Chapter 82 An Act Of Business

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 The setting is adapted to the book.

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"Fluffy..."

 It's a warm and pleasant day, which makes me yawn. It's not that I'm lazy.

 But I'm a businessman, so I'm busy every day.

 Yesterday I inspected the shops in King's Landing and the shops in the town of the Red Tower, and today I'm inspecting the ports of the Principality of Astarica.

You can use [[Space-time Magic(A)]] to move from one place to another, so you can go to any place you've been in an instant.

"Master, last night was intense..."

"It was more intense than ever, even I couldn't stand on my feet, Lord."

"I unintentionally cast a recovery spell on myself, Grose-san."

"Wow..."

"The husband-sama looked like a beast..."

 Well, I hardly slept at all last night, so that might be the reason for my yawning.

"Master, it appears that a galleon has made port."

 The harbor of the Principality of Astarica had only a stone pier built by Sailor at first, but now two wooden piers have been built, and a third is under construction.

 So much business is going on that many ships are using the port every day.

"Shall we go to the harbor to see the galleons?"

 When we went to the port to see the galleon, we found many people and cargoes coming and going from other ships.

"It's so vibrant."

"There are also ships coming from the Kingdom of Felt, the Grand Duchy of Ikuma, the Land of Water, and others."

 Sailor tells us about the flag on the ship. The flag of the country and the emblem of the trade association or group to which the ship belongs are displayed on the ship.

"Lord, you're in some kind of trouble!"

 Lethia spotted the crowd and happily pulled my hand.

 As I approached, I saw that there was indeed some trouble and two men were arguing with each other.

"We are the ambassadors of the Kingdom of Felt!"

 It seems that the one who is shouting in a fierce manner is a representative of the Felt Kingdom's delegation.

"I am not willing to tolerate the lawlessness of any country's delegation asking for half-price goods."

 He's served by my squire, a beast of a cow named Saruman. He's big and strong but weak against ships so he runs the trading post as Saera's assistant.

 We were looking at -sama-ko for a while, but we heard that the delegation bargained with him after they arrived at the port, had a business meeting, signed a contract, and loaded the cargo. And at half price.

"No, you can't get us anywhere! I want the man in charge!"

 A member of the mission, an envoy to Edinburgh, was negotiating with Salmer, but he became frustrated with Salmer's refusal to take a step back.

 It's no use, I'll get out of here.

"Salmer-san, what is it?"

"Director of the Saela Trading Post."

 But then Saera came out. I took a step and my foot went ....

"Hey, girl. Is that the head of the trading post?"

"My name is Saera, I am the head of the Hendler Chamber of Commerce of the Principality of Astarica."

 Saera bowed to the Edinburgh envoy.

"I am an envoy of the Felt Kingdom Mission! This person is not worth talking to."

 Saera listened to what Sarumar and the Edinburgh envoy had to say and nodded her head.

Then that amount will be fine.

"Director of Commerce!"

"You know what I'm talking about! Hahahahaha."

 Laughing, the Edinburgh envoy puts the money in Saela's hand, pressing the leather bag containing the money against it.

"Sarumar-san, please ensure that you do not sell any goods to the ships of the Felt Kingdom in the future."

 Saera's words surprised Sarumar as much as they did me.

"May I?"

"No problem. There are plenty of other places to sell it besides the Felt Kingdom."

 Perhaps overhearing the conversation, the Edinburgh envoy turned around.

"Understood, sir. I will make sure that no goods are sold to the ships of the Felt Kingdom."

"Can't you wait a minute!"

 The Edinburgh envoy has intervened.

"Why don't you sell your goods to us?"

 I can see you're in a hurry.

"No matter how much of a special envoy-sama you are, please don't interfere in the management of my trading house."

"No, shut up! I'm asking you why you don't sell goods to us!"

"As a country that doesn't know the first thing about business, we've decided that you're not a suitable business partner."

"You-sama, you taunt my country!"

"Isn't it the Edinburgh envoy who is taunting you?"

"What the hell?"

"Negotiating a discount after the contract is signed and the cargo is loaded? You don't even know the first thing about business. Please leave your imitation of a merchant to someone else."

 Oh, Saera's dare!

 Edinburgh's envoy is pouting with his mouth hanging open. Oh, no.

"What, what, what, what! You're insulting me!"

