Chapter 697 Cap 695: Agreements Between Merchants

Pov Nira:

During the morning I get up next to Irina, it took me a while to get her to let go of me without waking her up, so I put some clothes on before going to the bathroom and then going down to the dining room that Yomi already warned me was full of food.

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When I came out of the bathroom I noticed that my clothes weren't suitable for the mission, so I went into the master's room and asked Nix to take me to the mansion through the Spirits' portal in the master's shadow.

As soon as I got to my room and went straight back to the dining room I already knew where it was, I found Lilian finishing her meal with Elsaris and Ivan.

I greet everyone before sitting down.

"Are you ready for today, Ivan?" (I)

"Of course, I don't need to do anything and just let Vice take care of everything." (Ivan)

"I wish you would take your responsibilities more seriously." (I)

"I take it very seriously, but I'll admit you're better at negotiation than I am, meanwhile I'm better at management." (Ivan)

"He's right, that's why the Holy Son always calls you when it comes to any kind of trade." (Lilian)

"You've always been my best salesperson, so don't complain and get the job done." (Elsaris)

While we're talking one of the employees gives me a glass of fresh juice, I drink and grab something to eat starting another topic of conversation.

Yesterday after the master went to bed, I had time to talk to Lilian, thanks to that I have a more detailed notion of the commercial culture of this place, the master may not have thought of ours before, but we can find many things of value in this city that I can try to acquire.

But the more valuable and rare things would be hard to find, maybe I can take advantage of this auction to attract more valuable things that we can buy.

I told Lilian and Elsaris my idea, and they both agreed it was a good idea, I talked to Ivan that he would be in charge of the auction, as he was once a Nobleman, and he will know how to deal with East Timorese detained by nobles even better than I do, especially if someone from the royal family interferes, considering how heavily influenced they are by trade, that's not impossible.

After talking a little more, he leaves early in the morning with Ivan riding Demon Horses, they are rare on this continent, but at least they exist here, unlike the Shadow Horses.

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On the way to the Trade Guild that Lilian gave directions to get there, I talk a little with Ivan, but always paying attention to the surroundings, in my case it's easier since Yomi is flying above me paying attention to the surroundings.

"I find this Kingdom very strange." (Ivan)

"Which part? The criminal governments or the Merchant King?" (I)

"To be honest, everything bothers me." (Ivan)

"A ruler who pays attention to only one aspect of the nation is leaving something aside that will bring harm at some point." (Ivan)

"Clearly you can see that public safety has been sidelined, so he tolerates the criminal government." (I)

"He's using this criminal government to control crime across the Kingdom without having to invest in any of it." (I)

"But a silly idea, he's letting a criminal element gain influence in the Kingdom and get away with crimes that go against his own laws." (Ivan)

"This proves that this royal family is more merchants than rulers." (I)

"A merchant is used to making concessions to get a deal that brings benefits, something a King shouldn't do." (I)

While we were talking, we were wearing items that blocked our voices from others, so we could say whatever we wanted.

Soon we arrived at the Guild of Commerce which is by far the largest we have ever found, the building has more than 6 floors and occupies a space of 1 whole block, when we enter we see that it has been finely decorated.

We started to walk around the place and it has all kinds of shops, in addition in the middle of the building, there is an open area with a small rest square and no roof to be able to see the sky.

I've never seen anything like it before, this Commerce Guild is amazing, maybe Leonardo might want to check it out later.

I show my Guild card at the front desk along with Ivan, then request a meeting with a responsible business while handing over a letter of introduction for the business in question.

A business manager is a high level employee within the Trading Guild, any big money flow business with the Guild must go through one of them, the Guild Master only takes care of things that affect the economy of the entire city or special cases.

Ivan and I continued walking around the stores to get to know the Guild's public movement better while we waited for an answer that came faster than expected.

While we were talking in front of a magic item shop, a Guild employee comes up to us saying that the business manager will meet us for a meeting.

We follow him to the top floor of the Guild where we are taken to an office where the walls are decorated with landscape paintings.

"Welcome, my name is Bryan, I'm one of the 3 business leaders of the Vartry Affiliate Trade Guild." (Bryan)

"Nice to meet you, my name is Nira, the one next to me is my mate Ivan." (I)

"Nice to meet you." (Ivan)

We exchanged a few greetings before taking a seat in front of his desk.

"Your business plan caught my attention, do you want to open 6 different stores within the Guild?" (Bryan)

"Yes, I would like to see if you have that many stores available or any stores willing to lend their space for a little over a week?" (I)

"We have 3 stores available, one of which is already in the process of being leased to a local merchant, to get what they are asking for we would have to find merchants willing to give up their spaces for that period of time." (Bryan)

"We are willing to negotiate values, we are just passing through and we have a variety of people in the creative business wanting to set up temporary stores." (I)

"If the products are of good quality, the Trading Guild would be willing to buy all your merchandise, of course with a price still to be discussed." (Bryan)

"Usually we do this, but these 6 people will be having a competition of who can raise the most money in that period of time." (I)

"Interesting, a commercial competition between members of the same company." (Bryan)