/
“This time, unfortunately, the contract got canceled, but neither of you intends to cut off the deal with Sihyeon, right?”
To Andras’ question, the two merchants clashed and nodded their heads.
“Of course. Even though merchants are cold-blooded beings who only think about money, how can I pretend not to know the grace I received from Sir. Ester?”
Unlike Ergin, who talks a little emotionally, Algott calmly expressed his opinion.
“Our business association highly appreciates Sir. Sihyeon’s potential. It’s unfortunate that the deal got canceled, but that won’t change our opinion of Sir. Sihyeon.”
The two merchants expressed their intention to continue trading.
After hearing the answer, Andras opened his mouth again
as if he had waited.
“Thank you. Well, apart from wanting to continue trading, wouldn’t you be a little upset if you just took the penalty this time?”
“Well, I guess so. As a merchant, I’m not so happy to go back empty-handed even though it’s a loss.”
“Of course, I have to report to the higher-ups, so I can’t help but feel uncomfortable.”
“You two can just take the penalty or if you’re interested would you like to invest in that penalty?”
When Andras talked about investment, the eyes of the two merchants shined brightly.
“Maybe you’re familiar with this. I’m talking about strawberry jam.”
“Oh… strawberry jam!”
“Can you give us more insight?”
“I’m sure you’ve tasted strawberry jam, and it’s already been valued in many places. Especially for those who can’t enjoy fresh strawberries, they have no choice but to think of strawberry jam as special.”
The two merchants nodded in recognition.
“So we are planning to build a workshop that can produce strawberry jam in large quantities as well as expand the strawberry field.”
“Andras, hold on a second.?”
“What’s wrong, Sihyeon?”
“It’s my first time hearing about a strawberry jam workshop. When did you decide on that plan?”
“It was decided when you were away on your vacation.”
“Who decided?”
I asked with a slightly puzzled look.
I’m the owner of the strawberry field. Who made that decision?
“The Demon Lord ordered it himself.”
“Oh! Ok. Sorry to disturb you… Keep talking.”
Once the Demon Lord’s name was mentioned, I immediately agreed and backed away.
Even though I had never met him in person, I already thought of him as a person I’ll serve for the rest of my life.
He does force me to work and stress me out, but isn’t he the best employer who pays me a lot of money?
If Kaneff was the Manager of the farm then the Demon Lord will be the Chairman.
An ordinary employee like me has no saying in the Chairman’s decision.
As soon as I backed down, Andras continued his explanation.
“Demon Lord’s castle has decided to provide with the Engineers who will be building the strawberry jam, but it would be much more convenient to procure construction materials and other items locally.”
“Well, it’s not hard to help. But I don’t think it’s worth the investment to give up the penalty.”
Algott slowly stroked his mustache and blurted the end of his words.
Ergin also saved his words with a vague expression.
Andras continued to explain as if he had already anticipated their response.
“I know that. Procurement of construction materials is just a process. There’s another suggestion I’d like to give you.”
The two merchants’ expressions were greatly shaken by the word that came out of his mouth.
“We’ll be giving you exclusive trading rights to strawberry jam in return for your investment.”
“Monopoly?”
“Is that true, Sir Andras?”
“Oh, it’s not a permanent monopoly, of course. You’ll only be able to exercise monopoly power for a fixed period of time from the first day of production.”
I felt like I could hear two merchants’ brain-rolling sounds.
Now they have penalties, procurement of construction materials, and exclusive rights to strawberry jam.
They will be thoroughly scrutinizing their gains and losses.
Ergin quickly opened his mouth as if he had finished calculating first.
“Th….The time period! How long will you grant us the monopoly?”
“I’m thinking about two months.”
“Two months?! That’s too short.”
“That’s right. In two months, we can only get the first and second batch of strawberry jam. It’s……… Then there’s no meaning of monopoly… ”
The two people protested with great vigor.
Even at that appearance, Andras answered calmly without shaking.
