LODRT Chapter 06

Chapter 6

Strength returned to my trembling hands.

I headed toward the shop.

[OPEN]

When I saw the word carved on the door sign, it finally felt real.

I had truly become the owner of the pawnshop now.

“Why do you always want to follow your grandpa so much? What is so great about an old, worn-out pawnshop?”

“That’s because Grandfather likes the pawnshop too.”

“What? That’s your only reason? No, more importantly, what do you mean I like it…?”

“I know everything. You always grumble, but I know you actually like that shop. And I know you’re a good person too, Grandfather. Since it’s a place a good person likes, I like it too.”

A place that a good person liked. That was why I came to like it too.

Grandfather’s pawnshop had always been full of customers.

He never tried to charge unfair interest when people brought things as collateral, and he always ran it honestly.

I had not simply inherited a shop.

I had inherited Grandfather’s values.

I had no intention of doing this carelessly.

I took a deep breath.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

Business had begun.

The next day.

After staring at the Notice of Reopening for a long while, Helena stood up.

As she walked down the street, she could see the pawnshop in the distance. There were still no customers.

‘Well, it’s not like a pawnshop can hold a grand opening sale or call customers in from the street.’

It was one of the few businesses that had to rely entirely on word of mouth. It was quite troublesome.

A restaurant only had to make good food, and a boutique only had to make pretty clothes—but a pawnshop?

‘It depends entirely on what the customers bring in.’

If the owner had no skill, Helena thought, it might be better for the shop to close sooner rather than later.

Helena was the guild leader. She had no choice but to think about the interests of the whole street.

What if a pawnshop owner who could not judge items properly got fooled by a fake and paid out money for it?

‘I finally drove those criminals away. If they hear there’s easy money again, they might come back. It’s not just the street’s image—the girl herself could be in danger too.’

Thinking coldly, Helena thought about the two gemstones in her bag.

Both were sapphires, but one was real, and the other was an expertly made fake.

Of course, she planned to present both of them as if they were genuine and have them appraised.

If Elisha could not recognize the fake—

‘then she has no right to run a pawnshop.’

Jingle—

When Helena opened the door and entered, Elisha greeted her with a bright smile.

“Hello, Mrs. Helena! You kept your promise. Please, have a seat.”

Even though there were no customers at all, Elisha did not seem discouraged.

‘No real businessperson would be acting like that.’

Elisha’s confidence yesterday had been unexpected, but now that Helena saw her today, she was sure the girl was treating this like child’s play.

Frowning, Helena took out the two jewelry cases.

“Buy both of these.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes.”

‘Let’s see how much she values them at.’

Helena’s real sapphire was a gemstone she had bought from this very pawnshop one year earlier, when Michele had still been there.

Its appraised value at that time had been 1.4 million gold, and Helena had bought it from Michele for 1.2 million gold.

Depending on the type and condition of the item, Michele usually bought jewelry for about 60% of its appraised value.

So Elisha should offer somewhere around 800,000 gold for the real sapphire.

“Yes, let me take a look.”

Wearing gloves, Elisha picked up the first sapphire and a loupe.

As she examined the gem through the magnifier, she also checked it through a dichroscope and filter film.

‘Well, she looks at things in a way similar to her grandfather. I suppose she did learn by watching him.’

That was what Helena thought as Elisha set down the first sapphire and picked up the second.

Then, while checking it with the loupe, Elisha tilted her head.

“Hmm?”

At that reaction, Helena almost had to hold back a laugh.

‘She must think that because I brought two sapphires, one of them might be fake. Not a bad instinct—but she’s wrong. She picked the wrong one.’

Because the second sapphire was the real one.

And yet Elisha was making that puzzled face!

She clearly had no idea what she was doing.

It was obvious she was trying to read Helena’s expression. Helena kept her face carefully blank.

A while later, after even checking the certificates for both gems, Elisha removed her gloves.

“Hmm…”

She made that thoughtful sound as if trying to buy time.

Just as I thought, Helena decided, losing interest. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

“I’ll start with the second sapphire.”

“Go ahead.”

Helena answered indifferently—

then doubted her own ears at the words that followed.

“I can buy it for 1.5 million gold.”

“…Fine… what? 1.5 million gold?!”

Helena jerked upright without meaning to, her eyes wide.

But Elisha’s expression did not change. In fact, she repeated it clearly one more time.

“Yes. 1.5 million gold.”

Helena had been stunned, but now her brow slowly narrowed.

“Don’t tell me… you think if you buy it at a high price, I’ll look on you favorably?”

She was so dumbfounded that the back of her neck grew hot.

“I bought this for 1.2 million gold. Considering its appraised value, you should be offering around 800,000 gold. And yet you’re saying 1.5 million gold?”

The more Helena spoke, the more irritated she became with this young appraiser.

“What is offering an extra 700,000 gold if not a bribe? Did I look like the kind of person who would like that just because I’m the guild leader?”

Ha!

Letting out a dry laugh, Helena stood up at once.

“If you plan to run your business by judging people like this, then quit right now.”

She started gathering up the gemstones. There was no point seeing any more.

“Before I am the guild leader, I am also a fellow merchant, and I cannot tolerate this kind of disruptive conduct! I feel sorry for Michele, but right now—!”

“Did you happen to read today’s newspaper, Mrs. Helena?”

Helena, who had been putting the gems into her bag, stopped.

Elisha held out a newspaper and pointed to a small article in one corner.

[Tehita Sapphire Mine Declares Complete Exhaustion…]

“Tehita sapphires are popular because their color is deep and vivid.”

Elisha added calmly, even in front of the angry Helena.

“I thought you would know that too, Mrs. Helena.”

“……”

“But now they are gemstones you can only buy if someone already has them. Because the mine is exhausted.”

Helena’s gaze moved to the gem in her bag.

That was right. The sapphire she had brought was from Tehita.

“Then…”

“1.5 million gold is a fair price that includes its future value.”

Elisha’s voice was full of confidence.

“I could have pretended not to know and bought it for 800,000 gold, but then once you found out the news later, you would never come back to our pawnshop again. Right?”

Smiling softly, Elisha added seriously,

“A pawnshop is a business that looks at objects, but in the end, those objects are brought by customers. So we have to be honest. Honest to the item, and honest to the customer.”

Helena had no answer. She swallowed.

‘She’s better than I expected. No… she’s astonishing. She doesn’t just judge objects well—she also checks current issues and reflects them in the price.’

Watching Helena closely, Elisha then said brightly,

“And the first sapphire is fake. The certificate is forged too.”

Helena’s mouth fell open.

“How did you know that?”

“First, it didn’t have the inclusions a natural stone should have. And the certificate was far too sloppy.”

Before she knew it, Helena was fully focused on Elisha’s explanation.

“The certificate paper was too new, and there was only one fold mark. That means it was made recently. And more than anything—”

“More than anything?”

“When you were about to leave earlier, you tossed the first sapphire carelessly into your bag.”

Elisha smiled.

“But you put the second sapphire in carefully. That was a clue too.”

Ha!