her brothers were fine and healthy.

Once she had the data she needed, Nana had Amil help her set up her own stall. They paid the appropriate start up fee which was discounted since she bought it in person. It still cost her a lot. Nana's wallet was empty and she cried fake tears.

They set up shop as soon as possible. Her stall was pretty sad, but she didn't say that. Amil tried his best to make it on short notice. Carpentry and crafting were not skills he was good at. The sap had barely dried and the scent of the wood was stronger than Nana would have liked. Some of her future customers will have sensitive noses... But it'll fade eventually.

Nana sat on her cushions while Amil ran the stall. This was a tactic. Females shop at stalls, not supervise them. Beastmen will come visit out of pure curiosity. Some males may even buy her goods just to impress her. She couldn't be bought, but they don't know that. She won't purposefully give them that impression, but if they wanted to think that on their own... Well, it was their misunderstanding and Nana wasn't going to feel guilty about it.

Nana looked at her line up of goods. Mostly everything was wood carved. Amil also had a couple of extra furs he added to the line up. Nana already had enough to make it through the coldest season of the year and so they were up for sale.

She knew the quality of her work wasn't the highest compared to her competitors, but Nana's selection contained artistic variety. She also wouldn't ask for a high price now. Hopefully, her chances were good enough as they were.

Amil quickly got overwhelmed by curious beasts. Nana stepped up and took on any female buyers or perusers. Thanks to her improving social skills, she managed to sell three of her crafts to two females. It wasn't much, but it felt nice. Nana couldn't help but smile at her first success.