Jasmine went to the bakery from yesterday first; the fragrant smell of baked bread wafted out all the way to the door.
She ordered another large batch of black bread and told the owner to deliver it to the small inn later.
The bread in this shop was cheap and large; Jasmine planned that for the few days staying in Ankera Town, the basic eating and drinking of the guards would all be resolved at this bakery to save money.
Jasmine bought a few more hot loaves of bread available there to serve as breakfast, sharing them with everyone. They ate as they walked toward the grocery store of old Jacques, which Evelina had enthusiastically introduced yesterday.
Jacques' grocery store was also located on the main road paved with rough stones, only the location was a bit remote, situated hidden behind a row of old oak trees, almost at the end of the road, which could be considered a not-very-conspicuous corner.
If there were no local people to introduce it, people coming to the town for the first time would estimate it to be very difficult to discover this place.
The grocery store was a two-story wooden structure that looked somewhat askew.
Unlike the exquisite wooden architecture carved with dragons and phoenixes of the ancient Asian countries that Jasmine had once seen on television, the wooden architecture here was all extremely rough and wild.
Perhaps due to limitations in crafting tools and techniques, most of the wood used to build the house was not even sawn into flat planks; they were all whole large tree trunks stacked upon one another. Some even had not yet had the rough outer layer of bark processed and cleaned off.
As time passed slowly, exposed to rain and sun, one could see small holes on the surface caused by boring insects and layers of moss clinging fully to it.
Wooden houses like this usually did not have a long lifespan and were easily susceptible to termites. Either the wood had to be replaced with new wood after a short period, or one could only push it down to rebuild completely.
Therefore, nobles here preferred solid stone architecture more, representing eternity and wealth. Only merchants with not-so-high status or free citizens without money would live in this kind of temporary wooden house.
The exterior of the grocery store was not eye-catching, even a bit shabby. On the heavy wooden door hung an old sign swaying in the wind, its shape cut and hewn to resemble a maple leaf; it must be the symbol of the shop.
Jasmine led her people to push the door and walk in; the sound of wind chimes rang out "clink-clank," signaling their entry.
Striking the eyes first was the cramped space with shelves stacked high, filled with all sorts of items, so dense it was overwhelming.
There were animal skins hanging dangling, stuffed animal heads staring, rolls of rough cloth in all colors, hats, shoes, and so on.
On the ground, large and small oak barrels containing food were also displayed in a jumble, along with ceramic jars containing barley beer, wine...
The variety was so rich it made one dazzled; truly, from top-quality to low-quality goods, everything was there. No wonder it was called a grocery store.
"Is anyone here?"
The shelves were placed too thickly like a maze; the narrow aisles fundamentally did not have room for many people to set foot. Jasmine could not go deep inside, so she could only stand at the door and call out a sound echoing inside, her voice rising amidst the silent piles of goods.
In the grocery store, it was quiet enough to hear the sound of dust falling. Could it be that it was too early and not yet open, or had the owner overslept again?
Jasmine had some doubts in her heart, but looking at the sun which had risen high and was radiating glaring sunshine outside, Jasmine patiently raised her voice to call a few more times.
This time, from within the shop, a series of clattering noises rang out as if objects were falling, followed by the sound of cursing and grumbling transmitting over: "Damn it, which brat is shouting so early in the morning? What are you yelling for?"
Jasmine touched her nose, feeling awkward.
Very quickly, she saw a middle-aged Goblin with wrinkled green skin, wearing a single-lens monocle, walking out from behind the towering shelves.
In his hand, he still held a goose quill pen stained with ink and a small abacus exquisitely crafted from ebony wood.
Jasmine was a bit surprised when she saw something like an abacus in this world; she could not help but look curiously a few more times.
According to her understanding, on the other side of the sea was a Western empire named Catthalan, not any familiar Eastern ancient country, so the appearance of an abacus was truly strange.
Seeing the middle-aged Goblin with a scowling face arrive in front of her, Jasmine very quickly withdrew her thoughts. She adjusted her attire, her attitude gentle and polite as she said to the Goblin: "Hello, are you the shop owner here? I was introduced to come here; I want to buy some food."
The middle-aged Goblin narrowed his eyes behind the lens, assessing Jasmine once from head to toe, then glanced at the few people following behind Jasmine.
When the middle-aged Goblin saw his fellow kin Darius standing humbly, his gaze paused for a moment, seeming to recognize something, but very quickly shifted away coldly.
The Goblin race was famous for being pragmatic; there was no such thing as sacred camaraderie among fellow kin. A strange, ragged fellow kin was not as important in his heart as a single odd silver coin. Sometimes, they were even wary of their own kin for fear of being deceived.
After all, Goblins were all very knowledgeable in researching business and tricks; fellow kin in their hearts were all potential competitors. Not revealing hostility and chasing them away could already be considered being very friendly.
Buying and selling food retail in Ankera Town did not count as any big business deal; the profit was not much.
After all, the population here fluctuated too frequently. Adventurers here today and gone tomorrow would also not buy large quantities to carry around, as it would be heavy. Free citizens and slaves were dirt poor and could not afford to buy. Naturally, he would not earn many gold coins from this.
The middle-aged Goblin heard this and felt a bit disinterested. He waved his hand, pointing at a few dust-covered oak barrels in the dark corner, and spoke to Jasmine in a perfunctory manner: "It's all over there, go look at it yourself. Take whatever you like."
Finished speaking, the middle-aged Goblin immediately turned his back, circled past the pile of messy miscellaneous items on the ground, and sat back on the high chair behind the counter.
Having just imported a large batch of grocery goods from the hands of distant merchants, he needed to focus on organizing the ledger books to calculate profit and loss; he did not have time to manage Jasmine's small business.
Jasmine also did not mind the cold attitude of the middle-aged Goblin; once accustomed to it, she found it normal.
Because the space in the shop was truly too cramped, Jasmine told those people to stand and wait near the door so as not to block the aisle. She alone squeezed through to go to the corner where the food was piled up.
In the corner were stacked five or six gigantic oak barrels that reached up to her waist. Jasmine first smelled a faint scent of fermenting alcohol wafting out.
Two of the oak barrels were covered with tightly sealed wooden lids; the smell of alcohol was transmitting out from inside those cracks. They must contain reserve wine.
Jasmine shifted her eyes, walking to the front of another oak barrel.
The lid of this barrel was not closed tightly; it was shifted to one side. With a glance, one could immediately see the yellow-brown barley inside.
She pushed the barrel lid out a bit wider, using her hand to grab a handful of barley to inspect carefully under the dim light.
This was probably not newly harvested grain but old stock that had been stored in the warehouse for one or two years; the grain kernels were slightly dull in color.
Moreover, the preservation was not very good; perhaps the warehouse had been damp, as she could smell a faint moldy scent rising up.