章節 35: Trading

"Alright, now to explain why we bought only food and daily necessities. The villages around here produce things such as materials and ceramics which they then exchange for better food in the city, however, since we will be going to them, we can haggle for a much better price since they don't have to pay for the travel expenses. Those expenses can even include guards who are fairly expensive in such small villages since no one skilled enough would want to stay in such a remote place." Zero explained to Gin who was sitting next to him on the cart while Natala and Green were riding the horses.

"Hmm, sounds reasonable but what if they won't need food, what then?" Gin asked while holding his chin.

"Hehe, that's why I told you to buy all sorts of types of food. They might have no need for food just for their survival but humans are creatures that always strive for luxury. Even if the villages can't get what nobles can, as long as they have enough food stored to survive for a long time, they will aim for something higher than just "survival". While nobles buy luxurious clothing or gamble away their money, the villagers also need to somehow get their dose of dopamine. Slightly more luxurious food isn't even that pricy" Zero continued with a wide smile while clenching his fist.

"What is dopamine?" Green asked in a confused tone.

"Uh...It's a hormone which...let's just say it's the thing you feel when you have accomplished something and you feel happy. It helps you feel that pleasure and satisfaction." Zero lost himself amidst his explanation so he didn't want to go into details to explain irrelevant stuff.

"However isn't your entire theory standing on the villages' wealth? Not every village has enough food to go wasting their products on luxurious food." Natala wasn't really convinced so he wanted Zero to explain his intentions.

"I have already checked the geography of the villages around this region. They have everything to be thriving. They should be able to sustain themselves just with grain production, however, who wants to eat only food processed from grain. They should also have enough livestock, that's why we bought more of the fruits than meat."

*sigh* "Fine, last question, why do we have to take the exact routes as highlighted on the map you gave us?" Gin sighed aloud before she asked her last question, intending to give up if Zero can flawlessly explain it.

"That's easy, during our journey to Sweun, I have studied the topography of this region based on the detailed map Gozuki provided us. I have guessed which village will be missing which products and then I made a list of the products I wanted to buy. I sorted them into a few types, products with early expiration dates and those that can last a bit longer, and lastly those close to without any expiration dates. In the first village, we will be selling mostly the products with the early expiration dates and in the second village et cetera, et cetera." After Zero was done explaining, he had to take a deep breath since he said everything in one breath. What greeted him after, were the shocked faces of all 3 people staring at him as if he was some kind of freak.

"What?"

"...I am not even sure why am I so surprised anymore" Green shook his head and started focusing on the road in front of him.

The group finally arrived at the first village and as Zero assumed, the villagers were quite interested in their products. It also helped that he replicated taste tests. While the other 3 were slightly confused why he was giving some things away for free, they immediately understood when more and more people started being interested in buying something.

It was especially fun seeing kids and women desperately trying to convince men to buy them some sweets

After making a hefty profit, they left the village and started traveling towards another.

"Hehe, I didn't expect to make so much just by selling some sweets and fruits." Gin said while eyeing textiles and all sorts of high-quality products on the cart with hungry eyes.

"The product you sell doesn't always have to be expensive to make a profit. You can also make a profit from cheap stuff by selling it to many people. In general, it's more profitable to buy and sell in high quantities since you can haggle with the traders to lower their prices. After all, the traders' ultimate goal is to get rid of their products so they can buy something they need or want. Of course, making a profit from trading with the trader that makes living by buying low and selling high is impossible, that's why the trader also has to be a producer." Zero said while nodding his head with closed eyes and a satisfied smile across his face.

After all, even the money he has been giving away to some random orphans in the slums of the Capital were made from trading. His wages as a guard were meager and at most enough to start some minor trading.

"Maybe you aren't so bad after all, haha!" Gin said and slapped Zero on his back.

"Well, while you all were occupied with watching our profits rise, I also managed to gather some information from the villagers but it seemed like they didn't know anything worthwhile." Zero mentioned while glaring at Gin and rubbing the place where she hit him.

"?!" All of them suddenly looked like they finally realized what was their primary mission and they realized they fucked up again.

"Good to have me in your team, right?" Zero asked with a "friendly" smile while patting Gin's shoulder.

"Y-Yeah" Gin replied with a smile but the corner of her lips was occasionally twitching, showing off her irritation.