Negotiation
Sheila was the first to speak.
“The other day, I received a response from the Denan Village regarding herbal teas.”
On the table, Sheila placed a letter from her village. Zechs wondered about it.
“…. Hmm? I thought you said that if you wrote to your village, it won’t reach them right away? It’s closed because of the snow during the winter, right?”
“That’s right. I used a trick to get it there.”
When Sheila approached Felix for advice, he gave her the trick to deliver the letter as quickly as possible. Or rather, it was a familiar method Sheila had heard of before.
The method he mentioned was what he used when he was living in hiding in Denan Village. Yes, it was by using specially trained birds to send letters back and forth.
Surprisingly, Felix seemed to be using the bird to exchange letters with their parents. Sheila, who hadn’t been informed of this, was immensely excited.
She had wondered why her parents hadn’t sent her any letters, but it seemed that they trusted their reliable son more than their sloppy-writing daughter.
“Does that mean I can write to you more often from now on if I need to discuss to you about something?”
“Oh, this is a really special way of doing things. I want you to think of it as a one-time thing.”
It seemed that the method of using birds was a means used only by important people in important places in the country.
If this method was discovered, Sheila didn’t know what to say, and most of all, it was a bird that Felix cherished. Sheila couldn’t overuse it.
“But I think we can proceed without any problems. The village chief said in his reply that I could do as I pleased. From now on, my opinion will be the collective opinion of the village.”
The decision was based on the belief that Sheila, a resident of the village, wouldn’t cause any damage to the village. In order to live up to their trust, she had to proceed with caution.
“Then I’ll go next. I want to make this herbal tea exclusive for the Gallant Commerce Guild. Of course, there is no problem with making it in Denan Village, but I don’t want you to sell the production method to any other trading guild.”
If it was that much, Sheila could nod without thinking too deeply. There was no one in the village who would change at the prospect of making a profit. Such a person wouldn’t be able to endure rural life.
“But I haven’t been able to figure out the benefits for Denan Village. The people in your village don’t need money in return, do they?”
“They don’t even know the concept of currency to begin with.”
“Right. So, when we were talking about trends earlier, it just occurred to me…. What do you think about peddlers going around the village regularly?”
“Peddlers?”
Sheila’s eyes blinked at the unexpected suggestion.
Certainly, only the odd peddler who stopped by on a whim would show up in Denan Village. That’s why the residents of the village were self-sufficient.
Zechs proposed that the Gallant Commerce Guild arranged for peddlers on a regular basis from now on. They would fully accept the wishes of the village, both in terms of frequency and assortment. Moreover, they would sell the goods they had worked so hard to transport deep into the mountains at the same price as in the royal capital.
“Since it’s unclear how much profit the herbal tea will make, if the product is offered free of charge, it will lead to troublesome disputes later on. Selling at a fair price is the maximum concession the Gallant Commerce Guild can make. In exchange, they promise to continue sending peddlers for generations to come. ――What do you think?”
When Zechs asked a little unsure of himself, Sheila stood up energetically.
“Zechs, that’s amazing! How did you come up with that? I’m sure everyone will love it, even the girls and the elderly!”
Zechs laughed, bewildered but relieved as Sheila excitedly proclaimed.
Just as they were about to continue, Amy immediately spoke up.
“Wait a minute. I’m not sure that’s a good deal for my pharmacy.”
“――Ah.”
It was inevitable that an awkward sound leaked out. Indeed, it was because of Amy that she could enthusiastically suggest the sale of herbal teas.
In contrast to the flustered Sheila, Zechs quietly nodded back.
“Of course, I’ve thought about that as well. How about we make it a condition that Amy’s Pharmacy will be given priority for wholesale?”
Hearing Zechs’ proposal, his testing expression quickly turned into a smile.
“I have no problem with that. In the first place, I think it’s more important to spread herbal tea throughout the royal capital than to make a profit. In return, I want you to help spread the word. A small pharmacy may not be able to do it, but I believe the Gallant Commerce Guild can.”
Although both parties originally had the same goals, their interests were different. After the negotiations were concluded, Zechs and Amy smiled at each other and shook hands.
“… Um, can this really sell? I went out of my way to create a place for this kind of discussion, but to be honest, I’m not at all confident about it.”
They wanted to spread it throughout the royal capital. Sheila thought the same as them, but she felt that they had a clearer vision of the future than she did, and she instantly became unconfident.
