MERCHANT ADVENTURER

Mileston

After living through the extremely difficult situation, we finally reached Mileston. As the stranger who sat at our table in Alesburg had mentioned, the people of Mileston were far from friendly. The first moment we paid our fee to enter the town, we saw the people were simply colder and less cheerful than Alesburg or even Guston.

Before setting up shop, I walked around, inquiring prices from various shops. Having figured out the average price for the food items I was selling, I could undercut the local merchants with a price one third what they were charging and still make a profit.

Once I had settled on the price I would charge, I set up a small stall to sell off the food items. The produce were quickly sold. I had sold about a third of my items on the cart. The reason for this was because most of the items were pulled from my space. I had partially covered the produce, only allowing a partial view of the goods. In this way, I was able to deceive the customers.

Business was good until, a loud voice shouted at me.

"You there," the town guard bellowed, "Do you have a seller's permit?"

I looked up only to find a town guard frowning at me.

"No," I answered honestly.

"You foreigners are all the same," the town guard scolded. "Don't you know to check-in with the chamber of commerce first before you do anything?"

Caught unaware by the need to have a seller's permit, I didn't know what to say. After a while, I finally recollected my wits and said, "I'll go right now. Thank you for informing me."

The guard grunted and then left to continue his rounds. I wondered how he knew I wasn't properly licensed. It was only when I looked around, did I see the other sellers all had a small sign hanging on their stalls in full view. I was unhappy I hadn't noticed the displayed seller's permits earlier.

I walked around aimlessly for a long time, unable to find the chamber of commerce. This place had no street signs. Asking others for directions was also not a viable option, as the locals scorned me, and simply ignored my question. They would all take a detour around me.

When I heard Mileston wasn't friendly, I had never imagined they were this unfriendly. After a while, I encountered another town guard. I asked him for directions, and he begrudgingly gave them to me. With directions, I headed off in the right directions.

The chamber of commerce building was old, but stately. It appeared to have been well-maintained. I walked through the double doors, which were quite heavy. At the front desk, the receptionist rudely answered all my questions, while asking for ten silver coins. I didn't have the coin upfront and there was simply no way to negotiate. I couldn't sell my produce and if we backtracked to Alesburg, the produce would all wilt or even rot before then.

As I was caught in a bad situation, a voice sounded out.

"Lad, I can help you."