Glancing over and seeing the victorious grin on Sasha's face, Warren knew he had been baited. Worse, he had fallen for it completely, losing any chance he had to negotiate more favourable terms. Even so, thinking about the huge profits he stood to make at the quoted prices, Warren quickly felt better.
Smiling broadly, Warren boldly declared, "If that's the case, the Rising Sun Merchant Guild is willing to purchase as much soap from Redwood Town as it can produce. Whether is 1,000 bars, 10,000 bars, or 100,000 bars, we'll buy it all!"
Hearing this, Lucas couldn't help gulping slightly as he stood to the side, trying to make himself look inconspicuous.
At a price of 2 Silvers a bar, 100,000 bars of soap represented 20,000 Gold Coins or 2,000 Low-Rank Spirit Crystals! That was an astonishing amount of wealth, far beyond anything he had even dreamed of when he first contemplated selling soap to earn some startup capital for himself.
If even a Low-Rank Steward like Warren could instantly sign a deal for tens of thousands of Gold Coins, it was obvious just how wealthy the Rising Sun Merchant Guild behind him truly was.
Of course, forget a month, it wasn't likely Lucas could produce 100,000 bars of soap in a year. While water and krast trees were abundant, the supply of animal fats in Redwood Town was limited.
Being able to secure 400 kg of lard, tallow, and other drippings from slaughtered farm animals and hunted Wild Beasts a month was probably the limit. If he were to buy up any more than that, it would surely drive up the price of fats in Redwood Town, which would have a negative impact both on the townsfolk and his business.
Lucas wanted to avoid such a scenario as much as possible.
With that much fat, though, Lucas could only produce around 4,000 bars of soap a month.
Still, if he could regularly sell that much soap, Lucas calculated he could bring in about 700 Gold in profit a month, even after he deducted all his expenses.
Thinking about such a wonderful future, Lucas couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face, especially since he knew that soap wasn't even the star of today's show. There was another deal to be struck now, and this one was going to be even more profitable!
As Lucas was day-dreaming, Sasha was busy finalizing the deal with Warren, "We can sign an exclusive contract with the Rising Sun Merchant Guild for soap, but the local sales and peddlers who live in Redwood Town must be exempt."
Warren nodded, "As long as Lady Sasha and Redwood Town don't sell to outside merchants other than the Guild, this condition is acceptable."
"Good," Sasha smiled, satisfied with securing some space for the local merchants to operate within.
"If we are going to be conducting regular business like this, the Rising Sun Merchant Guild will also need to send caravans more regularly to Redwood Town," Warren mused before proposing, "How about in addition to the 4 regular visits we make with the main caravan, I arrange for a smaller convoy to pass through every month to pick up the finished soap."
Pondering the issue for a moment, Sasha agreed, "Very well, but please arrange for the next convoy to arrive later in the month as we need some time to increase production. We can work out a proper schedule after that."
"Not a problem," Warren agreed instantly, as this small delay didn't cause any difficulties for him. All he had to do was wait 10 to 15 extra days before earning more profits.
"As for the matter of payment…" Sasha then went on to list various different items she had agreed on with Lucas beforehand.
Lucas had 3 big shareholders in his business ventures, Charles and Sasha, Anna and Drake, and Farah. After some brief discussions, including Lucas explaining exactly what shareholders were, the adults agreed to let the boy retain 60% of the profits, while they split the other 40% amongst themselves.
Anna, Drake, Charles, and Sasha all wanted Lucas to retain a larger portion of the profits from his products as they felt like they were taking advantage of him by receiving so much, but Lucas insisted that he couldn't spend all that money himself, so it would be better used by them.
As for Farah, she had less qualms about accepting payment for her investment, a fact that Lucas actually appreciated as he felt this arrangement allowed him to keep business and personal matters better separated. Even so, Farah only accepted 10%, while the two couples took 15% each.
For this and a number of other reasons, Sasha only asked for about 50% of the payment from Steward Warren in coin, while the rest was made up for in items either she, her husband, her best friends, or Lucas wanted. The thinking was it was better to ask the Rising Sun Merchant Guild to import products directly rather than accepting coins, then looking for ways to spend those coins after.
For Steward Warren's part, he was more than happy to oblige these requests, as it was all more business for him.
After a few more minutes working out the details of the agreement, Sasha and Warren both decided to draft a formal contract and sign it later that day, before the caravan left tomorrow.
"Hahaha, it's always such a joy coming to your town, Lady Sasha!" Steward Warren laughed heartily, very pleased with the deal he had just struck. A regular exchange of 1,000 Gold per month was big business even for him, and although as a mere Steward he wouldn't be pocketing all that money himself, he would still receive a healthy commission and his standing would surely rise.
"If just this much is enough to make you satisfied, I'm not sure how you'll feel after seeing the other product I have prepared for you today," Sasha smiled brilliantly, clearly also in a good mood.
"Oh? There's more?" Warren asked curiously, wondering just what kind of good thing Sasha would pull out next.
