Soon enough, we arrived in front of a glass storefront close to the centre of town. A store sign on the front depicted some kind of steampunk contraption.
What did my store sell? Well it sold assorted mechanical items in general and also took commissions for intricate items. It wasn't exactly a new idea, but in the small barony there wasn't any store for intricate crafts, only your ordinary blacksmiths and craftsmen who did general work.
There were two reasons I was here. The first is because the manager I had hired said they were ready for business. The second was that one of the three craftsmen I had hired, who happened to be three brothers, wanted one of the slaves to be freed so they could be one of their apprentices.
While I had distanced myself from the slavery, I still knew the general attitude people had to them, which is why my curiosity overtook my laziness as I wondered what kind of godly talent changed people's attitudes.
Soon enough, Luna and I entered the store, a small bell ringing as we did. Inside, five people were lined up. At the front of the group was a chubby fat man with pale walnut hair and wearing a gray suit that seemed to barely contain his belly. This guy was named Harry, and despite his appearance he was actually considered quite strong. I estimated his strength stat to be around 10, compared to the average of 1 to 4.
"Good morning boss. I'm happy to report that we're ready for opening my lord." Harry welcomed, rubbing his hands together with a professional smile on his face.
"Morningggg… Now, I'm half asleep, so focus your explanation on Luna, kay? Cool." I responded lazily.
"..." Luna stayed silent, her eyebrow twitching slightly.
"I understand, anyways, here is the slave Roderic and his brothers want to take as an apprentice." Harry introduced, pulling a young girl, only about the height of me and Narri in front of him.
"Eh? When did we get children as slaves?" I suddenly asked, ready to slap someone through a wall.
"Don't be fooled. She's a half demon imp. She may look short and young but the slave merchant assured us she's at least 27 years old, with a lifespan of… About 500." Harry explained and I had to squint my eyes trying to spot any demonic features. Not to mention imps were supposedly tiny little black balls with point heads and small arms and legs.
"How does an imp even reproduce with a human? She doesn't even have horns or wings." I pointed out, "Are you sure you weren't lied to?" I confirmed.
"I'm sure. Apparently she was previously owned by a marquis from the east who had some… questionable hobbies. Her horns and wings were apparently cut off." Harry explained before answering the first question.
"As for imps, the ones you're thinking of are low level imps that haven't matured. Give them about three hundred years and they'll mature to have a human form with horns and wings. As you probably guessed, these forms are often short and young, quite fitting for a race called imps."
"I see… Never thought I would need to hear that." I acknowledged.
"Anyways, why do you guys want to take her as an apprentice?" I asked the trio of brothers with red hair, who were standing behind Harry.
"Mm. She has exceptional talent in craftsmanship and is careful with her hands. It's a waste for her to remain a slave when she could spend her life honing her craft." The oldest of the brothers, who already had some gray hairs and wrinkles showing around his face answered confidently.
"What kind of godly talent could make you think that?" I asked.
"The kind that's better than mine after only a year of learning under us." The eldest of the trio responded.
"Woosh. Alright, come over here." I said, asking the young girl, with blue hair and some simple clothes, probably provided by Harry since I remember most slaves practically wearing rags, to come over.
The young girl was hesitant, but soon left Harry's side and stood in front of me.
"What's your name?" I ordered.
"Flay Filior." The girl answered, with Harry moving her long blue hair out of the way of her neck where an iron collar with strange engravings was sitting.
After speaking her name I drew energy from my core. I manipulated it into a spike before reaching out to touch the collar. I forced my energy into the collar which didn't resist much thanks to me being the master of the collar, and systematically shattered the spells inside it before writing the girls name down on the last spell inside the collar.
I withdrew my hand and a moment later the collar cracked before splitting apart and falling to the floor.
"Oh, that was quick, according to the slave merchant these collars should take about an hour or so to get off by a novice mage." Harry spoke, surprised.
"I have an excess of energy thanks to sleeping all day." I responded blandly.
"Anyways I leave her in your hands, so open the store and let's finally make some profit. I didn't hire you guys for the last 19 months so you could slack off." I continued.
Since I wasn't in any rush I had prioritised the quality of the store and its workers and given them plenty of time to train up. The six slaves Harry claimed to have bought should all be able to produce some decent items, or more often, they would just assist the 3 craftsman brothers who were a woodworker, blacksmith and artificer respectively. With such a line up I imagined the store's goods would be able to have quality and that there wouldn't be many commissions they couldn't complete.
"Hehe. Alright boss." Harry chuckled before walking past us and opening the simple glass doors open wide. "Baron's mechanism store is now open!" Harry yelled out, loud enough for the surrounding crowds passing in front of the shop to hear.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you guys then. Report to me at the end of the day." I said, tossing a sealed letter over. The letter was simply so that the guards at the estate would know he was my guest so a servant could guide him to me.
With that, I turned around and left as some curious passerby entered.
"Will this kind of shop really do well?" Luna asked as we walked out.
"All in all. It might not be a money making factory, but it'll definitely do well. From what we worked out this kind of shop doesn't exist in the area and is in moderate demand." I told her as we walked back.