Chapter 26: The Day a Market Formed

When three packhorses appeared one after another on the southern road, everyone near the village entrance looked up.

The road was narrow, so the horses climbed single file with space between them.

Heinz was in front.

A merchant who’d visited Rue Village before followed behind him, while I didn’t recognize the man leading the third horse.

Today, a man and woman without horses had joined them as well.

Both carried packs on their backs.

“There are a lot of them today,” Lina said beside me outside the fence.

I raised myself too.

Not long ago, even one person climbing the southern road would’ve drawn attention.

Today, there were five from the start.

I moved away from the road so I wouldn’t frighten the packhorses.

“Hey!”

Heinz raised one hand while still some distance away.

“We only met along the way! I didn’t bring all of them here!”

He was making excuses before anyone had asked.

When they reached the entrance, Dario laughed.

“No one’s blaming you.”

“The chief is looking at me.”

“I only looked,” the chief himself replied.

The three packhorses were gathered near the entrance, and the humans explained their business.

Heinz and the other familiar merchant had come to trade as usual.

The merchant I didn’t know had apparently heard about the village’s charcoal.

“I heard I could buy some.”

“If we have enough to sell,” the chief answered. “Don’t assume you’ll always be able to load up merely because you came.”

“I understand. I want to see the product before deciding.”

So far, this was little different from their previous trading.

The last man and woman were what made today different.

“You aren’t merchants?” the chief asked.

“No.”

The man lowered his pack.

“We live a short way down the mountain. We heard that if we came here, we might be able to buy salt or needles.”

The woman opened her bag as well.

It contained beans and some old folded cloth.

“We also heard that sometimes we could trade goods instead of only paying with money.”

“Who told you?”

“Word of mouth. We don’t know who first said it.”

The chief looked at Heinz.

“It wasn’t me.”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

“Your face did.”

Heinz shrugged.

It wasn’t as strange a story as the wooden plaques.

The village did sell charcoal and use the proceeds to buy grain and salt. Depending on the goods, a merchant might also take something directly.

The two had apparently heard that and wondered whether they could exchange something they owned as well.

“Bringing something doesn’t mean the village will take all of it,” the chief warned them.

“That’s fine.”

“And we may not have what you want today.”

“Then we’ll go home.”

The matter was simple.

The chief also told them not to enter areas where they had no business without permission.

Once that was settled, the area near the village entrance suddenly became noisy.

There were three merchants.

Heinz unloaded salt and grain, while another arranged needles and small metal fittings. The new man began showing what he’d brought too.

The villagers gathered around them.

Usually, everyone would surround one merchant. Today, there were several places to look.

At first, the man and woman with the beans watched from a distance. Eventually, the woman spread out one piece of cloth.

“Could you look at this?”

A nearby merchant took it.

“There’s a hole.”

“I know it won’t be worth the same as new cloth.”

“I don’t want it in this condition.”

The woman’s face fell slightly.

Then another villager asked from beside them, “How much do you want for it?”

“What?”

“Even if the merchant doesn’t want it, we can mend it and use it.”

The woman looked at the cloth uncertainly.

“Could I exchange it for salt?”

“We aren’t the ones selling salt.”

The villager laughed.

“Then what can you offer?”

“That’s what we’ll have to discuss.”

Hearing their conversation, I was a little surprised.

Even if the merchants didn’t want something, a villager might.

The reverse could happen too.

Heinz wouldn’t take all the beans they’d brought, but one villager exchanged one of his own possessions for a small amount.

Before I knew it, a circle of people had formed in the open space near the entrance.

Someone who’d been examining salt and needles moved to the cloth. Someone else who’d brought charcoal spoke with a merchant, while beside them people checked the quantity of beans.

Voices overlapped.

“That’s too expensive.”

“Then I’ll reduce the amount a little.”

“This needle is too thin.”

“I have thicker ones.”

“I don’t need that whole sack. Half, maybe.”

“If it’s half, you’ll have to offer less in exchange too.”

They weren’t arguing.

Each person was only comparing his own goods with the other person’s.

Lina and Mia watched from a little distance away.

“It’s like a festival,” Mia said.

“Don’t festivals have more games?”

“But there are lots of people.”

“They’re only shopping.”

They both looked like they were enjoying themselves.

I watched from outside the fence.

There was no reason for me to go inside.

If anything, approaching would make the horses restless.

Before noon, Dario came over to the chief.

“They’re using more space than I expected.”

“Yes.”

With so many people, the path near the entrance had become a little narrow.

“It’ll be in the way if another packhorse arrives.”

“Should we move the area where they’re laying out goods?”

“Not in front of a house.”

“I know.”

They didn’t build any grand partitions. They only called to the people there.

“Keep the road clear.”

