The crowd around the stall had swelled to nearly a dozen onlookers by the time Priscilla Monroe decided she needed reinforcements.
"Hey, boss!" she called toward the back of the shop, loud enough for everyone to hear. "This guy over here is saying your raw gemstone ore is fake. He claims that partially exposed geode of yours doesn't have a speck of real jade inside."
The shop owner had been busy somewhere in the back, but the moment those words reached him, he came storming out with his chest puffed and his face reddening. "Who the hell is calling my stones fake? If you don't know the first thing about blind gemstone speculation, get lost. I don't need your kind of business here."
Murmurs rippled through the gathered crowd almost instantly.
"That kid clearly hasn't even scratched the s
