After lunch, Nora put on her hat and eagerly headed downstairs to watch the shop.
Ron tidied himself up a bit and went into the study to flip through some books.
Around one in the afternoon, he heard Nora calling from downstairs, "Boss! Someone's here to see you!"
Ron set down the illustrated book in his hands and walked downstairs. When he saw Jasper's figure, he immediately smiled and stepped forward to greet him.
"Your Highness Ron," Jasper greeted with a respectful bow.
"Let's talk upstairs," Ron said with a smile.
Nora stared blankly at the two of them as they went up the stairs.
Earlier, when Jasper entered the shop, he had introduced himself to Nora, so she knew that he was the highest-ranking representative of the Radiant Mercenary Corps in the City of Chaos.
Someone like that coming to their shop was already hard to believe, but when he greeted the boss, what did he say?
Your Highness Ron?
The boss's name was Ron...
And just the other day, the boss even claimed he was the son of Emperor André III...
No way… Nora shook her head furiously.
Impossible!
The boss clearly had beastkin blood—how could he be a direct member of the royal family?
Maybe he was some noble's illegitimate child?
But who would call an illegitimate child "Your Highness"?
And why would someone like Jasper treat him with such respect?
Nora felt like her brain had turned to mush. She couldn't make sense of anything anymore.
Just then, more customers entered the shop, so Nora had to temporarily put her confusion aside and focus on serving them.
Second-floor parlor.
Ron and Jasper sat down on the sofa.
After a few polite exchanges, Jasper pulled out two documents and got straight to the point.
"Your Highness Ron, this one is the contract regarding the Nether Orchid. Please take a look and see if there's anything that needs changing." Jasper handed one of the documents to Ron.
Ron took the contract and carefully flipped through it.
After a few minutes, he put it down and nodded. "No issues."
They had already discussed the terms of the Nether Orchid deal the day before, so the contract was mostly solid.
Supplying 25 Nether Orchids per week to the Radiant Mercenary Corps was almost the same as their previous agreement of 100 per month.
The agreed method of transaction was weekly delivery and cash on delivery.
In other words, Ron would now be getting a steady income of 500 gold coins every week.
Once they confirmed that neither side had further demands, both parties signed the contract—two copies, one for each—and the partnership officially began.
Putting that contract aside, Ron smiled at Jasper, waiting for him to speak.
This next deal was the real highlight of today's meeting.
A hundred Nether Orchids per month might sound impressive, but for the Radiant Mercenary Corps, it was little more than a nice bonus.
After all, they were a combat-oriented organization with few mages.
So their demand for Nether Orchids was far less than that of a magic academy.
But when it came to the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum, that was a whole different story.
Last night, Jasper had five long-term trainee mercenaries—those who had trained diligently but never managed to reach Tier 1—try the petals of the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum.
The results were excellent.
Four of the five instantly succeeded in forming a Battle Aura Vortex, and the remaining one, while not advancing, managed to produce significantly more aura than usual.
If that one trainee continued using the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum, reaching Tier 1 was only a matter of time!
This was practically a perfect method for mass-producing Tier 1 warriors!
Aside from being a bit expensive, Jasper couldn't think of a single downside.
Unfortunately, the supply channel for the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum was completely controlled by the Chaos City Magic Academy. If it weren't, he'd definitely try to pull some strings.
Still, his commander seemed to have a good personal relationship with the academy's headmaster. Maybe the next time the commander came to the City of Chaos, he could have him probe the situation.
These thoughts passed through Jasper's mind, but he kept smiling on the surface as he handed the second document to Ron.
"As for the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum trade, I've drafted the contract already. It's pretty much the same as the Nether Orchid contract. The only thing left to decide is the quantity. That depends on how much Your Highness can provide."
Ron took the contract and skimmed it. The clauses were mostly unchanged—the only difference was that Nether Orchid was swapped out for Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum, and the number fields were left blank.
He smiled and looked up at Jasper. "You took the chrysanthemums back yesterday and had people test them, right? How'd that go?"
"…The results were excellent." Jasper wasn't keen on discussing this before signing the contract, but since Ron asked directly, he had no choice but to answer honestly.
Ron chuckled but didn't press further. After a moment's thought, he said, "500 Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemums per month. That's the maximum amount the shop can provide you."
"What a coincidence—that's exactly acceptable," Jasper replied calmly, hiding his inner excitement. "So we'll go with the same terms as before: 125 per week, payment on delivery?"
"If we go with that model for the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum as well, then I'm afraid we'll need to add another clause to the contract," Ron spoke thoughtfully. "The chrysanthemum's yield is indeed higher than the Nether Orchid, but demand is also far greater. In the future, there might be other factions coming to request a deal. If that happens, I might not be able to guarantee your share."
That was complete nonsense on Ron's part.
As long as he had enough time, soaking in his dimensional space for a single day could yield hundreds—if not thousands—of Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemums.
But the principle of scarcity equals value held everywhere.
To emphasize how precious the chrysanthemum was, Ron had to lay the groundwork.
Unfortunately, Ron had been nothing more than an ordinary college student in his previous life, with little business experience.
If not for the system supplying him with rare plants and giving him a monopoly over this niche, there was no way he'd be sitting across from Jasper at a negotiation table.
Jasper, unaware of Ron's true background, still believed the Chaos City Magic Academy was backing this seventh prince.
So when Ron spoke, he wasn't suspicious at all. He simply insisted, "Your Highness Ron, the Radiant Mercenary Corps was your very first partner in the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum trade. Can't we at least get a priority supply guarantee?"
"Of course you can," Ron said, placing the contract down and tapping it lightly. "But in exchange, shouldn't the mercenary corps also make some concessions?"
"I can guarantee you a priority supply of 500 chrysanthemums each month—but only if the payment is made in full upfront. That's 15,000 gold coins. Once I receive payment, I'll make sure your corps gets top priority."
Naturally, Jasper refused.
Paying such a large sum in advance was a serious burden for the Radiant Mercenary Corps.
But with the supply chain tightly controlled by Ron and the Magic Academy, Jasper didn't have many options.
After a round of negotiation, Ron eventually backed down a little.
In the end, they agreed that the Radiant Mercenary Corps would pay 10,000 gold coins upfront each month. Of the remaining 5,000, 3,000 would be paid mid-month, and the final 2,000 by the end of the month.