“I heard that when we first traded strawberries, the Golden watch merchant benefited greatly in a short period of time with the exclusive rights. Isn’t it? ”
“Hmmm, hmmm…”
Ergin coughed with a piercing look.
“Strawberry jam is easier to store and transport than strawberries. The conditions for maintaining freshness are much easier. It will never be less than the value of strawberries.”
The two merchants did not respond to Andras’ logical explanation.
“We’re giving you two months of exclusive rights to that kind of strawberry jam. Don’t you think it’s worth the penalty and the cost of construction materials?”
“Yes, but…”
“Two months is too short. At least six months….”
“If you don’t like the monopoly, it can’t be helped. We’ll pay the penalty to you right away.”
“Wh……Why are you in such a hurry? We haven’t had enough conversation yet.”
“That’s right. Give us a little bit of time.”
Ergin and Algott left for a while and exchanged close conversations with each other.
They seemed to be intended to cooperate with each other and respond to Andras.
Even though they usually growl at each other, they cooperated immediately for the profit in front of them.
As expected of the leading merchants of the Demon world.
After their conversation, the two tried to negotiate with Andras again.
However, Andras was already in control.
“Two months is too short, it would be good if it’s five months.”
“I think the two-month monopoly is already too good.”
“Then four months.”
“Three months! Three months will be enough time.”
Eventually, the two merchants decided to invest in the strawberry jam workshop instead of receiving a penalty.
In return, they won a three-month exclusive deal on strawberry jam.
As soon as the verbal agreement was over, the detailed contract was completed in an instant.
The two merchants looked satisfied as they saw the contract they received instead of strawberries.
I approached Andras and whispered.
“Andras, is it okay to give them a monopoly? If we produce strawberry jam, we will be left with no choice but to do business with these two companies. Won’t the two businesses just collude and raise the price?”
“We’ve already calculated the unit price and set the minimum price. And most of all, those two wouldn’t be able to act that way since the most important part is excluded from the monopoly.”
The most important part?
Andras took out the contract and pointed to a clause.
-The Golden Clock and Orphine Chamber have exclusive trading rights for products produced in the Strawberry jam workshop only.
-This right is valid for three months from the time the first product is produced.
“What’s wrong with this?”
“Isn’t there another kind of strawberry jam that you can make?”
“……Oh?!”
Only then did I realize Andras’ intentions.
There were two kinds of strawberry jam that I made.
One was strawberry jam with honey and the other was strawberry jam with sugar.
Naturally, the facilities of the strawberry jam workshop are bound to be tailored to strawberry jam made with sugar.
Bulk production of Strawberry jam with honey is not possible.
Then the strawberry jam with honey, which would not be made in the workshop, cannot be included in the monopoly.
“Strawberry jam with honey tastes much better than sugar. It’s so clear what kind of strawberry jam the aristocracy, the main buyer, would want.”
“In the end, the two businesses will have to re-sign with us to get the honey strawberry jam that’s not included in the monopoly.”
“They’ll get enough of the monopoly. But they won’t be able to wield that right at will. The most important hidden card is still in our hands.”
Wow…
When did he come up with all this?
In exchange for exclusive rights, we made them give up a large amount of penalty and also received materials necessary for the construction of workshop.
“I feel a little uncomfortable because I feel like I’m cheating on those two.”
Andras opened his mouth in a calm voice when he heard that I was uncomfortable.
“Did you know, when Sihyeon first sold strawberries, the Golden Clock Company made dozens of times more profit than the amount they gave you?”
“… On second thought, it’s a very conscientious and fair deal. Thank you very much, Andras!”
“You’re welcome. I struggled quite hard to be of help to Sihyeon.”
I wiped out all my discomfort and smiled at Andras.
“Did the meeting go well?”
Lagos, who was waiting nearby, asked anxiously.
“Yes, it’s all over.”
“Was there too many penalties?”
“We signed a new investment contract, so we ended up with no penalties.”
“Oh… I’m so glad.”
