76 The Business Boom

The streets of Hermes were bustling with activity as people went about their day. Some people were traveling to work. Most of them were walking, though some of them had bicycles. Others were shopping, looking to buy groceries or other items. There was one shop at the corner of the road named Elbert's General Clothing Store.

It was a store that sold all manners of clothing, including shirts, pants, hats, and shoes. It was owned and managed by a man named Elbert Beras. Two years ago he had thought of the idea for a store that would sell all kinds of clothing.

This was quite the novel idea as in the past, there was a separate store for the shoemaker, the hatmaker, the tailor, etc. This was a result of the manufacturing methods of the time. Clothing was mainly handmade by specialists. As a result, the people will those skills opened up shops for the specific item that they made. Clothing was also quite expensive back then so people didn't normally buy multiple articles of clothing at a time.

That was the way clothing was made and sold for hundreds of years. However, in recent times that began changing. Factories started opening up and clothing could be mass produced at a rapid rate. The manufacturing boom made clothing much more affordable to the people.

Of course, many of the tailors who had previously been making clothing found their profits dropping and they complained. However, they were completely ignored by the church. At one point it seemed that they might end up rioting, but it seemed that the government took this very seriously and cracked down hard. After that, there were no more complains about industrialization, even after other areas of manufacturing started being affected.

Elbert was quite the smart man. Rather than trying to stand against the tide of progress, he embraced it and used it to his benefit. There was a rising demand for clothing and even poorer families were able to afford multiple sets of clothes.

Before Elbert started his store, the factories had their own shops which sold all of the clothes made by the factory. However, as each factory only had one shop, there were very few in the city and people had to travel a long distance to go to one. Furthermore, when they went shopping for clothes they would have to visit numerous stores. Elbert saw an opportunity here to make the process better.

Elbert's family were merchants, and so Elbert had picked up some skill for business. Since his family had money, he had funds to help start up his shop. However, he didn't actually have enough money in the beginning to get started. Fortunately, the government was subsidizing startup businesses back then and he was able to receive some money which together with the amount he already had was enough to open his store.

He negotiated some contracts with various factories and soon he was able to get a supply of clothing for his store. His store was not far from his home. In fact, one of the reasons he thought of the idea in the first place was that his home was in a particularly bad spot for being able to buy clothing. So, his store was in an area where it would make clothing much more convenient to buy.

His store had ended up being more popular than expected. It seemed that lots of people appreciated having a central location where they could buy all of their clothing. Elbert had started thinking about even bigger plans for the future. Maybe he could create a gigantic store that sold everything. Of course, that would be a massive undertaking and require a lot of money which he didn't have. Still, it was good to dream. Maybe he would be able to pitch the idea to someone who would lend him the money.

Elbert's success had inspired others as well. All around the city, retail stores began to appear selling all sorts of things. Elbert might have been first, but the idea spread so quickly that Elbert's store was hardly unique. Of course, all that he had done was realize that a paradigm shift had occurred, he didn't think he did anything exceptional.

His business had continued to do quite well and Elbert was now a man who had quite a bit of money. It wasn't at a ridiculous level but he was still quite far up in terms of economic status.

As the day came to a close, Elbert locked up the store and left. He walked along the road which had been recently paved. The new road was this strange black surface. Apparently the new road material had been made from some waste component of oil or something. That is what he heard anyways. The road was quite smooth and sturdy, it was better than the cobblestone roads and leagues better than a dirt road. Several streets have started being repaved, but it was gradual process.

Elbert soon entered a bar. He was quite friendly with the bartender Richard. After he entered, he sat down at the bar and asked for some whiskey. It was a rather recently introduced drink and he found it much better than the beer he used to drink. It was also much stronger.

As he sat down at the bar, Richard poured him the drink. "So, how have you been doing recently", Richard asked.

"I've been alright." Elbert took a drink. "I have been earning plenty of money. Life has really been improving."

"Yeah." Richard pointed at the ceiling. "Just look at these new electric lights. They light up the bar so much better than the candles and lanterns did."

"Life has really been good the past few years", Elbert said. "I've become quite wealthy."

Richard laughed. "Well then rich boy, what have you been spending your money on?"

"Plenty of things", replied Elbert. "A larger house, some furniture, some toys for the kids. I also went to see that magic movie. It was quite the experience."

"Oh really? I haven't had a chance to see it. What was it like?" Richard looked curious.

"It was breathtaking", described Elbert. "The scenery was so vivid and it basically sucked me right in. I almost thought it was real. I saw battles firsthand. I never thought a war would be so terrifying. I have a lot of respect for those soldiers."

Elbert took another drink. "That last battle though was intense. I was basically on the edge of my seat. That massive demon almost did us in. It was the most frightening thing I have ever seen. Thank goodness it's dead now. I can't imagine actually staring it in the face. That witch Zero though, she killed it with a sword. And then she was slaughtering demons left and right. It was the most amazing thing. That was bravery there."

"Ah, the magic movie was depicting the war wasn't it?" asked Richard.

"Yeah, I couldn't imagine how scary it would have been in person." Elbert shuddered. "We really dodged a crisis there. Could you imagine if that army actually got to us. We would have been dead meat. I for one would definitely not be able to stand in front of that demon like Zero did. I would have fainted on the spot."

"Yeah", agreed Richard. "Thank God the army managed to win. Everyone there was a hero, especially Zero."

"You ought to see the movie sometime", Elbert said.

"I'd like to", replied Richard. "But the tickets are a bit expensive."

"It is only in the beginning that they are so expensive. So people like me get to watch it first." Elbert chuckled. "The prices are going to go down after a while."

As more guests arrived, Richard went over to serve them. Elbert talked with some of the other folks there for a while before finally heading home. He was glad for all this, the nice warm house, his wonderful family. His life was perfect.