As Sheila looked down, they opened their mouths one after another in harmony.
“In the capital, it was commonplace to see a doctor or go to a pharmacy if you got sick. This was the norm. The idea of preventing illness before it happens is revolutionary.”
“And with tea, you can continue to drink it every day without overdoing it.”
“Depending on how it is marketed, it will surely spread. From here on it’s my job.”
Zechs’ confident, fearless smile was a little overwhelming. But more than that, it brought a sense of security to Sheila’s heart. She could trust him.
It seemed that Zechs already had a plan for how he was going to sell the product. He spoke in detail about his future plans.
“We’ll start manufacturing in small quantities and increase them in stages. There may be some failures. As long as there are only a few, I plan to launch a high-end route. Once the product has spread to the aristocracy first, it will sell in turn to the wealthy among the commoners.”
When the product went on sale, it wouldn’t be sold in stores, and wouldn’t be available without a referral. This was to create a special atmosphere. It was agreed that Amy’s Pharmacy wouldn’t handle the product during this period.
“Once mass production becomes possible, we will change the exterior to something less expensive and sell it to the commoners as well.”
“But Zechs, I think that anything new will be quickly imitated by sharp-sighted merchants….”
As his friend presented his policy smoothly and eloquently, Cody gave his opinion without hesitation. Even though business wasn’t his forte, he was eager to be as helpful as possible.
The lively discussion was stalled for the first time. If they were to think ahead, it was inevitable that competitors would appear.
“You have a point. It’s hard to collect all the medicinal herbs, and it’s not something that can be imitated overnight. But nothing has to be perfectly imitated….”
“If there were to be any trouble with the product, we might get a bad reputation as well….”
As everyone remained silent, unable to come up with a solution, Sheila threw a suitable proposal as if it were ordinary.
“Why don’t you just make a mark? A sign to signify that it’s the real thing.”
The air became still and quiet.
As Sheila felt awkward, thinking that she had missed the point, Zechs and Amy stood up with a clatter.
“――That’s it! You’re amazing!”
“Yeah! That’s the best way to do it!”
“Eh? Uhm?”
The heat and pressure of the two businessmen were tremendous. Sheila, sandwiched between them, involuntarily recoiled.
“I see, I didn’t think of a genuine seal. Even if a lower-priced version is available, the outflow of customers may be minimized if trust is fostered.”
“If the impression of a genuine product is rooted, we can avoid any reputational damage.”
“Sheila, you really do get to the heart of things sometimes.”
Sheila’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
“The ‘sometimes’ part is subtly hard to delight in.”
Her murmurings were lightly ignored, and the discussion soon turned to what kind of seal should be used.
“We need to put in some herbs design.”
“That’s a bit monotonous, isn’t it? We want to make a seal that’s as detailed as possible and difficult to counterfeit.”
Unlike Amy, who began to ponder which herbs to use as a motif, Zechs calmly pursued practicality. Cody asked his friend anxiously.
“But the possibility of counterfeiting is still there, isn’t it? What are you going to do then?”
Zechs grinned back at Cody’s reasonable question.
“We will use a special dye developed by the Gallant Commerce Guild. Only the higher-ups of the Commerce Guild know how to make it. It has the characteristic of emitting light when exposed to a certain amount of light, but it’s said to be a phantom dye in the market. It’s just that too much money was spent on its development, so it was overpriced and could only be sold to the most eccentric of people. Thanks to that, it’s rarely found in the market.”
Zechs’ eyes were glistening with excitement at the prospect of using a dye that his family had created but couldn’t find an optimal use for. He was like a fierce hunter that even other merchants would run away from him barefoot.
Cody continued to ask a series of questions.
“…. Can we really get permission to use something so expensive?”
“I’m sure we can. Only a second-rate merchant would be so reluctant to give out his goods at the first whiff of a profit.”
Cody decided not to get too deeply involved when facing his friend, who smiled devilishly at him.
Sheila, who had been leisurely going over the idea of a seal with Amy, raised a hand and said.
“Okay, let’s go with the herb and sword design.”
“…. Why a sword?”
“Eh? Because I like it?”
When Zechs, who had regained some of his composure, asked her in a somewhat confused tone, Sheila tilted her head.
Amy soon giggled.
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? It will send the message that ‘We’re going to beat the disease.’”
After they had reached a consensus, Sheila stood up energetically.
“――So, let’s start a fun cooking class here, shall we?”
