The Great Wish - Chapter 8.4

Vol.2 Chapter 8 Part 4 

There were a lot of people on the street. A woman who was carrying her things in a basket on top of her head, middle-aged men in the midst of an animated conversation, seniors carrying bundles in both hands as they busily made their way... 

Sienna walked past them. No one paid her any attention.They didn't even move out of the way for her. This was the first time Sienna was experiencing what it felt like to walk in a crowd. 

"Where are we going?" 

"To the saloon. We need to find our seats as soon as possible. If we wait any longer, there won't be any seats left." 1 

Now he didn't even bother asking for her permission to relax his manner of speech. 

"If there's anywhere you'd like to visit, I'll take you there, Ed." 

Was she getting used to this? She wasn't surprised or displeased by his brazen attitude. 

"A pawnshop." 

She stuttered due to the unfamiliar voice that left her lips. 

"I heard that commoners often frequent that kind of place." 

Sienna raised her hand and held up a ring. 

"I want to try and pawn this." 

It was the ring that Patricia had given Emma which, in turn, Emma had given her. 

"A small shop won't be able to take something like that. We better go eastward after visiting the saloon." 

"You know approximately how much this is worth from just one look?" 

"More or less." 

"How much is it worth?" 

"About three gold coins." 

That was exactly what Evita had told her. Sienna carefully looked at the ring. Was there some kind of price tag hidden on the ring? 

"Does the average person know something like that?" 

"No, not really." 

"Then how is it that you know?" 

"I'm not average." 

Sienna didn't know how to react as he spoke highly of himself without cracking a smile.  

"It looks like you don't know how to be humble." 

"Humility is only for average men." 

Sienna laughed at Kuhn's haughty facade. For some reason, this man's bluff didn't seem so ridiculous to her. 

"There's a lot of people out and about at this time of day." 

It was long past lunchtime as the day approached the afternoon. In the Palace, everyone would be resting by now, and the nobles would be enjoying a cup of tea. 

"It's the busiest time of the day." 

"Right now?" 

"If they stop to enjoy a cup of tea or take a nap now, they'll starve to death." 

"..." 

 Sienna never thought that the afternoon rest was only limited to the upper class. 

Kuhn glanced at Sienna as she was lost in thought and smiled. Whenever he mentioned the difference between the lives of the nobles and the lives of the commoners to a noble, it usually went in one ear and out the other. 

Very rarely did he encounter someone who listened earnestly. These people were usually politicians who held the respect of the commoners. 

Kuhn stopped in his tracks and gestured with his hand. A boy ran over to them. 

"The Red Roof. Reserve one table." 

Kuhn handed the boy three 10-pieces of silver. The boy lowered his head before turning around and running off. 

"I don't think we have to go to the saloon just yet, so why don't we go to the pawnshop first?" 

"Who was that child?" 

"He makes money by doing small errands." 

"Does he work for the saloon?" 

"He doesn't have anything to do with the saloon. He just carries out small errands." 

"How do you know he's an errand boy?" 

"You can tell just by looking." 

"And do you know this because you're not an average man?" 

 Kuhn chuckled. 

"No. It isn't limited to the Empire. Wherever you go on the continent, as long as you're in a decent-sized city, you'll find kids like him. The only difference is that in other cities, those kids also tend to pick pockets. Because the Empire puts such a priority on public safety, you usually don't find petty thieves like that here." 

Sienna felt proud. 

"Have you ever sent him to do an errand for you before?" 

"Today is the first time I've seen him." 

"Then how can you trust him? What if he only took your money and won't fulfill your errand?" 

"There's an order to these things. And the children have divided the city amongst themselves so that they only work in certain areas. If they steal the money and are caught, they will never be able to work again. All they have to do is some legwork, so they won't risk losing that kind of work for a few silver coins." 

The ends of Sienna's lips slowly went up. 