Receiving the signal from Sasha, Lucas waved over Rebecca, one of the 2 older girls he had hired last month.
Seeing this, Rebecca nodded solemnly before picking up a small jar and spoon from Lucas' handcart and bringing them over, handing the two items very carefully to her boss.
Any normal 18-year-old girl who was being ordered around by a boy half her age would probably have felt a little unwilling, but after receiving such generous treatment from Lucas, Rebecca felt not one gram of reluctance in her heart. This was hardly surprising though, seeing how she was about to make more money today than she had in the last 2 years combined!
Just thinking about the bonus Lucas had promised her and the others almost caused Rebecca to lose control of her expression, but through sheer force-of-will she managed to maintain a serious demeanor, not wanting to embarrass her boss in front of the big-city merchant.
Accepting the jar from Rebecca, Lucas popped open its sealed lid to reveal a small amount of light-brown crystals.
Inserting the spoon into the jar, Lucas then handed it to Sasha, allowing her to make the final presentation.
"I believe Steward Warren will know what this is without any extra introductions," Sasha said confidently, handing the jar over to the middle-aged man.
Accepting the jar, Warren peered inside and could barely contain his shock as he exclaimed, "Sugar?"
"Precisely," Sasha grinned.
"Incredible," Warren mused aloud before taking the spoon and sampling the sugar.
Tasting the rich, sweet flavour, Warren couldn't help commenting, "There is a subtle extra flavour to it, but it's not offensive in any way. If anything, it adds a kind of richness and depth to it, similar to honey. This is truly a fantastic product. How did you produce this?"
"Oh, is Steward Warren asking for the secret to our products? I thought that was against the rules of the Rising Sun Merchant Guild," Sasha needled, all while secretly snickering to herself.
In the past, Sasha had been suckered by Warren's sales pitches several times and bought a number of items she really shouldn't have, a point which had annoyed her to no end. Today, she had finally flipped the table on this cunning merchant and forced him to follow her pace for a change.
"Ah," realizing the gaff he had just made, Steward Warren quickly collected himself and bowed in apology, "Forgive me for my indiscretion. Of course, the production method of our clients' products is theirs to do with as they please; however, if you are willing to sell it to me, I can offer you a fair price."
Warren wasn't joking here, as he was willing to pay almost any price if he could obtain the sugar production method from Sasha. This luxury good wasn't only extremely profitable, it was also constantly in short supply and had a near unlimited demand.
Naturally, Sasha flat-out refused, "Let's not discuss this for now. I have 12 small barrels of sugar here, all of the same quality as the sample you just tasted. Please feel free to inspect it and then offer an appropriate price."
This time, Sasha wasn't going to make the initial offering and instead wanted to see what Steward Warren's bottom line was.
Without delay, Warren walked over to Lucas' handcart and began inspecting the goods. Opening each barrel individually, he silently calculated just how much sugar was being offered by Sasha while also confirming that the quality was uniform. He didn't really think that a small Town Lady would try to pull a scam on him, but diligence and suspicion were necessary traits for any successful merchant, so he dared not slack off.
After confirming that everything Sasha told him was true, Steward Warren fell into contemplation for a short time before turning around and proposing, "How does 35 Gold per barrel sound?"
As far as Warren was concerned, this was a very fair offer, even somewhat generous, in fact. There was nowhere in the South-Western Province that produced sugar; or rather, there was nowhere in the entire Rockwell Kingdom that produced sugar. All sugar had to be imported from other kingdoms, which naturally made it quite expensive.
There were alternatives to sugar, of course, such as honey, but those were also very expensive and hard to acquire, so Warren was willing to pay a bit extra in order to secure a steady, local supply of the sweet delicacy.
To Warren's great surprise, however, Sasha didn't show the slightest hint of joy on her face at the high price he just offered; instead, she just wrinkled her brow, as if very disappointed.
"Lady Sasha," Warren attempted to bargain, "You may not know this, but recently, the Darr Kingdom discovered a new sugar production method which has increased their yields by nearly 50%. The price of importing sugar is now falling as a result, so 35 Gold per barrel here is really the best I can do."
Raising a brow, Sasha was intrigued by this piece of news. The Darr Kingdom was located directly to the east of the Rockwell Kingdom, and the noble who guarded that bordered just happened to be her grandmother, Marquess Celestina Balfour.
Naturally, as a member of the Balfour Family, Sasha was familiar with this unfriendly neighbour of the Rockwell Kingdom. Still, she didn't dwell on this point for long as it truly had very little to do with her current life and instead just let out a long sigh, "It seems Steward Warren's vision is not as sharp as I had thought. What a shame, what a shame…"
Taken aback, Warren felt slightly insulted by this comment and frowned, replying in a deeper, less friendly tone, "Are you trying to imply there is something wrong with my judgement, Lady Sasha?"
"Ha…" shaking her head, Sasha put on a big show of her exasperation before finally explaining, "This is no ordinary sugar, Steward Warren. It's High-Rank Mortal Grade Tier 2 sugar."