The shop looked good. Not Madam Vesper's level, she had decades of trade experience and the kind of stock that came from capital connections built over her long career, after all. But for a shop that had been an empty room just three days ago, it looked solid and real.
Sara planned to make this a kind of shop that adventurers would walk into and come back to, because everything in it would be priced fairly and positioned for people who actually needed to use the things they bought rather than just look at them.
"Sign's good," one of the workers called from the doorway. "You want me to put up the smaller one above the window, too, Miss Sara?"
"Yes. And then get the rest of the map copies up on the board inside, the ones showing the road to the neighboring villages, not just the Gaiya forest section."
The woman went to do it.
Bertha came to stand beside Sara, brushing sawdust off her apron. She looked at the shop, then at the street, then at the gathering crowd outside that was now definitely a crowd rather than a few curious passersby.
"If you can keep the capital supply steady," Bertha said, "and nobody else in the village gets the same deal with Vesper…"
"You can scratch that off your worry list, Bertha. Nobody else will ever get the same deal with Madam Vesper like me," Sara said, cutting her off. "She only offered it to me because I secured her a space here and brought her in ahead of the other merchants. That arrangement is personal, only for me."
Bertha nodded slowly. "Okay, then you're going to be the only source of decent basic gear in this village for at least another week until the other shipments come in from the capital through the normal route, I think." She looked at the crowd outside. Her voice came out dry and matter-of-fact. "From the looks of it, they're going to clean you out by the end of the day."
Sara said nothing because she knew that already, and she'd priced accordingly, too.
Bertha climbed back up the ladder and checked the upper sign one more time before coming down for Sara's order to open the shop's door.
After a while, taking her sweet time, Sara finally said the words. "Open it, Bertha."
Bertha pushed the door.
It swung open, and almost instantly the crowd started to come in.
Not pushing, not rushing, but moving with the focused purpose of people who had been waiting for this shop to open from morning till now.
Within two minutes, the display table had six people around it picking up items and turning them over. Within five, both workers Sara had placed at the reception were answering questions simultaneously.
A hunter in patched leather was already holding a short sword and asking about the balance and stuff. Two of the new adventurers were bent over the map table with their heads close together, saying something to each other.
Sara moved through the room without hurrying, answering the questions that came to her, but still keeping her eye on the flow.
The display was holding. The pricing board was readable. The armor crate had been opened, and someone had found the medium-weight vest immediately and was trying it on across their shoulders.
Bertha had positioned herself near the door, arms crossed, watching the room with specific vigilance. Her job right now was to make sure nothing walked out without being paid for. She caught Sara's eye once across the room.
Sara gave her the smallest nod.
Bertha also nodded back and went back to watching.
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The noise in the room built quickly, like a particular layered sound of a shop that was doing actual business.
From outside came the sound of more footsteps coming as word traveled down the road, the way it always did in a small village.
Sara was answering a question about map accuracy when she heard it from somewhere near the weapon rack.
A woman's voice, mid-thirties, hunter's build, blade in hand: "Are you getting more stock in? If the next shipment has hunting bows, I want one reserved."
Sara looked at her. "Uhh, leave your name with the woman by the door. I'll contact you when the next order comes in."
The hunter went to find Bertha after she said that.
Sara turned back to the room, to the noise of the controlled productive chaos of a shop on its first real day, and felt something settle in her chest that she didn't usually let herself feel until now.
She felt it now that this shop was going to work.
Author note: This chapter ended up shorter than I wanted. Sorry guys.