“This looks like it belongs to a noble,” I commented about the building before me. It wasn’t to the same degree as a noble’s mansion or home, but compared to the other buildings I saw in the merchant district, including those in Firwood, this one stood out the most.
“The Sarlenzia Trading Company, one of the Kingdom’s largest trading firms and the most influential merchant company in the Greenveil Duchy. It shouldn’t be a surprise to see them imitating nobles, since that is one of the wishes of wealthy yeomen. Strive to become like your betters, right, Saori?” Walking forward, Ellaine prompted us to enter the building.
When Zeather, the foxian merchant, recommended that I meet his “master” so we could continue our business relationship, I wasn’t expecting the company to be this wealthy. Ellaine mentioned the company did trade with other countries and was one of the main reasons for large amounts of foreign products being imported into the Greenveil duchy while also being responsible for the export of most of their farm products, dungeon loot, and any Belzac goods.
Nobles weren’t required to use the Sarlenzia company’s trading routes, but considering the logistics of exporting everything their farms produced to the other duchies or countries, simply selling their products to the company and letting them deal with it was far easier. Of course, the more ambitious merchants would do otherwise, as they wished for their own companies’ growth. In a way, the Sarlenzia Company was one of the major reasons for the Greenveil duchy’s reputation as a duchy filled with only merchants and farmers.
The outside of the building was well decorated with pristine wooden walls, well-chiseled and maintained. An overhang known as a jetty, if you wanted to be specific, gave the company’s building three additional floors to work within. Aside from being visually pleasing, jettying a building was a technique used to save on land tax while expanding living or working space, something a merchant would undoubtedly do.
The inside of the building, though, really went the extra mile to make everything look splendid. The walls and floors were just wood, but looking at how smooth they were, a high-leveled artisan most likely had a hand in the construction. The ceiling was made out of white stone — fairnite, Ellaine mentioned — making me imagine how opulent the upper floors had to be. Compared to the alchemy guild in Firwood, this was nearly noble levels of luxury, although the usage of manatech seems to have been kept to a minimum.
“Hmm, Zeather wrote a recommendation for me to meet his ‘master,’ his employer, I presume, but maybe he meant a senior employee?” I questioned after seeing the line of merchants standing before the reception. Since the Sarlenzia Trading Company was the most influential merchant firm in the city, their headquarters also doubled as Cedaraille’s merchant guild, meaning the proprietor, Zeather’s employer, was a local guild master.
Even with Zeather’s letter of recommendation, I was beginning to doubt that a lone foxian merchant would be influential enough to grant a meeting with a merchant guild’s master, even if it was just a branch. However, Ellaine disagreed, explaining, “Hestia is part of this recommendation, don’t forget.” before waving her hand to lead me to the waiting line.
“You seem so used to standing in a line, Ellaine,” I noted, noticing she was relatively calm despite having to wait in a line here and at the hunter’s guild. For a noble, I would expect her to be less patient in a commoner’s establishment.
However, I seemed to have misjudged her here. “Waiting in a line is normal, even for a noble. Saori, have you any idea how long you must wait to enter one of Griffonpeak’s more reputable tailor shops or even speak with somebody inside a mage’s guild? Institutions belonging to or partnered with a noble must hold up to the degree of a noble’s artistic and architectural taste while maintaining proper procedures, especially if they are frequently visited by aristocratic patrons. Waving our status in this establishment and getting preferential treatment would be impossible, well, except for royalty or those of a higher rank, of course.”
“So I presume nobles of lower ranks are more used to this?”
Ellaine nodded to my inquisitive remark. “Yes, quite. Schwertnobles are modest in comparison to magnobles and greifnobles, if I may be so critical. After all, some merchant families are far wealthier than most of them.” Ellaine then pointed at a coat of arms placed directly above the reception; a tree and bow were depicted on it.
“House Greenveil?!” I exclaimed without shouting.
“It also helps that this company is partnered with the local ducal house, hie hie. Even if I wanted to, I have no right to complain about standing in line with others,” she said with a shrug.
Well, it seems like we will be indirectly dealing with another noble, Hestia. The Kingdom is managed by them…
After waiting for some time, our turn to speak with the reception finally came. Ellaine told me to hand her the recommendation, which I did, and she handed both the letter and her ID to the receptionist, stating that we wanted a meeting with the guild master at his earliest convenience.
