A couple of the adventurers, who were picking through the newest items for sale, an a.s.sortment of lanterns and lamps, looked up briefly at her words, but them went back to discussing which light would be best for using in the new dungeon that had just been discovered to the west.

"Does Liam have the soup pot going?" he asked, heading towards the door leading to the soup kitchen.

"Yes, but we have far too much food just for that, and most of it will go bad before he can cook it."

"Then set some of it out on tables for people to pick through. Surely some of it can still be sold. The potatoes and carrots can be put near the fire to start cooking, and sold as cooked foods."

"You didn't bring any meat, did you?" she asked, heading to the back, where all of the food had been taken by the kids.

Robert stepped behind the counter, since they had customers, while she dealt with the food.

"No, I didn't make it to the butcher to ask him about that."

"What's this about soup and needing meat?" asked one of the adventurers, placing the lantern he had chosen on the counter to buy.

"That's 1 silver, please," said Robert, then to answer his question, "I am starting up a soup kitchen. You have to bring your own bowl, but each serving will only be 1 copper, or a contribution of something to go into the pot. I was able to get several things to go into the pot, from the market, but none of it was meat."

"I have a good chunk of meat, I would be willing to give you, in exchange for this lantern?" he asked, pulling out a hunk of meat that looked as if it had come from a deer, then cooked over an open campfire.

"That would be great! I will also allow you a bowl of soup, for free, when it's done," said Robert taking the meat and handing it to Max, to give to Liam.

"You wouldn't happen to have any bowls for sale, would you?" asked the other adventurer, glancing over the shelf that used to have the wooden dishes.

"I'm afraid I'm currently out of them. My provider has come down with a sickness, from all of this cold weather, so I'm not sure when I might have any more in stock."

"If I could come by some, would you be interested in buying them?" asked the same adventurer, setting his own lantern down on the counter, along with a silver coin.

"I'm always open to buying if the price and quality is right," said Robert, taking the silver coin with a nod.

The two adventurers nodded at him and hurried from the store. The last lights from the sunset disappeared as the door was pulled shut.

Trudy was busy placing some of the old food onto an already full shelf, so Robert moved over to help her find room. He needed to get some more shelves, because the two he had, were already full. When he heard the door behind him open, he turned, expecting to see another adventurer, but it was the n.o.ble servant girl. She froze when she saw him standing next to Trudy, arranging things on the shelves.

As she turned to leave, Robert said, "Wait!"

Her eyes darted over at Trudy, and then back outside the partially opened door. Several men were heading towards the shop, and she freaked.

"Please! Is there somewhere I can hide?" she asked in a whisper, all but dancing away from the door.

"Trudy, take her upstairs," Robert said without hesitation.

Trudy grabbed her hand, and pulled her up the stairs without any questions. Robert finished moving the food around on the shelf, as the two men stepped inside.

"Good evening," said the first man. He wasn't wearing anything that would mark him as a guard or an adventurer. "I'm looking for a young woman, a girl really, who I thought I saw step inside here?"

Robert nodded thoughtfully. "I have a lot of young women come in here, especially since I've started my soup kitchen. Could you describe who you're looking for?"

"She has short brown hair and brown eyes," said the other man, stepping out from behind the first.

Robert laughed, "You've described most of the girls in this city. Being this close to the poor section, I could point at any number of girls with those features."

The two looked at each other, as if they weren't sure what else to say. Robert noticed that they both had matching coin pouches, with the same insignia as Lord Richmond.

"She's considered a thief, so I would suggest if you know anything, you speak up," said the second guy, resting his hand on his belt, near his sword sheath.

"You do realize that most of the poor people could also be considered thieves, by some of the rich people of this town? Why some would even think breathing the air was a crime for them," he said, making sure to smile at them as he moved back around the counter.

"Look, have you seen the girl or not? I thought I saw her come in here only a moment ago," said the first one, not liking the game of cat and mouse Robert was playing with the second guy.

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"I have. She left through the side door when it seemed that you two were coming in here after her," said Robert, motioning to the door leading to the soup kitchen.

With a curse, both men darted back outside without a glance back at him. Robert listened as there were shouts of anger from the people outside, in line for their bowl of soup. From some of the comments, he figured those two men probably wouldn't return.

"Jon, could you add some wood to the fire? Will, I would like some of that soup, please," Robert said, pulling his bowl from a shelf under the counter and handing it to the oldest boy.

As Will returned with the steaming bowl, sounds of sobbing could be heard from upstairs, and Robert wondered if he needed to go up and check on the girls. After a moment of thought, he decided Trudy would bring her back down in a bit. If the girl was in trouble, she may need a few moments to compose herself, without him barging in and interrupting her moment of release. Besides, he didn't have the foggiest what to do with a crying woman.

A new customer entered the store, interrupting his train of thought, and saving him from having to decide, as he obviously couldn't leave while there was someone there. It was a servant from a different n.o.ble house.

"I heard you might have some things, like paper?" asked the young man, probably the same age as Robert.

"I have several sheets for sale, but they're not cheap," he cautioned, pulling a stepstool over to the shelves.

"That's alright. You are far closer than the store I would normally buy the paper. My master needs several sheets and bade me to fetch them. If I can return in half the time, he would gladly overlook the price, I am sure."

Nodding, Robert reached up to the top shelf of the shelves and pulled two sheets down. Sometimes he had new mages come through, traveling with the adventurers, who needed a sheet to write a new spell upon.

"This is parchment, and is 2 silver, while this one is actual paper, and is 4 silver."

"I need two of the actual paper, please. 4 silver isn't that expensive, are you sure that's all you're going to charge? This is very nice paper. I would have gladly paid twice that from the other store I normally go to."

"I would be glad to stock more, if you think you might be a frequent customer?" asked Robert, returning the parchment, and fetching a second piece of paper.

The servant looked around, considered his comment. "I personally wouldn't mind shopping here, as it's very clean and neat, but I know some of the other servants would feel uncomfortable shopping elbow to elbow with adventurers and poor people."

"I understand. That will be 8 silver, please."

After he paid and left with his paper, Robert thought about his words. If he could get the servants to buy from him, as well as the adventurers and poor, he would be the only store in the whole city that sold to all three. He could make more money, but then he thought of his dad, who only catered to the rich. His dad didn't care about the customers, only making more money. Robert didn't want to follow his father like that. He enjoyed the relations.h.i.+ps he had with his customers.

"Bob?" called Trudy from the stairs.

"Yes?" he asked, turning to look at her, with his bowl of soup in hand.

"The girl's on the run. I got her to sleep, but I think we need to talk about what to do with her."

Trudy's voice was soft as she walked towards him.

"Why is she running? Did she do something wrong?"

"She says that she traded you a ring for something, but has never managed to make enough money to pay you back, in order to earn the ring back. Her master discovered today that she was missing it, and accused her of selling it. He's trying to claim she's a thief and has a bounty on her head."

Robert sighed. This was about to get very complicated.