For the past three days, she wondered if she scheduled this outing for no good reason. She now brushed off the strange feeling of regret. She just gained a piece of information that she wouldn't have been able to obtain even if she came out tens of times with her knights. She felt that it was worth coming out today. 

* * * 

It was a fairly large building, and the pawnshop took up the whole thing. 

"It's a lot more fancy than what I expected." 

"There are small ones here and there, but they can't take expensive items. They might even trick you into thinking that your item is worth less than it is." 

"Trick me? Then why do people go to them?" 

"Because they'll take all kinds of junk. The shops here will only take valuable items. They won't even give you the time of day if you bring them anything less." 

"So it's not your average pawnshop. I was expecting something much..." 

"Smaller?" 

Sienna nodded. 

"I'll take you there next time." 

Sienna gazed at his face as he opened the door and went inside. He didn't say anything strange, but a peculiar feeling overcame her. 

The interior was wide and tidy. Various items and its price tags were neatly displayed in the glass display cases. There were a few customers inside. The employees who were assisting them were bustling around the shop. 

While Sienna looked around the pawnshop, an elderly man approached them. 

The man asked them how he could help, and Kuhn responded. 

"We have something we'd like to pawn." 

 The man guided them into a room with a table inside. 

Sienna placed the ring on the table. The man took a velvet cloth and held up the ring. He then raised a magnifying glass and began to carefully take a look. 

"I'd say this is worth three gold coins. We usually offer sixty percent of the estimated value in cash, but since this is something that has a high liquidity, we can offer you seventy percent." 

"How long will you hold this?" 

"We can hold it for at least three months and at most one year. The interest will also be added depending on how long we keep it. We can keep it on hold for two years, but after that, it will be auctioned off." 

Sienna asked the man all kinds of questions. The elderly man didn't show any sign of frustration and answered all of her questions. 

"I'll leave the ring here." 

While Sienna and the elderly man talked, Kuhn merely sat next to her and kept silent. 

"How would you like us to issue the promissory note?" 

Sienna didn't know what he was talking about. When Sienna didn't say anything, the elderly man began to explain. 

"We can send you the bill in total, or you can pay it in installments." 

"Give me the total." 

"Would like us to issue you a credit default swap? Although, I'll tell you now that we almost never fail to carry out a transaction." 

Sienna didn't know what to say. This elderly man was quite kind. He didn't hesitate to explain all these terms to her. 

"Every store here will issue you a promissory note. The most credible promissory note comes from the Raad Company." 

"I'll take that one then." 

The elderly man rang a small bell. A young man entered the room. 

"Give this gentleman a promissory note." 

"Yes, sir." 

The young man received the business transaction notes and asked Sienna to follow him. 

Sienna followed the man out of the room, and Kuhn slowly got up from his seat. The elderly man and Kuhn exchanged a look. The man lowered his head. Kuhn glanced at Sienna as she stepped out of the room. He spoke to the elderly man in a low voice so that she wouldn't hear. 

"I wasn't here." 

"Yes, Kuhn." 

Sienna carefully studied the promissory note. The sum of money was written in the standard gold coin. A unique seal was stamped on the bottom of the note. 

'They said this was issued by the Raad Company, so is this their logo?' 

While Sienna was busy examining the promissory note, Kuhn received the check from the employee on her behalf. Sienna didn't realize that she was given special treatment during her visit here. 

Only desperate people visited a pawnshop. The customers were usually in sorry states and the employees usually did business in a domineering fashion. 

No pawnshop would take the time to explain every single thing to a customer. Actually, if a customer came in without any knowledge, they'd end up getting scammed instead. 

The elderly man lowered his head politely as Sienna and Kuhn left the shop. All the employees in the shop looked at the man in confusion. 

'That's surprising. The manager came out to personally help a customer.' 

'He didn't even come out to greet the countess who came in a few days ago.' 

'Just how important was the customer who came in today?' 

They couldn't reveal their curiosity and kept their musings inside their hearts.