CH58 — Trading Favors
The elegant Veinard Trading Guild’s boardroom even with its gorgeous ceilings, comfy chairs, and wide enormous tables doesn’t feel welcoming to its new visitors. Filled with high-ranking figures of both the core staff and its senior merchant members, everyone having a serious expression with an imposing aura. The high ceiling does little to cool the already oppressive atmosphere. Even though I knew this crucial meeting would be rife with tension, what I didn’t expect is that the more anxious ones are not the Veinardians.
In the center of it all, at the far end of the table, is a single dragonkin. Laden with stripes of yellow ornaments in his outfit and markings that apparently indicate his seniority in his merchant clan. Yet even with his supposed seniority, his current expression shows the nervous wreck of a man. He must be feeling the sheer weight of the tension. Clearly visible in his forced smile, hiding his nervousness.
「 Please sir… Of course we will be accountable for this unfortunate incident. However, the reparation fee that is imposed on us… 」His words slightly falter at the end.
This is not how I thought the situation would turn out when I reported my predicament back to my seniors. I expected a backlash towards myself. Screams and mentions of failure drilled to my ears, forcing me to take responsibility to mend broken ties with them.
Instead, they directed their anger towards the attacker and eagerly helped identify them. Turns out, it is the Meifen clan and not the Sho clan who attacked me. And the clan does have a business relationship with our guild.
In a shockingly weaker position.
「 By the goddess! 」One of the senior staff slams his fist on the table,「 how could you possibly dare to ask us to be more lenient?! 」 Cutting me off from my thought process.
「 This young man right here, 」He says as he eagerly points at me,「 is a vital asset for our future plans and one of your clan members almost crippled our guild’s core operations for years! 」He continues.
「 If it weren’t for his awareness, and adaptability… Our demands would’ve been far greater than what your clan could’ve afford. 」
The lone dragonkin shivers from the Senior merchant’s implications.
And you are telling me this is the senior of his clan? You would expect them to at the very least save face and maintain a poker face. Is this truly the best person they could bring up for negotiation?
Either this clan is already in decline and couldn’t muster up a capable individual or… There’s something on our end that they are afraid of.
「 We, the Meifen clan, clearly understand the transgression that we’ve made and are willing to pay to mend our ties. However, we implore the Veinard Trading Guild for mercy, as we’ve also paid a high price for this unfortunate accident. Our young master has died! 」
「 Now now now… 」Says out of nowhere by another senior staff. With an oversized hat and a monocle. 「 We are all civilized people. No need for the threats, Mr Karlen. In the end, he’s still our long-lasting business partner. 」
The senior staff then whips out a paper and proceeds to hold it up high in the air as he reads and thinks deeply.
「 Hmmm… We can recalculate the reparation cost, although it will be lowered by at most 20%. If the Meifen clan has ongoing financial issues, then we could lower it even more… Mayhaps in the form of loans. But only if you are willing to be transparent about your treasury. Including your whole business structure and process to gain our trust. 」
He then puts the paper on the table and adjusts his monocle.
「 And this of course comes with hard limitations. 」He continues as he stares at the dragonkin.「 Our treasury might be plentiful to be willing to take such great leniency, but it is only thanks to the hundreds of great merchants who are willing to put their precious gold to our venture, we can make this happen. 」
「 We are willing to be transparent to gain back the Veinard Trading Guild's trust. Thank you for your generosity, Mr Bart! 」The dragonkin gladly says as he does a light bow.
I see… So that's their plan.
Let one person be the aggressive actor, acting out rashly and emotionally. Demanding outrageous demand without a single consideration towards its partner.
But that's where the other actor comes in.
A kinder actor who sympathizes with the partner and “generously” helps them to lower their own demand.
The classic good cop, bad cop negotiation tactic. Before this meeting even began, they already got the dragonkin clan in their whims. These guys are professional merchants through and through.
The world of commerce truly is the battlefield of the wits and cunning.
「 With this, I presume this meeting is over. 」Says the leader of this meeting,「 we will lower down the payment demands. For the exact details of the procedure, your treasury underlings can discuss it further with Ms. Michelline. Meeting dismissed. 」
「 Yes, sir. I will report the Veinard Trading Guild's generosity has given back to my clan. 」The dragonkin says, with an even greater smile and a deeper bow.
By the time I’ve pondered the bigger picture and implications of this meeting, it's already over. And I thought I would have to defend my case. They’ve already done their homework without my input.
As the meeting is concluding, all personnel in the room tidy up and prepare to move back to their activities. I then follow suit. It is only when I get out of the room and ponder about what to do next that my direct senior suddenly greets me.
