Viscount Kane Valen squeezed through the crowd in plain clothes, showing not a hint of impatience despite the throng surrounding him.
“Lord Viscount, there are too many people.”
The steward at his side had his neatly combed gray hair tousled into several stray locks from the pushing. “Perhaps I should go negotiate first and let us enter through the side door...”
“No need.”
Kane didn't look at him; his gaze swept over the layers of silhouettes in front of him, landing on the shop tightly covered by the dark gray curtain. “Since we're here, let's have a proper look.”
The circular plaza was already the most crowded area in Windrest City, but now it seemed as if the entire city had flooded in. Impatient shouts erupted from the crowd from time to time: “When is it finally opening?” “Didn't they say the unveiling was today?”
Kane moved forward two steps without a word, using his height advantage to look through the gaps between the heads in the front row. He saw that the curtain on the front of the shop remained motionless, showing no sign of being opened anytime soon.
“Tsk.”
A man nearby, looking like a mercenary with a face full of stubble, clicked his tongue impatiently and turned to complain to his companion. “We've been waiting for over half an hour. Are they just playing us for fools?”
“How is that possible? Just wait a bit longer!”
Kane didn't pay much attention to the passersby. Instead, he quickly reviewed the details of the situation in his mind.
The shop's lease paperwork was in order, including an agency permit personally signed by the princess. The lease was for one year, the rent paid in full upfront at a price thirty percent higher than the market rate. Every procedure was flawless.
Furthermore, he had looked into Isha Val, the person in charge of this shop. She was the new head of the Val Merchant Guild, only fourteen years old. After her father went missing, she had single-handedly supported her family's nearly bankrupt guild and stabilized the situation in just a few short months.
To be able to establish a connection with the princess and create such a spectacle in a location like this, she certainly had some skill. However, he was curious about what exactly they could offer.
Just as he was thinking, the crowd suddenly became restless. “It's moving! The curtain is moving!”
A series of urgent shouts came from the front. Then, the massive dark gray curtain finally began to sway, slowly sliding toward both sides along the beam at the front of the shop, revealing the storefront that had been hidden for so long.
Yet, it wasn't a standard unveiling. Kane's eyebrows rose slightly because he saw that the curtain didn't retract after sliding to the sides. Instead, it spread out flat in mid-air like a stretched fabric, and flowing patterns of light began to appear on its surface.
A collective gasp of wonder erupted from the crowd. “What is that?” “Is it a painting? A moving painting?” “Idiot, that's an Illusion Spell.”
Kane narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the curtain. The image began to manifest, starting with an overhead view of a vast sea of sand, with golden dunes rolling endlessly.
Then, the camera zoomed in rapidly. In the middle of the boundless desert, a green area several hundred meters across appeared in the center of the field of vision.
Kane saw that the arrangement of the plants showed clear signs of planning—straight rows, uniform spacing, and even a grid-like structure at the edges.
A pool was at the center, its surface clear enough to see the bottom, shimmering with ripples under the sunlight. The ring of fine silver-white sand surrounding the pool's edge was particularly striking.
“What kind of sand is that? Why is it silver?” Someone nearby couldn't help but mutter. Kane didn't answer, but his gaze also froze for a moment. He had never seen sand of that color either.
The image continued to advance, crossing the pool and passing over a lush bean field. The leaves swayed gently in the breeze, so green they looked like they were about to drip with juice.
A few hens with glossy feathers were strolling through the field, pecking at the ground with leisure. Then the perspective zoomed in again, entering a strange-looking chicken coop.
The coop was triangular, with grayish-white walls that were smooth and dense, made of an unrecognizable material. The interior space wasn't large and the light was dim, but deep inside, on a bed of hay in the center of the coop, a single egg lay quietly. Unlike an ordinary egg, it was silver-white.
As the light on the curtain slowly faded, the image ended, and the curtain reverted to a static painting. Then, a roar of excitement broke out.
“What was that? Does that oasis really exist?” “Are there really hens? Raising chickens in the desert? And that silver sand and those eggs...” “The egg is silver? Can a silver egg even be eaten?”
The discussions around him exploded instantly. Kane stood his ground, slowly withdrawing his gaze from the curtain and letting it fall on the storefront.
The style of the storefront was different from any other shop in Windrest City. Traditional shops in Windrest City mostly used half-timbered structures with narrow storefronts and upper floors that overhung to expand space. The dusty wood and mud were sturdy but not very bright.
In contrast, the front of this shop was a single pane of transparent glass, decorated at the edges with exquisite openwork wood carvings. The patterns were fine and complex, carrying an indescribable exotic flair.
Through the glass, the layout inside was clearly visible—neatly displayed shelves with surfaces wiped clean of any dust. Such a stunning visual effect was deeply impressive.
Immediately after, Kane thought that this kind of transparent and bright storefront was the first of its kind in Windrest City. If it worked well, perhaps he could promote it in his own shop renovation plans.
But he quickly suppressed that thought, as his gaze fell on the sign hanging at the very top of the shop. Two words were written on the sign in a delicate hand with clear strokes: “Egg Ticket.”
Kane's eyelid twitched. His first reaction was that he had misread it. He blinked and looked again. It was indeed “Egg Ticket.”
At the same time, a notice board was hung by an attendant at the side of the door. It clearly stated the sales details, distribution standards, and prices in neat handwriting: “Silver Sand Lake Specialty. Sold in the form of Egg Tickets. One gold coin per ticket, redeemable for ten Silver Sand Lake Eggs.”
One gold coin for ten eggs. That broke down to one silver coin per egg. Kane's thoughts stalled for a brief moment. He naturally knew the prices in Windrest City. Ordinary eggs were one copper coin each at the market, and even higher-quality ones were only two or three coppers.
Even considering transportation costs and scarcity, an egg would be worth five or six coppers at most. One silver coin?
The crowd around him had already erupted into a frenzy, ten times more heated than when they were watching the images earlier. “Are they crazy? What kind of astronomical price is this for eggs?” “One silver coin! That's enough for me to eat eggs for a month!”
“Those images earlier were indeed beautiful, but they expect me to spend a silver coin on a single egg? Isn't this just a blatant scam?” “I knew it. Whatever princess, whatever oasis—in the end, it's all just a gimmick to sell overpriced goods, isn't it?” “Break it up, break it up. There's nothing to see here.”
The crowd began to thin. People in the front rows were already turning to push their way out. Although those in the back were still craning their necks to look, the anticipation on their faces had turned into confusion and disappointment. The discussions shifted from earlier wonder to undisguised mockery and skepticism.
Kane also felt that this price was excessively absurd. From a merchant's perspective, they had built up such good momentum and garnered enough attention, only to throw it all away with such a pricing strategy at the final moment. It was like sabotaging their own success.
So, he shook his head and turned to leave with the crowd. But just then, the shop door opened. A figure walked out from inside.
It was a young girl with wheat-colored skin. She wasn't very tall and wore a sharply tailored light brown short robe. A scroll of parchment and a charcoal pen hung at her waist. Her entire aura was clean and efficient, carrying the specific shrewdness of a merchant.
Isha Val. Kane recognized her at a glance. But his steps didn't stop there, because even a merchant connected to the princess couldn't attract him at this moment.
Until his gaze swept over what Isha was holding. Seeing the object in her hand, Kane stopped dead in his tracks and couldn't help but murmur: “Is that...”
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