Chapter 400 Before The Storm...
Sophia received a ton of invitations to tea parties and evening gatherings from noble families.
However, this situation was quite unusual. Typically, even lower-ranked noble families would "summon" merchants instead of just "inviting" them, unless they had a close relationship. Many noble families wanted to summon the Sophia Merchant Guild to their homes. However, since the Guild only had a store in Grandchester, they could not be summoned.
As a result, noble families turned to their usual merchants and asked them to buy products from the Sophia Merchant Guild. Of course, these merchants tried to negotiate for lower prices by promising to buy in bulk. However, the Sophia Merchant Guild rejected all these offers.
Being newly established, they did not have enough stock to sell in large quantities. With more demand than supply, agreeing to bulk purchases did not help the Guild. They focused on the rarity of their products and refused to negotiate discounts.
Because of this, merchants hired by noble families had to buy all products from the Sophia Merchant Guild's main store at full price. They then transported these goods to the royal capital for the nobles. This process made the products more expensive due to added handling and transportation costs.
As a result, merchants could not earn large profits from reselling. The Sophia Merchant Guild provided a product catalog, so nobles were aware of the original prices, making it clear how much profit the merchants were making. For these official merchants, dealing with the Sophia Merchant Guild was more about serving their customers, and they could only add a small fee to avoid losing money.
In such a situation, a rumor suddenly spread through high society.
'Sophia is coming to the royal capital to attend Lady Sara's birthday party. It seems she will be staying at the Grandchester estate's annex.'
In fact, this information was intentionally leaked by Marquis Grandchester. He casually mixed in details during conversations with a chatty acquaintance, saying things like, "We're having my granddaughter's birthday party in the royal capital," "We decided to rent a hall owned by the Duke Arbal family for the venue," and "Sophia is coming to the royal capital for preparations." He also talked about preparations at his estate and using local workers for the event.
The key point is not just that the Sophia Merchant Guild is opening a store, but that Sophia is coming to the royal capital. She is likely attending to celebrate her relative, Sara. Since she is a guest of the Grandchester family, other noble families trying to invite her would be seen as disrespectful. Therefore, if you want to connect with Sophia, you should invite her to your home in a polite manner.
"There's more than I expected."
In the guesthouse where Sophia is supposed to be staying, Sara, still looking like an 8-year-old, was carefully examining the stack of invitations one by one. Next to her was Chloe, and golems shaped like the 3 gods were also present.
"There are a lot of invitations to join you, Sara. It seems that participating in the Jasmine dress tea party made a big impact. I messed up a bit, though."
"Wasn't it you, Chloe, who messed up first with Lady Evans?"
"That was just a greeting. It doesn't count as messing up."
"This is why I hate high society..."
"Well, I also regret being too hasty. I showed off the Sophia Merchant Guild dress without enough preparation. Sara must have felt uncomfortable too. I didn't expect Jasmine to be so rude."
Chloe looked a little downcast.
"Don't worry about it. Honestly, just because you flirted a little with other designers, it's proof that Jasmine is feeling stressed to act that way towards you, who should have been your top clients, Chloe. Unless one sets a dress code beforehand, I have no reason to be criticized."
"Oh, does that mean you think my influence is that big?"
"Jasmine's dresses are mostly designed for adult women, not girls like Chloe and me. Sure, Chloe is a Marquis's daughter and has a lot of influence, but it shouldn't have been something to get upset over."
"That's true."
"She might be getting arrogant thinking she's the top designer. Just because she didn't like something small, she easily cut off a big client. She probably thinks there are many noble women who support her, but with that attitude, Duke Arbal's family might also distance themselves from Jasmine. Plus, pointing out our lack of skills is like giving your enemy an advantage. It's foolish to help your enemy just to feel superior for a moment."
"So, that means Patricia, who rode on that and mocked the craftsmen of the Grandchester territory, is even more foolish, right? Hehehe."
"Wait, Chloe, your face looks scary."
Sara is taken aback by Chloe's sly and dark smile.
"Hey, Sara, do you remember what I said at Jasmine's tea party?"
"Which part?"
"Um, maybe the part about 'revitalizing industries for the people'?"
"Oh, that cool line!"
"I know it's a case of words exchanged for words, but isn't it true?"
"That's true, but I feel like we have no choice but to focus on 'nurturing craftsmen while listening to customer feedback' since skills don't just appear out of nowhere. I wanted to debut after a bit more behind-the-scenes work."