「 See? Didn’t I tell you everything will be alright? After all of these days we are together, I thought you would have formed some trust in me. 」Werner nonchalantly says, with a smirk on his face.
「 I’ve only stepped into this land for a few days, and I’m already causing trouble. Of course I will be worried. 」I let out a sigh.
「 That’s true. The only reason why you're not in trouble is because you gave those Meifen Clan a good thrashing! Ha! 」He loudly claims as he pats my shoulder.
Then, he directly looks at me.
「 Honestly, I'm curious how you can kill them so effectively. But we all have our own secrets. 」He winks at me.「 Now, with that out of the way. Can you take over my meeting with the locals? 」
「 I’m obviously not in a position to refuse. Especially since you did help me report this to the Guild Committee. But why can’t you do it yourself? 」
「 Didn’t you know?! 」, He grabs my shoulders,「 A new ship from Veinard just arrived this morning, bringing all sorts of goods! Rumors have it their shipment includes the latest silk from a renowned tailor in Hasten! I need to get my hands on it before all of the stocks get sold! 」
「 Woah. Okay, fine. When is the meeting anyway? 」I ask as I pry his hands away.
「 In an hour. 」Calmly he says. As if it doesn't matter.
「 In an hour?! Please tell me it is quite close at the very least. 」
「 It is an hour's ride with a cart. 」
「 Well isn’t that fantastic?! I will be late by then. 」I can't help but facepalm.
「 Relax. They are the ones who need us. If it were me, I'd be late by three hours. 」
Are you telling me being late is the norm amongst the Canids? Even the Lungkin Senior present in our last meeting arrived at our establishment one hour earlier.
「 At the very least please tell me the context and the finer details of the purpose of the meeting will you? 」
「 They are the Lim family. They own a sugar mill and some of the family members operate local trade networks. They most likely want to negotiate the profit distribution between us and them. Whatever it is, you only need to get their negotiated terms and send it back to us. 」
Send it back to the Veinard Trading Guild? Without my input? Doesn’t that mean…
「 Wait. So I'm just a glorified messenger? 」I proclaim.
「 Exactly. You catch things pretty quickly. That’s why I can leave it up to you. 」
「 But what if they ask my opinions regarding the negotiation matter? I don’t even know the exact details of the trade they operate and the sugar industry! 」
No matter how you look at this. This is something that a more experienced person in the trades should handle. Not a new recruit who only just stumbles into this land for a few days.
「 They are more… benign. 」He says seemingly choosing his words carefully, 「 So don’t worry too much about making any mistakes. It will be a learning experience for you. And you will need it. The diplomatic mission is just a week away. 」
I want to say more, but his attention diverts away towards the wall behind me. I look back towards his gaze. It's a huge clock hanging on the wall, indicating it's already almost evening.
「 Look at the time! I must make my way now. Don’t worry Renald Alderhide, there’s no way you can mess it up. Even if you do, I can always bail you out. Toodles~ 」He says as he walks away, leaving me agape.
…Trading favors.
He said it's to build up my experience interacting with the Canids nobleman before the diplomatic journey.
However, judging from his facial expression and his uncontainable eagerness to pass this job to me means there’s something more to this. Maybe I’m just overthinking this as usual. It's probably just an easy and mundane job for him that he's too lazy to do, so he passes it down to his junior under the disguise of “mentoring” them.
I just hope this meeting is not as demanding as I imagine it would be. At least I’m not in charge and expected to pull up numbers out of my ass.
Thankfully, there’s a cart manned by the locals in front of the Veinard Trading Guild. I get on the cart and immediately go to our destination without a single word from me. It’s as if they already knew where to go.
All I’m left to do as I await our destination is to ponder on what the hell just happened these past two days.
Even with the reparation cost reduced by 20% it's still a huge amount, with a decent portion of it going to my own personal pocket. Even factoring the repair cost of the house, I will gain more than a year of my salary.
I’ve always had a hunch that the Veinard Trading Guild is not something to trifle with. But this… It is on a whole new scale.
You would expect the trading merchants guild to be the one on the losing end. We are in foreign soil after all.
They don't just have wealth. They have power, and dare I say…
Authority?
The cart stops. That was quick. My thoughts wandering must have made me lose my sense of time.
I look at the new surroundings. A house with the size of a mansion but simpler in its design. The wooden walls look firm and grand but little decoration adorns it.
At least the front yard looks tidy and lively.
「 Sir,」The attendant in front of the house greets me.
