143 Three Big Merchants

The Lucretius Merchant Association was a wealthy family-owned business, founded by the Lucretius family, a commoner-turned-aristocrat family and originated from the Durham Kingdom. 

Their business could be seen stretched across the two kingdoms and the store located in the Capital was only one of the branches of the Lucretius Merchant Association, not even their main headquarters. 

However, this particular branch had become the main base of operations in recent years. The head of the family, Oliver Lucretius had settled in the Capital, not for the profits but for the connections with the alchemists. 

The Capital didn't have an Alchemist Association, but it had ten grandmaster alchemists, each with power and wealth. 

Crazy Don stood at the head of the ten grandmaster alchemists in terms of skill and strength, but he was also the poorest of them all. 

...

Inside the Lucretius Merchant Association branch building, top floor.

"You called for me, father?" A young man in his early 20s, asked with a dubious expression. This person was the son of Oliver Lucretius, Orion Lucretius.

Oliver Lucretius stood by the windows and watched the departing back of a palace maid, with hands linked behind. With his back to facing his son, Oliver questioned him with a frown, "What did you do just now?"

"Ah, you're talking about this, father." With a contemptuous smile, Orion continued, "Someone came looking for the Yin Lotus Heart that we managed to procure from the Extreme Misty Forest after much difficulty.

Considering we don't know what it could be used for, while the other party needed it, I thought they were should know its usage. Thus, I set the condition that they had to tell us what it is used for, if they wanted to buy it. That person was extremely arrogant, father. Even dare to claim to be under the orders of the prince. Who doesn't know the prince has been missing since birth?" 

Oliver turned around with anger and gave his son a resounding slap. "You fool! Have you fed your brains to the latrine pits!?"

PA! 

Holding his swollen cheeks with an incomprehensible expression, Orion, "Why did you slap me, father?" 

"Hmph! If you weren't my son, I would have beaten you to death!" Oliver roared. "Couldn't you recognize the attire of the palace maid!? Even if the other party didn't represent his highness, she definitely represented the royal family! Even if you haven't seen his highness, have you not even heard of the prince's return!?"

Oliver did not curse his son for what he did, but who he did it to! There were people they could offend, and people they couldn't offend. As merchants, it was always better to have more allies than enemies.

"Father, I think you are getting on in your years. How can you believe in baseless rumors? The prince's return is something worth celebrating over, but the queen had not announced nor celebrated it. So, how could it be true? So, what if it is? Let's take a step and say even if it was the royal family's intention by the Yin Lotus Heart, we have the right not to sell it!" Orion said arrogantly. 

"Y-You! Unfilial son! How dare you talk like that to your father!" Oliver felt veins popping out all over his body in anger. "You are blatantly offending the royal family! Have you already forgotten how the Queen punished the nobles yesterday!?"

Hearing his father's words, Orion sighed, "Father, no matter how the queen punished the nobles, it has nothing to do with us. They committed a crime even after the queen exit her seclusion. That is their stupidity. Did I commit a crime? No, all I did was ask what they need the spirit herb for. Although I broke one of our policy, it was no crime.

Our three grandmaster alchemists always wanted to find a usage for the herb. I believe it was in the association's best interest to please the grandmasters, by finding out exactly that. After all, it's the only herb to have ever been successfully acquired from the Extreme Misty Forest."

"How can you be so shortsighted? Have we never done anything dishonest before? Has the noble affiliates with us never committed any crime before? What if the royal family decides to dig those up?" Oliver was filled with disappointment. "Also, the three grandmaster alchemists stay with our merchant association because we provide them great benefits. But what happens when those benefits disappear? Would they still stay? The answer is no!

Don't forget that we are not the only merchant association in the Capital. There are also the Primrose Merchant Association and the Fischer Merchant Association that was equal powerful as ours. There's been balance between our three merchant associations.

However, if the royal family convinces the two to team up and suppress our business, there would be no place for us in the Capital. Those two would be more than happy to swallow up our businesses and eliminate one less competitor."

After hearing his father's reminding, Orion felt his heart chilled.

