Early morning, Ning met up with Juna an hour before her work started.
"Good morning, did you prepare all the documents?" Juna asked.
"Hi, uhh… there isn't much document to gather. As I said, I used mostly what I already owned," Ning said.
"But you did list down what you used, right? We can take the general market price for that," Juna said.
"Oh yeah, I did that," Ning said, bringing out a piece of paper. "I even wrote down the market prices from what I could figure out."
Juna gave a quick look through them before nodding. "That will work," she said. "Let's go."
It was still morning, and people were getting to work or setting up shops still. Only a few shops had been fully opened by now. Carriages moved slowly inside the inner city, and it was even slower in the core.
There were just too many carriages in the city.
"It's like this every year around this time," Juna explained. "People from around the empire and sometimes even further beyond to try and get their children to get into the prestigious Star Beast Institute. So, you see an influx of carriages."
"Must be troublesome," Ning said.
"Not really," she said. "It's also one of the best months for sales, and incomes around the city go up by a lot. You should promote the shop even more so you can take advantage of these few remaining days."
"I will, thank you," Ning said.
The two arrived at the Department of Commerce and found their way toward the section that dealt with shops and merchants. Juna helped him with the files and soon they were ready to present it to the person in charge.
Even when they arrived early, there were other people already before them. So, the two had to stay in line for half an hour before it was their time.
They stood outside of a room, standing next to a window, on the other side of which was an old man. He looked at the documents through the thick-framed spectacles he wore.
"You made… renovations," the man asked slowly, his voice weirdly increasing in pitch at the final word like he had to force it out.
"Yes, just 2 days ago," Ning said.
"You did all of this in just 2… days?" the man asked.
"Yes," Ning said.
The man looked through the details. "A… Weapons shop?" he asked. "Heeran's… love?"
"Yes," Ning said. The man looked at the details for a few seconds longer, before taking a stamp and stamping the paper. "Someone will come by your shop… between 2 and 5 later… today. If not today… they will come at the same time… tomorrow. Be ready to… accept them."
Ning nodded. "I won't have to pay any extra fee right?" he asked.
"From what this says… no," the man said. "But the evaluator will have the final… say."
"Thank you," Ning said, and Juna took him away. "That's it huh?" he asked her.
"That is it. Now go back and don't leave. When the officer comes, let me check it all thoroughly. Don't try to hide anything. If they smell misdoings, they won't hesitate to charge you a fee, or worse. Anyway, I'm late for work. Don't mess it up."
"Okay," Ning said and watched her leave before thinking to himself. "What's worse?"
He returned to the shop and found Emma on the bench, reading her books while Hadden slept on the other side, his body still in pain from the training he had been through earlier today.
"Where're the kids?" he asked.
"With their mother, probably sleeping," Emma said and closed the book. "You had a customer earlier."
"Oh!" Ning said excitedly. "And?" "Nothing," she said. "They looked around and left without buying. I think you need to make the swords more flashy or something."
"There's little use of aesthetics for these," Ning said. "Besides, its Miss Laila's husband's life's work. I won't just change it."
Emma shrugged. "I'll go out for now. Go and find out what else I have to learn before the test," she said, leaving to get Umbra and the others.
"Here, share this around when you get the chance," Ning said and handed over a bunch more pamphlets.
Emma left, and Hadden left to eat after waking up some time later. Old lady Laila never left her room for the day.
So, Ning was left alone, waiting for customers that never came. He couldn't even go to the back to make some weapons just in case the officer came to check. So he just waited, and in the meantime, read a bit more of the book that his daughter had left behind.
He was a few dozen pages in when the door opened and someone walked in.
"Welcome to Heeran's Love!" he spoke enthusiastically and paused when he saw the person who walked in. The person wore clothes that reminded Ning of the person he saw during his visit to the Department of Commerce this morning.
"Are you the owner of this shop?" the man asked.
He was a short man with a fat belly and hair that seemed to have more oil in it than a regular dish of fried chicken.
"Yes, I'm the owner," Ning said. "You must be the officer that was sent to do the evaluation. Welcome."
"Mmm," the man said and looked around. He brought out a document, one that Ning had submitted this morning, and looked around the place. He walked close to the windows, looking for smudges. He walked to the wall, sniffing the paint. He went to a dozen different things, judging it all based on what was written on the page in front of him. "Hmm, it all seems to be correct," the man said. "Nothing of what you wrote is false."
Ning smiled. "Of course," he said.
"But…" the man continued. "You failed to inform the department of your latest purchases of items. That is a major violation, and you will have to pay a massive fine for that."
