There were a few markets in the town, and fortunately, the biggest market was open today.
The main market was a charter market in the plaza. It was open for about a week every month, while there were smaller ones all over where shops abutted a street.
He was first taken to the main market, which covered the entire plaza. It was dense with people, customers, and merchants, and it was common to bump into others.
Even when he just arrived, he saw two big men bump into each other between the pathways of stalls, and the tension was palpable.
Fighting wasn’t exactly prohibited here, but that was only when there was no damage.
Of course, it would also depend on who was fighting and whose property was damaged. If it were a powerful person and the damaged item was a little stall with poor people, then it might not have much effect.
Fortunately, many people disliked fighting in tight spaces, because it could accidentally affect someone they couldn’t afford to offend, so, for the most part, brawls in the main market were fairly rare.
In such cases, when the tension was too much, the two people might challenge each other to a match in one of the sparring rings, which wasn’t far away from the plaza.
Finn’s group walked past a few stareoffs, and they guided him along the market, all while chewing on some skewers.
The skewers weren’t particularly special, but they were made of domesticated pork, which made them decent as long as they weren’t cooked too badly.
They passed through stall after stall. There was no zoning or whatever here, so he couldn’t go to a specific area if there were items he needed. Instead, he had to look over every stall he passed, lest he missed something he needed.
For the sake of efficiency, he did not dwell in stores that seemed to offer only typical stuff, and then stayed for a relatively long time in places that had more novelties.
At some point, he focused on a store where the merchant was obviously well-travelled. His offerings were relatively unusual, and they were well taken care of.
Best of all, he had seeds.
He bought a lot of seeds for their garden, and there were a number that he could not recognize, and that alone made them worthy to be bought.
Not to mention, Finn tested the merchant and asked what the seed was, all while looking at the [Assessment] Skills no one could see.
In the end, the merchant spoke of the truth and tried selling them well, and he did, adding several silver as a bonus. They told him to hide it well, though.
He also bought some spices available, which tasted a lot like cumin and mustard, and he also asked if he had seeds of these items.
Cumin and mustard...he was already drooling at the food he could make with these! Assuming they reacted the same to heat and stuff, of course.
He also bought several changes of clothing for all of the staff and himself, as well as defense equipment.
Decent equipment was only sold in proper stores, which were proper stores inside buildings and had storefronts. The zoning was decent, and these stores were usually in the same place, creating commercial streets.
These commercial streets were filled with some important stores like restaurants, equipment stores, potion shops, and so on.
He bought his staff a minimum of D-Class equipment, which was around 10 to 20 gold each piece, which was months of normal work for most people, but he happened to be very rich today.
Besides, it would be a waste for his staff not to take advantage of the barrier and train their own skills and strength. All they lacked now was proper equipment to protect their bodies.
As for clothing, he bought two sets each of casual and one kinda-formal wear for special occassions. Anyway, the [Utility Room] could wash and iron the clothes within a few hours, so they didn’t need too many clothes.
Eventually, when the Inn upgraded, he’d have to take a look at the new functions, but for now, this would be enough.
He seriously considered stocking a lot of equipment and then selling them to adventurers for a higher price, but the transportation seemed like a hassle. Even the space rune he got from the elders was just as big as a large suitcase at most. How was he supposed to fit more than 2 weapons without looking idiotic?
In the end, with the advice of the actual adventurers, they advised him to just buy daggers, quivers, and arrows if he wanted to sell these things in the store. The bigger weapons would be troublesome, but these would be useful, not to mention the arrows, which were consumables.
Not every archer was like Leiah, who could create them with her magic, and most archers wouldn’t have the time to retrieve their arrows until a mob had been cleared. In such cases, a larger supply of arrows could really be invaluable to them.
At some point, they also passed by the Skill Scroll store, apparently the only one in the entire town, which was actually more than many already. Most territories in the safe zone, especially those far from the borders, had far fewer awakened, and understandably so. Most inner territories did not have skill scroll stores because of this.
That said, Finn wasn’t planning on buying anything, seeing that the cheapest one sold for 10 gold. This was the most basic of the basic skills, too.
Thinking of this, the system was really kind. Now that he could have a steady flow of customers and therefore Hearth Points, wouldn’t that mean gaining skills would be easier for him? Provided that they fit his physique and affinities, of course.
The seller grumbled when he only perused and didn’t buy anything. Finn shrugged, not really feeling guilty. It was part of the job, after all.
By the end of the day, he had spent tens of thousands of danas and dozens of gold, and created a small mountain on a cart.
He realized that he really liked shopping, after all!