n a commanding voice, the blonde man in silver armor said to me, "Show us your travel permit, boy, otherwise you won't get one foot into this city." The man had blonde hair cut short, and blue eyes in he was about middle age with a scowl on his face. He had no beard, but some scars on his face showed his age. There was no doubt he was used to combat. I wasted no time pulling out the permit I got in advance for the journey. The permit contained the necessary documentation that I was in fact a merchant of Australia travelling to do business. He nodded, "Very well, we will conduct a quick search of your caravan then you may be off." A much younger man with black hair and blue eyes with a bored frown came over to my caravan, and began searching.
After a few moments, he yelled, over, "Looks good Captain Gerald." The blonde-haired man removed his polearm and he stated, "Very well proceed." I got the horses moving forward again. That was a bit more intense than I expected, but I guess security was important here. I had been told once that there was a marketplace in big cities where merchants could rent a booth for the day and sell wares. I first located the stables in the city, which were fairly easy to spot from the front gates, it seems they made this place easy to navigate. I pay a small fee to have my caravan and horses looked after for the day, and gather just my pack for now. I made my way following the signs to the shopping center in town. Many people have already rented their spots for the day.
I see a small wooden table set up in the shade, the woman greets me, and I rent a spot for the day for 50 mints. I slowly gather my goods over to the small stall, and begin marking down prices, and setting up my goods for the day. With the mid-day heat coming down on me in full force, I also purchased a stall with a fabric cover over it. Once I set up my goods, I pull up a small wooden chair, and begin my sales day. Fortunately, this is the rush of the day for this shopping district. I got some browsers almost right away. They scan my goods and buy a few things. They seem to be going well right now. Guess it was a good thing I came to this city. I get a few hagglers for some of my more expensive things. A bald man offered me 50 mints for a dagger I had in the case. I laughed, "Surely you can do better than that laugh. That dagger is worth more than 50 mints. I would wager it's at least 80."
The bald man grunts, "80? Are you crazy kid? I will give you no more than 60 mints." I explain, "Your loss its a rare find. It has a rune on it that can put to sleep anyone that touches it. I am sure I can get its proper worth in time." The fat bald man taps his arm nervously, "Final offer 70. mints!" I laugh, "Well I suppose that will have to do." The bald man pays up. He looks at the knife happily. "Pleasure." He walks away that knife I sold him is pretty valuable not everyone can cast magic that easily. I may have gotten him for a much higher price than I think it was worth, but regardless, assuming he is using it for self-defense, that knife is second to none. The hours pass by and before I know it, the time is 2:00 pm.
I looked at my stock. I am honestly running out of goods to sell here. I had more in my caravan, but I am amazed at how quickly it has gone. I guess the rumors weren't true. This place is good for business. This was a big city, and the people had money to spare. Just as I am thinking, this, a young-looking man with deep green eyes, and black hair that falls over his face grins at me. He was no older than me, but I could tell he had lived a harsh life. His clothes had holes in them, and his face was unclean and unshaven. I nodded to him far from me to judge some people who could be at different points in their lives. The man speaks first, "Hey? Are you new here? I don't think I have seen your face before."
I stood up and reached out my hand since it was the proper thing to do, "Lucius Evergold, at your service, a crafts worker like no other." The man glanced at my hand, he gave me a warm handshake. Then he introduces himself, "Names Dex Graham. You could call me a merchant of sorts too, but I deal with a more specialized customer." Dex continues after looking at me with predatory eyes, "I think I could have an offer you might be interested in my good man." I raise an eyebrow, "An offer? Go on?" Dex chuckles, "I see that a lot of your wares are gone. The day is still young. Wouldn't it be a shame if you ran out of goods? My offer is simple. You will sell some goods for me, and I will offer you a percentage of the money."
This offer is good. I mean it is still early, and I would like to get as much money as I can given the journey ahead. I nod, "What percentage?" Dex snickers, "How is that that? Just for you, I will offer you a crisp 70 percent." I can hardly believe my ears 70 percent. That is too good to be true. He is offering me the bulk of the money for goods I didn't have to invest in. I asked, "What's the catch?" The man explained, "No catch my good man, you sell these goods. The profit is yours to keep minus a bit off the top." I asked, "What will I be selling exactly?" He removes his leather backpack, and opens it up to show me dozens of small vials with orange ooze floating around. I asked, "What the heck is this?"
