"10 faith points... 10 faith points... what should I buy... huh...? Did they just increase?"
I looked at the system window, which suddenly showed that my faith points had gone from 10 to 15. The sudden increase startled .
As far as I knew, I had not done anything that could lead to this change... except...
’So treating other people does lead to a direct increase in faith points. Looks like I need to set up my office sooner than expected.’
But first, I needed to get more comfortable furniture, and to do that, I needed money. But that was a problem in itself.
The store hardly had any custors that ca here to check it out, and those who did usually ignored everything.
I had only sold a single book since coming here, and that had been to that little girl. I needed to pick up my pace.
"What would attract custors to my shop... let see... hmm. Maybe sothing that they have never seen before would help?"
I asked myself as I looked at the store.
The thought of spending my hard-earned faith points on sothing as pointless as sothing attractive made frown. But I was willing to do that if it ant I could earn more.
My current mindset made recall sothing my capitalist friend had once said to .
’To earn more, you need to spend more as well. It is a two-way street.’
At that ti, I had thought that he was a fool. Who would want to spend money just to earn a little more?
But now that I was in a similar situation to him, I suddenly understood the wisdom of his words. So the first thing I did was look over the catalogue.
There was not much in my price range. Things like electricity and even appliances cost a lot more faith points than I had. And then for things like electricity, there was a recurring fee.
I needed to be frugal and search up sothing that could attract people and not be too costly at the sa ti.
And then, I found it— a perfect item that could help — a music box.
From what I could tell, a music box was not sothing that existed in this ti. I had not seen a single one in the stores when I went out to get my supplies.
So that was my choice.
There was a small part of that asked if what I was doing was morally right. To introduce a thing like a music box in this ti period could make the whole tiline beco ssed up.
But a bigger part of my brain rationalized that if I was not supposed to use and bring items from other tis here, then I wouldn’t have been given this power.
Also, I had no other choice if I wanted to survive.
So, despite my hesitance, I bought the music box for 10 faith points, and my heart sank as I watched my balance drop back down to 5 faith points.
I looked all over the box before I found the handle and rotated it and rotated it and kept rotating it.
After about 15 minutes of doing that, I felt exhausted and finally felt the click that told I had fully wound the tool up.
Then, I put the music box near the window and let it play.
A soft and beautiful lody started to play, causing people to stop and wonder where it was coming from.
Slowly, a small crowd ford in front of my window as they saw the music box. And a few people noticed that this was a bookstore and entered the place.
"Excuse , I wanted to ask you... you are a new face...? Where is the old storekeeper?"
An old lady asked as she entered. From her clothes, she looked like a rich noblewoman who had a lot of money and influence. She held herself regally, and her pose made her look taller than she actually was.
But her age seed to be getting to her because there was fatigue behind her eyes.
I decided to quickly answer her as soon as I recalled what I knew about nobles and their temper.
"Ah yes—! I am the new shopkeeper. The old shop owner needed to... step away for so ti and he asked to look over the store. Is there anything I can help you with?"
I asked the old lady, and she looked hesitant. Then, she closed her eyes as she made up her mind.
"It is unlikely that you would be able to help out. But I appreciate you for asking. Hmm, since I am already here, I guess I better buy sothing. About that device that plays music, how much is it? I will pay you for it."
The old lady told , and I felt myself sweating.
That music box was sothing that I could not let go of. Especially not when I had just paid such a heavy price for it.
"I am afraid that it is not for sale. It is a precious item, after all."
I told the old lady, but she frowned, clearly upset that I had told her no.
"Hmph—! You think I cannot pay for it. Just na your price, boy. I will match what you na."
There was so anger mixed in the older lady’s voice, and I felt myself sweating. I needed to diffuse the situation and quick.
’What is sothing that can make a noble back down. Hurry up and think—!’
There were two things that ca to mind— power and the fear of God.
I lacked power at the current mont, so there was only one thing I could rely on to calm the noble lady down.
"It’s not about money, my dear guest. It’s about faith. This is a precious gift by... a higher being... so I cannot part with it... lest it cause you trouble as well. However, you are welco to co here and enjoy it."
I told the older lady. I was willing to have her as a non-paying custor simply because she looked like soone who had a lot of money and connections.
As soone connected to high society, she could surely spread the word about my shop among her people, and I could get more custors that way.
So, she was soone I was willing to invest in, even if the returns were not imdiate.
"O-Oh my—! Is that so? So this is a sacred object... no wonder..."
The old lady seed to have believed , and I saw the worry on her face lting away.
Her body looked too tense, and I sensed a potential for making her a custor of my store.
"My lady, why don’t you sit down and enjoy the soft lody. I will deal with the custors, and then we can talk more. I have a feeling you are in dire need of my help."
I told the old lady, my words soft and buttery. This was not a tone I often used, but I had heard my co-workers use it enough to coerce their custors into getting an unneeded diagnostic.
’Tsk, to think that there ca a day when I need to use this voice. Ugh, how annoying. But I need to keep doing this for the sake of my survival.’
I had morals, but they were not unbreakable. I was a highly adaptive person, so I decided to take advantage of this situation for my own gain.
"O-Of course, storekeeper. I-I will wait for you to get finished with the custors. I also have a feeling... a feeling that you are the answer to all my problems."
The older lady told in earnest. She suddenly sounded polite, which made believe that she had taken my excuse about God seriously.
"Of course. I will be there with you in a minute."
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