Chương 90: Don't forget to haggle, please! part 1
The blond girls seemed to be surprised by my statement, and her attitude shifted completely.
"I am deeply sorry mister..."
"My name is Ryu"
"Just Ryu?"
Her face showed disgust for a split second, but she hid it right away behind a perfect business smile.
"I didn't know this business was bought, it seems like Mia finally grew a brain and made a good decision. So, about that tonic, are you really the one who made it?"
"That is correct"
"Are you willing to sell the recipe?"
"If you're from the merchant's association I'm sure you know that I can't simply part of my recipe, at least not now that we're making good money. We are the only ones selling it after all"
"And you do have a vending license, correct?"
"I'm afraid I haven't had the time to get one yet"
This is bad, I didn't know anything about a license.
"Don't look so worried mister Ryu, you can get one right now. All you need to do is pay me one gold coin and I'll settle the matter for you"
I look at Mia to check if what the woman is saying is true and she nods in response. It seems she's not lying at least, so I pay her the gold coin immediately.
"I'm surprised, you're supposed to pay a few silver coins in advance and the rest in small payments during the year, but I'm glad this business came to the hands of a capable man like you mister Ryu. I understand completely that you don't want to sell the recipe and you're free to keep it, but I'm really interested in your product so, why don't we make business?"
"I would be glad, as long as I can profit"
"Of course, you would be selling me all your products at three silver coins and I'll distribute them to the rest of the shops at the same price"
"That's actually more expensive than I thought so I'll gladly sell it, But if you intend to sell it at the same price you wouldn't be making any profit"
She giggled at my remark, her smile doesn't look fake like the ones plastered into the merchants I met back at Ironwoods and she's really cute too, but I still have some distrust feelings. Something in my gut tells me she's looking at me the way a predator looks at their prey.
"That's true, but it's my duty as representative of the merchants association to make sure that every merchant has a fair shot at making money. I can't force you to share your recipe, but if you're not willing to share, even after being offered a fair compensation, then I could forbid the product entirely"
"I understand. It seems fair, but I would need that in writing."
"Don't worry, I'm always prepared."
She took a black paper and wrote a pretty neat contract. All the terms were correct, the amounts of money too and it didn't have any small letters. It was just a straightforward bulk selling contract.
"Everything seems to be correct, If I understand properly this contract is mandatory for a month and it can be renewed afterwards"
"That is correct, If I didn't set a time it would force you to uphold the contract forever, that would be just like slavery and we merchants believe in fair trading"
I signed the paper after making sure everything was alright, but a clapping sound made me look behind my back. It was Mia facepalming.
"Is everything alright Mia?"
"Yes master, please don't mind it."
"I look forward to working with you mister Ryu, we will make a fortune with this product."
She smirked and then left along with the soldier woman.
"What was that about Mia?"
"Master, I think you made a mistake. You shouldn't be selling to other merchants because they always find a way to pay less and earn more."
"It's true that she gives me an odd feeling, but she seemed honest when talking about business"
"That may be so, but still... she was the one responsible of my downfall. When she found out I was selling quality products at low price to common people she came to my shop and offered me the same deal. I had to work a lot that month just to uphold the contract, by the time I was able to resign I was left penniless"
"As long as she follows the contract, I don't think there's gonna be a problem"
"Wow, you must really be confident in your haggling skill"
"My... what?"
"Just as I thought, you don't know. Everyone can buy and sell products, but merchants are special because of their skills. Most of them have the identify skill which allows them to know the special properties of an item, but every single one of them has the haggle skill and it's the most important too. Haggle allows them to buy at a reduced price and sell at a higher price... so, even if she says she's going to pay 3 silver coins to you, it's more likely she won't be paying more than 10% of the amount"
"Is that how you managed to buy everything from Hiraku paying so little?"
"Not really, I don't have the haggle skill. I just fake it using my racial skill charm, that's how I started my business."
"Anyways, the contract is signed already and we will need to uphold it, so I'll prepare some more tonic. I need you to buy medicinal herbs, some wooden chests and glass vials while the market is still open, so please hurry up."
I order Mia after handing her a purse with silver coins. That should be enough money to buy everything, but it's not that much she might be tempted to run away with it.
The rest of the day I kept myself busy preparing as much tonic as I could, I spent every single health potion I had so I'll have to craft some more tomorrow. It would be great to have a distiller, but since Mia can use the craftman station I could ask her to make some and teach me how to use it too.
Mia came back before dusk with everything I asked her, I went outside to grab some stones and came back inside.
I nailed some small wood pieces vertically with enough separation to fit a column of tonic vials one on top of the other and, after making a hole in the bottom, I used magic to shape the stone into a sort of mechanism that will keep the bottom closed. It's some sort of circular lock that can only be turned if it has a silver coin inside.
The only thing left is to adjust how many times it needs to be turned before it unlocks the wooden box allowing it's content to be taken.
Mia looks at me the whole time in silence, she's proven to be a lot more helpful than I thought initially and, if she's been telling me the truth she may be a good person. It seems her only sin is to be too naive for her own good. Also, I really don't like being alone and it's been nice having her around.
After finishing my task I wipe my forehead with my sleeve, It was very difficult to make everything work the way I wanted, but the feeling of accomplishment is something incomparable. After that I repeated the process a few times, every time it became just a bit easier but I didn't get any system message so it seems there's not skill related to what I'm doing, except for carpentry maybe, but I already leveled it to the maximum.
"I think I need to take a bath"
I mutter after realizing I became all sweaty after the hard labor.
"I do have a bath and there's already enough water in the water deposit"
Mia says proudly.
"Oh! I thought bathing in water was something only the nobles did"
"It's not common for commoners to take baths, but I was a successful merchant and taking baths holds a special meaning to people in our race"
"How so?"
"My race needs to keep appearances to find prey after all, but that's not everything. It seems our sweat has some special properties and if we don't clean thoroughly it can affect people around us"
"Hmm, maybe it could be used to prepare some kind of potion"
I look at Mia for a couple seconds, if I find a way to use her sweat as a reagent I could make all sorts of potions with varied effects. It seems that she Misinterpreted my intentions because she covered her cleavage with her hand and blushed slightly.
"Alright, I'll take a bath now"
I say as I walk to my room to get some clean clothes. Mia brings me a towel and leads me to the bathroom.
"It's in here master, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"That's ok Mia, thank you"
Even after my words she stays inside the bathroom making it a bit awkward, I can't start getting undressed until she leaves, so instead fill up the tab and start heating up the water by casting fire magic.
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