 The Edinburgh envoy is so indignant that this is what it means to be upset.

"I shall never see the Edinburgh envoy again, sir, but good day to you."

 Saera cut the Edinburgh envoy loose.

 In Japan, some people act as if they think that customer-sama is god-sama, but I don't think so.

 I believe that there is no superiority or inferiority between the provider of a product or service and the buyer who pays for it.

 That's why I don't think that the customer is unilaterally superior to the customer since I was in Japan.

 It is the customer who decides whether or not to buy a product, but if he buys a product, it is natural for him to pay for it, and if he does not like the product he bought, he should not buy it again.

 Because it is the customers who are troubled by the lack of products that they buy out of necessity or for the sake of business.

 Of course, before signing a contract, you can have a tough negotiation on the price and check the quality of the goods.

 If the seller has a policy of not accepting any price negotiation, the seller does not make any profit just because there is no contract.

 It is difficult to continue business without a win-win relationship, unless you can make a good deal with each other, considering the balance of supply and demand.

"No, wait! This is an international incident!"

"What about it?"

 I like the way you turn it around.

 Well, we can't keep saying that. It's time to take another step.

"Saera."

 I waded through the wild horses and called out to Saera.

"Mr. Shang! When did you get here?

"I just got here."

"Hey, you-sama, you're her boss!"

 The Edinburgh envoy's had a bit of a bump in the road and he's come at me.

"Yes, but which one of you is sama?"

"I am an envoy of the Kingdom of Felt! That woman has insulted me! This is an international matter!"

"There are no government officials here. If it's an international issue, you should go elsewhere and sue."

"What?"

 I cut the Edinburgh envoy loose. I'm going to be the villain because if I don't, Saera will be the villain when this becomes a real international problem.

 Besides, I wanted to try it.

"Saera, I need to check your recent accounts. We're going to the trading post."

"Yes."

"All right, all right, everybody out! The spectacle is over!"

 I walked to the trading post with Saera and Sarumar.

Wait! No, wait, please..."

"Do you have anything more for me?"

"I'll pay the rest of the bill. So you can pretend the suspension never happened."

 It's been a year since we opened this port. There's more to the Felt Kingdom than just booze.

 I can imagine the chaos that would ensue in the Felt Kingdom if the distribution of those goods were halted.

 When I was harassed by the deputy's aide in the town of the Red Tower, I stopped the distribution and there was a lot of confusion and commotion in the capital where the goods were distributed.

 And they are doing the same thing to other countries.

 I looked at Saella and smiled at her.

"Saera, what are the penalties for breach of contract?"

 Edinburgh's envoy nodded his head.

"Yes, in the event of a breach of contract, you are to pay thirty times the amount due under the contract."

"Edinburgh envoy, that's what it is."

"..."

 I don't think you're getting it.

"Don't you understand? Instead of accepting your unilateral offer to change the contract, we decided to suspend our business with you. Since the contract has already been concluded, you can just leave."

 Then the Edinburgh envoy's face turns black and white.

"If you break the agreement, you will be required to pay thirty times the amount of the contract."

"No, you idiot! There's no contract anywhere that says we have to stop doing business with our country!"

"Yes. But you did not pay your contract with my company. You acknowledge that, don't you?"

"Ugh!"

 If there is no contract, they can say what they want, and if they say it is what they contracted, they can charge 30 times the face value of the contract.

 You may have done the same thing before, but we won't let you do that in this port.

 In this business, there's no shortage of people who'll do the same thing to you. So we take a firm stand.

 I don't know what Edinburgh's envoy will make of it, but I hope he'll start a rumor that we'll be hurt if we lick Hendler's lips.

 If the number of such people decreases, that's all that matters.

 If the Felt Kingdom wants to make it an international issue, then so be it. I'll take the responsibility for that, but don't think that you'll be left to say whatever you want, even if the other party is a major power.

 I return sincerity with sincerity, but I'm not so good-natured as to show mercy to my adversaries.

 Well, I don't know how much power the Edinburgh envoy has, but I don't think it will be an international problem because I don't think the state will get involved in business dealings.

 In the end, the Edinburgh envoy paid thirty times as much.

 Let's hope this teaches the Edinburgh envoy a lesson.

"Well done Saera and Salmer. You've got to take a stand against them. Ignore the powers that be."

""Thank you very much. Chairman of the Board of Trade.""

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