It is difficult to overstate exactly how fortunate Kelton and Jeremy were to have introductions from Sten. They had vastly underestimated the size of Mansoora, and the difficulty of their task; luckily, they also had no idea that Sten's word carried so much weight among the merchants of Mansoora, so they benefited from what could only be considered the luck of fools.

Sten's recommendations didn't just open the doors to meetings, but made people far more interested than they might have been otherwise. Even still, it was a hard start. There were some good meetings, and some bad ones - mostly, though, even the good ones turned into the exact consignment offers that Sten had predicted and warned them against. However, on the second day of calling on people, they hit the jackpot.

As soon as they entered the shop, known as the Alter Works Gallery, it was clear that this was not the kind of consumer goods or travel souvenir shop that they had previously encountered. This was a legitimate high-end art dealer. Kelton introduced the pieces, and gave the background of the individual artisans, while Jeremy gave the proprietor Catherine all the glitz and glamour - everything that she would need to in turn convince her demanding clients, several of which had her on a retainer, that this was the new exclusive must-have objet d'art.

In fact, Catherine wanted to be the sole supplier of these pieces in all of Mansoora. It was a dream opportunity, but Kelton initially refused, saying that he believed they could make more playing the market against each other, at least in the short-term. Catherine countered this argument in the simplest way possible; she offered to buy out their entire lot, every piece that they had brought with them, as long as they signed a contract stating that they wouldn't sell to anyone else in Mansoora.

It was ridiculous. It was too easy; there's simply no way to experience a turn of luck like that without looking for the hidden dagger. Still, they opened negotiations, and managed to get a price for the pieces that averaged slightly over thirty times what the baseline price was that the artisans had previously been getting when selling locally. Considering the number of pieces sold that day, just the commission alone was going to make this particular trip worth months of salary in comparison to what Franz paid the men.

The two men left (still a little dumbfounded), Kelton elated at his successful step forward in his plan, and Jeremy simply excited by the money. Both of them, though, wondered how much Alter Works would mark them up again...Sten had been right to tell them to aim high, and now Kelton wasn't sure that they had gone high enough! But no matter, as the trip was an undeniable success. Kelton was certain that Catherine would attempt to cut them out of the picture as soon as the first set of pieces sold, so he was very glad indeed that he had convinced the potters to sign an exclusivity contract before he left.

Considering the fact that they were out of supplies, both men agreed that it made sense for them to return to Odellia as soon as possible. They now had the luxury of being able to afford the rental of a wagon of their own, rather than walk back or wait for another merchant to be travelling that way.

While renting the wagon, Kelton was surprised to learn that travel between the major cities of Lezseka was, by and large, easy and quick; it was only travelling to the outskirts that was difficult. Jeremy was surprised at Kelton's surprise, but was happy to ignore it for now. After all, things were looking up, and it was hard not to look ahead at what might be coming for them.

Any doubts that Jeremy had about Kelton's instincts and effectiveness had been erased (even if their success had almost everything to do with luck, Sten's recommendation, and the difficulty that the people of Mansoora had in reaching Odellia), and Kelton could just see the flow of money and people that would be coming to the town sooner than later, growing the towns borders and creating all sorts of new opportunities for him to establish his little kingdom-to-be.

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The trip back to Odellia was blissfully uneventful, free of harassments, breakdowns, and detours. However, their arrival was a different story altogether. Walking into Millie's inn, it was obvious that everyone there knew where they had been and what they had been up to, and there was a general excitement and surprise at seeing them back so quickly. Small town gossip, Kelton sighed to himself.

Franz good-naturedly made a big deal about handing some coins over to a man Kelton didn't recognize, then came and slapped both him and Jeremy on the back. Millie was next to congratulate them - although Jeremy, trying his best at a deadpan, attempting to convince her that her kudos were premature. She wasn't buying it though; it was too clear from their faces that the trip had been a success.

Millie's next comment was so unexpected, though, that it caused Jeremy to lose any pretense of "calm and collected." Their success would be good for the people, she said, because it would give them something to talk about other than Jasper. She made strong eye contact with Kelton as she spoke, and he did his best not to react. She explained that while the men had been gone for those few days, Jasper had been found dead, deep in the forest. It appeared that he had been subdued somehow, dragged or led out into the forest, and then tied to a tree and left for whatever happened to come to him...and it hadn't been pretty.

Nobody blamed the children, Millie quickly added (as it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the kids under Jasper's "care" had simply had enough of his abuse and retaliated), but the townsfolk did need to figure out what to do with them. They simply couldn't be left on their own, after all.

Kelton tried to feign the same shock as Jeremy, but noticed that a couple of the men drinking were looking his way with a particularly approving look in their eyes; these men, Kelton recognized, were the ones who had been at the smokehouse when his incident with Jasper began, and he knew that they must have assumed he had a more active role in what happened to Jasper. So much the better, Kelton thought - that's a good way to curry favor.

Kelton was rapidly rising in people's esteem; while he still wasn't positive that this was the easiest way to get the power he wanted, it seemed to be working, for the time being. Maybe it would all just turn out to be practice for a better opportunity, though...

Kelton's next stop was, of course, to gather the artisans he represented, to bring them news of the great victory. As one might have expected, their elation was tempered by disbelief and suspicion; it was naturally difficult to believe that one man could have made such a change in their fortune in such a short time. It was if money was falling from the skies right into their laps.

Kelton regaled the four men with exactly how he and Jeremy had pitched their work, the clients that Alter Works sold to, and of course, every possible detail of the deal. Then he brought out the two things that mattered most - the receipts, and the money. Once they saw that it was all real, the men were falling over themselves in gratitude and excitement, with a vigor that their wizened bodies hadn't experienced in years.

There was no question that Kelton had more than earned his commission, as far as they saw it; and even if they knew they were giving up more to Kelton that they had made in months previously, the return on the deal made it a joy to do so.

The men drank together, toasted their success, and dreamed of plans for the future well into the night. There were so many more opportunities after all - the price that Kelton had gotten was essentially a wholesale price, and if demand continued, they could possible open up a direct sales shop of their own. There were also plenty of other cities to try, and given the prestige of Mansoora, the fact that their work was popular there would give them a new credibility and audience in other places that they couldn't otherwise expect.

As Kelton finally decided to break away from the party and return to Millie's, Lyle stood and drunkenly slurred one final statement of appreciation. "Kelton, you've changed our lives. Anything we can do to repay you, don't hesitate to ask."

Kelton simply smiled thinly, patted the man on the back, and left. The whole way back to the inn, Kelton couldn't stop himself from grinning. Passersby may have thought it was due to his successful business trip, but Kelton just kept hearing Lyle's words echo in his head. "Anything we can do..." Yes, Kelton thought, it was all going to plan.