The receptionist confirmed the information in the letter, finishing it with widened eyes, and immediately sent a runner up the stairs. He returned in a minute or two and announced the guild master will be awaiting us now.
???
That was far too quick!
Neither Zeather nor this guild master should know anything about Hestia’s royalty status, only that she’s a high-ranking foreign noble at best, so it was weird to see this appointment made so easily. Shouldn’t the guild master be busier? From what I learned from my students, any corporation’s CEO would be impossible to meet without an appointment.
The receptionist asked the runner to guide us up after we confirmed the meeting invitation. Usually, to enter the upper floors of the merchant guild, it was required of you to be a member, which I already was, so we didn’t need the guide except to show us where the guild master was.
As I expected, the second floor was marvelous. Walls and floors made out of fairnite, giving this room an exclusivity or VIP feeling compared to the ground floor, which was weird to say since the latter was abundantly decorated, too.
Once we were on the fourth floor, our guide announced our arrival to the secretary, who informed the guild master through an intercom-like manatech, giving us a confirmation to enter once a man’s voice exited the speaker. The secretary opened the door after knocking on it, leading us into a rather modest office, compared to the rest of the upper floors.
The room was decorated in fine wood with no hint of fairnite or expensive minerals. Two bookcases filled with books and scrolls were neatly organized on them, showing immaculate care for these important documents. Decorations like a bearskin rug, plants, and expensive-looking furniture, however, made the room feel natural and easy to work in, unlike the marble-like interior outside.
This was the guild master’s office, not a welcoming room for a customer or nobles, designed to meet his specific taste.
“Welcome!” a plump middle-aged man around his 50s greeted us with open arms after standing up from his office desk. “Lady Ellaine, it is so good to see you once again! I pray the Goddess has blessed you with fine health!”
Hmm? He knows Ellaine? I thought, looking over to the latter who answered my confusion with a wry smile and nervous giggle.
She shook her hand, telling me to not worry before turning to the guild master. “Yes, I have been very well, Mister Newt. May the Goddess bless you, too.”
I couldn’t tell if his smile was genuine or not, but the wrinkles it created showed his advanced age. “Wonderful, wonderful! Sit, please. You, too, miss,” he told me while pointing at the sofa with his palm. He moved over and sat down on the couch opposite of ours.
“Lady Ellaine, it has been a while. Are you here in Cedaraille, perhaps, for my granddaughter? She misses you dearly, you must know,” Newt suddenly remarked, causing my eyebrows to curve up. Looking over, I could see Ellaine’s strained expression.
“Uhm, well, I am here actually for business. Uhm, with my new party, you see,” she replied with hesitation, causing the guild master’s mood to drop significantly. He sighed for a moment before turning to me. “Ahem, I apologize for my behavior from before. It was rude. My name is Newt Sarlenzia, and as you know, I am the owner of Sarlenzia Trading Company and also Cedaraille’s merchant guild’s branch master.”
“Saori Segawa, member of the adventurer party Aurora,” I reciprocated his polite introduction.
He nodded before turning over to Ellaine. “Well, it would be rude of me to ask how this happened, but I guess curiosity is just a normal part of being a merchant. Ahaha, I beg for your forgiveness, Lady Ellaine.”
“Not at all,” Ellaine replied with a wry smile. “Well, something happened and I’ve decided to join Aurora as an adventurer. Uhm, to broaden my horizons, you see. It was my choice, since I believe it would be better for me to leave Artorias to better myself.”
The guild master nodded with a smile, although there seemed to be a hint of disappointment in his eyes as he said his next words, “I see… that is good to hear, Lady Ellaine. Young people should seek to be more reckless, for life has much to give. I am glad to hear you’re sounding more cheerful than the last time we met… much more. Oh, hahaha, look at me speaking like that… It would be best if we spoke business, yes?”
… Okay, this is awkward. Very awkward. I feel like a third wheel here. What was going on?
There was history between these two, that was for sure. Although, I had no idea how a middle-aged merchant could have anything to do with Ellaine, a noblewoman who was practically stigmatized by noble society. Who was this granddaughter Newt talked about and what does she have to do with anything? There were so many questions, but this really wasn’t the place to ask them, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Anyways, Miss Saori, right? I have read through the letter of recommendation and I found it surprising to hear so much from my dear Zeather. That sly fox, praise Mercurias, is a pretty conniving merchant and rarely praises people since he gets the better of them in a transaction,” Newt said.
