Chapter 213 Merchant Daughter Sharpening Nails
As Sophia Merchant Guild arrived at the main store, a flustered male clerk greeted her. He told her that they had been expecting Roisen Crown Prince's attendant.
"So, when did Roisen's customers come in?"
"They were waiting for you at the most spacious waiting room nearby. I was about to give you a message, Lady Sophia."
"Ah, I see. I'll go directly. Sir Robert, sorry about this, but would it be alright if you waited for a minute?"
"No, I'll be with you. We're both guests of Grandchester Lord, after all."
"Understood, thank you. You'll go with me then."
When he heard that the guest was from Roisen, Robert's face also looked worried.
'Father is a worrier, huh?'
"I apologize for keeping you waiting. I am Sophia, the guildmaster."
In the reception room, a man who seemed to be a servant of Gerhart, the Crown Prince of Roisen, was waiting. He stared at Sophia with an impolite gaze, slightly relaxing his facial muscles.
"I am Jilbafuchs, a servant of His Highness the Crown Prince Gerhart of Roisen. You must be the guildmaster of this place. You're quite young, aren't you? And your face looks similar to Sara from the Grandchester family. Are you related by blood?"
"Sophia, you don't have to answer such impolite questions."
Robert also entered the room from behind the door.
"Ah, is Sir Robert also with you?"
Jilbafuchs hastily stood up from his seat and bowed to Robert.
"Baron Jilbafuchs, in my territory, it's impolite to ask a young woman about her social status or family background without permission."
"Oh, I apologize for my mistake."
In this world, asking someone about their family background or social status without permission is considered rude. Since the noble family registry is publicly available at libraries and government offices, if someone claims to be a noble, it's impolite to act like you don't know who they are. Even if you didn't know, it's polite to pretend you do.
If someone's name is not in the noble family registry, it's likely they are an illegitimate child of a noble. Asking about this is also considered rude, so if someone reveals their background, it means they trust you.
This etiquette rule has been twisted, and when a high-ranking man asks a woman about her background, it's like saying "Trust me and surrender to me." It's a blatant invitation to be his lover. Saying this to a woman you just met is extremely impolite, and it's likely he looks down on her as a commoner merchant.
"Sir Robert, please stop that. Our guest is from another country and may not be familiar with Avalon's customs."
In reality, this behavior is also impolite in Roisen, but Sara decided to let it slide.
Of course, the main noble families from Roisen, like the Grandchester family, would know about the Baron of Jilbafuchs. Not just Robert, but Sara too, was aware of the Baron's reputation. The Jilbafuchs family has a long and honorable history, dating back to the time of the Odel Kingdom. Although their title is only Baron, which is relatively low, they discovered a rich gold mine on their land in the previous generation, making them one of the wealthiest noble families in Roisen.
"I see. Well, I happened to be at the Sophia Merchant Guild for a business meeting, and when I heard that our guests were from Roisen, I came to greet them. If you need anything, I'd be happy to have the Grandchester family provide it for you."
"Actually, His Highness the Crown Prince Gerhart really likes the music box that makes sounds, and he wants to buy all the songs."
"I see. I understand. Sophia, is it possible to make the purchase?"
"Yes, we have the items in stock."
Sara answered immediately. They had prepared a lot of stock for selling to nobles at the end of the hunting tournament.
"Right. Since it could also make a good gift, please deliver 3 boxes of all types to Grandchester Castle."
"Understood. We will also include the sheet music for the songs the music box plays. By the way, since the music box is not officially on sale yet, it doesn't have a name. If His Highness the Crown Prince is pleased with it, could you please ask him to give it a name?"
"I don't mind, but I can't say if His Highness will agree."
"I will give up gracefully if that happens. I know it's a bold request."
"Understood."
'But 3 boxes each? I can't say much about Father being show-offs. They really are brothers after all. I wonder if they even understand how much this is all going to cost. Since there are quite a few, it should be about 9,000 Dallas altogether.'