「 I’m the representative from the Veinard Trading Guild. 」
「 Very well. Please follow me, sir, the young lady has already waited for you in the waiting room. 」
What greets me as soon as I get inside the room are…
Lots of cats…
There are cats on almost every corner.
Wait, is that cat stuck in the chandelier…? How did it get up there? Has nobody noticed that helpless cat?
「 Greetings, sir Veinardian. I was expecting Werner Duvine. May I know your name, good sir? 」
What greets me is a Canid woman who looks to be in her late thirties.
And she’s already expecting Werner? There goes our guild’s reputation, I guess.
「 My name is Renald Alderhide. I’ve come in his stead, he could not come to this meeting. 」I plainly state.
「 Is that so? Please take a seat, Sir. 」
「 I’ve heard from him that you want to negotiate the profit distribution. I will report back your negotiated terms to the Committee. 」
She looks… Surprised? Why would she though? Was it that surprising?
「 Yayan, give him the scroll. 」
Yayan pulls out the scroll out of his belt and gives it to me.
I open it, and yup. So many numbers, little of which I understand. Some sort of a price structure based on the amount of sugar they send it seems.
Then, a sudden thump noise.
I look at the general direction of where the sound is produced. It’s the same cat that was in the chandelier.
Wait… It's missing its left rear leg. And its body is quite thin. I can faintly make out its protruding ribs beneath its furs, especially when compared to the other cats here. What has happened to it?
「 Yayan, you know this is an important meeting that I am having right? Take care of that useless cat already. 」The woman demands, hushedly.
Useless cat?
「 It ran away out of the room,」the man in shock. Most likely still processing what’s happening.
「 Sir, Ma’am. 」He politely greets us then walks quickly out of the room.
「 Now then, 」she starts, 「 In the scroll, we’ve listed out our negotiated terms and distribution of the profits. 」
「 May I know the reason why you want to modify the terms and distributions? I can present your case in a more persuasive manner with your help and understanding. 」
The room suddenly goes cold. The lady's constant light smile slightly wavers for a second.
「 Oh please you don’t need to, young gentleman. 」
「 I insist ma’am. 」
「 Hahaha, 」a light forced laughter, 「 No need for the trouble, Sir. I’m sure you want to wrap things up quickly. We understand our position. 」
There it is again. Acknowledgment of their place.
…Now I get it.
We are the distributor and they are afraid of offending their source of income.
I need a way to ensure that they save face. I’m sure they are afraid of a backlash or things becoming worse if the negotiation terms were faced negatively by the high ranking figures.
「 Ma’am. 」I sincerely start, 「 I will report your reason as my own findings, based on my understanding of the general market. If push comes to shove, it will be my own.」
Then, silence fills the room. I can see the Canid woman is processing this.
「 Veinardians are always blunt now aren't they? 」She finally says, teasingly.
「 I’m afraid that's just how we do things ma’am. 」
「 As you know, the sugar prices have fallen sharply. That cut deeply into our margins. We still profit from it, but barely. We need an extra buffer to ensure we have a safety net. 」
That’s a very quick reply.
「 May I know why the sugar prices have fallen? 」
「 You haven’t heard the news? The Lungkin Dynasty has started cultivating sugar plantations. Those dragonkins up north don’t know the first thing about processing good sugars, but their sheer volume and low prices is enough to disrupt the market. It doesn’t help that more and more people are willing to consume those dirt that they call sugar. 」She huffs in frustration as she finishes her explanation.
I definitely need to start reading about news reports. Global trade networks, price fluctuations.
「 Thank you for your help Ma’am. I will report that the prices of sugar have decreased and that it will benefit our trusted partners to be given an extra buffer but also for the Veinard Trading Guild. All of it as my own finding and conclusion on a different paper with my own writing. 」
Her smile blooms. Her first genuine smile.
I’m glad I could help her out.
「 Thank you so much for your generosity, Sir Renald Alderhide. We would like to give you a meager amount of gold for your effort. 」
The same attendant that gives me the scroll comes to the room. In his tray, a decently sized pouch.
「 What?! 」I unconsciously announce,「 I have no need for extra gold. 」
「 Please, we can’t make you leave empty handed. Is there something else that you want? We can arrange something for you to ensure your leave is satisfied. 」
Why does she heavily insist on giving me something? Is this a business etiquette that I don’t know of?
I suppose I should get something to make her comfortable. To give her a peace of mind.
There’s one thing that intrigues me.
「 Then, I would like to take that crippled cat. 」
I don’t know why but that cat reminds me of something.