Chapter 35

This is from Nicholas's perspective.

As I was making soap at home, Einos came to the house.

"Mr. Nicholas, the Lord of the Manor has summoned you. He wants you to come to his office immediately."

"Do you know what it's about?"

"He said a merchant has come to buy the soap-making method, according to Lord Zacharias."

I quickly changed out of my work clothes and headed to the manor.

In the Lord's office, Lord Zacharias and the Lord of the Manor were waiting, and the merchant's talk began right away.

I listened to Lord Zacharias's explanation, but since I have no business acumen, I couldn't understand it without being told. However, Lord Zacharias made sure to check my understanding and explained things clearly.

I always wonder how he can think so thoroughly. If it were me, I would have jumped into negotiations and probably been taken advantage of.

Lord Zacharias would probably want to handle the negotiations himself, but with his condition, that's impossible. This is the next best option, and he trusts me to handle it. I must meet his expectations.

Then, I went to the reception room with the Lord.

Lord Zacharias pretended to be a spoiled son and followed the Lord.

When we entered the reception room, a gentleman in his early fifties, a bit older than the previous Lord, was waiting.

Upon seeing the Lord, he immediately bowed deeply and greeted him with a merchant's smile.

"I apologize for taking your time on such a busy day. My name is Edmund, and I represent the Masgrave Trading Company."

Edmund spoke confidently, without any hesitation in front of the Lord.

"I am Matthias Rockhart. Let me say this upfront. It's quite unpleasant to request an audience with a lord without prior notice. Are you underestimating us as mere country knights?"

The Lord, who usually has a bright demeanor, now had a frown on his face, showing his displeasure.

"That's not the case. I sincerely apologize for the lack of prior notice. It was our mistake. Please forgive us."

Edmund quickly answered and bowed deeply again.

"This is my son, Zacharias. He has never left the estate, so he has never seen a merchant. He won't cause any trouble, so I hope you don't mind him being here."

Edmund's expression didn't change, and he said, "Of course not," with a smile directed at Lord Zacharias.

When his gaze turned to me, the Lord introduced me.

"This is Nicholas Garland. I have entrusted him with the general administration."

Edmund elegantly bowed to me and was about to start discussing the business.

"Then, let's get straight to the matter at hand..."

The Lord immediately interrupted him.

"I already told you. It's impolite to request an audience without prior notice. It seems you still don't understand."

Then, Lord Zacharias gave me a signal. I nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Edmund, I truly apologize, but I would like you to come back another day. However, that would be inconvenient for you. Could you at least tell us the purpose of your visit?"

Edmund's expression seemed to cloud over slightly, but he quickly returned to his smile.

"I sincerely apologize. I will come back tomorrow, then."

He bowed deeply again.

"I came today because I heard that soap is used in your territory. According to rumors, it is manufactured in this village. If it's not too much trouble, I would like to purchase the manufacturing method for our company..."

He tried to continue, but the Lord cut him off.

"I understand your purpose. However, I need you to come back another day. The same time would be fine."

Edmund's expression stiffened slightly but quickly nodded.

The next day.

Edmund visited the manor at the agreed time.

After he entered the reception room, the Lord, Lord Zacharias, and I slowly entered.

When we entered, Edmund stood up with a smile.

The Lord sat in the main seat, and I took a seat to the side. Lord Zacharias sat across from me, and then the Lord prompted Edmund to speak.

Edmund apologized for his rudeness the previous day and placed a gift. The Lord nodded, and he immediately got to the point.

"I heard that soap is manufactured in your territory. Would you be willing to sell the manufacturing method exclusively to our Masgrave Trading Company?"

The Lord's right eyebrow twitched, but he said nothing, indicating with a nod for him to continue.

To be honest, the Lord is a great actor, convincingly playing the role of a greedy lord.

"Our company is willing to buy it for 5,000C (5 million yen). What do you think?"

The Lord made a face as if it was not even worth considering and looked at me.

I made sure to sound as arrogant as possible.

"Mr. Edmund, are you mocking us?"

Edmund laughed heartily.