Agreed. He was tough.
The first time went well since he didn’t know about Hestia, which made it possible for me to mention her and use that influence to reduce the price of our grocery by a lot, but all subsequent grocery deliveries went his way, where I was only able to reduce it by an amount he was satisfied with. Reduce it enough to make me “happy” but him richer.
The only time where we didn’t open his mouth to argue a price up or down was after we showed him the fulinoe leaves and Hestia’s concert idea. He was smart enough to understand the value of the propositions, preferring to go with the flow and not anger us in an attempt to make even more money. He knew the way to profit the most was to accept the result as it was, since going to another merchant for an agreeable price was also an option for us.
Newt continued, “Mhmm, my company’s influence in Firwood isn’t the best, since I found it not worth investing into since it was only a small town, but Zeather mentioned in the letter something about a ‘Lady Hestia’ and her ‘concerts?’ Also that your party was able to supply fulinoe leaves and other Belzac forest herbs at a decent pace?”
“Examples that we can provide are Belzac herbs for healing potions and the luxurious elven product, yeast,” Ellaine answered in my stead, something we discussed beforehand through [Telepathy].
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We had already told Countess Helvas the recipe for yeast, which she is planning to spread to the nobility one way or another; however, that is when Ellaine herself had an idea. With yeast spreading in the near future in Artorias, why not use this bargaining chip before that happened again? For something the people of this kingdom believed to be an elven-only product, yeast for pastry and soft bread was like a luxury. Nobles loved them so much they would trade with black market dealers for them.
Of course, Ellaine wasn’t only looking out for our party, but was also making a deal as a daughter of House Helvas simultaneously. And, hey, the only thing that mattered was that Aurora gets a share of the cake. No pun, intended.
“Hold on!” Newt’s eyes widened in surprise as he seemed to choke on his spit. One lesson I learned from Zeather was to use your valuable cards right in the beginning, while hiding your ace-in-the-hole in the back until you needed to use it. “Fulinoe leaves are already a valuable necessity for mages-in-training, especially nobles, but you are telling me, this new party of yours, Lady Ellaine, also produces Belzac herbs and knows how to make yeast? I would find that hard to believe if Zeather hadn’t mentioned that this ‘Lady Hestia’ was a dragonewt noble.”
“Lady Hestia is Aurora’s party leader,” I interjected to clear up any confusion. “As Zeather should have mentioned, we did some business with him. Our party was quite satisfied with his professionalism and competence, and as our party still requires a regular supply of spices and other products, we found his suggestion to meet with you, Guild Master Newt, a good opportunity to continue our relationship.”
“Why, that sounds like a fantastic proposition!” Newt exclaimed loudly, his good mood returned but with a glimmer of a predator suddenly showing in his eyes as he stared at us, not as potential business partners, but as prey. “I presume House Helvas already knows about the yeast, Lady Ellaine?”
Ellaine nodded, prompting him to continue. “Mhmm, of course, working with House Helvas would be entirely possible. However, I presume you are selling the right to work with House Helvas in this case, Lady Ellaine? I heard your father is close to becoming an arcanuess after everything that happened in Firwood. The production recipe for yeast would elevate not only Lord Count Helvas’s wealth but also his reputation.”
“That would be correct, Mister Newt,” Ellaine confirmed, beginning to smile. “My house would require a merchant company for the distribution to the other duchies since handling the logistics inside the Greenveil duchy is already a lot of work. As you know, my honorable father is a noble lord and knight, dedicated to the protection of our realm. Delegating important tasks should be normal.”
Newt nodded, looking like he was already used to how nobles structured their sentences to sound not only superior but also in control of the situation. “I see, I see. Yes, using an already established exporting method would be more financially viable than constructing your own, especially with all the competition. The nobles in the Equevanna duchy will glare at him with the eyes of a griffon, but my company is sponsored by Lord Duke Greenveil. Our protection would be superior to your father’s.”
Ellaine made her father sound strong and noble in this situation, but Newt deconstructed the meaning and hit her with the actual meaning of her words. “Very well, that we can do, so let us-” However, before he could finish his sentence, Ellaine raised her hand up to stop him, presenting to him Aurora’s demand.
