A merchant’s instinct

(Montana Pablo's POV)

From the moment I was born, my fate had been sealed. I was to marry someone from an influential family and let him inherit our family business.

I was raised as a perfect doll. Good at everything. My family was a family of wealthy merchants. My father followed suit and became a merchant as well. However, I was born.

No woman in my family were made to be successors to the business. But my mother died while I was young. Everyone urged my father to remarry.

But he didn't. He loved my mother with his everything. That's why, he would never remarry. Instead, he decided to raise me as the perfect woman.

Then someone from an influential family will marry me and inherit our family business. I had no problems with that. Because I had someone I loved who falls into the same category.

Alec Pablo was his name. I don't know when exactly I fell in love with him. I think it was during our academy days.

We promised each other that we would get married. My father had no problems with it. Because Alec comes from an influential family.

He was a good person who genuinely thought of looking after my family's business. His family also owned a similar business. He wanted to merge both of them.

I got married. He started working hard. I started helping him. He didn't mind me helping him. Rather, he let me take care of a branch.

It was going well. But on our 3rd marriage anniversary, a terrible accident happened. We were supposed to hold a big celebration. Both families were present.

I was preoccupied with a task so I told Alec to go ahead of me. However, misfortune didn't wait for me.

The celebration was being hosted at our house. The house which Alec built. Everyone was present. And when Alec arrived, the entire house went up in flames.

No one could escape. My father, Alec, Alec's father, our family members, everyone got trapped and burnt to death.

I was devastated. I couldn't stay sane. No, I probably had gone insane. Many consoled me. But no one understood my pain. Losing your everything in just a matter of seconds is something that most people can't understand.

After 5 months of this incident, I found a will. It was a will left behind by Alec.

The will said that he is leaving his entire fortune to me. He had already made sure that if he dies suddenly, the business would be sold and the money would be sent to me. And I would be the only person who can access his fortune.

Alec left behind a mountain of treasure. But what would I do with it? It's completely meaningless to me.

However, Alec used to say that he had a dream. He wanted to open a shop which dealt with basically everything. He called it a general store.

True that most shops or businesses deal with a specific theme or product. But Alec had this dream which I would often laugh at. It was a dream which was a little to difficult to fulfill but I promised him that I would help him.

That was 5 years ago. Now, I have successfully started a general store named Pablo's General Store. After my marriage, my family name changed to Pablo. Alec Pablo was my husband. So I went with his name and named the store.

It was tough at first. This society doesn't take too kindly to women who do business. It's sort of like prejudice.

But I started it. I first tried to sell silverware. But I had no artisan of my own. Buying and reselling them were difficult. But then I found someone who was willing to work for me.

He said that no one would buy his creations. So he wanted to try and sell it in my store. His prices were cheaper than anything on the market but his wares were good.

Soon, I became flooded with orders for more. He was happy that his wares are finally selling. Then I started with clothes. It was the same as before. Still, I found a good tailor. He was skilled at making both male and female clothing.

Just like that, I had a contracted carpenter, painter, mason, potter, blacksmith, fisher and even cartographer. Cartographer only makes maps when an adventurer sends me a request. But it's better having one.

I can even contact a sculptor acquaintance of mine if need be. The shop was doing just fine. Everyone had acknowledged me as a businesswoman. I am the owner of Pablo's General Store.

It made me proud that I am doing something to help others. There are more than 50 people directly working for me. Feels like a big responsibility but I got used to it.

One day, a strange customer came into my shop. He had a female companion. I don't know if they are local or not. Because their attire and hair didn't feel local. He started looking through my wares. He told his companion to choose clothes. She does and he comes to me with her in tow.

He asks me the price and pays me without even trying to haggle down the price. I sell my wares fairly cheap. Similar types of wares go for even more at other stores.

I showed her the way to the changing room as she wanted to wear the clothes.

I was pretty startled when he used magic. Magic is pretty rare. Someone who can use it is pretty valuable.

I should try to make him a regular of mine. As a general store, I believe I can provide him with everything he needs. He asked different questions. In the end, he introduced himself. His name is Clive Belmont. I also gave him my name.

He said that he will be back with his other companions. All of them are women. One is even a child. Is he a rich noble from somewhere? I won't go too deep into that.

Doing business with him would be the most productive. I hope he sticks with us. He did say that it helps him since he doesn't have to wander around the market to buy things. He seems like an interesting person so I will wait and see.