Most of the cost of the sound-producing boxes comes from magic stones. No matter how decorative the outside of the box is, it's almost insignificant compared to the price of the magic stones. Thanks to Sara's cheat that reduces the cost of magic stones, the actual cost is much lower. However, if she sells magical tools made with magic stones for too low a price, it could really mess up the market. That's why she's deliberately selling them at a high price.
"By the way, Baron Jilbafuchs, have you finished your business with the Sophia Merchant Guild?"
"If possible, I would like to look around the products for a while..."
It seems Baron Jilbafuchs wants to be shown around the store. However, she has absolutely no desire to accept that invitation.
"Then let me have someone from the store show you around. Please feel free to have a good look. I will take my leave now."
"Oh, uh..."
With that, Sara left with Robert in a stylish manner.
The two of them moved to the reception room closest to Sophia's office and exchanged documents regarding the wheat purchase, intentionally showing them off to the employee connected to the Commerce Guild. The wheat that the Sophia Merchant Guild bought accounted for 70% of the total wheat harvested in the Grandchester region. They purchased all the wheat except for what the Grandchester region kept in storage and what other merchant guilds or shops had already bought.
Moreover, since the amount of wheat was enormous, the Sophia Merchant Guild also signed a contract to rent a warehouse owned by the Grandchester region. Strangely, the warehouse that the Sophia Merchant Guild would rent was located suspiciously close to the Grandchester region's storage warehouse. It must be just a coincidence.
The employee who watched the contract being made gulped. After all, the amount written on the promissory note was incredibly large. If he told Kojimo at the Commerce Guild about this, it would probably cause quite a stir, like poking a hornet's nest. After all, the newcomer, Sophia Merchant Guild, had jumped to the top of wheat purchases in the Grandchester region due to their immense financial power.
The buying and selling of wheat in the Grandchester region is done based on prices set by the Grandchester region. Immediately after the harvest, the Grandchester region presents an initial price, and each shop or merchant guild then requests the amounts they want to purchase at that price.
When the initial purchase was complete, the lord would lower the price of wheat and make an offer. This way, the lord would sell all the wheat they wanted to sell until the price was lowered. The merchant guilds or businesses that wanted to buy wheat as cheaply as possible would not buy a large quantity at first, but would wait for the price to drop. However, if they waited too long, someone else would buy it all, and they would not be able to secure the quantity they needed.
It's a test of a merchant's skills to decide what price to buy at, but Sophia Merchant Guild ignored the unwritten rule and bought all the remaining wheat before the second price offer.
In the past, Grandchester's wheat was bought by many merchant guilds and businesses, with each side keeping a close eye on the other. However, Sophia Merchant Guild's appearance changed this situation entirely. It's probably that many merchant guilds and businesses will not be able to secure the quantity of wheat they need and will have to buy from Sophia Merchant Guild instead. Of course, at Sophia Merchant Guild's price.
Buying wheat itself was decided before the merchant guild was established. However, it was Sophia Merchant Guild that decided to manipulate the wheat market on this scale, which was caused by the fact that several merchant guilds and businesses had secretly agreed to lower the price of wheat through Commerce Guild over the past few years.
Sara, having received this information from Sedrick, reported it to the Marquis. The Marquis thought they should arrest the Commerce Guild members and hold them accountable, but Sara advised the Marquis that proving the collusion would be difficult. Therefore, they decided to buy up all the remaining wheat at the price set by the Grandchester territory.
The main purpose of the Sophia Merchant Guild's wheat purchases was to secretly secure wheat for stockpiling. This means that it's not a problem if the wheat doesn't sell right away. Since the Grandchester territory won't cash in the promissory notes issued by the Sophia Merchant Guild, it's perfectly fine to write any amount on those notes.
'I really think we should create a proper wheat trading market.'
Sara thought to herself, but considering that it would take about 3 years for the stockpiling to be in good shape, serious planning would have to wait until then.
Moreover, the reason they needed to urgently prepare the purchasing documents during the busy hunting tournament season was that merchants from the royal capital and other territories were visiting the Grandchester territory for the tournament. In fact, collusion was planned to take place within the Commerce Guild during this time. They needed to get ahead of them.
Thus, Sara, as Sophia, took the first step to create many enemies as planned and began to unleash the power of money.
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