"To think you would try to get the soap-making method for just 5,000C..."

I pretended to do some calculations.

"...At half the market price, selling each bar for 5C, you would make a profit after selling just 1,050 bars. It's completely unreasonable."

Edmund's expression changed for a moment. I glanced at Lord Zacharias, who gave me a signal to press on.

Edmund made a slightly apologetic face.

"I didn't realize the cost was so low. How about 10,000C?"

At this, the Lord, following Lord Zacharias's signal, said,

"It's not even worth considering. We have no intention of selling exclusively. We plan to continue making it in our territory and sell it to other merchants as well. If you can't offer a better price, it's a waste of time."

The Lord stood up as if to leave, but Edmund quickly said,

"Please wait. Could you tell me your asking price?"

The Lord sat back down, looking displeased, and looked at me.

"The Lord would be willing to tell you if you offer 50,000C."

Edmund, wiping his sweat, said, "T-that would be too much... The highest I can offer is 8,000C."

I glanced at Lord Zacharias, who was still signaling to press on.

"Then, it's not worth considering. We have no obligation to sell to you."

Edmund kept looking between me and the Lord, unsure with whom to negotiate. He slightly turned his body towards me.

"Mr. Garland, our company needs to make a profit..."

I interrupted him.

"As I said, you would make a profit after selling 1,050 bars. How many would you need to sell at 8,000C?"

"About 1,680 bars. But, will it really be that simple?"

"Are you saying I'm lying? With 1,700 bars, you could recoup your costs in a year with just 100 buyers. With 1,000 buyers, you would make a profit in just a month. Do you have anything else to say?"

Edmund was starting to be overwhelmed by my momentum. Lord Zacharias's signal was to "back off a little."

"Then, let's do this. We have no obligation to sell to you, but you came all this way..."

I followed Lord Zacharias's strategy and acted as if the Lord had given me full authority.

"Lord, could you entrust me with full authority?"

The Lord nodded, saying, "Very well. I'll leave it all to Nicholas."

"Mr. Edmund, 50,000C would still be profitable. However, I understand your concerns. How about 40,000C? We'll also include direct instruction to your craftsmen."

Edmund, wiping his sweat, was thinking hard.

"20,000C... I can't go any higher..."

I pretended to think while glancing at Lord Zacharias. His signal was "no."

"I see. That's unfortunate. Lord..."

As I started to speak to the Lord, Edmund interrupted me.

"30,000C. I really can't go any higher..."

Lord Zacharias's signal was "yes," but "add a condition."

"Is there no condition you can add? We are making a significant concession."

Edmund was desperately thinking of a condition, wiping his sweat.

"...Our company deals with a wide range of products, from jewelry to magic items and food. If there's anything you need, we can offer it at a discount."

This condition was unexpected. In our discussions, we had only considered conditions like offering jewelry or weapons. I was flustered but couldn't ask Lord Zacharias.

"Magic items, do you have a time-telling magic item?"

"Yes, we do. It's a bit expensive, but..."

The Lord asked, "How much?" and Edmund answered with a smile, "It usually costs around 5,000C, but I'll give it to you for free."

The Lord muttered, "So, that's a 5,000C profit," and Edmund started wiping his sweat again.

"I have one more question. Do you deal in books?"

Edmund hesitated, "Books?"

"We deal in books. We don't have magic books, but we have a variety of specialized books and entertainment novels."

"Do you have textbooks? For reading, writing, and basic arithmetic?"

Edmund, looking puzzled, answered, "Yes, we do."

I asked confidently, "How many can you offer?"

"Since we don't have a large stock... I can offer about 100 books."

Seeing Lord Zacharias nod in satisfaction,

"Please do. Then, 30,000C with the instruction included. I'll consider that you agree to our conditions."

"Yes, we won't object to you selling to other merchants or making it in this village."

"Bring the contract for us to sign later."

Edmund nodded and stood up to leave.

"Mr. Edmund, you've made quite a concession. Let me tell you something good."

Edmund, who was about to leave, sat back down, slightly wary, "What is it?"

