The Touma Shop in Cusca 1

After a few minutes of walking, Mero's group reached the main street of Cusca, where the Touma family store of Mero was.

When they were already at a distance from where they could see that place, Mero said to Tenur. "This is the store you will work in for six months.

Your goal here will be to make this post profitable. Normally I just used this place as storage for when I did business 'nearby' and didn't want to bring all the necessary resources from the capital.

But this place has always been open for local people to buy things and profit from it.

Unfortunately, it never happened..." He explained a bit about the situation of this store to his captive. "Your job will be precisely to overcome the costs of maintaining and running this place and give me a financial return.

As long as you make this place stop making losses, I will consider your mission fulfilled.

Tenur heard this and wondered why a big family store was making losses.

Businesses of all kinds had their difficulties. But usually, great powers could invest a lot in a short time and thereby crush the competition with their lower prices. Because of this, large organizations would typically profit after a short time of investment.

So he was curious to know why one of the stores of the big Touma family was in the situation described by Mero.

"My lord, what kind of resources are sold and stored in that place?"

Mero replied. "Simple clothing, shoes, ores, grains, artifacts from forging, such as weapons and items useful in mining."

"And that place can't sell?"

"The store sells, but the operating costs exceed the amount collected," Mero said with a dissatisfied expression. "It's a town... I've had this post for two years, but in no month have I made a profit."

"I see... Then I have six months to stop the loss of that store." Tenur muttered. "Is there something I can't do, my lord? Can I try any strategy, or is there something I shouldn't do?"

"What do you mean?"

"For example, if I need to change the people behind that store. Will I be able to do that?"

Who was working in this store were a group of slaves and a servant of Mero. So there was no one to be fired or anything like that since there were no employees there.

"Another example is if I want to use the resources differently, is that a problem?"

"Oh, yes, you can talk to Amir about it, and he will make the arrangements." Mero indicated the servant who would stay there to supervise Tenur.

With those words, they entered a building that looked like a warehouse, where many piles of different kinds of resources could be seen even from the large entrance.

The place was rectangular, about 10 meters long, 2.5 meters high, and 25 meters deep.

The walls were the same color as any other buildings in this city, a light brown with walls which one could notice the details of the buildings.

In this place, the idea of decorating or hiding the buildings' ugly parts with beautifully painted walls and smooth was not common. That could even be found in some high-end places, but in ordinary stores, whether in Cusca, in Amri, or any other city, Tenur would not see well-finished stores.

There was no artificial lighting there either, so this store had several side windows and an entrance almost as large as the length of the building itself.

Entering there, Tenur realized that the resources sold in this place were all on display there.

'What a messy place...' That was his first thought as he looked at the pile of garments, where a customer would have to kneel down and 'hunt' for what he wanted among the options.

It was true that there were not many options there, but even so, that was not an exciting way to arrange a resource being sold!

A similar situation could be seen for each pile of resources there.

"Tenur, come here!" Mero said aloud as he realized his slave had become distracted walking around the store.

"Tenur, come meet Shui." He indicated a middle-aged man, 1.6 meters tall, a little overweight, who had been taking over this place. "That is the servant who has taken charge of this post for the past two years. He will be at your disposal to make the necessary changes in this store."

"Excuse me, lord Mero?" Shui heard that and could not believe that such an individual with a slave mark was actually going to command him.

"Shui, you will no longer command this place for the next months. Tenur is my slave, but he has proven academic skills that have earned him this opportunity.

So obey him.

If he makes any mistakes, servant Amir will report to me, and only Tenur will suffer the consequences."

"This..." That short man looked at Amir and saw this man he already knew smiling at him in a way as if telling him to be quiet.

It was natural for them to obey their master. But the situation was so unusual that Shui lost some of his composure and questioned his master, a somewhat dangerous attitude.

"I will do what the master wishes." He said after a moment of silence.

Mero looked at the rest of the people in that store, all his slaves. "That goes for all of you. From now on, Tenur will take care of the administration of this place, and you should help him as he needs.

However, if you have any questions, talk to the servant Amir first. He already has more experience regarding Tenur and my opinion on the situation.

Finally, I plan to return in six months, so try hard. Anyone who is no longer useful to me will then be discarded."

With those words, Mero made those individuals shiver, reminding them who the master was and how they should fear their fates if not useful.

A good master had to remind his slaves of the difference in status between the parties. Hence, one threat or another was necessary for that relationship to work.

Mero looked at Tenur and said. "Everything that is here can be sold and manipulated by you. Same with the slaves and servants here. So I expect you to make good use of this post and bring me results similar to what you have already brought me in the past few weeks."

"I will do my best, my lord," Tenur said just before bidding farewell to the closest servants of his who were to continue their journey with Mero.

On the other hand, Mero left five slaves who were on that ship with Tenur to help this captive on his journey ahead.

There were slaves in this store, but those other individuals already respected Tenur, for he had helped them at the beginning of the journey between Amri and Cusca.

Anyway, Mero soon disappeared from Tenur's sight, and this fellow from the cultivation world sighed, feeling that the pressure on his shoulders was lessening.

'If I do a good job here, I can solidify my relevance to him.' Tenur thought. 'At the same time, I can find a way to earn resources and secure some financial reserve for the future.'

Theoretically, a slave could not earn coins since those coins would naturally belong to his master.

So Tenur did not plan to try to buy his freedom with coins that he should not have. The opposite of that, he intended to create small savings to have a starting point when he was free.

How would he do this?

Tenur intended to hide whatever resources he gained somewhere only he could reach!

Amid his thoughts, he was hindered by the voice of Shui, who stopped in front of him and gave him an ugly look. "Slave, don't think too much of yourself. Lord Mero is just using you, but you're really not that great.

I will follow the lord's orders, but don't think I am your servant, slave!"

Tenur would not go after trouble with this person and simply smiled and said. "Senior Shui, I am just a slave carrying out what you have been ordered to do...

My situation is worse than yours, actually.

What can I do in this situation? Maybe I should tell lord Mero that Senior Shui is not satisfied with how things have been arranged?"

When he heard that, Shui sweated coldly, and after tapping one of his feet on the ground, he walked out while making a 'tsk.'

Amir saw this and smiled, knowing that despite being humble and knowing his place, Tenur was not the kind of individual anyone could easily mess with.

Thus, Tenur began his journey in this store!