"I feel sorry about that. So, I have a suggestion: how about creating a group of 'a few' young ladies who will help set trends together?"
"What do you mean?"
"I want the young ladies in the group to participate in product idea meetings and try out products early. Nobles love 'special' things, so I think they would make a big fuss if they knew there were things only they could get. Like limited edition perfumes or cosmetics."
"So, you want to create a special member system. But, won't there be conflicts?"
"Other merchant guilds are already doing member-exclusive product sales."
'It's true that having a place to hear opinions directly from other noble young ladies is good.'
Sara liked Chloe's idea. In her previous life, product development often involved getting help from early monitors. Membership systems were also common.
"So, Chloe, you want to create a faction for you to compete for the prince's favor?"
"I'm not trying to do anything bad to the Sophia Merchant Guild, so please cooperate."
"Of course, I can't just sell everything in the beauty department."
"That's obvious. If the products sold to the public aren't great, no one will be excited about the limited editions."
"So, you want to make it feel like 'only a select few can buy the highest quality products'?"
"Exactly, Sara. You understand well. And I have a request."
"What is it?"
"I want to rank the members. I want the highest-ranked members to have the right to receive rejuvenation treatments."
"Chloe... I really think you have the qualities to be a princess. You seem to have a talent for business too, but that's not really what you want, so let's set that aside for now. However, the magic potion isn't finished yet, and I don't have a proper counseling system in place, so let's take things step by step."
"Yeah."
While talking with Chloe, Sara opened invitation letters one by one, calmly making a list and writing replies. The golems helped by checking the invitations, creating the list, and writing replies in Sophia's handwriting. They politely declined about 90% of the invitations, but some nobles wanted to think it over, so those were on hold.
"Oh, are you going to decline that invitation too?"
"The ball is a big burden. I need a partner."
"But there are many nobles who would want to be your partner."
"That's why it's a hassle. At the Grandchester Castle ball, I even got invited by a lover."
"Wasn't Daniel your partner?"
"It felt like they were looking down on him because he's a former commoner knight. Daniel can't really say much because of his position, and Sophia has to smile politely since she's a commoner too."
"I see. Being a beauty is tough."
"Chloe, you're not in a different situation."
"We have a few more years, so I need to become the top candidate for princess by then."
Suddenly, Mike and Pochi appeared out of nowhere, and when they noticed Chloe, they wrapped themselves in magic to look like normal humans.
"Hey, Sara, there's a weird guy in the spatial storage. What's going on!?"
"Who is that creepy guy!?"
Seeing the fairy suddenly appear in the air, Chloe's eyes widened in shock.
"Sara, there are like dogs and cats floating, am I tired or something?"
"Chloe, you're fine, so relax. These kids are fairies that formed a bond with me."
"Oh, the fairies who drank with Grandfather, right?"
"That's me!"
Mike jumped onto Chloe's shoulder. Seeing that, Pochi took a lying down position on Sara's shoulder.
"So, why are you in such a hurry? Why are you peeking into my space storage?"
"I was thinking of getting a little drink...?"
"Seriously?"
"More importantly, the furry one is making a big fuss about wanting to go outside."
"A big fuss... oh, I totally forgot about Musashi!"
"What is that? It's neither human nor fairy."
"It's a soul that got caught up in my reincarnation, or rather, it just followed me. It looked so worn out that if I left him alone, he might disappear, so I put him into a stuffed animal golem for now. I need to pour magic into him to fix him for a while."
"Hmm? It's not reincarnated since he hasn't taken a body, but is it a person?"
"That's mostly right, but it's more like a ghost or a spirit."
"Aaaaa!"
Chloe screamed after hearing Sara's explanation.
"Hey Chloe, don't be so surprised."
"I was the one surprised! Sara, you have a ghost as a pet?"
"I didn't choose to keep it. I had to pick it up by chance, but now that I have, I feel like I should take responsibility."
"Only Sara would talk about a ghost like it's a discarded pet."
"Well, anyway, I guess I should bring it over."
"Noooooo!"
Chloe hid behind Maestoso, who was writing nearby, and peeked at Sara. While glancing at Chloe, Sara reached into her space storage and pulled out Musashi.
"Hey, little lady, finally!"
"Sorry, I totally forgot."
"So, where are we?"
"We're at the Marquis Grandchester's villa in the royal capital."
"Oh right, you're the daughter of the Grandchester family."