Lagos sighed with relief and looked delighted.
He was the only one in the village who knew about the existence of a penalty.
“I told you, you don’t have to worry too much… …and it wouldn’t have been such a big deal even if we paid the penalty.”
It wasn’t a small amount, but it wasn’t a huge burden.
There was a lot of money saved up, and there was quite a lot of money that we got from the Red Molars base.
“How can I not worry? Sir. Sihyeon’s loss was because of us… …the villagers wouldn’t be able to raise their heads if they knew about the penalty.”
“As I said before, I did it because I wanted to. So please keep it a secret so that other people won’t feel uncomfortable.”
” Sir. Sihyeon…”
Lagos’ eyes quickly became teary.
Maybe he was deeply moved.
He lowered his head and shook his shoulders.
I deliberately brought up a different topic as he was about to shed tears.
“Come to think of it, I can’t see Elaine and Reville. Weren’t the two here together?”
“Huh, the two of them are dealing with the children over there.”
Where Lagos pointed, Alfred and Reville could be seen teaching the children swordsmanship.
All the children were carrying wooden swords, and they seemed very serious when I heard the loud shouting.
Alfred taught the children in a caring manner, setting each one’s own posture.
It was a lot different from when he taught me by making me roll on the ground mercilessly.
I wonder if Speranza is having fun
When I suddenly thought of Speranza, Ergin approached me and asked for a conversation.
“Sir. Ester, there’s something I couldn’t tell you because I was focusing on the contract. Could you spare me a moment?”
“Of course. What’s going on, Ergin?”
He looked around me for a moment and carefully brought it up.
“It’s about a girl you’re taking care of, Sir. Ester.”
“Speranza?”
I asked back with a little surprise.
Andras and Lagos, who were next to him, also expressed interest and listened to Ergin.
“I think that Speranza is from the Erul tribe. Did you know that, Sir.?”
I closed my mouth and nodded slowly.
I’ve already heard before that Speranza is from the Erul tribe.
“I recently heard that some people from the Erul tribe are looking for a girl near this area.”
“…?!”
“The Erul people are not easy to see, so as soon as I heard the story, I remembered the child who was with Sir. Ester.”
My heart began to pound like a drum.
I felt my lips getting dry and my palms getting wet.
“Sir. Ester seemed to care a lot about her, so I thought I should tell you about it.”
“That… I see. Do you happen to think they’re… No. Thank you for your concern, Ergin.”
“You’re welcome. Then I’ll take my leave…”
Ergin left, leaving those words.
I kept thinking about the thing he said with a blank look.
‘Some of the people from the Erul tribe are looking for a girl…’
“Sihyeon?”
“Are you okay?”
Lagos and Andras asked anxiously.
“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine.”
I cleared my thoughts for now.
Even though I had imagined several times in my head that such a day would come, my mind couldn’t keep up with it when it became a reality.
“Papa!”
Speranza’s voice was heard in the distance with a cute step.
She ran so fast that I was afraid that she might fall, and as always, she hugged my legs as soon as she came to me.
“Papa, Papa! I played with Sister Miru and her friends. I was the best hide-and-seeker.”
“Uh… okay.”
“When I was a tagger, I found everyone. Sister Miru praised me.”
“Okay… You did a good job.”
“…Papa?”
Speranza noticed that my expression was weird and the smile disappeared on her face.
Realizing my mistake belatedly, I hastily smiled.
“Really..? Was my Speranza that good at hide and seek? That’s amazing! My darling!”
“Hehe.”
Fortunately, the smile returned to Speranza’s face.
I held Speranza tightly in my arms and murmured.
“Shall we play hide-and-seek with the farm family later?”
“Really Papa…! Will Akum and Gyuri come..?”
“Of course. Let’s also invite Lia, Andras, Elaine, and Boss.”
I tried to calm my anxiety, imagining a pleasant tag with the farm family.
But the anxiety that began to grow once didn’t go away easily.