The Merchant Who Would be King

First to Market

Hadiin was happily humming to himself when Marian showed up.

"Isn't this place super cute," she gushed. "It's like something out of European history books. We have to find a cute inn to stay at. And I want to try the food. I wonder what kind of food they have here!" She was obviously enamoured and really enjoying her new world experience. Then her face fell and her shoulders slumped. "But we don't have any money, do we?"

"We do now." He teased his mustache and gave her a sly grin of triumph.

"Oh! You sold all the leather already?" she asked in mild surprise.

He sat up in the wagon, feeling good too. "I did! And to a single customer no less." He flashed her the three gold coins, rather proud of himself. Not that this was enough to buy anything really useful, like magic armour or weapons or something. And it was less than he'd started the game with. But it was his first big sale and that was something. It should certainly be enough to get by on and find the next step.

"Nice!" she nodded in approval. "What now? You were going to use that money for something, right?"

"Correct." He hopped down from the wagon. "Now, we have some shopping and experimenting to do."

She looked eager to finally learn what the slime was for. "What do we need?"

"Primarily? Milk and sugar. And some vanilla beans."

"Milk, sugar and... Oh!" Her eyes widened. "We're going to make—"

"Yep."

"With the—"

"Exactly."

She screwed her face up in distaste. "Ew."

"Oh, don't be like that. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"But who's going to buy that, knowing what's in it?"

His eyes twinkled. "Who says we have to tell anyone our secret recipe?"

"Uh..." She seemed taken aback by that, perhaps a little conflicted.

He rushed on lest her doubts grow stronger. "It's going to be a smash hit. Tell me this, Marian, my darling. Have you seen anyone else selling it while you were walking around? That's really important."

She had to think about it. "Um, no? But I didn't go into any restaurants or anything."

He felt a touch of prudence that he was glad for. "Hmm. You know, it might pay to do some research on the market before committing to production. Let's split up. You take that side of the street, I'll take this one. Investigate and see if anyone else is making or selling it."

"Got it."

They each canvassed one side of the street. Hadiin made polite, general inquiries to several shop vendors on Market Street. He also turned down a couple of cross streets and popped into cafes and restaurants.

Marian had been correct, it was a thrill to be here, just a completely different experience from where he'd been living back home, and far more enjoyable than being cooped up in some stupid warehouse all day every day. Despite the actual death experience earlier, something he hoped to avoid in the future, he was having fun, and that put a bounce in his step.

Belleville was quaint, even on a gray and rainy day. The roses were in bloom and very popular. Many windowsills here in the denser part of town had flower boxes hanging from their windows. It helped to make up for some of the drab, run-down buildings next to newer and more expensive-looking ones. The architecture was a mix of rustic medieval in the poorer buildings, and fancy Tudor in the nicer ones. The rustic houses were plain wood and the fancy more decorative, with designs on the walls and bright white plaster between the dark, wooden beams.