"This... I'm sorry, father. I've been blinded by short term benefits and failed to see the long-term benefits." Orion sincerely apologized, before asking, "What should we do now?"

Seeing his son recognize his mistake, Oliver nodded in approval. At least his son wasn't completely irredeemable.

He lit up a high-quality cigar on the seat and took a deep puff. "It's not what we should do. It's what the royal family will do. Since we offended the prince, we must try to mend the relationship. I will send someone to deliver the Yin Lotus Heart to his highness. If this relationship cannot be patched, at most, we can just withdraw from the Capital's market."

Saying to this point, Oliver let out a deep sigh. If they were relentless, they could chase their merchant association out of the kingdom.

Not only would they lose the entire kingdom market, they would also lose connections with all the nobles associated with their merchant association. That was like losing the forest to buy a tree. Except, the tree would also grow legs and run away.

"This..." Orion was unwilling to gift the Yin Lotus Heart for free after the difficulties in attaining it. Anything from the Extreme Misty Forest was bound to be a treasure. However, he ultimately nodded obediently, "Yes, father."

In the end, his father was still the wise one. He was too arrogant and narrowminded. The slap was well deserved.

...

The Lucretius Merchant Association had gotten on Leon's nerve, but he didn't plan to find trouble with them. 

First, they had to commit crimes enough to warrant death. Pissing him off wasn't a good enough reason. The royal family was ruthless, but they weren't tyrants. 

Secondly, even if he obtains the Yin Lotus Heart, he still needs the other missing herb, the Silver Mystic Grass. 

Thus, he would still need to go to the Extreme Misty Forest. He was extremely curious about what made the place so dangerous and mystical. 

If he can also find the 7-Petal Frigid Agapanthus, he could awaken his father and shove kingdom matters on his shoulder. That was the king's responsibility to begin with.

The royal family's budget was tight. Although they gained 2,000,000,000 Craws from the nobles, the yearly expense of food alone was estimates to exceed 200,000,000 Craws. And this was just food to support the commoners. They hadn't calculated the expense for building materials, which would be an astronomical sum. 

The cheapest single-storey residential building would cost at least 300,000 Craws and building 10,000 of such building 3,000,000,000 Craws. 

Naturally, it was ridiculous to build 10,000 of such buildings. Since they want to build bigger and better buildings using steel frames, the cost could jump up to between 5,000,000 Craws with the upper limit, dependent on the number of floors.

The Crawford royal family had done well to survive up to this point on tax and tributes alone. But it's clear they don't have enough funds to complete the construction project. 

The commoners were also reliant on them to support them. Increasing the tax would not yield anything from the commoners. They couldn't tax something, if there's nothing to tax. 

After sort out his thoughts, Leon prepared to train now and make the trip tomorrow, but he was suddenly interrupted by a palace maid.

"Your highness, the Lucretius Merchant Association has sent the Yin Lotus Heart over." 

Confused, Leon asked, "Did they change their minds and decided to sell it to use without conditions? How much was the cost?" 

"There was no cost, your highness." The palace maid answered. "They had sent the herb over as an apology gift for offending, your highness." 

After a few inquiries, Leon understood the gist of the situation. The son was and idiot making trouble, while the father sought to immediate patch their soured relationship and maybe even befriend him, establishing a connection with the royal family. The head of the Lucretius family was wise and canny. 

"No discord, no concord eh?" Leon mused, before saying, "Send my word to Oliver Lucretius; I have received his good intentions and will not make things difficult for him." 

It wasn't worth it to make an enemy out of such a big cash cow, since the other party was friendly. If there's a business opportunity, they could even cooperate. He wishes to make more money and ease the burden on his mother. 

"Yes, your highness." 

After the maid, Leon rubbed his chin with an intriguing smile. "Unexpectedly got the herb for free after wishing for it. Is this the result of my accumulated karmic virtues? I must have gained a lot for slaying the wicked nobles. It's a pity, I can't feel the illusory Karmic Laws." 

If his accumulated karmic virtue was high enough, perhaps he would gain heaven-defying luck.