Dex explains, "Well my good man, these vials are magic stimulations first of their kind. They shoot a person's magic through the roof." I nod, "Really? I haven't heard of a chemical that can do something like that." Dex responds, "Oh that is because they are the first of their kind created right here in this very city. So, my man, what is it going to be to sell my product and get your high returns!" I thought for a moment. It seems too good to be true that there has to be a catch here, but the offer would be foolish to pass up.
The man himself doesn't seem too trustworthy. I have met his type before, urchins that would do anything to turn a profit. I am not stupid, though I feel my eyes pressing against my neck in multiple directions. Outright refusing after seeing what I just saw was out of the question. I had three options: run, fight, or sell the products and then skip town tomorrow. I think I just saw a window into why travelers go missing so frequently in this city. I nod to Dex, "I understand your prices are fair. I will do my best to sell them all." Dex smiles, "I knew we would be good business partners." I asked one more question, "How much do they normally sell for?" Dex shoots back, "My good man. these vials are priceless I would sell them for 1000s of mints each, however, since they are still early on in the market today 50 mints would be a good price."
That only made the products look more sketchy to me. If the product was truly special, it would be sold elsewhere and for a much higher price. I feigned ignorance, "Deals done come back in a few hours and all of these will be sold." Dex claps his hands, "Right you are, then I will come back in a few hours and collect the money off the top." Dex parted ways from me. I was in a tight spot I felt the stares stop, but I had a funny feeling if I tried to leave now they would try something. I thought of a course of action where I could sell all of these vials using my skills as a merchant to both make money, and save my merchants' pride. I vowed a long time ago to never knowingly sell something dangerous to my customers, or sell something I deem unsafe. I hated feeling so powerless, but I would need to trick both my customers and my new client for this to work.
With no eyes on me, I decide that now is the best time I pull out some water out of my pack, and some dyes that I made myself. I grab my water and put orange dye inside the metal canteen I begin mixing the water by shaking the canteen around fast. I grabbed the dozen or so vials in front of me I secretly began dumping the contents onto the ground one by one under my stall. I then began quickly but carefully pouring in small amounts of the water, now dyed orange. I quickly arranged the contents onto my table the process was quick, so I doubt anyone noticed. Weirdly I got customers pretty quickly even despite never putting up a sign advertising my product.
A few people came right away almost like they were expecting these vials, they paid in full, no haggling. I have sold at least five already. After a bit, I made a sign that read, "Magic potions try them out!" To showcase my vials, I would rather lie to people than knowingly give them such a suspicious product. As the hours passed, more and more people bought vials, some asked questions, but I tried my best to give them vague responses. Once I had sold all of the vials, Dex came back over to my stall. Dex smiled widely, "I knew it was a good idea to trust such a fine merchant to sell my goods." Seems he didn't realize what I had done. I was able to keep a few hundred mints, which was more than I normally made in a day. I handed over 180 mints to him, and kept the bulk of the mints for myself, which added up to 420 mints. Add to the money I made in earlier trading and I was up 630 mints.
The day went way better than I could ever predicted. On a good day in my shop, I would make a few hundred mints at best. Dex waved goodbye, "Pleasure doing business see you around." I gathered my stuff, which wasn't much now, put it in my bag, and headed back the way I had come. I looked around, and found a sign that pointed me towards inns where I could eat dinner and spend the night. I found one called the Rosewood Inn. It seemed nice, not super big, but a comfy-looking wooden building. The place has a fireplace going that lights up the room, and wooden tables. It would appear it is also a common bar spot too, since people are drinking at the bar. I sit myself down at a wooden table, a server comes over, and asks, "Will you be staying the night?" I nod, "Yes I will, and if you don't mind if I could get something to eat, that would be great too."
The waitress said, "Right away sir what will you be having." Tired from the day, I just said, "The chef's specialty is fine." The woman nods, and heads to the back. It was now 5:00 pm. Once I ate, I would probably relax a bit in my room and then go to sleep. Oddly, I felt a foreboding feeling in my chest as I waited for my food. I felt like someone was still watching me. I wonder if could it be the goons from earlier today maybe they realized what I did? Then again, I am pretty sure those types of guys only care about turning a fast profit with no real work on their part. I imagine if I showed up tomorrow in the same area they would probably try to get me to sell more products. My cut would have been a lot lower than today. Once a person like that sees weakness, they will keep coming back more and more. I knew from experience. The crimson knives in Astralum often operated in much the same way, preying on weak targets. I finally spotted what had been bothering me. Someone across the bar had been staring daggers at me, and honestly, they didn't feel friendly.