Vendors and merchants had started flocking in a month before the centenary; the market was boisterous, and every house was decorated festively.
There were many outsiders and distant relatives who were out of town that came especially for Huin Town's centenary.
Austin walked absent-mindedly along the crowd, unable to feel the joyous and festive atmosphere.
He had never attended such things in his past life. His father, a drunkard who liked to beat him and gamble away money, would not care for him, nor would he care to take him to such festivals. He had died for his beloved alcohol even before Choi Min reached ten years old.
His mother left the family early for another man and did not even want to come for him when his father passed away, and she was even less likely to take him out to enjoy festivities.
Even in this world, his mother, who loved him, was not in good health to play with him—not that he wanted to anyway. He had passed the age to enjoy such things. But his mother insisted that he go out and enjoy the rare occasion. Not wanting to worry her further or make her feel more guilt, Austin could only promise to go and play with his "friends," which he didn't have.
"…Austin."
Austin looked up on reflex, and as he did so, his sight met a girl with dark eyes and hair.
Right…
Even though he didn't have a friend, he had someone he was close to other than his mother—someone he cherished, someone important.
The girl looked at him with an inquiring gaze.
When she looked at someone and their figure was reflected in her clear eyes, it felt as if the person she looked at was her whole world. It made one's heart beat in palpitations.
Those dark eyes resembled obsidian.
Precious and beautiful…
Hardly retracting his gaze, Austin asked, "You seem busy. Do you need help?"
His feet had unconsciously led him to this person.
Yuna raised her brow and looked at Austin, who appeared more desolate than usual.
"I won't give labor fees."
Austin smiled faintly and took a step forward, pulling Yuna inside the shop. "You can use me however you want, with no charge." As long as you want me, that is enough.
When he was used by those people, he felt suffocated and repulsed, but if it was Yuna…
Austin picked up the load that Yuna ordered him to pick up. If it was Yuna, he felt immense satisfaction. He liked the feeling of being wanted and needed.
At the doorstep, a cute mascot doll was placed beside the door of the shop. Its cute and innovative use of dolls attracted people walking around the town, eliciting them to enter the small bakery shop.
The sweet fragrance wafting out from the kitchen whetted the appetite of potential customers. The beautiful and eye-catching display of cakes and other pastries soon captured their attention.
"The customers are more than I expected. Thankfully, Grandpa likes to make extra, but we're short on hands. Go quickly and restock the pastries as soon as they run out."
Yuna, without any pressure, commanded the free labor that delivered itself to her door. She was too busy to care about anything else.
Sitting at the counter, customers kept coming to check out, and Yuna had to continuously receive money and keep track of what they sold.
It was the peak moment where they could earn money, and Yuna did not want to let go or rest even for a second.
At the end of the day, Yuna was sure that the net capital earned would be enough to open an account in the bank. Although the world resembled the Middle Ages, it was not entirely so, and there were places that were quite developed—like banks, unlike the real Middle Ages where banks appeared only in later stages.
To have a bank account, a person's minimum net capital had to be worth twenty gold coins.
Actually, bread and other pastries, although liked by people, could not generate much income. The cost of flour and other materials was not cheap. Huin Town had a small population, and not all of them could travel especially to buy pastries from their shop.
The means of transportation were quite lacking and behind in the small Huin Town.
Yuna also did not want to sell old bread and wanted to restock fresh, warm bread every day, which put a strain on their capital. Old pastries could only be discarded or given away. It was also not without reason that Yuna gave bread and pastries to Austin.
Because of fear of having too many pastries remaining at the end of the day, Yuna could only instruct her grandfather to limit the amount produced each day.
In fact, what generated more money were the toys and dolls sold at the shop, because wood could be obtained for free. The only cost was the garments for the dolls, but because they were so small, the cost was negligible.
But it was not every day that they could sell toys, and not many parents indulged their children by buying whatever toy they wanted.
When she said they were poor, she really meant it.
This time, when Yuna put on a smile, it was not the usual standard polite smile but a genuine one due to the ever-increasing income.
Business declined after noon, and Grandpa Orion came out, patting his granddaughter, and said, "You should go out and enjoy the festival."
Yuna shook her head because she didn't like lively places, but she halted when she saw Austin bringing out another cake.
Right… the smell of money almost made her forget.
"Will you be able to manage all by yourself?" Yuna still inquired.
"Haha… customers shouldn't come much before 4:00 pm. You should go and have some fun while customers are sparse," Grandpa Orion reassured.
"Mm… okay. I'll come back before four," Yuna replied concisely.
Austin had just put down the cake in the cabinet when his hand was grabbed by Yuna.
Because he had no vigilance toward her, his instincts did not react or retaliate toward the person who came from behind and caught him out of nowhere.
Austin looked down at the white and fair hand gripping him.
It was true that even his most intuitive instincts did not repel Yuna, but even so, he should at least have been aware of her approach—her breath or movement—but he did not feel any of those things.
It was as if no one had approached him from behind. The person who grabbed his arm did not seem to have any breath… or rather, her breath blended with nature itself such that he could not perceive a "human" being. Her existence was too faint if one did not give concentrated focus.
'Is this because she is an all-elementalist?'
Austin quickly rejected such conjecture. He had met someone who awakened as an all-elementalist in his past world, and that person could not conceal their breath, nor did they have a breath resembling nature. They still had the lively aura of a living being.
"Let's go out and look around at the goods the merchants brought," Yuna said.
Austin put away his thoughts and followed behind Yuna as she let go of him.
The old man who sold sword manuals sat beside a pavilion, and Huin Town had one rather large pavilion.
"Let's go to the pavilion," Yuna said, not exactly proposing but more like making a demand. Her tone was rushed.
Anyway, she wanted to go there quickly, fetch the thing quickly, and then go back to the shop to help her grandfather. Nothing was more important than making money.
Austin obediently nodded his head. He did not have any particular place he wanted to go and intended to just follow Yuna.
When they reached the pavilion, there were many vendors who opened shops along the side.
'Who will it be, man? There are so many old men around… tsk.' Yuna looked at the rows of white heads and long beards with speechlessness.
"Let's walk around and check them all out."
Yuna could only come up with a primitive method.
"Young boy, it seems you have an affinity with this old man's things. Why don't you take a look?"
That was what the old man said when he saw Austin.
So any old man who said that should be the person she was looking for. With such thoughts, Yuna deliberately visited many old men sitting beside the pavilion, not particularly keen on buying anything or carefully checking the goods unless it was the old man she was searching for.
"Young boy, you seem to have an affinity with this old man's things. Why don't you take a look?"
At the fifth old man, Yuna finally heard the phrase she was waiting for.
Finally, she could snatch it and head back.
Too many people. Her social battery was exhausted.