"If you know who I am, would you mind cutting the pleasantries up? I still have other matters to attend to so I would strike the deal and move on."

Annoyed by a typical welcome from the local powerhouse, Xyenna rebuked him harshly. While it was along the line of her character, she did it only because Mike already advised her to do so. For his reason though… She had no idea!

'Uhm, I see. Let's get to it then. What kind of proposition are you coming to me with, young lady?"

Pushed out of scenario he prepared in his mind, Noble got a little confused. Years of hard negotiations swiftly made him regain his composure. Putting the quill away and laying his hands on the table, he looked at Xyenna and waited.

"At first, just to fulfil the formal requirements, here is my deed, that allows me to speak in the name of my Employer. I won't ask you to sign it yet, but if we manage to shake the deal, it is going to be a necessary part."

Young swordmistress pulled a small piece of paper. It was already signed by Mike and herself and was missing one signature in the bottom right corner. Without it, no matter what they managed to come up with, the deal would only be between Xyenna and the Noble, without any participation of Mike in it.

"As for the deal, I'm tasked to bring here. My employer would like to acquire certain storage space in the city, unified tax on the wares he will be bringing here as well as the help of the locals with setting up the distribution pavilions in the nearby villages. What's more, the downflow of the wares will be guaranteed and secured by the faction you govern, so that the business deeper in the country won't be thwarted."

At this point, Xyenna took yet another paper from her pouch, outlying all the details regarding Mike demands. Taking a deep breath, she moved back a bit and continued.

"Of course, we aren't asking for all of this to be free. We propose to set the customs at the five percent of all the trade flowing through and at the ten percent of all the trade done locally."

"Five and ten percent? Don't you take the taxes too lightly?"

Nobleman giggled softly. After taking a pitying look at the young girl, he extended his arm and in the direction of the gate.

"Villages spread around the vicinity are paying me 40% of their total income. Those farther away have it easier in that regard. Due to the increased risk of banditry, longer routes for supplies etc, their tax is set only at thirty-five percent. Considering those numbers, don't you think that your proposition is just a funny prank?"

"While what you said might be true, there are a lot of details you omitted. Those lands belong to your faction in the first place, obviously influencing the rate of tax. What's more, you need to pay up huge sums just to take care of their security, you are the one responsible for taking care of them in case of disasters as well."

Xyenna listed out a few things while counting them on her fingers to enhance the effect of her speech.

"I won't say that the tax you forced on them is just, I'm only implying that there are reasons behind it being so big. But we are speaking about foreign investment. Not only we will pay the respective fees for the storage, but all the pavilions I mentioned before will also be built at our cost. There are no costs for your side, so what kind of problem do you have with the taxes I offered?"

"By letting you guys trade here, I put at risk our own farms. From what my subordinates told me, you are willing to go against the entirety of the merchant's community, by establishing a stable trade route. That will hurt our customs income from said trade as well. I still think that those costs should be included in the tax. What do you say about 20 percent for local and fifteen percent for the outflowing one?"

Nobleman leaned back at his chair backrest, apparently satisfied with the argument he came up with. What he didn't expect though, was an amiable smile on Xyenna face!

"You are not producing big amounts of food right now anyway. How do you think our trade could hurt those abandoned villages?"

The girl outright laughed here. Despite being deprived of her weapon, she had still a lot of means at her disposal, so she didn't worry about insulting her negotiating rival in this way.

"You call that costs, but I call it savings. With our route established here, the cost of food will significantly fall, decreasing the costs you have on supplying those poor farms! What's more, using this city as a distribution point of our trade route would seriously liven up the area. What we are offering is not a deal but a god sent occasion for you, asking only for reasonable terms in return!

"You say that this is an occasion while ignoring the risk factor. What if you don't succeed? Making this kind of deal with you would spoil my faction relations with other merchants. As you are a guard of the trader, you certainly know how crafty this bunch is! They will surely find a way to make things hard for us!"

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The Lord suddenly stood up, circumvented his desk and stood at the window.

"This beautiful place is already plagued by faction conflict, impoverished by stupid war and treated by people like your employer by nothing but a place to squeeze the gold from. I won't allow you to destroy my hometown with your petty tricks and ideas! I won't let you undermine the power we have ower the farmlands and this city!"

