"Thank you for choosing us for your pet needs. We await your return, our company and your new mount."

Now that I experienced the 10% discount and him politely wording my lack of funds, I am starting to feel that all his words have some kind of hidden meaning. It's hard to trust whatever a merchant says because of this.

Now, let's just spend the rest of the day looking around. I don't really want to go back trying to sell my wares for today.

I need some time to relax and unwind from all the hustlers and bullshitters.

"Hey there mister!!! The Orange shield merchant guild will be having an auction a week from now. We have a lot of good things up for auction. The general seats are cheap and there are still available spots. Buy the ticket now or miss the chance!"
"No thanks."

I'm not really surprised about them having an auction but I am curious about what kind of things they are going to showcase. It's too bad that I will probably be back at the village when the auction starts, not to mention that I have no intention to pay for a seat just so I could competitively buy items against the crowd.

My need for interesting items isn't that much. I can make do with the general buy and sell option, rather than scour auction houses for rare things.

"How much is this?"
"Those are 40 copper coins."
"I'll take two. Here is a silver coin."
"Here is your change of 20 copper coins. Thank you for the business."

Yay! I sold something, and two knives at that, without the usual long winded talk that only leads to nothing.

He is a curious person though. He passed by my store, looked around, grabbed a knife and swung it a few times before buying it without much chit chat.

He should be a smith like me based on the tools I saw on him. There is also a noticeable smell of burnt beard on him, which tells me that he isn't that good at controlling the flame well.

Did he buy my knife to study it or something? I doubt doing that would lead somewhere since I only used the basic principles of smithing when making these knives, especially the cheap ones with only a single kind of metal.

I don't really care that much though. He can even resell it and claim it as his. As long as I can make a small profit from selling my wares then it is all good because sooner or later information will leak, and when that happens, I will gain all the profit.

"This should be the right place right?"
"Right place for what?"
"Are you selling these knives?"
"Yes, those sections are the 40 copper coin knives."
"Oh, this is the right place. Hmm~ This one please."
"40 copper coins."
"Great, Here you go."
"Thanks for the business."

Am I getting more popular now? That is the second one this day, and only a few minutes after the first sale.

From how she phrased it, information about my stall is being circulated somehow. I don't know which group of people it is being circulated to but the fact that they are buying my wares is enough for me.

"Excuse me, do you still have the 40 copper coin knives?"
"Yes, these are the 40 copper coin knives."
"I'll take this, this and this."
"The total is 120 copper coins or 1 silver coin and 20 copper coins."

Really? My knives started selling like crazy now.

For some reason only the cheapest knives are selling. That re-selling theory sounds very plausible right now, or it could be that soap seller that I met the first day telling his neighbours about my knife.

"One at a time please, this lady over here is the first one who came here. Don't cut her off."
"I was here first!'"
"No, me!"
"You heard the man, I was here first. Don't try to push me back! I'll be taking those two!"
"Sold, to the lady who I just pointed to before. It will be 80 copper coins!"
"Here!"
"Tch!"

I actually sold out my copper priced knives. What in the golem pits is happening?

"Hello! Do you have those 40 copper coin knives?"
"I sold out."
"I see, that's too bad. Do you know when you can get more of them, maybe you could introduce me to the maker?"
"No."
"I see, of course it would be that. As a merchant, you can't exactly give away the name of your supplier."

I actually have no supplier and I am the maker but it seems that it would get more rowdier, so I will let them misunderstand that on their own.

Should I ask why the copper knives are selling like this? No, it doesn't matter why as long as it sells.

"I have some 20 silver coin knives if you are interested. All of my wares are made by the same person."
"Hmm, from the same person. I guess that guarantees the quality. The price is a bit much for me though."
"I don't have anything cheaper."
"It can't be helped, I'll buy two."
"That will be 40 silver coins. Thanks for the business."
"When will you resupply and return here? Will you be using a different spot?"
"I should come back here every two months. It might change in the future but my spot would probably be around this area. I don't really plan to compete with the merchant groups."
"That's true, those merchant groups can be a bit competitive. Well then, I'll await your next shipment."

It looks like I have a regular now. It's nice that I sold out but they are going to be disappointed when that 'every two months' and 'it might change' I am talking about is not adding the frequency of my visits but actually reducing it.

I would probably sell less items too. I guess when they start to complain and the requests for custom works get more, I can tell them that I am the actual maker of these.

I'll do it slowly though, to make them want more. When I visit so rarely that a crowd already forms before I set up my stall, I can do a 'custom work only' stall, and when I have a somewhat good reputation I can tell them that I live in the village and if they want their custom orders, they need to visit me there.

*Clatter* *Clatter* *March* *March*

"Halt!"

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

The defence force? They look more like a knight force with their equipment though. Why put all of your troops with full plate armour? At least give them open helmets!

I know you need to protect the face but those designs for the helmet offer very little vision. The pants they have are also those old ones used for riding. They are solid and protect the legs very well but mobility will be an issue if they are not riding on something!

"I am Jade mountain town #7's defence force captain. Can I ask you to pass a commission to the maker?"
"Please list the specifications you need and materials that you want. You need to pay the price for the materials and the rest of the price will be given upon delivery. You can either give the materials to me or give me the money to buy said materials."

It really is the defence force, and it looks like they have a commission for me! However, you really need to redesign your whole equipment setup. How about having two teams for the defence force. Those full plate armour will be for the defence of the outer dangers while having a new group with lighter armour to handle the dangers inside the town because I can't imagine your lot to chase a thief through these alleyways with that bulky armour.

I mean, it is a good traditional armour but its use is very specific. If you are that stubborn about using it then why not change the helmet with a wider eye hole and the pants with some more flexibility for movement? I hope that is your request.

"This is the list of materials and the specifications. I want heavy shields for 80 people. I have the specifications and insignia written there. This should be enough to cover for the materials. When can we collect them?"
"Hmm, this is a big project, especially with these specifications. It would take at least two months to complete them. Do you want to decide the full price now or later?"
"If the shield lives up to the quality of your wares then we will pay you double the price of the materials, if not then we will see what happens then in two months. Let's go!!"

*Clatter* *Clatter* *March* *March*

It looks like the defence force even knows about my wares. How did this happen?