It's true, but it's not the whole truth.
A long time ago, like, if you download v3, you'd find that the shop was filled with tons of cool stuff. Swords, shields, plenty of clothes. Well, back then, money wasn't easy to come by, and prices were in the 5 digits for several items. Back then, Harbor Trading Company had a pretty stable monopoly going. There was no other supplier for shields, so you had to buy them. And if you wanted to look impressive, you had to buy the best of them. The clothes were crazy. You buy one, and you don't get the full suit. You could ask to see a complete inventory, and they would ignore you. They just hauled out something else, good looking or otherwise. Either way, someone had to buy it if they wanted to see something else on the shelves. You had to continue paying until you finally got an outfit that looked decent. You got your inventory filled up, and Harbor Trading Company had the money rolling in. This went on and on for ages.
All the while, a blacksmith shop sat right next to the economic titan, as if to taunt the townsfolk with false hope that there must have been a better way. But as soon as they stepped in and saw it was empty, they were heartbroken, and they went back out to grind for more gold. A rumor was going around at the time that Harbor Trading Company owned the small dim building, and kept it to prevent any competition from moving in, but this theory, and the town's troubles, would soon come to an end.
Everyone was shocked and overjoyed when they heard the news. An old blacksmith from distant lands had bought up the shop so she could continue her line of work. The empty spot by the forge that had existed for ages was finally filled. People rushed to greet her. She had not expected such a warm welcome, or an overwhelming amount of business so quickly, but she quickly adapted, ready to create stuff for whoever could provide her with materials and a bit of gold.
It goes without saying, the people at Harbor Trading Company were enraged at the event. They would never sell anything now. Their influence was broken, and even a massive sale would not help. Everyone remembered the tyranny they had imposed over the economy, and they had to regain their hold, no matter what the cost.
They held a meeting to decide what to do. People tossed forth plans, mostly revolving around selling the company, sales, and trying to buy up the blacksmith. None of them satisfied what the vile management of the establishment had hoped for. They did not want to share, and they knew nobody would stand for the blacksmith being bought up. The owner was making loads of money off of it, anyway. However, one employee had a very malicious, devious, and risky plan.
The Store Clerk waited around after hours, when all other workers were heading home after the failed meeting. The managers were arguing over their own plans, when she proposed her own idea. She intended to destroy the blacksmith.
The plan was to wait until after hours, then set fire to their own shop. Burning the blacksmith shop itself would be too suspicious, but if it were a freak accident that hit their own shop, and it happened to spread to the neighboring blacksmith shop, then they may be able to get away with it. Their profits and insurance would easily cover the damage to the building and merchandise, and as a bonus, they could try to steer any investigation onto her, since their shop caught fire first. It was risky, but the management were ready to try anything. But fate had other plans.
It was late at night when the Blacksmith smelled the smoke. She was working late, putting the finishing touches on a brass-plutonium shield. She hadn't heard the separate crackling over that of her own forge. However, the smoke led her to put it out and then move outside to check the chimney. She stepped out side to a horrifying orange glow. The shop next door was a blazing inferno. She knew she was powerless to stop it at this stage, and she only stared in shock at the neighboring building in flames.
Soon, however, she realized the threat it posed to her. The fire could spread to her new shop! She bolted inside and grabbed a pail of water she kept handy in case something got into the fire that shouldn't have, or if it got out of control. She climbed to the roof of her building, positioning herself dangerously close to the flames. On two occasions, boards of her roof began to smoke. She doused them with water. The fire was mostly burning near the roof of the shop, and then, it was spreading most in a direction away from her. But the fire would soon have to engulf the whole building, since there was no way to blast it with large quantities of water. So it was a lost cause, right? Even if it was, she was not about to give up until it was hopeless.
She was trying to devise a way to prevent the block from burning to the ground, and she was not in a great situation for devising strategies. She tried yelling, hoping to wake someone up, but by now she knew that the residents of this town could sleep through anything, probably even being within the burning building.
