infodatos Chapter 34 The Wanderers' Market
Chapter 34 The Wanderers' Market
Geb had never seen so many people before.
Humans, dwarves, grey dwarves, halflings, elves, dark elves, orcs...
The place was bustling with people, crowding together to sell their wares in the narrow aisles, haggling over prices in a common language with various accents.
The halfling old man stood on the stall, calling out his wares through a wooden megaphone.
A strange man dressed in seven-colored clothes was running a gambling den at the alley entrance. The dice were slammed on the ground, emitting a dazzling flash. The crowd cheered as the numbers on the dice bounced.
The orc laborer, carrying a mountain of wooden crates, grumbled and swore as he cleared a path through the alley.
The goblin was squeezed in the crowd, unsure where to look, his ears ringing from the noise.
Tongtong had been to the market before and remained relatively calm. He folded his ears up with both hands, covering his earlobes, and followed closely behind Gebu.
I came here with two tasks: to listen and to see.
Listen, and see.
Listen, and...see...
Is this garlic-roasted bamboo rat?
smell good……
Gebu was drooling and couldn't take a step.
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Awoo awoo.
Two goblins, each with four hands, were wielding four greasy roasted bamboo rats, their mouths brimming with meat.
They sat on a stone bench in a corner of the market, watching people come and go.
Wandering around and observing, Gebu discerned some clues amidst the chaotic market.
There are three types of people in this homeless market:
The first type is individual customers. Gebu is a typical individual customer. He goes looking for goods with money and for money with goods, without a fixed stall.
These people make up the majority in the market; they come from all races, dress in different ways, and are constantly busy.
Gebu's understanding of human society is still in its infancy. He can only try to identify their professions. After watching for more than an hour, Gebu roughly divided the individual travelers into the following three types.
Some of them were wearing armor, carrying weapons, and had fierce looks on their faces, as if everyone owed them money—soldiers?
But they don't seem like soldiers of the kingdom, more like soldiers working for themselves... I think they're called mercenaries?
These people mainly loitered around the weapons and armor stalls, their purpose clear: they'd see something they liked, pay for it without asking the price, and leave. They were probably regular customers of the shops.
What does this mean?
These people have money, but there's no profit to be made from them—meaning it's very difficult to earn money from them.
The other group of people were acting suspiciously, constantly looking back, hunched over, looking just like goblins.
They always carried something in their arms, and when they found a stall, they would carefully take it out and whisper to the owner, haggling over the price.
These people cherish their "treasures" very much, and they will absolutely not make a purchase without asking three or four stalls.
"A thief who sells stolen goods," Geb muttered to himself.
These people are both poor and cunning; stay away from them.
Gebu took a bite of the bamboo rat, crunching on the cartilage.
Poor and cunning, isn't that just me?
Self-deprecation is the most deadly.
There is another type of individual traveler, the fewest in number—unlike mercenaries and thieves, they seem to have no specific purpose, looking around and asking questions, as if they are tourists, very leisurely.
However, once these people notice something and stop at a particular stall, they will definitely make a purchase, and always in large quantities. Sometimes, they might even buy out the entire stall. They never carry the goods themselves, but instead delegate the task to someone nearby or have the stall owner deliver the goods for them.
Calling these people casual customers is an underestimation—they're big bosses!
If we're going to do business, we need to do business with these people. However, the volume and quality of our goods are still far from sufficient.
The second category is laborers.
The market was much larger than Geb had imagined. It was connected to an underground port, which was connected to a series of underground rivers. In the ten or so minutes that the two goblins were eating the rats, several ships of all sizes arrived.
Some of the ships belonged to humans, some to dark elves, and there was even a rickety kobold raft, swaying precariously. I really don't know how those idiots managed to sail so far in that thing.
Damn kobolds, goblins hate kobolds the most.
That being said, where there are ports and markets, there are workers who sell their labor.
Besides porters, the market also had food stalls, barbers, tailors, blacksmiths, taverns, and even hotels and brothels. All these places needed laborers and service workers.