"I'm offering to sell you the soap we have in stock. We have about 1,000 bars. I'd like to sell them for 7C each, but how about 5C?"

Edmund was confused, "A thousand bars of soap... for 5C each..."

"I heard the market price for small bars is 10C. Our bars are larger and have a better scent. You could sell them for 10C and make a profit of 5,000C. It's a thank you for your concessions. Lord, is that acceptable?"

I got the Lord's approval while Edmund was thinking.

He didn't negotiate and bowed, saying, "Thank you. We'll take them."

Lord Zacharias had said, "If you throw out a bait that can make a profit when they are off guard after the negotiation, they will surely take it." It was exactly as he said.

When Edmund left, the Lord and Lord Zacharias started laughing.

"Nicholas, well done. Three times the minimum 10,000C. And getting a magic item and textbooks is impressive."

"Nicholas is amazing. I never thought you would get textbooks."

I was praised by both, but I had just followed Lord Zacharias's instructions.

"It was all according to Lord Zacharias's instructions. However, Edmund was unfortunate. When he was so anxious, we could make a big move."

I said this, and Lord Zacharias shook his head.

"Edmund is probably smirking right now. He might have thought he could get 50,000C if he held out."

I couldn't believe it and asked for the reason.

"His negotiation limit was probably much higher. He was acting like we were amateurs. The reason is..."

After raising the price from 20,000C to 30,000C, he easily added the magic item. We don't know the cost, but he handed over something worth thousands of C without hesitation and added 100 books worth a few C each.

If it was a tight budget, he wouldn't have had such leeway, and it was strange that he accepted our conditions so easily.

"If I were Edmund and really thought it was tough, I would have added a condition to give us a grace period to sell to other merchants, like not selling to the next merchant until our craftsmen learned the method."

I realized I had been deceived by his appearance.

"I apologize. I didn't notice. Instead of textbooks, I should have asked for something more valuable..."

Lord Zacharias interrupted my apology.

"You just followed my instructions, and I only realized after everything was done. The magic item and textbooks are valuable. I think your choice of textbooks is impressive."

The Lord nodded in agreement.

"Nicholas isn't a merchant, and I would have gotten the same result. Besides, we didn't intend to make a profit from soap. You can be proud."

Then, to the Lord,

"We sold it for a higher price than expected. Other merchants will likely offer a similar price. I'll leave the use of the funds to Father and Nicholas."

Lord Zacharias stood up to go to training but then sat back down, having an idea.

"I just thought of something. There might be a reason he so easily agreed to let us sell to other merchants."

The Lord leaned forward, "What is it?"

"We rarely go to the city. If the rumor spreads that the Masgrave Trading Company has the exclusive rights or paid a high price, other merchants might be hesitant to get involved. This could delay the arrival of the next merchant."

The Lord grunted, "That's true. What should we do?"

Lord Zacharias thought for a moment,

"Let's spread the rumor through traveling merchants. Then, send Nicholas and Guy to Kilnarek to spread the word. Nicholas can handle the Merchant Guild, and Guy can handle the Adventurer Guild and Mercenary Guild. If we spread the word subtly, it will spread quickly."

"What exactly should we tell them?"

"For the Merchant Guild, say it sold for tens of thousands of C but is available to anyone, so it's still a good deal. For the Adventurer Guild and Mercenary Guild, mention that there are concerns about bandits but that it would be good training for the local militia. Don't be too obvious, just spread it casually."

Then, he chuckled,

"Actually, if bandits do attack, Grandfather would be happy, but it's not worth the trouble for them to challenge the Rockharts, so they probably won't come."

Lord Zacharias said this and left the room.

The Lord and I, while thinking that the Masgrave Trading Company might not go that far, trusted Lord Zacharias's judgment more than my own when it came to dealing with merchants.

The Lord and I, left behind, were a bit deflated after Lord Zacharias's last words.

"35,000C... Nicholas, how should we use it?"

"Perhaps we should allocate it to the distillery, which Lord Zacharias is most focused on. It could increase the territory's income and make him happy."

The Lord smiled at me, "As usual, I'll leave it to Nicholas."