Crystallis Verdantglass's Arc

Chapter 6 of 18

Crystallis waited outside the glassblower's workshop, watching foot traffic move through the lane. The references would arrive soon, or they wouldn't. Either way, he'd already started thinking past the inn deal. The marketplace needed more than one buyer to prove itself. A messenger arrived before the glassblower returned, carrying word from deeper in Kettle Fen. The blade competition venue—a converted hall near the market square—had discovered something during setup. Workers clearing storage found a sealed door behind old weapon racks. Inside was a forgotten market hall, untouched for decades. Crystallis paid the messenger and walked toward the venue immediately. When he arrived, workers were hauling debris from the entrance. He stepped inside and stopped. The space stretched wider than the main competition floor, with stalls built into the walls and a raised platform at the center. Dust covered everything, but the structure held. He crossed to the platform and brushed away grime from its surface. Intricate ruby inlays gleamed through the dirt, set into aged wood carved with merchant symbols. This had been a trading floor once—a real one, not a temporary stall or seasonal tent. Someone had built this to last. Crystallis ran his hand over the inlays and calculated. The competition would draw crowds. Visitors would pass through this space if someone claimed it first. He pulled out his journal and sketched the layout, marking sight lines from the entrance and counting stall positions. The inn deal mattered, but this was leverage. If he could secure this hall before the competition ended, he wouldn't need to convince scattered buyers one at a time. He could build the marketplace here, where people were already coming to spend money. He left the hall and found the venue administrator outside, a tired-looking official with a clipboard. Crystallis offered to lease the space for the duration of the competition, paying upfront for exclusive access. The administrator hesitated, then agreed when Crystallis doubled the offer. The contract was signed within the hour. Crystallis walked back toward the glassblower's workshop with the lease papers folded in his satchel. The references still mattered—the inn deal would prove the product worked. But he didn't need it to prove the marketplace could exist. He had a hall now, and a deadline. The competition would bring the crowd. He just needed to fill the stalls before they arrived.