The fire had reached her roof again. She was caught off guard, and she paniced, and threw the last of her water before even getting close. It missed, and splashed onto the wall of the shop. He last hope was a quickly fading cloud of steam. The Clerk was watching from a fair distance away, and was able to see the whole thing. Her fists unclenched, and she let out a triumphant laugh.
Our hero did not dare rush back into the building that could ignite any minute. The then realized the beach was not far. As she turned to walk away, she saw the smoke beginning to rise from the opposite corner of her roof. Her shop was beginning to burn.
She bolted off the roof, landing skillfully on the ground near her shop. She dashed to the beach, hurrying to save her precious shop. But then, to her horror, she saw them. The glow of the fire had awoken a crowd of sea monsters. She crept to the beach, not wanting to alert them, but it didn't help. She slipped and fell into the water. This got the attention of one, whose reaction alerted several more.
The bucket was full, but she was in grave danger. She struggled to pull herself out of the sea, but she could not take her eyes off the hideous monsters of the deep charging toward her. Saving her shop was secondary to this situation. She managed to bring herself to her feet, and used all her strength to pull herself out of the water as fast as possible. The sea monster was a second away.
It got to her just as she set foot on dry land. In its rage, it made one desperate swing at her, its claws ready to mangle her in one strike, but it was not flesh that he hit.
Her bucket was torn from her hand, and flung back into the sea. Even if it had not been, the claw shredded it easily. She looked up and saw her shop had a campfire on the roof. She was somewhat sad, but in all, was glad for her life. She watched the beast that had nearly killed her let out a fearsome roar, then turned and swam back to the rest of its kind.
So she had to watch her shop, and maybe even the house next door, reduced to ashes. As grateful as she was to be alive, she was distraught over the nice little shop she had owned only so briefly. However, that's when she felt it. Luck was on her side this night.
A raindrop had landed on her head, a drop of hope. She felt another, a third, fourth, and many more after that! All she could do now is pray for her shop to be spared. as she laid back on the sand, exhausted from the entire night, from sleep deprivation to the encounter with a sea monster.
The shop keeper felt it too. She cursed nature and cursed that blacksmith and her shop, as she watched the flames on the shops turn to smoke and steam. The rain had picked up fast. She turned and walked away.
The blacksmith awoke to someone shouting near her.
"Here she is! And she's alive!"
She recounted the nights events to several curious friends and many other people. The management of the Harbor Trading Company had solid alibis, and the shop keeper had a friend of hers who vouched for her camping near Level 2 the previous night. Some investigators questioned the blacksmith, but nobody wanted to suspect her, and there was no evidence, so she was dismissed from the case. Besides the Harbor Trading Company and a few skeptics, it was dismissed as an accident, possibly a stray dynamite orc. Nobody was ever sure, but legally, there was nobody at fault.
Most of the merchandise was damaged beyond repair or completely destroyed. The insurance company covered the damage to the building, but the inventory was not covered. The damage to it was astronomical.
The owners of the shop wanted to dismiss their shop keeper whose plan had failed so badly, but it did not happen. It is probably safe to assume she blackmailed them, threatening to tell of the entire scheme if she was fired. They would have had no choice but to keep her.
Harbor Trading Company has changed since then. The Blacksmith provides weapons and clothing, while the shop provides things made using its own secrets. The blacksmith never discovered how to construct insta-horses, and had no idea where to start. Blue vials were just as mysterious, and so were many other things. Because of this, both businesses were able to coexist.
The shop keeper still works at the Harbor Trading Company, and enjoys telling people an extremely simple summary of the event. So simple that she is never taken seriously. Most of the old management retired after the incident, choosing to take what they still had and leave. The blacksmith still makes stuff for people, and is one of the more polite people in Port Town in this day and age.
And thus, our story comes to a close. I hope that answers your question.
