“Not bad,” Elder Derris let out a deep breath after Chera left. “You held out quite well against her. It’s not every day that someone would keep their chin up while bargaining with a third-tier magi.”
“She needs us more than we need her,” Regis noted. “And besides, she obviously wants to create a good relationship with my group since we have quite a few talented spell casters on our side. Not to mention a paladin.”
“Indeed. Ah,” Derris remembered. “I forgot to mention that I met your friend a few days ago.”
“Friend,” Regis asked back puzzled. “What friend?”
“Khan,” the elderly scholar answered. “He gave me quite a fright when he just showed up with his group on our doorstep.”
“He was here? When? Why?”
“He and his companions stopped by because they hoped to find out something about your whereabouts since Jonah mentioned him that you spent quite some time here. The lad was quite surprised when I called him by his name before he even introduced himself.”
“Did he say anything? Where did he go or…”
“He didn’t stay long enough to chat,” Derris shook his head. “After he found out that you and your friends have left days before, he said that he and his ‘crew’ will head out towards the next settlement.”
“I see.”
“Don’t worry lad, he seemed to have a decent-looking group with him so I’m sure he’ll be fine. Either way, do you want to browse a few books without our new guild master’s supervision?” The old scholar said with a wink, prompting the youth to let loose a slight chuckle while heading up to the third floor of the library.
Although he had already looked through the third floor’s collection once before, he was only searching for certain books at that time. Now Regis was more open to the different subjects the books held records about, picking up one interesting-looking tome after the other. In the end, he managed to whittle the possible choices down to three books which he slipped into his satchel before returning to the old man.
“Found anything?” Derris asked, earning a slight nod just before Chera returned with a pair of leather-bound journals.
“You’re still here? Good. I was worried that you had wandered off while I was looking for these.”
“We were just having a chat,” the old scholar remarked while Regis accepted the journals, stashing them inside his satchel. “By the way; did Mayoress Tine approve any funds for the guild yet?”
Chera’s eyes twitched slightly, although it was hard to tell whether it was caused by the mention of the funds or the mayoress.
“She assured me that we will receive the promised food supplies in the following days and a monthly budget of one hundred silver as it was recorded to be the case before the war.”
“And in exchange?” Regis looked at the woman, her sigh making her frustration evident.
“Ten lesser healing potions a month.”
“What’s the usual price for a potion like that?”
“Five silver.” The annoyed answer arrived.
“Damn. In other words, she’s only supporting the guild with fifty silver and buys a pre-set number of options for a fixed price.”
“That’s the gist of it and as I mentioned before, she also expects us to sell the town hall some more for a slightly reduced price. She even has the gall to...”
“Excuse me, guild master,” the girl from the entrance now appeared at the library’s door. “A lady named Nina is here, looking for Sir Regis.”
“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” the dark elf stood up from his seat. “It was nice to see you again Elder Derris. Lady Chera.”
“Take care of yourself lad and give my regards to the others.”
“Likewise,” the guild master nodded. “And please don’t forget to send over your friend once you have discussed the matter of the alchemy ingredients.”
“I will.” The spell weaver agreed before leaving the library.
As the dark elf followed young Faye downstairs, he found Nina standing on the other side of the still-active barrier. The spellcaster apprentice opened the barrier for Regis who joined his merchant representative.
“Goodbye, Sir Regis!” Faye said with a smile, earning a slight nod from him.
“Take care, Faye.”
“I see you have a new admirer.” Nina teased him as the two walked over to the gateway where a sizeable pile of supplies was stacked up.”
“Apprentices tend to get all doe-eyed around any true spellcaster.”
“If you say so, milord.” The woman remarked before the runes of the portal lit up, sending them on their way.
“Ugh.” Nina heaved as the two got spat out of the light.
“You okay there?”
“Nothing to worry about.”
“Alright,” the dark elf remarked while looking at the pile of small crates and sacks that filled the gateway’s territory. “We should get someone to bring these…”
“Glad to see you got back in one piece,” Grego’s words filled the market square as he and a few of his fellow guards appeared from the inn. “Do you want us to take care of the supplies?”
“That would be great. Just bring them over to the warehouse and tell Tristan about it. He’ll take care of the rest.”
“Sure thing.” The guard captain agreed as he and his men each picked up something heavy looking.
“By the way; how did things go with Mayoress Tine?”
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“Surprisingly well to be honest,” the young woman claimed as they headed over to the inn. “I thought it would be harder to get a chance to meet her but as soon as I mentioned to her steward who I was representing and why I was there, he immediately informed her.”
“I take it the negotiations regarding the shop’s operation permit went well.”
“She seemed genuinely happy to have an actual magic shop open up in East Fork so soon after the war. Mayoress Tine was also impressed by your gift as well. After ironing out the details of the shop’s taxes, she immediately bought all of the spell scrolls I brought over at a standard price. Oh, and by the way; we managed to agree on a seven percent tax rate instead of the usual ten.”
“And what did she ask for in return?”
“Nothing,” Nina shook her head as they sat down at one of the tables. “If anything, she was ready to provide extra guard patrols for Scholars’ Square if it could assure you making the shop a permanent addition to the town. Having a skilled infusion enchanter and scroll scribes’ store with a side merchandise of alchemy products would surely attract a lot of business possibilities and visitors.”
“I hope you explained to her that we’re not going to sell in large quantities since I don’t have time to spend my entire day crafting.”
“I did,” his representative responded affirmingly. “I also mentioned that military enchantment orders are to take precedence over civilian ones, just to make sure she wouldn’t bother you with small tasks.”
“Speaking about the military, did you manage to talk with anyone from the royal army stationed in the town?”