Gebu calculated that 80% of this market was for buying and selling, while the remaining 20% was specifically for serving them.
This is practically a small town, even more bustling than the human villages next to the forest. If I wanted, I could easily live here; everything I needed for food, drink, shelter, and transportation was provided.
The third category is the shop owner.
If the two types of people mentioned above are the transient population in the homeless market, then the owners of these hundreds of stalls and shops are the cornerstone of the homeless market.
There are many types of stalls, the lowest level being the roadside stall.
They just lay out a cloth anywhere, set up their things, and that's it.
The streets of this market are filled with these stalls, a mixed bag, and no one knows how deep the water really is.
The items for sale were incredibly diverse. Gebu glanced around and saw that everything from a single thread to the thigh bone of the god Obak could be bought at these stalls.
A slightly more upscale option is a fixed stall with a tent and shelves. An even more upscale option is a shop with a storefront.
These shops tend to cluster together; if you want to sell fabric, there's a whole street full of fabric shops, and if you want to sell weapons, there's a whole street full of weapon shops.
This makes it convenient to compare prices from different vendors and reduces the cost for each vendor to find customers—they can go to the area where they want to buy something, allowing for two-way filtering between shops and customers, thus improving efficiency.
Some people are cunning and set up their stalls next to fixed stalls to gain traffic—but those who do this will be chased away by the stall owners of the fixed stalls after a while.
Won't doing this create a conflict?
Definitely! In such a mixed place, it's perfectly normal for people to fight over a stall or disagree on prices.
What should be done if a conflict occurs?
This brings us to another category of people, distinct from the three types mentioned above:
The market's regulators, the Gray Ravens.
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Besides individual travelers, laborers, and shopkeepers, there is another group of people who wear gray robes, with weapons hanging slung at their waists, and coldly watch people come and go from a corner of the market.
These people do nothing, and no one talks to them.
However, every passerby in the market was acutely aware of their presence, and would quickly look away once their eyes met.
It's like a sword hanging over everyone's heads.
Once a conflict occurs and a certain red line is crossed, they appear on the scene like ghosts, quickly bringing both sides in control as fast as possible.
Even the fiercest mercenaries will obediently sheathe their weapons once they are spotted by the guards of the Gray Raven Society—otherwise, they will be taken away with daggers held to their throats by these people...who knows where they will be taken?
Who knows how many foolish and resentful creatures are buried in that pitch-black underground riverbed?
And then there are these birds.
Gebu gnawed on a wooden skewer and looked up at the gray crows perched on the earthen wall.
The bird remained motionless, its lifeless eyes darting about at an alarming rate. From that height, it could take in the entire area.
There are many of these gray crows in the market, covering all the area within sight.
Geb recalled a passage from the book:
"If you really decide to venture into the underworld, then dear reader, please remember one thing: don't be impulsive and go after the gray crows, especially in the territory of the Gray Crow Society—those are the undying eyes of the Crow Queen, capable of seeing through the mortal world and death... If you are targeted by one, I suggest you don't plead for mercy, just give yourself a quick death."
"The Goddess of Shadows knows no mercy; the cries of the tormented are heavenly music to her."
—The Shadow of the Grey Raven
In my past life, this thing was called... a security camera?
Who knows if this rumor is true... The Shadow Goddess Raven Queen, the name sounds pretty emo.
It's hard to imagine that these outlaws would believe in a god.
...Gebu didn't want to break the law. There was no need to take the risk.
After observing for more than an hour, Gebu came to a conclusion.
Money is hard to earn!
However, it's not impossible...
Gebu touched the several bottles of medicine at his waist, and a plan gradually took shape in his mind.
He tossed the licked-clean wooden skewer onto the ground, jumped down from the stone post, and said to Tongtong, who was picking his teeth with a bamboo skewer beside him:
"Walk!"
"Waaaaah, waaaah? (Boss, who did you stab?)"
Tongtong gripped the bamboo skewer, pointing the sharp end outwards, and asked excitedly.
"Let's not stab anyone, let's go make some money!"