The next morning, we went exploring the town in greater depth. Last night was merely a bad night, and not something worth informing the others about, especially given that it wouldn't mean anything to a group of skarpans and children anyway.

We didn't take the carriage, instead choosing to park it at the inn we were staying at. Carriages are more for traveling long distances and big cities, and not really for crowded villages like this, where being on foot was the better choice/

I was staying inside a basket. Turns out. even if I can take a human form, there's a sense of disparity in forms, and I now feel more comfortable in turtle form.

For some reason. I'm sure there's a reason, but I don't feel it worth asking my "partner.

The kids were rather excited, though thankfully, both were rather well behaved. One was withdrawn, and the other was barely holding on. I could tell he was practically about to run off.

The skarpans weren't much better.

Their leader was actually rather reserved, paying attention to the stalls, observing and perhaps calculating. We'll see I suppose.

The rest of them were different, for they were practically salivating over the food stalls.

Sadly, Servante seemed disinterested, as did Lenore.

I just thought the latter easier to convince than the former.

' Would you mind getting them a few skewers?' I asked, and Lenore shot me an annoyed look.

Less upset at the prospect of doing, and moreso the fact that I was lazing around while they did all the walking.
To be fair, this is my retirement in a sense. My soldiers often told me the best way to enjoy retirement was to lay around and let others do the work for you.

She didn't stay upset, as she looked at the practically begging eyes of the skarpans and children alike and could only helplessly respond to their silent pleas.

'Don't worry, you can take it out of my payment.'

'You're paying me with my own money, but fine.' She grumbled, but clearly wasn't that upset, merely annoyed, as she walked over to a stall and ordered a few skewers, more for Borsch.

Damil still got the same amount as everyone else, since for some reason in spite of his size, still ate the same amount as the others. Kind of like a dwarf honestly.

I was also busy, using my appraisal spell to scan random items here and there. No one seemed to notice, so I guess my guide is right about its low-key nature, though I do wonder if those at higher levels would sense its presence.

[Roast chicken]

[A delicious roast that was alive just a mere moments ago]

[A rock]

[Can you smell what it's cooking?]

[Faux jewelry]

[Do not believe that cunning stall salesman]

[Real jewelry]

[Trust his poor sense of judgement]

[Jacket]

[Belongs to a rather large lizardman]

[Appraisal has reached level 3]

Interesting. When reapplying appraisal, the descriptions changed somewhat.

[Roast chicken]

[A delicious roast chicken that was alive mere moments ago. Its name was Jeffrey]

[Rock]

[It was cooking Jeffrey a few moments ago]

[Low level artifact]

[A low-level artifact that seemingly increases one's ability to scam someone. ]

[Jade necklace]

[A piece of jade jewelry, that may be useful for carving formations on. Has traveled a long way]

[An illusionary coat tool]

[Being used by three kobolds to sneak around]

... Huh?

That's the three kobolds?

I didn't notice it at first, and even now I cannot believe it.

It is rather fascinating.

I mentally prod Lenore, who looks over, squints, before elbowing Servante, who looks over, and squints for a fair moment before his eyes widen.

'Yeah, it's a camouflage tool. I wouldn't have noticed unless I focused on it. And here I thought you were exaggerating." He said, clearly surprised.

We didn't bother them of course. It was more of an amusing note than anything else, though it did make me wonder why they were here.

But it also wasn't my business, so I merely turned my attention to other things.

Maybe like the skarpans, they were here to broaden their horizons and see more of the world. It certainly wasn't my job to interfere.

Out of the group, Willow continued to be the most reserved, clearly doing her best to not attract attention, nor to show interest in anything.

And neither Servante nor Lenore showed any interest in buying something for her, whether it be because those were part of the interference laws or that they simply lacked initiative, the act of ignoring the child was intolerable to me.

And clearly I wasn't the only one.

"I want that one!" Leon declared, pointing at a doll offered at one of the stalls, being sold for 3 silvers.

It was a deformed little stump doll, with a deadpan face and two blank eyes.

I had noticed Willow looking at the doll, before quickly trying to appear disinterested, clearly trying not to impose on anyone.

Leon however, had seemingly seen it however, as he quickly proclaimed that he wanted it.

"You want that?" Servante asked Leon.

Yeon nodded furiously. "Yes"

"Alright. Buy it yourself." Servante deadpanned, clearly unwilling to spend his money to buy the doll.

Leon's face took on a pouty look, as he clearly looked unsure about what to do

Perhaps Servante was already aware of who the doll was really for.

It's possible that he just simply didn't want to buy the doll. We almost didn't get to take this trip around the town, courtesy of the weird rules that were imposed upon the elves. Only after I convinced him that this was meant to be a field trip aimed at teaching the group about observing the local economy did they concede to this trip.

I just wanted to take them on a trip, though it's true that it was meant to expand their horizons.

And Servante had said that our budget wasn't exactly loose, perhaps not loose enough to afford buying the children a doll.

Seeing the impasse, I was about to step in and offer some of my own money, before Leon piped up with a determined look on his face.

