"You will buy something at the merchant, right? Could you also buy me some kitchen ingredients?" My mom asked while keep held my father's hand.
"Alright… No problem…" I agree.
With that said. I went to the merchant store that built their branch in this village. Every week, they always restock their merchandise in this village. And right now, I am in front of that branch building.
I can see the building crowded with people around, both staff and villagers who restock their necessities or stroll around, looking for exciting stuff. There is a board with the brand name "Rize Merchant Company" I can see so many carriages parked in front of the building.
"Excuse me, May I meet with Mr. Rize?" I asked a person who guarded the office building.
"Ohh, Ivy… I'm glad to see you, need to Mr. Rize? Alright, follow me." The guard said and told me to follow him.
"Guys… switch my place for a little while… I need to take a guest to Mr. Rize" He answered me and gave an order to other guards.
Then, I follow the guard until he stops in front of the door. The usual door that I always enter.
"Mr. Rize, I bought Alivia," He said after knocking on the door.
"Ahh,.. right… let her in" A voice behind the door answered the guard.
"Alright… you can come in… I will get back to my position… I guess you've familiar with this right?" Ask the guard to me. Yea, this is not my first time.
Although...
"Yes… Thank you very much for escorting me Mr…?" I ask his name again. Yeah, sometimes I forget some people's names.
"Fred," He answered with a smile.
"Ahh… right… thank you very much Mr. Fred" I replied with an awkward tone.
Then I enter the room. There is quite a large room, with a sofa and table for guests and a table with piles of paper.
I stroll to the sofa until someone pops out his head from a mountain of paper. There he is, Mr. Rize, the continental merchant who always comes to this village.
"Ahh, Mrs. Alivia come here, please sit down and feel free with me," He said after working on some paper so fast and finishing his report quickly.
"Alright…" I answered while sitting down on a sofa.
"So… what do you need today?" He asked me.
"Nah… I just need to take my order and buy some ingredients for my mom". I answered his question. This is my routine activity when Mr. Rize comes to this village, takes my order, and orders other things for the next. Where do I get money to order my stuff? Of course, I work, looking for herbs or making a potion and selling it to the soldier. That is where my money comes from, and of course, my parents already knew about this.
"Alright… wait a second, let me complete my paper, and I will take you to your order," Said Mr. Rize while he still focused on the paper.
Not taking a long time, Mr. Rize finally finished his paper. He gets off his chair and comes closer to me.
"Okay, shall we move to take care of your order," He told me.
We leave Mr. Rize's office and walk to the warehouse. Quite spacious for a village in a rural kingdom, though.
"Okay… So, here we are," While pointing at the stack of goods covered by the fabric.
We come closer, and I pull the fabric and look at the goods. Ore, Stone, and some other stuff.
"Alright, this is your order. Honestly, for a 11 years old little girl, I don't know why you need this stuff, and even weird and dangerous stuff. I hope you don't have any plans for something mischievous." He said while shrugging, giving an awkward sign.
"You just know I make this to make some tools okay… and I need more goods like this for my experience," I told him.
"Are you sure you're only 11 years old?" He asked me.
"Nah… don't worry, I'm perfectly fine," I said.
Then I chant my space magic and put all the stuff on my space-time magic.
"Okay… you make me impressed again, last time you could only store around 50 Kilograms, and today you could store your whole stuff with 150 kilograms? Really?" He asked me in disbelief about what I did.
"Yeah, everyone works so hard, including myself, on my pace, of course," I answered, shrugging like giving a sign 'yea… this is me'.
"Huh… alright… you work so hard this time, but how? Even children in a royal family need to be at least 16 years old until they can enchant middle-grade magic, and how can you do that when you're only 11 years old?!" He was still in disbelief at what I did.
"Umm… because the magic mechanism is quite easy?" I told him with an innocent face like a plaything for children. I admit that the magic mechanism is straightforward.
If you have a basic understanding of science, it will be easy to apply it to magic, like how we made a fireball by converting our magic into a ball of flammable gas. And my case, understanding a basic theory of gravity will be enough to create space-time magic.
"Alright, have you got what you needed?" He asked me.
"Yes, this is all I need," I said while checking my stuff.
Then we walk out of the warehouse and exit.
"So, is there any news from outside?" I ask him while we are going out.
"Hmm… Yea… there are, even though this is not good news," Mr. Rize answered sadly.
"What is it?" I ask him. I need more information from outside.
"Yeah, the monster from demon territory started increasing. Debesis Theocracy invaded Yamato Empire and Orleans Kingdom, and also the heir of the AEtherian Kingdom started to fight each other, and probably there are civil war will happen," He explained with a complex expression. Is it good news or bad news for a merchant? Let's said like a double-edged sword.
"Wow, I think the world war in this world will happen." I answered.
"Probably, but the most important is everything will increase," He said.
"And of course, you will get a big profit, right?" I asked and looked at him with a little smile, trying to tease him.
Snapping for what I said, He looked at me grimly. "Where you learned that, you little brat!" He shouted and messed up my hair.
"Haha… of course… with war, every good started to increase, not only for people but also for the kingdom who will face war, food, equipment, potion and even some raw stuff. Also you should increasing security for delivering goods but it's worth it because everyone will depend on merchant. My suggestion is to keep your stockpile for a little while until everything worsens, and then… congrats!, you'll become a second person who has power after a king," I explain while tidying up my hair.
He was stunned for a little while. Looking at me with a more surprised face.
I realized it after walking for a while and looking at him, who was still stunned by my words.
"What?" I asked him while I thought, 'What's wrong with this guy' Then he suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Let's get married!!!" He proposed to me out of nowhere.
I realize we're in the front hall of this office, with a busy situation. Everyone suddenly stopped and looked at us.
I am stunned suddenly with his words and reflectively shout.
"As if?!" then ended up with the biggest rejection from a woman.
SLAP
I hurriedly get away from the building and walk out to my home. I still hear the sounds of people laughing.
"Sigh… that old man, I think he needs to look at himself first," I said. Not only too much gap age, but the reason is simple: my mind is also an old man. So, I need more time to decide on romantic things, especially with men.
***
That night, I and my family on dinner. Just like usual dinner, until after my father emptied his plate and then ask to me.
"Ivy… I heard that you slapped Mr. Rize's face?" My father asked with a bit of murderous intent.
"…Yes," I answered him with a poker face, even though I could not hold that aura too much.
"Could you tell your father why you were slapping him?" He asked me once again.
Looking at my mother's face, I see him still eating her food, nearly empty. But I can see she holds something.
"Yeah… he proposed to me," I answered him calmly.
SNAP SNAP
Like electricity hit both of them, they suddenly stopped for a while.
"So… that's information is right huh?" This time, my mother responded.
"Honey… should we go to Mr. Rize's office tomorrow to 'take care' something?" Father asked Mother for the next day.
"Sure honey… my pleasure for went with you," Mother answered with a colder tone. Then I realize the surrounding temperature has decreased.
'Ahh… this couple… how long you'll keep guarding your daughter like this,' I ask myself, not only mentioning that. I was also somewhat guilty to Mr. Rize for tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in another place from Ivy's house
"HIE!!!" Suddenly Mr. Rize's body shuddered like he received a significant killing intent from afar.
"Is there someone who really want to kill me?" Asked Mr. Rize to himself.
"Hmm… I hope Alivia not hate me tomorrow" He shrugged and continued his work without realizing that he would lose one limb or at least be unable to move his body for one week.