Moby did not linger to watch for long. Still mindful of his job, he soon left the scene and continued toward the tailor shop.
Yet after leaving, he could not help feeling even more worried... The grain shops had charged frightening prices, but at least they had offered a way out. When Moby had nowhere else to turn, he could still exchange all his savings for a few days' food for his family.
Now even that last hope was gone.
While watching the commotion, Moby had learned from other people's conversations that most of the grain shops in the city had been attacked and looted by starving residents the previous night. Every last bit of grain inside had been carried off.
The few small grain shops that survived had been frightened out of their wits, too. None had opened that morning. Their owners and workers had been busy hiding grain or selling off their stock cheaply, trying to get rid of it as quickly as possible. By the time Moby heard the news and rushed over, nothing remained.
That left Moby with neither the heart nor the motivation to work... He was paid in Bagnian Silver Coins, and now those coins could not buy food at all. What was the point of earning them?
Moby thought it over and over, until he finally remembered the one place where Bagnian Silver Coins might still buy grain.
The black market.
Every place had a black market. The only difference was how deep in the shadows it operated.
The place Moby knew that sold illicit grain was one of the less clandestine black markets. It operated almost openly, and many residents of Ankandela knew it existed.
It counted as a black market not only because its grain had been acquired by local gangs