In the city Roya was making various waves as it usually did. In the past month the appearance of the spice only increased and the quality became much better. Even common citizens now purchased it. Breakfast lunch and dinner were all Roya dishes.

But whats more, this new form had appeared. It was sold in small silk pouches. If the regular spice could be equated to sand this new form was flour. Touching the spice felt like resting a finger upon a cloud. It was stored very carefully and only opened with the door bolted.

At first people thought that was due to its worth but they later learned the truth.

No in fact its price wasn’t that different from the original form. What baffled people was the fact that it was far superior than the original however. Chefs raved about its features. It was being used for salad dressings, sauces, soups, almost everything.

Instantly the market was thrown through a loop. The original form dropped in price dramatically allowing for much poorer people to afford it, while the Roya flour’s price went only slightly above its original price.

The whole town was happy.

Almost the whole town rather.

Hold a silk bag and thumbing at the powder carefully an entrepreneur on the western edge of the city frowned.

Behind him a small river ran tens of mills which churned out the majority of the cities rye flour. But now with the appearance of this red powder the man thought he had found a new profit stream.

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When the powder first appeared on the market he placed some of it into the mill and was very satisfied with its output. It was much finer than what was being sold on the market so he planned to buy it all up as soon as possible. But the price rose much quicker than he expected forcing him to give up on the plan.

Instead he planned to focus on the cheap price and sell a higher quality material to noble’s and the royal family. But then the loads became much better in quality, almost surpassing his own trials.

And then this happens. How in the world had they managed to mill Roya into such fine flour? The entrepreneur attempted such a thing countless times but it constantly clogged his stones and locked the whole mill up.

Pulling at his hair the man determined he had no other choice.

He arrived at a large building, again surrounded by the creak of mill’s stone-chatter.

"I’m glad you’ve arrived." A man seated at a long table says acknowledging the entrance of the entrepreneur. "What is your take on this."

In the Mill Guild leaders hand was a small white pouch. The entrepreneur need not look at it twice to know its identity. He possessed a similar one in his vest pocket.

"That’s why I came. I believe something should be done."

"Mhm. I agree. But we can’t move too quickly. We don’t know the identity of the source of Roya, nor do we know of the trade firm backing them."

"Both seem to have appeared from thin air." An older man says, hunched beside the guild leader. "Any ideas sir?"

"Mhm. Send Crawson and Llyod to investigate the markets. Send Kuiri to investigate the village mills in the area. Perhaps its the export of a village or town."

"Yes sir." A man says, bowing and heading out to command the people mentioned.

"We will find the source of this herb even if it kills us."

The entrepreneur was surprised by the sudden change in situation. He had merely come to complain but quickly the event had escalated. Not that the man minded.