623 One Swing Knife

Beautifully ornamental armors, swords and shields. There are also practical ones with no extra flairs.
The inside of this store would tickle a boy's mind. Seeing all kinds of weapons and armors is a feast to the eyes.

I looked for a man and found him resting his chin on one hand with a disgruntled look at the counter.
Dunno if it's because he couldn't land a deal with the knife earlier or something else.

"Good afternoon. I'd like to ask something, may I have your time?"

The man quickly swiftly turned his demeanor around and put on a merchant smile.

"Oh yes, how may I help you? Are you looking for something? Allow me to help you find it. We also accept custom order if you wish."

"Are you selling knives made in Dwarf Kingdom?"

"Oho, you're aware about that? We have just sold the best one among our new stock. But we have plenty of other knives made in Dwarf kingdom. Like these ones here. They're all fine knives, don't you think?"

I could tell he's not going to let this chance go by how swift he put three, four knives on the counter.
But this merchant has a good eye. I think these finely adorned knives are the real deal. Even amateurs like me can tell they're expensive stuff.

"Won't all this fine engraving on the blade affect the durability?"

I asked while pointing at a knife you could mistake for being ornamental.

"They're all made by the best and most famous dwarfen workshop in the kingdom, we guarantee not only their durability but their unmatched sharpness as well!"

"Hee, what's the workshop called?"

"It's Dongoro Workshop. They're best at everything be it ornamental, industrial or smithing! There's only one item forged by its best craftsman, Dongoro every year! Such masterpieces are usually snatched up by the royalties or the rich however, so we don't stock them here. But I assure you these knives are the genuine articles!"

Apparently this man is the store manager. He struck a deal with that workshop personally and managed to stock up items made by the apprentices working there.
They're not fake for sure.
Even the ones made by apprentices are clearly first rate stuff. They can't be fake.

"All the struggle I took to get this far... Uuh, my legs are giving out just recalling that time..."

Apparently he had to keep going back and forth between this city and the Dwarf Kingdom until he landed a contract which took him years.
There's only two stores that managed to have a partnership with that workshop. One of which is this store. I'm sure that's quite an accomplishment.
However, they made him promise not to spread the news.

"I can only talk about it to those who seek out items made by this workshop. I'm prohibited from taking the initiative to inform my customers as well."

That's one weird term for a contract.

"But not like anybody would know nor is there gonna be an evidence even if you break that term, right?"

"...Please don't look down on me, dear customer! I may be a merchant but I still have my pride! I will never! Break the terms of my contracts!"

As it seems, he can claim he stocked the items from Dwarf Kingdom but not name the workshop.

"But you look real displeased before I called out to you?"

"Ah, you saw that. What an embarrassment. So you see, the customer who bought our best knife said, 'Hmph, who cares about all that stuff.' so of course I'm not pleased, oh not at all sir! Knives made at Dongoro Workshop, even by the apprentices, fetch a pretty penny! The prices we put on that straddle a fine line between affordability and the workshop's prestige! Yet that customer tried to drive a hard bargain! Argh!"

Looks like this manager is eager to spread the name of Dongoro Workshop. To the point he's barely making a profit from their knives.
The customer must have said something that hit a nerve.
They clicked their tongue when they couldn't haggle and the manager had to bear it in resulting in pent up frustration.
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"How do I go to the Dwarf Kingdom? Which direction?"

I made myself sound like I'm interested. I'm here for information. For direction.

"Ah, that's easy. You see that mountain range over in the direction of the magic coliseum? That's the place."

Looks like Dwarf Kingdom is equal mountains. The classical take.

"Thank you for telling me. Ah, I'm buying this knife."

As thanks, I decided to buy the simplest most practical unadorned knife.

"Sure thing. This is also Dongoro Workshop-made so it's pricier than ordinary knives, can you afford it? It's one gold coin, see?"

Average knives usually go for three silver coins, six tops.
Wonder how much the swords I sold off at the Trade Center would go for as second goods. No, forget about that.
Then again new swords must go even higher.

I fetched one gold coin and handed it over. The manager said, 'Thanks for your patronage!' and gave me the knife.

"This knife doesn't actually come with a sheath. But you can have one as a bonus."

The manager gave me a leather sheath for free.
I didn't actually mind laying it bare but I gratefully accepted his goodwill gesture and left the store.

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