“Please, do not believe this is all we want, Mister Newt. Yeast is a valuable product you can only acquire through the black market currently, but suddenly, a viable and legal source appeared before you. Sharing a tiny fraction of the profits with you is still too cheap for us.” Ellaine’s last sentence made Newt raise an eyebrow in irritation and confusion, prompting me to enter the discussion.
“House Helvas currently possesses the knowledge of the recipe after making a deal with Aurora. We do not need to share with you anything; neither does Count Helvas,” I stated, omitting to address Count Helvas as “lord” to show our party’s social ranking over him. “There are other merchant companies as large as yours, correct, Guild Master Newt? Without knowing the recipe yourselves, you cannot bargain with them and they do not need to accept any of your demands.”
“Hmph. Lord Count Helvas is a patriot and a loyal retainer, he wouldn’t dare betray the company supported by his fief lord,” Newt countered.
“Oh, but there is a problem in that assessment, right, Ellaine?” I looked over at my partner, who nodded her head vigorously. “You see, Guild Master, you seem to not be aware of a certain new piece of information. Oh, that is something we don’t need to share, unfortunately for you. All you need to know is that Count Helvas has a way to distribute the yeast with another merchant company that is not yours, all with the help of the royal family.”
We were talking about how Count Helvas has been gaining additional favors from people. Not only was their daughter now Hestia’s retainer, who was an imperial princess of the Dragon Empire Kargryx as well as a Champion of Aurena, but they were also a contributing force in the apprehension of Arcanuess Chezaic for his crimes against faefolk. They were in the favor of the royal family and Marquess Sirius, who was considered the right-hand man of Duke Greenveil.
With all of this considered, Duke Greenveil couldn’t afford to not work with Count Helvas. Since House Helvas had favors to work with, Duke Greenveil couldn’t simply bully them into submission, normally something greifnobles could easily do to magnobles. However, he couldn’t afford to anger Count Helvas, as the duke needed to work with the count in order to distribute the yeast around the kingdom with his coat of arms on it. Duke Greenveil had to increase the reputation of his duchy for one goal: To become the Grand Duke of Economic Affairs.
The Royal Family of Artorias was supported by four Grand Dukes and three Dukes. Each Grand Duke was responsible for one aspect of the kingdom’s growth, and in this example, it was the economy. Not only was the title of Grand Duke a prestigious rank to grow your House’s influence and power, but it also meant you could prevent a rival duchy from gaining all these benefits.
The current Grand Duke of Economic Affairs was Duke Equevanna, whose duchy also focused on trade and wealth. Every five years, the four Grand Dukes would be chosen from among the seven dukes by the royal family, and to impress them, the economic-focused duchies had to show the royal family their feats in the last five years or a plan to improve the kingdom’s wealth.
Yeast was Duke Greenveil’s ace-in-the-hole.
Now, Newt was correct that Count Helvas would never betray his liege, but we don’t need to tell him that. We weren’t even allowed to tell him about the affairs concerning Davison, which gave House Helvas all the accolades to rise to the arcanuess rank in the first place, theoretically. He might know about Hestia and the rumors concerning her and House Helvas, but not about that last part. Hide your cards, right?
Newt was, as expected, stumped, not knowing if he could trust us or not; however, when I reminded him about the rumors he should have heard concerning Hestia from his own gossip network or from Zeather’s letter, he sighed in defeat. “What do you want?”
I smiled at the direction of our conversation and unfurled a parchment hanging on my belt and placed it on the table. “Materials for a concert stage. We aren’t sure about the construction yet, but we need to secure the building blocks first.”
I promised to amass funds for Hestia’s performance stage and so I will do it. Honestly, I wasn’t an architect, so I had no idea how much we needed, but what we do need is to secure a supplier. We couldn’t just go around cutting down trees and mining rocks like someone from a video game; we actually had important stuff to do.
We could get an artisan to calculate the amount we needed later, but getting somebody to supply all of it at a cheap price was a problem. When Ellaine proposed doing something with the yeast recipe, I knew I had to use it to solve some of our financial issues. A large trading company like this was just perfect.
