The northern merchant arrived on the second morning after the token had been left at the marker stones. His papers were clean.
Trade license from the inland routes, cargo list limited to preserved grain and low-grade residual stabilizers, and a temporary berth allocation in the outer market stalls that the temple's own clerks had stamped without comment.
He set up under a plain awning, spoke politely to the local suppliers, and began asking questions that stayed inside the bounds of ordinary commercial interest.
He wanted to know which residual-stable routes still carried reliable volume. Which suppliers held current temple contracts for maintenance parts.
Whether any of the smaller workshops that had once fed the temple's logistics chain were still operating under formal agreements or had shifted to open market sales.