“The one Sir Quentin mentioned before had already left, but I met with a battalion captain called Arnost. He was very excited to hear about your plan to accept enchanting requests. Of course, he said that he’d have to report it to his superiors so that they could allocate the necessary funds, but he reassured me that we will receive an answer in three days at most.”
“Good.” Regis sighed while handing over the journals he received from Chera.
“These are?”
“Lady Chera lent these to us. The previous guild master kept records of the prices of the different enchantments, materials and potions the guild dealt with or bought. This should help us get a better understanding of what price would be acceptable.”
“I see.” Nina nodded as she took the journals.
“She also presented me with an important trade offer.”
“Oh?”
“Long story short, the guild’s previous alchemy ingredient suppliers are dead and they’re in dire need of reagents. There are a few merchants that could get them what they need but at a ridiculous price. Since our shop is going to sell potions, she deduced that we started to grow our own plants.”
“And she wants to buy some from us?”
“Yes. She didn’t ask for a reduced price,” the dark elf mentioned the important detail. “But she hopes that we can sell them at a pre-war cost. That’s why she gave us the journals so that we could have a better understanding of the reagents’ worth. She also decided to leverage free access to the guild’s library to coax me into accepting her proposal, but I told her that she would have to talk things over with you once you got to read the journals.”
“Do you want to accept her offer?” the young woman asked. “I mean, having access to their library would indeed help Thornfells’ spellcasters in the short term, but selling our alchemical ingredients to them would cut into our earnings from potions in more ways than one.”
“I told her that even if we do decide to trade with them we wouldn’t be able to sell large amounts of ingredients. I’m sure that sooner or later she will find other suppliers if not downright buy a plot of land for their own herbal garden.”
“So it’s best for us to make the most of it while we can.” The merchant concluded faster than anticipated, earning a nod from the spell weaver.
“I’ll have to talk to Letty about the matter and I’ll likely have to build another greenhouse as well. When the time comes that Chera solves her supply shortage, an increased capacity for plant growing would only benefit us.”
“We could always sell the extra reagents to other guilds or look for a few apprentice alchemists to settle down in Thornfell. I’m sure that the prospect of steady supplies and a safe home would be appealing to many.”
“I…”
“There you are, milord,” Tristan cut into their conversation, walking through the entrance of the inn. “Sir Grego informed me of your return and we have already sorted out the supplies Miss Nina bought. If I may be so bold; how did things go at East Fork?”
“I’ll let Nina tell you about it,” Regis shifted his responsibility to the young woman at light speed. “I have to talk to Letty and deal with a few other important things before the sun sets.”
“Of course, sir.” His steward nodded while stepping aside to let the spell weaver leave.
Regis made his way outside the village, receiving a couple of nods from the villagers along the way. He found Letty and young Lunet at the greenhouse. They were in the middle of watering some of the more common alchemic flowers when they noticed the arriving dark elf.
“You’re back,” Letty said with an obvious relief in her tone. “How did it go?”
“Nina managed to iron things out with the mayoress and I fixed up the shop with some proper defensive enchantments. There is however something I’d like to talk with you about.”
Letty’s expression took on a slightly sombre hue as she heard those words. Regis went ahead and explained the situation of the guild and Chera’s proposal. By the end of the explanation, she was more pensive than worried.
“Do you think we could do it? Should we do it?”
“It would increase the time we’d have to spend attending to the plants, but I’m sure that I could ask my sister or Valerie to help until we find someone more permanent,” the wannabe druid hummed. “But we would need…”
“Another greenhouse,” the spell weaver nodded. “I know. ‘I’m thinking of building one just like this and connecting the two.”
“Wouldn’t that take a lot of time?”
“I should be able to at least construct the basement and the frame if I start now. The rest could be finished tomorrow.”
True to his word, the dark elf left the two nature mages and walked a few meters to the right from the greenhouse. Spell after spell was cast as the ground sank and hardened to create the basement that was then dotted along the middle by a few stone pillars before being covered with a feet-thick hard stone floor. Short walls were raised along the edge of the stone floor, followed by the columns that interconnected to create a roof frame similar to the other greenhouse.
He then connected the two buildings with a corridor. By the time the dark elf finished the frame and grew a few dozen large quartz crystals, the sun had already disappeared from the sky. ‘I should get going.’ The spell weaver thought as he realized that he was all alone. Upon his return to the inn, he was greeted with a warm meal as well as a nervous-looking Tristan.
“There you are milord,” his steward said with a relieved tone. “I was starting to get worried when you haven’t returned for so long. Your elven friend had already come back more than an hour ago, saying that you were in the middle of some ‘construction’ magic.”
“I was building a second greenhouse so that we could increase our alchemical ingredient yield. I’m sure Nina had already filled you in on the details about Lady Chera’s trade proposition.”
“She did,” the young man nodded with a newfound vigour as the matter was brought up. “I believe it to be an excellent opportunity to form ties with the spellcasters’ guild. It would also be an excellent source of coins. From what I was told, Nina managed to sell the scrolls you gave her for two gold and nine silver, which she nearly immediately spent along with the rest of the money she received from you. According to her, it was just barely enough to cover the price of the necessary supplies.”
“So we’re broke once again,” Regis sighed, sitting down at one of the corner tables as Mary brought out a bowl of warm soup. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” The cheerful lass quipped as she placed down the bowl. “And thanks for the cooking supplies. I know they’re not really essential, but having some proper salt is a life-saver.”
“Salt? Is that all you asked for?”
“I also wanted an iron baking tray along with a flat frying pan and a wok, but they don’t seem to know what either of those are.”
“We’ll try to set you up with something later. Just ask for a couple of iron bars next time, or better yet, steel.”
“About the supplies,” Tristan cut into their conversation. “I know that it’s still early to talk about this, but both Nina and I have a couple of ideas about the inner trade structure of Thornfell, mostly about the food supplies and general goods.”