“So How many do you have and how did you get them? At which price did you get them?” The accountant spoke first as he seemed to be more experienced in making deals than the other two. The armed force general was there to analyze the practical implication and Leon because he is the one paying.
The accountant looked at Cain, ‘This kid is young, the Lord said he was both knowledgeable and strong but surely doesn’t seem that way.’
Cain noticed the faint grin on the accountant’s face and it set him off, This was not the first time he stood in such a deal and it won’t be the last. “I have forty, why do I have them is non of your business.” Cain was right as this deal was about them buying the potions, where did they come from wasn’t something to ponder about. The alchemy market wasn’t like other markets, that was in part to the alchemists liking to keep a low profile which caused this trend.
Once in the past, a small kingdom to the west tried to normalize alchemy and force alchemists to submit their personal information. Things like who are they, what can they make and how much, how long and where or from whom did they learn. How much do they make to calculate their taxes and other things… Now there was a big problem with alchemy, most of them weren’t a fighter, they were normal weak humanoids. When people in power knew what wonder that can make, they were easily enslaved, bullied, and forced into unpaid labor.
Fearing about their lives and freedom, all alchemists simultaneously stopped practicing alchemy. That event caused a massive shortage of potions and chemical remedies. In a matter of days, a healing potion that was going for 1 gold was going for over 100 gold coins. Mana and stamina potions were going for over 50 gold coins and the other niche potions were almost nonexistent.
Thousands of lives were lost due to the lack of healing and in the fights over the remaining potions. The crime rate went up as people searched every crack for remedies. The adventures that relied on potions were forced to stop working and even clerics were dying of overwork.
After just a week the king realized the grave mistake they made, potions and alchemy were like a lifeline holding the society down, if forced to change as that chaos will ensue. He immediately reformed his order and tried to soothe things between the kingdom and the alchemist but to no avail, (His reformed order by the way was: Submit your information and the throne will offer you protection and a stable payment of no less than 10 gold coins a month)
The answer he was “shove it up your arse!” most alchemists made over 500 gold pieces a month so that wasn’t even close, It was a lucrative business after all. the king knew that and it is why he tried to profit from it.
Seeing that their king didn’t learn, the people rioted and started a rebellion effectively sentencing the king and everyone with him to the rope. Cain knew this because his father was the one to gaslight the king into this whole mess, he didn’t mean to cause all that chaos but he started it no less.
Thinking about all of this Cain looked at the wall remembering his biological father, he did prefer the two adventures who raised him here in Furberg but sadly they died in a quest leaving him alone. ‘I wonder what that old f*ck is doing now, he was a menace where ever he walked.’ Cain remembers his father as a walking disaster, a drunkard, and a women’s magnet, his only redeeming quality is that he genuinely had good intentions. It couldn’t be helped that he was born with a natural 20 charisma and you can guess how that ended.
Cain looked at the accountant’s face again, what would his father do if he was here. He would probably be frank and hit the spore spot immediately.
Cain extended his hand toward the accountant to shake him. The accountant looked at Cain’s hand and then to his face, it was stern but with a solid will. He instinctively shook Cain’s hand.
“Scams are bad for your health, be a man and make some yourself!” Cain said tightly gripping the accountant’s hand, his eyes burned with passion.
The accountant blinked rapidly at what Cain was talking about and quickly pulled his hand off, “What scams, I just wanted to get the legal matter done first!” Cain thought ‘I guess 15 charisma is not enough to have the same intimidating air as him.’
“I have direct contact with the alchemist, She doesn’t care about the law.” Cain said looking at Leon, “I bet you met her up close.”
Those words flashed a horrific image in Leon’s head, that red dragon at the gate. If Zaleria was behind this they could do nothing but hope she will contact them first.
“Roland I know her, we should ignore any legal matter as it will only worsen our relationship with her,” Leon said, the armed force general seemed to understand who Leon was talking about, he was close to the gate when Zaleria showed there and he was already informed by William that a dragon was roaming the city.
“Fine, let’s directly to pricing then.” The accountant said after seeing the worried faces of both Leon and the general.
“I want two hundred gold coins per bottle.” Cain said with a confident look, “Cain that is too much, it’s my brother after all, can’t you give him a discount?” Alice immediately spoke before anyone could respond, Cain didn’t know if she meant it or not but it was a good move. “The half that, one hundred gold coins per bottle!” Cain threw a second price.
“That’s too much, how could they be worth more than 5 gold coins per bottle? You’re asking for twenty times that price, are you insane?” The accountant raged, “I agree with him, with that amount of money we could employ a lot of siege weapons and that would be a better investment!” The general show his dissatisfaction with a loud snore.
“Please be reasonable, you know they aren’t worth that much!” Leon said, Cain, smiled at him.
“I would have to disagree. What I’m offering are permanent petrifying potions. What you’re speaking of are limited petrifying potions that are made by diluting the permanent ones.” Cain paused to take one of the potions from Sebas and put it on the table. “You can dilute one to make around seventy 1-year-limited petrifying potions. Those things are priced at four gold coins and with my deal, you will be getting them for about a gold coin and four silver coins.”
“And we have forty of them, so we have about…” Alice cutely tried to count on her fingers a thousand small ones right?” she looked at Cain, “Well it’s 2800 ones to be exact, but you were close.” She gave Cain a puzzled look, “You can count well, not many people can count at all.” She replied.
“Hehe, which means I’m offering them a product value of 11200 gold coins with only 4000 gold coins in return.” Cain took the chance to flex his brain muscles, and Alice gave him a disinterested look, “Ok enough, I can’t keep up.” Instead of tired, she seemed not interested, did Cain misunderstand her compliment earlier.
The accountant immediately pulled his abacus to try and confirm Cain’s calculations, The general was the one to seem exhausted and sleepy from running the numbers in his head for just a few moments.
“If you’re saying the truth, this is still too much for us to pay in one go,” Leon said, he would surely like to have them but the price was just ridiculous. Cain smiled inside, ‘If Olivia knew what kind of concoction she mixed those past days she might die of shock.’ Half of it was thanks to the Magic water he made to extract the most from the basilisk’s eyes and his exotic recipe.
“It’s fine, you can pay it bit by bit, 100 gold coins a month and you will pay me in three years. I’m not in that hurry for money.” Cain said, ‘If I wanted money I will move to the capital or the elvish kingdom. A small city like this has no way of handling such expensive goods.’ this was an alchemist considered to be a lucrative job if you can do it right.
“That’s something we can afford. So what about the implication?” Leon asked, Since he was now set to take the deal it was time for the second part and it was about how to use them. The accountant seemed to be still busy doing calculations so it was the general’s turn.
“Ahem, Let me start by saying that my men aren’t the smartest neither are I. It’s apparent from how they stopped the lady at the gate.” The general looked at Alice, “My apologies,” He then continued “The potions need to be easily applicable, don’t expect us to cast magic or count every drop we use.”
Cain looked at him, ‘It’s true that most guards would just throw the potions and hope it hits something’ Fixing his posture. “It can be applied to a magical trap that can be triggered from afar, Leon here is a mage so you can have him control them from the tactical room and activate them on will.”
“So it’s not our job to use them? This makes me relieved.” The general smiled, he preferred to swing his sword and ride his horse, magic wasn’t his thing.
“Wait do you expect me to control all of them? That impossible!” Leon gasped.
“No, it’s not!” Cain replied immediately, “I have a solution!”