Forged Destiny [Book 3: Ch. 7]

"I could use a new weapon too." Blake drew her dagger a fraction of the way out of its sheathe before she pushed it back in once more. "This is basic at best. Other than that, any armour or throwing knives might be nice." She eyed me curiously. "You don't look convinced that I'll find any. Why is that?"

"Experience," I said, and shrugged. I moved ahead and into the market, Blake beside me. "Weiss said Toston is a stopping point between places. That means they'll be shipping goods they bought cheap in one place and want to sell for a profit elsewhere. It's basic economics." Something my mother had drilled into me. What use was a Blacksmith who didn't know when he was being swindled? She wouldn't be around to help me forever, and all that. "Most of the time, that's taking something that's abundant in one region, and bringing it to somewhere it's not normally found."

"Wouldn't weaponry count as that?"

"It would, but it's a processed good. A merchant would have to buy the minerals at a place they're mined, pay a Blacksmith to forge it into something, then transport it across the Kingdom and sell it to a shop." I waved one hand, indicating a stall which was selling bars of iron and steel. "It's easier to do all of that with the metal itself. No matter where you go, there's bound to be someone who will buy that. It might even be a Blacksmith who wants to turn it into weapons. That means you don't have to sit around waiting for a buyer. Time is money for a trader. They want to be gone as soon as possible."

"And Toston is only a stopping point, not the destination," Blake said. "You know a lot about trading. I'm impressed."

—Forged Destiny [Book 3: Ch. 7]