Azalea found the marketplace quickly enough. Located just ten minutes south of Silver Village, it was just as interesting as Tankbabe had said. Azalea hadn’t been sure what to make of it at first. A communally owned marketplace, with so many plots of land owned by so many different groups, individuals, and guilds? It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. But it had existed for over two weeks now, and not one raid had been attempted.

Now, by the time people in other areas were beginning to hear about it, the market had already expanded to accommodate over a dozen different stalls, selling all kinds of things. She couldn’t help but stare around in awe at the various types of wares being offered. There was one that looked like a traditional blacksmith, with a forge on site and everything. Another sold potions and herbs of all kinds, many of which she hadn’t even seen before.

At least three stalls were dedicated to food and not even common fare. She saw the same recipe she’d used to buff the raiding party just a week ago, and another sold nothing but drinks. Not potions, but juices and brews of actual nutritional value that also slightly increased stats when consumed. And was it her imagination, or was that a stall at the very end with a sign that said they sold unique spells, enchantments, and gear recipes?

“Welcome to Market Street,” a woman in a dark green dress stepped forward from the crowd to greet her personally. “Is this your first time visiting us?”

“It is,” Azalea confirmed with a smile. “Is it that obvious?”

The woman gave a tinkling laugh. “A little bit, but I wouldn’t worry too much. Everyone’s busy with their own thing, so we’re getting newcomers about every day now.”

“So this place has a name,” Azalea commented. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear about it until yesterday.”

“Yes, word is a bit slow in getting around,” the woman said with a sort of commiserating smile. Then she shocked Azalea by adding, “There are quite a few merchants in the area we’re trying to do business with, but it’s very hard to get in contact with them, what with all the dungeons, hunting, and whatnot they get up to. My guild is almost entirely focused on trading, so we see a bit more of people than most, but we’re a special circumstance.”

“Oh?” Azalea asked, feeling a mix of curiosity and hope. “Flower’s Rest wouldn’t happen to be on that list of people you’re trying to get in touch with, would it?”

The woman’s face brightened at once, and her eyes flicked up to the text above Azalea’s head. “I had a feeling you were that Azalea! So you’re the one who opened the first food shop, are you? Our chefs have been talking about you a lot. You’ve got quite a lot of recipes that we’re interested in.”

“So it’s just my food you’re interested in?” She asked, feeling a little disappointed. Nobody seemed very interested in her farm unless it was to cook their own meals. “I grow a lot of crops too, you know, and I raise all kinds of animals.”

“Oh, we know,” the woman replied. “And we are interested in trading with you. Gathering our own materials is a lot of work, as I’m sure you know. But our biggest goal right now is getting recipes and blueprints.”

She glanced down the lines of stalls, gesturing with one hand. “About half of these stalls are owned by us, and those we don’t own, we have contracts with for a share of their profits.”

“That’s handy,” Azalea said, and she meant it. “I’m starting to hit the point where I struggle to both work my fields and man the stall. I was thinking of trying to find a way to sell my excess goods. Otherwise they’ll just spoil, you know.”

“But of course. Oh, I’m so sorry. Where are my manners?” The woman extended a hand in greeting. “I’m Jordine by the way.”

“Azalea.” They shook hands, and Jordine continued on. “On the subject of tending to your fields, you should we know have quite a few D-Rank gatherers and farmers in our guild. Our farms aren’t that large yet, so we could see about letting you hire one or two of them.”

“I’m not sure my farm is so big I need to hire a helper just yet,” Azalea replied with a laugh. “But you know, that’s not a bad idea. I guess I never considered hiring someone to help out. I don’t want to start looking like a quest giver.”

“I can understand that. But the more you grow, the more you can sell. There’s quite a bit of Yemon in this sort of thing, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Azalea said with a nod. “I’m already D-Rank in my trading.”

“We have a C-Rank here,” Jordine said with a grin. “And we’re pretty sure one of our farmers is about to hit C-Rank too.”

It was becoming a very common thing, Azalea thought. Oscar and Caius were the first to rank up in a skill. Caius’ Strength and Endurance hit D-Rank within the first week, and Oscar was quick behind with his Agility. Since then, both had risen those stats to C-Rank. Riley was neck-and-neck with them, with a C-Rank in Strength and Agility. Azalea still only had D-Rank Intelligence, seeing as how she did so little combat. But all her gathering skills were D-Rank, and she was certain she’d be a C-Rank farmer before long.

“When they hit C-Rank, I might be interested in hiring them,” she admitted.

“I’ll make sure to keep you in mind,” Jordine agreed. “I’m sure we could work something out in terms of profit shares, rather than trading Yemon directly. Right now, there’s a shortage of Yemon in the market, so we’re trying to get by with trading alone.”

