Ed walked through the fairly bustling market. This was the first time he had ever seen a market, and it was quite different from what he had imagined. However, the market had a nice name.
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Coriander, sage, rosemary, thyme." A beautiful voice unconsciously echoed in Ed's mind, its melodious sound captivating him.
Contrary to the beautiful sounds in my mind, the market was noisy, and I didn't see any coriander, sage, rosemary, or thyme.
There are only ordinary daily necessities and food available. Perhaps trade is not yet developed enough, or perhaps it is still spring and cold. Goods will be more plentiful in autumn.
The slave market was even more chaotic. The slaves here were mostly prisoners of war, and the scale was much smaller than before. Each slave wore a silent expression, which was understandable; no one could be happy thinking about their future miserable existence.
Slaves are still in high demand because food is essential for every territory, and land needs people to cultivate it. Ed wanted to buy them all, but this place was too far from Greyhold, and he didn't know how many would survive to return.
"Sir, do you need to buy these people?" the little girl asked Ed.
"But these people are very expensive! They won't sell to you for less than a hundred loaves of black bread."
Upon hearing this, Ed decided to leave. He'd come back another time if he had the chance. He couldn't afford the price right now.
"Take us to the place where we exchange the salt." Ed wanted to get the salt exchanged quickly and go back; he didn't want to linger outside any longer.
"Yes, sir, this way." Soon the group arrived at a place that sold sea salt.
There was some coarse sea salt piled on a wooden board. The salt was not very clean, it was yellowish, and contained a lot of debris.
The salt vendors weren't enthusiastic in their greetings, because they had no trouble selling this stuff.
"We need to exchange some salt. How?" Ed asked the salt seller.
The man looked at Ed, then pointed to a jar on the wooden board and said:
"That jar over there, it holds twenty loaves of black bread or five iron ore. Of course, I'll also accept silver coins if you have any."
Ed was dumbfounded: "Damn, it's so expensive. That jar can only hold a pound of salt at most."
"Is that so?" Ed looked at the little guide girl.
"Yes, sir, what he said might be a little expensive, but it's within a reasonable range. Whether you accept it or not is up to you," the little girl replied reasonably.
Ed looked into her large, clear eyes and said, "You're an interesting child."
"No, sir, I am merely a qualified guide, offering my advice when you need help. I also hope my advice can be of assistance to you."
"Adelaide, bring me two pairs of gloves, one large and one small."
"Yes, Master," Adelaide quickly handed Ed two pairs of gloves from behind.
"I have two pairs of fur gloves here. Try on the smaller pair and see if you can trade it for a jar of salt." He handed the 'Rabbit' brand gloves to the little girl.
The little girl took the gloves and put on the smaller ones.
This was the first time she had ever seen such strange gloves. They were very well made, and the inside was fluffy and comfortable when she put them on. All five fingers could move, so it didn't affect her ability to pick things up. There was also a rabbit mark on the side of the gloves.
The weather is still quite cold, and it's really comfortable to wear, so she doesn't want to take it off.
Ed noticed her interest: "If you can trade this glove for a jar of salt, I'll give you the glove you're wearing."
"Yes, sir, I will do my best." With that, he walked toward the salt merchant.
As expected, the little girl was quite capable. She somehow managed to persuade the salt merchant to exchange a pair of gloves for a jar of salt.
Ed happily exchanged all the gloves he had brought for salt, and although he didn't have much iron ore, he didn't plan to take it back, so he exchanged it all for salt as well. Now all that was left was some food.
All three parties were quite satisfied with this exchange. Ed got salt, which made things much easier.
Next, I'll just browse around. If I find something I need, I'll buy it; if not, I'll just leave it.
Since it is still early spring, the market is lively but the variety of goods is not very rich.
There wasn't much that Ed needed.
In the end, they only exchanged some honey and wheat flour.
Ed is getting ready to go back.
"Sir, are you going back?"