As he looked over the plans, Newt asked how much we needed, something I couldn’t answer yet, causing him to huff in annoyance, calling it impossible to make a deal without proper numbers. However, I had something to entice him into this plan. Ellaine, noticing this was the correct moment, took out something from her bag and presented it on the desk.
A piece of Hestia’s fanwear, a dress made to imitate one of Hestia’s idol outfits in Artorian fashion. “Read what Zeather said about ‘concerts.’”
Once he was done, I continued, “You must have heard the rumors, right? A greifnoble-ranked dragonewt noble has appeared in Firwood and is staying with House Helvas. Not only is she a noble, but also a priestess of Aurena who grants white graces for low prices. Our Lady Hestia can prove all of this to you, or you can even ask Ellaine for her statement.”
“Associating with Lady Hestia is the correct choice, Mister Newt,” Ellaine supported my statement, leaving Newt’s mouth slightly agape.
“I am a member of the chef, tailor, and merchant guilds. Deal 1: Aurora will pay for a steady supply of ingredients and spices with fulinoe leaves, Belzac herbs, and other Belzac products, as we need them for our restaurant. Deal 2: I require the Sarlenzia company to buy the clothing I make. I can make them with either normal cotton threads or mana threads, depending on my needs, although these cannot be produced at a steady supply. Deal 3: A promise to finance the materials for this concert stage, no matter what the end amount will become, for the yeast recipe. What say you, Guild Master Newt? All three deals benefit you quite a bit, no?”
Come on, bite!
“Gahahahaha!” Newt suddenly burst out in laughter, surprising not only Ellaine but me, too. “I see what Zeather now meant. Good preparation, ladies, I must admit. I really don’t have much room to discuss, it’s like you two came in and already had me chained to your ideas. Hahaha! I wonder why Zeather didn’t simply send the message to me through a messenger bird so I could prepare more. The amount of information I got was too late and my old mind couldn’t think fast enough, ahahahaha!”
I shrugged. He didn’t owe us a favor, so why didn’t he do that? This probably would have gone less smoothly if Newt had more time to research or even ask Duke Greenveil about everything. Regardless, none of it mattered since we got the deal in the end.
“We’ll talk numbers at a later date. This is something I need more concrete information on, so bring the material amounts you need the next time you come. I’ll also ready a written instruction for any of my company’s branches to deliver you the supplies for what we agreed upon,” Newt said, but it honestly felt like he was trying to delay to get more time. Sly.
So to interrupt his plan, I pulled out the document for our restaurant’s ingredients, our party’s food consumption, and also the prices for Hestia’s fanwear, “I have the numbers here. I do not have the material amount, but we can already finish the contracts for the other deals, yes?” Newt’s complicated expression meant my suspicion was correct~
I did not know how long it took us to iron down all the details, but with Ellaine’s help, the contract for our first two deals was settled as the two of us smiled with elation. Not only would we have a supply of ingredients for our restaurant while we stayed in Artorias, I also had a way to sell my clothing for some extra money. It was a great deal.
Now, we still needed to do something about Tasianna’s potion-making and Ellaine’s artificer training, but that could wait for another day. Our party’s non-adventurer work was growing while we could continue living as adventurers.
“Oh, there is still one more thing I want to see. You said your lady does singing, right? I would like to hear with my own ears what I will invest in. Ha ha! You see, I am an opera lover; I always visit the Griffonpeak’s opera to listen to the heavenly singing there.” With those last words, we said our goodbyes. While it might irritate Hestia a bit, I believe we should finalize deal three before we go and grind in the dungeon, which meant we should open our restaurant for one or two days to please Newt. It would also give us time to work on the concert stage.
After leaving with smiles on our faces, we suddenly noticed Hestia and Tasianna waiting outside the guild with skewered meat and fruits. I wonder how long they were waiting.
“Hey, you two! Looks like it went well,” Hestia greeted us. “You guys can get us to speed later, but first, let us introduce you to our potential blacksmith.”
Hestia and Tasianna quickly walked over to the tavern, hauling an orange-haired dwarf still holding onto a tankard out of it. Tasianna noticed this and snatched his tankard away before returning it to the tavern owner.
“Let me introduce you to Grimnir. A taz dwarf who is not only a blacksmith, but also a runesmith and amateur artificer!”
“Hey-urrrp!”
Why is he drinking before it’s even lunchtime?!