Crescent Moon

Colorful products lined the busy streets of the Westdenn Central Market, it was a sight to behold with all the buzz and happy chatter of both vendors and buyers. It is a usual day for any businessmen, set up a store and display all you've got for a silver or even gold. There were many items to see but the most conspicuous sight was the bright and decorative doors of the Crescent Moon, a very popular antique and book shop.

The shop specializes in selling, trading, and collecting books, artifacts, or anything of value. Magic potions are also available at the store. People from all around the Kingdom of Glasfale would come to Kou-in just to buy items from Crescent Moon.

As usual, the store was busy with many interested buyers, manning the counter was a girl in the typical red and brown clothing of the people of Glasfale. She was happily talking with the customers that come and go and smilingly answered their inquiries. Every day was a busy day for her but her energy seems to not run out.

The ringing of the bell caught the girl's attention and she happily greeted the new customer. "What can I do for you, sir?" She asked politely.

The customer and his entourage remained silent, they just walked around and took a look at the items. The girls face slightly frowned at the people's rude behavior but she can't admonish them, they're customers. She ignored them and focused on entertaining their more friendly buyers.

Not long those people approached the counter and slammed a book on it. This made the girl angry, she glared at the man who was standing in front of the counter.

"We want this book," the man said in a cool voice.

"One thousand silver," the girl blandly replied.

"Are you playing with me? One thousand silver for just this damn book? See here miss, this is just a book, a piece of paper and we want this in just one hundred silver," the man grinned.

"Then why buy if it is just a piece of paper, if you don't want it then just return it to where you found it," the girl answered with raised eyebrows. It was obvious to her that they were messing with her, which was a very bad move on their part.

The man was pissed at how the girl was treating them. He didn't expect the girl to fight back. "Miss if you want this store to remain standing, be a good girl and give us what we want."

The girl remained silent for a moment before a shout echoed through the room, "big brother!"

A young man in black came from the back, other people from the store stood to see who the young man was. His looks were very elegant that anyone can't take their eyes off of him. His features were delicate but still had a hint of manliness in it.

He smiled gently at the complaining man, "what's the problem, sir?"

The customer only frowned and relayed what he wanted to do. Throughout the customer's explanation, the young man remained silent and appeared to be listening intently.

"I'm sorry sir but we can't sell that book at your desired price. All items in this place have been appraised and proven to be valuable artifacts and can't be sold at a lower price. If you still insist on making that bargain, I don't have the choice but to call the City Patrol and City Appraisal's Bureau to settle this matter." The young man calmly informed the customer with his still smiling face which only caused the other man to be more displeased.

He glared at the young man and grudgingly left the store. If the City Patrol would be involved he would surely be found to be guilty, it's better to retreat than to be thrown into prison.

"Thank you big brother!" the young girl explained.

"How many times have I taught you how to deal with those kinds of people? You need to be cool-headed always, Everleigh." The young man admonished his little sister. He has been teaching the young girl how to deal with people whose purpose was to mess with them but she never listens. She's too quick to get angry and even sometimes causes a fight which gave their store a tyrannical impression on other people.

"But big brother, they were so rude and I can't help but make it hard for them." Everleigh pouted in annoyance. It was that customer's fault why her big brother was angry at her.

"Dreigh is right, you should be more prudent in dealing with scrupulous customers and don't always rely on your brother." A deep voice came from the side door of the store. The man was at least six feet tall and is a little bit muscular. He was sporting a classic white mustache and graying hair.

"But father - " Everleigh was about to make an excuse but was cut off by his father's glare. She clamped her mouth and frowned even more.

"You're already fifteen, you are not a child anymore so act more mature. If you keep on fighting with our customers we might lose more money and potentially new customers," his daughter was a stubborn young lady and had a very strong personality which might ruin their reputation thoroughly. Being a tyrannical store was already out there circulating and may intimidate curious buyers. As a fairly successful merchant, bad customer service spells lower sales and lower-income.

"I understand father," Everleigh nodded even though she was not truly repentant. Dreigh smiled at the sight because he knew that this incident will happen again since it already happened so many times that whatever their father would say will not remain with Everleigh and well the cycle would just repeat itself.

"Okay, we've already reminded Everleigh, why don't we close the store first and have lunch," Dreigh suggested to ease the tension between the father and daughter. He went to close the put on the closed sign and closed the door only to come back and see the two not looking at each other. He shook his head and pulled the two towards the back where a door led them to a small dining area. The lunch went on as expected, it looks like Dreigh would wait at least a day or two for the both of them to start speaking with each other again.

Dreigh manned the store for the rest of the day while Everleigh remained sulking on the back. At closing time, their father once again came and helped in cleaning and making an inventory of their remaining items.

"I've heard that Glasfale is going to war again, this time they will be recruiting Remnants for the army," Levhon suddenly spoke. The first time he knew about the news, he became worried. As a father who has a child that manifested some power, he was worried that someday, somehow something like this might happen. Especially now that Remnants are becoming more and more eye-catching to their current era.

"Is that so, in that case, we should prepare for the worst-case scenario. We might be sent to the front lines or worst be the first wall of defense for the kingdom." Dreigh spoke calmly. He had expected this to happen and now that it has come, he was calm about it but he knew that this news was not good for his father and would be especially bad for his younger sister but they can't do anything about it.