"Okay!" he said as he walked over to the stall, and rummaged through his bag, and clearly with reluctance yet great determination, dropped 3 silver coins down for the doll.

The man running the stall chuckled at the show before him.

"Change of plan's kid. This doll hasn't been selling well, so I decided to mark it down. The dolls being sold for a silver." he said softly as he dropped two silvers back in the elf's hands. Despite his fierce look, the salesman was rather nice, thought the child.

Having gotten the doll satisfied, he walked over to Willow.

"I don't want it anymore. You have it!" He said confidently, promptly dropping the doll in her hands before scampering off to the skarpans, denying Willow any chance of refusing the doll.

She looked surprised, and clearly wanted to give it back yet he had already fled, taking the startled skarpans away.

Left with the doll, she quietly observed it, seeming satisfied as she fondly held it, surprised yet happy to have the doll.

It was a subtle, yet content smile, the kind that made one all warm inside seeing.

The salesman chuckled, finding himself in the midst of a very heartwarming situation.

I thought it was nice for sure.

---

Once we got back, I made sure to ask the skarpans what they noticed sold the most.

Well, I asked the whole class, but I expected less from Leon and Lenore, given they were actual kids, but given that my excuse had revolved around a field trip, it made sense to ask the whole class.

"Snacks!" Shouted Leon while Willow remained quiet.

"Trinkets" responded the skarpans, having clearly grasped the main market here.

It's not that hard to observe, but it is important. Skip village, while resource abundant, wasn't particularly known for anything. Not a major seafood trade center, nor wood, or even just game in general. It's not exactly filled with top level chefs, nor any form of top-level craftsmen, like the dwarven kingdom.

What it does have however, is the legend, the infamous duke of the north clearing out the wilderness here to establish a 3-village joke, and ultimately producing one of the bases of the Hop-Skip-Jump teleportation system.

And the people here clearly capitalize on it, leaning into the legends and stories surrounding this place in the form of merchandising and trinket attractions, mascots galore. It's a weird contrast between rough looking people and cheerful mascots, but it plays into the village's charm, and they know how to use that charm.

Take for instance, the doll Willow just received.

The stump doll had a legend surrounding it. The stump was supposedly an eccentric ent, one so eccentric it'd be more accurate to call it a fairy than an ent. The stumpent, as it was called, was a mysterious ent that watched over and protected Skip village, having seemingly been there ever since the village had been settled by the duke of the north. Legends whispered that the duke had defeated it, cleaving everything above the stump, with the defeated ent promising to protect the developing village.

The legend was merely one example of how people made money from the production of trinkets and merchandise connected to the legends and tourist attractions within this village. It also happens to explain one store that specialized in "spirit charms" to ward off bad luck, which had a giant stump as their mascot.

Well, a dog dressed as a stump. It was a very cute dog.

Unfortunately, the skarpans had no such blessing, being that they were not natives, so this was not a viable route for them.

Well, I had promised to help them make money and be merchants, not be the best merchants.

Not that this will be easy.

Ugh, let's start with stalls then. Given that they have no background or any secret human background to fund their endeavors, we'll have to settle with selling from stalls. They're cheap to rent a space and are essentially good proofs of work. If they do well, they might be picked up by a bigger business.

We'll have to analyze what they can do first, but worst comes to worse, we can always set up a food stall, since even if they don't flourish, they do survive, nonetheless.

Well first, let's go get registered with the merchant's guild first.

Unlike the adventurer's guild, the merchant's guild is closely monitored and funded by the empire, and is practically a branch of government, given that they collect the taxes of merchants for the empire. The guild also functions as a temple, as they worship Mercury, god of merchants.

He's God of thieves well, but he's known to favor good sportsmanship in thieves, and thus rewards those who seek to kill less and focus on stealing. Mercury a rather double-edged god, but given he encourages less death on the roads, and a certain standard, he ends up doing more good than bad. He punishes bad sportmanship amongst merchants too.

The adventurer's guild was merely founded by strong adventurers in the interest of protecting adventurer's rights and setting themselves apart from mercenaries, only being acknowledged by the empire because of their sheer power and reach, with the adventurer's guild having branches in all countries across the world, even having some in the New World, including the spirit federation, who were known for being closed off from other nations. But as a result, they can't be trusted as much, given that they have roots, and thus loyalties, to everyone.

Anyway, if the skarpans want to sell anything, they'll have to register first, and if I want to sell my fruits, it's best to go through the guild, given that they'll recognize the value of exotic fruits.
The real worry is that brat from the other day, if the guards are to be believed, but it also seems that he doesn't have that much influence given how he's been fairly disregarded.

I'll bring the skarpans to register their accounts, and to hopefully scare the little rats off from bothering us.

Hopefully, nothing should happen.

---

"It's you!!!!!" Came the fierce shriek, as a rather familiar brat barged into the room, screeching as spittle flew.

Ugh.

... Seriously?

The fates seem insistent on dragging me into nonsense recently.