“That makes sense.”

“So,” Jordine said, looking at her coyly out of the corner of her eyes. “These recipes you have. Are you interested in selling copies of them?”

“I suppose,” Azalea said, trying her best to seem confident. In truth, she wasn’t against the idea, but she wasn’t exactly experienced with trading with other players, and she didn’t want to be ripped off. “If the terms are good enough.”

Jordine laughed that tinkling laugh again, and began leading the way down the street between the market stalls. “Oh, don’t you worry! I’m sure we have more than enough to interest you.”

She gave Azalea a quick but detailed tour of each stall, showing off the various wares they had to offer. One thing she noticed was that none of these stalls sold raw materials. They all offered actual products. It made sense that their biggest priority at the moment was acquiring raw materials. Each stall, particularly those that sold food and drinks, had to be going through a ton of materials to make what they had for sale.

Once she’d gotten a good sense of the marketplace, Azalea was dragged off to the side, where she and Jordine compared the recipes they had. Market Street had way more recipes than she did, but there were enough that she alone knew that she felt a little more confident in the negotiation. Strangely, Jordine didn’t even make any offers. She simply made a little note on a sheet of parchment for each recipe that she found interesting. By the time Azalea was done going through her recipes, the list was just over a dozen items long.

“You have some pretty interesting recipes here,” Jordine said, a bright light in her eyes at the prospect of acquiring more. “But before we go through all of this, I have a question for you. Is it true you were part of the raid on the Felarian Caverns a week or so ago?”

Azalea nodded. She couldn’t deny it, of course. After their party had completed the raid, the names of their characters had been etched into that first cavern. The land on which the raid occupied was also co-owned by The Progenitors and Sisters of the Night, so everyone passing by that area saw their names listed.

“Is it true you fought a great worm?”

“We did. But before you ask, as everyone has, the worm only dropped one thing. I got the last hit on it, but all I got out of it was this patch of hide.”

She pulled the great worm hide out of her rucksack. It was tiny compared to the monster that had dropped it, barely as big as her torso. When it had dropped for her, she’d remembered the description easily.

A nearly indestructible piece of hide taken from a slain greatworm. This fabric, when used in the lining of a rucksack, provides a unique magical effect.

She’d tried to figure out what that magical effect was, of course, but to no avail. She didn’t want to try to create a backpack out of it for fear of ruining the material, which was of rare quality. The first rare drop they’d seen since the battle axe they got from the daily raid, and the only one since.

“I thought you might have,” Jordine said. She cast a quick glance around, then leaned forward, her voice low. “The truth is, we stumbled across a pretty special blueprint not too long ago. The skin of a great worm is actually one of the required ingredients.”

Azalea’s interest was piqued at once. But she felt a tight wrench in her gut all the same. “I can’t sell this to you, I’m sorry. Even if it’s worth a lot of Yemon, this is the first major monster I killed. I’d rather use it myself.”

“Of course, we understand that,” Jordin said hastily. “We’re not offering to buy it. But you may be interested in a copy of the blueprint. Better yet, we’re actually offering to make it for you. We have all the ingredients required except that hide.”

“Oh. That’s kind of you. What’s the blueprint of?”

Jordine glanced around again. It was clear this was a big secret she didn’t want to let anyone else overhear. “A bag of holding.”

She drew out a scroll then and unfurled it for Azalea to read quickly. There wasn’t enough information to allow her to copy the blueprint right then and there, but she could see the ingredient list, as well as the effects of the item. “A magical storage device. Capable of holding… a hundred slots?”

She accidentally said the last bit too loud and quickly looked around. Thankfully, nobody seemed to have heard it. She turned back to Jordine, her eyes wide. “That’s huge! The biggest storage option I have right now is my house, and that’s only fifty slots.”

Jordine nodded. “It’s a very valuable item. We’re going to try to get as many worm hides as we can. So our offer, in return for these blueprints and knowledge of how you beat it, is to make you this item.”

Azalea frowned thoughtfully. It certainly seemed like a tempting offer, but she wasn’t sure she should agree so quickly. What if Jordine was severely understating what she had in this trade?”

“If you like, you can also take three more of our blueprints,” Jordine added quickly, seeing her hesitation. “We’re more than willing to take a loss on this trade because the potential profits are just that big.”

“And you’re okay with the idea of me also selling bags of holding?” Azalea asked. Not that she thought she could make them, of course. But if she accepted this trade, Market Street wouldn’t have a monopoly on the item. But Jordine was quick to wave the concern away.

“We’ll be fine. We’ve got people hunting all over, you know. I’m sure we can find other things to get a monopoly on.”

Azalea stuck out the hand holding the hide. “Okay. Three extra blueprints, and you can call it a deal.”

C_P_Tuck

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