"Not exactly. My dad is the third son of Marquis Grandchester, so I'm just the granddaughter. My status is commoner. The real daughter of the Marquis Grandchester family is Chloe over there."
"Oh, I saw her at the dinner party."
Musashi walked over to Chloe, bowing in a way that looked like a mix of a bow and a scrape, despite having short arms and legs.
"Nice to meet you, Marquis Grandchester's daughter. I'm Musashi."
"Um, nice to meet you?"
Chloe stared at Musashi with a confused look because Musashi looked unexpectedly cute.
"Ah, Chloe, don't fall for his tricks. He's a scammer."
"Really!?"
"I'm not a scammer!"
Musashi stomped his feet in protest, but it barely made a sound on the carpet, like a stuffed animal bouncing around.
"Also, he was just possessing His Majesty the King of Avalon until recently. I pulled him out at the end of last night's dinner party and tossed him into the stuffed animal."
"Possessing His Majesty?!"
"Over the past few years, if His Majesty the King's personality has changed, it's definitely because of this guy."
"By the way, I think my parents might have mentioned something like that?"
Chloe replied while tilting her head.
"So, what are you planning to do with Musashi, Sara?"
Pochi floated over to Musashi's head, and Mike landed on the floor, looking suspicious as he stared at Musashi.
"I'm going to pour magic into him and fix his soul, then send him back to his world. I think he'll get a new life."
"Why is Sara doing it?"
"It seems like the god of this world wanted to erase Musashi. I felt sorry for him, so I decided to help. Plus, it might be dangerous to just throw a con artist out there."
"Ah, I get that."
Mike snorted.
At that moment, Marcato's golem approached. Seeing it, Musashi hurriedly ran over to Sara.
"Eek! I'm going to be erased!"
"Oh, sorry. Musashi, that's a golem modeled after a god. It can't erase you."
"Why does it look like a god?"
"I'm not good at creating original designs."
Sara hesitated to say that it might become an evil god.
"Sophia needs to head to the Commerce Guild soon. What should we do?"
Without paying attention to Musashi and Sara's conversation, Marcato's golem spoke to Sara.
"It's already this late. I have to go."
Sophia had been declining invitations from nobles due to her busy schedule. She had important meetings in the royal capital, and even the royal palace dinner was seen as an inconvenience for her and Sara. Although she was supposed to visit the Commerce Guild at that time, she couldn't refuse the king's invitation, so she had to adjust her plans. This meant leaving the chaotic Grandchester estate, which was filled with fairies and Musashi, to head to the Commerce Guild.
Meanwhile, the guild executives were surprised to learn of her invitation to the royal palace, as it is quite challenging for merchants to gain the king's attention. Despite being a local guildmaster of a new merchant guild, Sophia received a personal invitation from King Avalon, even if it was mainly to accompany the Grandchester family's daughter.
'I thought it was just a random merchant guild, but the king personally invited her. Can't underestimate them.'
'Is it true that she's the mistress of Marquis Grandchester?'
'No, no, I heard she's a relative on her mother's side. They say she looks just like her.'
'More importantly, the issue is that they bought up all the wheat from the Grandchester territory this year.'
'If we failed to collude, then that's just how it is.'
'The price of wheat has already started to soar!!'
'In any case, we must meet as soon as possible. It's not wise to provoke her. If their connections with the king and the Grandchester family are strong, we have no choice but to welcome them politely.'
The executives of the Commerce Guild were struggling to figure out how to deal with a female merchant named Sophia, who appeared like a shooting star. However, they all understood the need to meet Sophia quickly and agreed to meet her this afternoon.
* * *
The Commerce Guild in the royal capital is located in a sturdy stone building. However, it doesn't have a rough atmosphere at all; the walls are finished with decorative white plaster. The doors and windows are elegantly designed with wrought iron, ensuring good security.
"This is definitely the Commerce Guild of the royal capital."
Sara, who got off the carriage as Sophia, whispered quietly to Daniel, who helped her down. There were 2 guards standing in front of the door, and they didn't seem to be just for show.
"It's much bigger than the Grandchester territory."
"It really is the center of Avalon. Still, it's not overwhelming."
When Sophia stood in front of the door, one of the guards asked her who she was.
"I am Sophia, running the Sophia Merchant Guild in the Grandchester territory. I am here to attend a meeting."
"Yes, we've been informed. Please go inside and wait at the reception."
And so, Sophia finally stepped into the Commerce Guild of the royal capital.
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