That was enough for the people and goods to shift a little to the side.

Trading continued.

When the new merchant examined the charcoal, Heinz came over too.

“Are you taking all of that?”

“Of course not. Only the amount I want.”

“Then fine.”

“You’re buying some too, aren’t you?”

“Yes. But I don’t plan to take what the village needs for itself.”

In the past, the discussion of who would buy how much might have dragged on.

Today, the village first decided how much it could sell. From that supply, Heinz and the other man discussed how much each wanted.

Not all the charcoal disappeared.

“I’ll buy more if there’s more the next time I come,” the new merchant said.

The chief shook his head.

“We won’t suddenly increase production merely because it’ll sell.”

“Why not?”

“We won’t turn the village’s firewood into charcoal too.”

“I see.”

The man said nothing more.

Just as with food, being able to sell something didn’t mean they could send all of it outside the village.

By early afternoon, the man and woman’s packs had grown a little lighter.

Some of their beans and cloth were gone. In exchange, their bags now held salt, needles, and small daily necessities.

“We really managed to trade them.”

The woman sounded a little surprised.

“Did you come thinking you couldn’t?” Heinz asked.

“Half of me did.”

“Then why come?”

“We’d heard about it, so we came to find out for ourselves,” the man answered.

He surveyed the goods around him.

“May we come again?”

The chief turned.

“There’s no guarantee anyone will buy from you.”

“You told us that today too.”

“Then you understand.”

“What should we bring next time?”

“Think for yourselves.”

“Couldn’t you at least tell us what the village wants?”

The chief considered it briefly.

“We need salt and needles, but merchants bring those. There’s also a limit to how much we can buy. It isn’t that we want everything.”

“So coming might be a waste?”

“Yes.”

The man smiled a little.

“That’s fine. Today wasn’t a waste.”

Another merchant who’d heard them joined in.

“It would be quicker if you came on another day when people were gathering.”

“Is there a day like that?”

“Not yet,” Heinz answered. “Even today, we only met each other along the way.”

“Then next time, if we meet someone on the road, we can climb together?”

“That would make the road safer.”

Since the incident in which someone lost goods on the southern road, more people had avoided traveling alone.

As a result, their arrival times overlapped.

That was one reason so many people were here today.

The chief listened to them and said, “You’re free to arrange things among yourselves.”

“But don’t assume the village will prepare something and wait for you every time. We can only house so many overnight.”

“Understood.”

They decided nothing more.

There was no fixed interval for gathering and no assigned sellers.

They didn’t even know whether the same people present today would return at the same time.

Still, before leaving, several of them said, “If we meet on the road again, let’s climb together.”

Well into the afternoon, the circle of people gradually dissolved.

The merchants packed their goods.

The villagers returned to their work carrying what they’d bought.

Heinz’s horse was loaded with charcoal from the village.

The new merchant carried a small amount too.

The man and woman who’d brought beans now carried packs whose contents differed from when they’d arrived.

“We’ll come again,” the woman said at the village entrance.

“You’re free to come,” the chief replied. “I don’t know whether anything will sell.”

“We understand.”

She waved with a laugh.

The three packhorses started south, followed by the humans.

The road was narrow, so they formed one line as they had on the way up.

Before entering the trees, the woman at the rear looked back once.

Lina and Mia waved.

The woman returned the gesture.

Before long, they disappeared and the sound of bells faded.

I walked slowly toward the place where everyone had gathered.

Even from outside the fence, I could see the nearer edge.

Marks from the cargo remained on the ground, and many feet had trampled the soil.

One small bean had fallen.

“Ah.”

Lina noticed and picked it up.

“Did the people from earlier drop this?”

A nearby villager looked back.

“If it’s lost property, keep it. We can return it the next time they come.”

“It’s one bean.”

“Even one.”

“Can’t I eat it?”

“No.”

“All right.”

Lina carried the bean away.

Mia followed her.

“Today was amazing.”

“Do you think they’ll come again?”

“They said they would.”

Their voices receded.

I examined the marks left on the ground.

Three packhorses.

Merchants.

An ordinary man and woman who’d brought things to sell.

Villagers.

None of those who’d been here before noon remained.

Even so, the soil alone had been pressed a little harder beneath so many feet.

I lay down at its edge.

After a while, the chief and Dario passed by.

“What will we do if something like today happens again?” Dario asked.

“As long as they don’t block the road, we’ll let them use today’s place.”

“What if there are even more?”

“We’ll think about it once there are.”

“That answer again?”

“Don’t increase today’s work for something that hasn’t happened.”

The chief continued walking.

Dario followed, laughing.

I raised only my head and watched them go.

The square marks from the loads and the overlapping prints of many feet still remained on the ground.