"Well, if you are reluctant to do the business with us, then why bother debating over the tax? I will just leave the matters in my employer's hands and count that he will strike a nice deal with the City Hall. Whoever will be the local patron of our business will reap great profits from it and enjoy increased popularity amongst the city folk. It's not like we are forced to settle on you guys!"

Standing up, Xyenna replied. She fixed her clothes and turned around to leave.

"Don't you try threatening me with those fuckers!"

Suddenly angered, Nobleman turned around and lashed out at Xyenna.

"And how the hell is your employer supposed to negotiate with the city hall? From what I know, he lies in bed with a poor condition!"

There was a smug smile on this despicable guy face. While he didn't give any vital pieces of information about the incident, his attitude made apparent who dirtied his hands in poisoning Mike!

"If you want to flaunt the City Hall in front of my eyes, you can as well scram! We can deal with them by ourselves, even if you somehow managed to strike a deal with them!"

"I just realised that we stopped talking about the business at all!"

Happy that her provocation played well, Xyenna turned back at stared at the Noble with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"You BELIVE that my employer is sick. If you want, then take your time to order someone to check on him. You will find it surprising that his bed is empty!"

After taking a few deep breaths, young swordmistress calmed herself, making her face return to its usual cold self.

"Right now, we are more inclined to work with you only because of this stupid duel matter. I didn't kill that stupid guard just because it would effectively close our window to negotiate with them. Right now, people think that we are supporting you. Do you know what will happen if I surrender?"

Negotiations were a game of shadows and lies. Suggesting that the duel wasn't caused by her real intention to kill that stupid guy back then, must've made this Nobleman think about all the other possibilities!

Just by trapping him in this specific line of thought, made him a lot more vulnerable to another attack!

"And well. You might be right about City Hall. There is a chance that we won't be able to strike the deal with them. But trust me, we have a way to make this trade route happen, be it with your help or just by employing Xantia brotherhood to our case. From what I heard, their fees aren't that high…"

It was as if sudden lightning struck the nobleman. While Xantia was a local force ruling over Latavia from the shadows, everyone around knew that once their prowess. Just by controlling a damn city, they proved their worth!

"You are lying. There is no way you will even be able to contact them! Stop threatening me, or I will make sure that neither one of you will leave this city!"

Finally taking the whole negotiation seriously, nobleman replied with a grim voice, while raising his right hand slightly into the air. It was obvious that if he were to drop it, Xyenna would be in deep trouble!

"We came from the west, yet somehow we can flaunt the Xantia name. This is my first visit to the city, so frankly speaking - I have no clue what do they amount to. But considering your reaction, using this chip made you reconsider the situation. Now, the question. How do you think my employer could be so sure I will be able to bend you to my will just by using this single word?"

While her body started heating up after sensing the aura of danger, Xyenna remained calm on the outside. Even if she would manage to escape the building, with the whole faction on their tails, making the business in the City would be nigh impossible. The only way out of her predicament was successfully closing the deal!

On the other hand, nobleman appeared to be fighting with his own thoughts. Still holding his hand in the air, he looked between Xyenna and the beautiful landscape he was admiring before.

"Mike… Is that possible?"

His slight mutter didn't escape girls ears. Apparently, this name rang some kind of bell in his head!

'Just who the hell he is!' The merchants face appeared in front of swordmistress eyes. He was full of secrets and rarely spoke about himself, but the deeper they got into the kingdom, the greater his past seemed to be. At this point, Xyenna couldn't even make a guess!

"Okay then. Fifteen percent from the local trade, five percent for the outflowing one. I can't possibly get any lower. While what you said about making the business here is true, securing your trade will be a hard task to tackle. If the City Hall realise that we are making a great profit from Your investments, they are sure to interfere in it, hence the higher custom rate. Do we have a deal?"

After a short while of battling his own thoughts, nobleman finally calmed himself and made the decision. Slowly lowering his hand, he extended it to the girl, intending to confirm the details traditionally, before writing them all down. To his surprise, his counterpart only smiled and pulled out yet another piece of paper from her pouch!

"This… No, its no use thinking about it. It's definitely him!"

This small mutter was the last thing that preceded his hand putting a signature on the paper.