The restaurant's exterior was well-designed, and I noticed that I was one of many B rankers. In fact, the door guard was also a person who seemed to have recently broken through, much to my surprise. It was a Succubus that seemed to be a little illusionary, and she smiled as I walked up. "Do you have an appointment?" The Door guard said with a smile.
"Yes, I am meeting in Private room three; I believe my business associate told me to be there," I told her as if I was blindly meeting a new business acquaintance, and she looked down at her desk and then nodded.
"They are waiting for a single Beast-kin race that is not specified. If they wanted to be more specific, they would have been. You may enter, but no fighting. This establishment is for business dealings only, and we are very serious about enforcing this rule. If you fail to remember this, you may not leave your life intact. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy your meal, Adventurer. We welcome you here anytime~!" The Succubus finished with a smile, and I nodded.
I walked into the establishment, and it was just hallways and rooms. I could smell the food and see the enchantments blocking all other ability to see what was inside the rooms, and I loved this place already. I was actually jealous of the amount of secrets you could learn in a place like this if it was properly run. But I could see many enchantments hiding that. Plus, if you were spying on people in this place, you would have a lot of very powerful people after you.
Only A rankers had more power.
The normal movers and shakers in this world seemed to be people at the B rank. It was such an odd world, in my opinion, and the structures here were flexible. C rankers were important, too. I remembered that I still owed protection to Freya's father, Marquis Ironstrand. As a B ranker, I was already higher than he needed. C rank was a challenge to achieve in its own right.
I finally reached the door, and she glowed suddenly. I knew I was in a partial illusion. I felt out with my mana, and everything disappeared. Everything was the same except for the glow of the door. I pushed it open, and I saw 'Daddy' sitting and waiting with a large cigar-looking thing in his mouth, and he smiled.
"Your training has proved to be a lot of fun. She is still just as defiant to others but malleable in my hands. Thank you," 'Daddy' said as I entered, and I nodded.
"I expected as such. It was a rush job, but enough for a weak-minded woman like her. If she just took the time to train herself a little, she would have an overflowing amount of talent that is wasted on her. Seriously," I sneered with disgust, and he chuckled.
"Would you like a smoke?" 'Daddy' said, opening a box. This is Timber Leaf. You do not inhale it; instead, you let the smoke rest in your mouth before blowing it out. It has just come into fashion very recently in the Demon Lands. I decided to share some while we discuss business in hopes of clearing up any bad blood."
I took the Cigar-looking thing from him, and he handed me a flaming stick, and I dragged and puffed out the smoke. A rich flavor hit my tongue that almost made me moan as I moved to sit down, and I smiled as the flavor was amazing. It was a flavor I could not quite identify, but my instincts told me it was okay, and I blew out the smoke and grinned, "Honestly, what I have is more valuable than I originally expected, 'Daddy.' In fact, it is also hotter than I was expecting."
He frowned, pulled from the timber leaf, and looked at me. "How hot?"
"Hot enough that you might want to spread it around into richer areas around the nation before selling. Sending it to other nations would significantly be to your advantage."
"That will affect how much I give you," He said, and I pulled on the timber leaf, allowing the flavor in my mouth to settle before blowing it out. "I know, but they are various expensive pieces that should be easily sold to rich assholes and nobles. In fact," I took another pull and blew it out, "I think if you take it to the Empire, you could make a shit load more than it would be worth here, although I could be wrong."
"So luxury goods and things with high value," he frowned. I will need to look at things directly before we move forward. Do you have a list?
I passed him a note listing the various inventory I was looking to sell him. It should be enough for the first exchange of goods, and he looked it over. "This is more than I was expecting." He thought, "Is the second list here the things you want in exchange?"
"They are basic supplies, and I do not care how hot they are as long as the City guard is not going to hit me hard for them. Seriously, up until they are on fire, I will take them. These will be leaving shore, and I need those ready in small boxes in the proportions said on that sheet of paper. It can only be more, not less."
"Okay, I have a suitable place to get it." 'Daddy' said and looked at the sheet, "I can give you one hundred gold up front for all of this and the supplies when we exchange supplies. But the other hundred gold will be after I sell some of the inventory. I was not expecting so much from you in what you said."
I frowned and looked at him. "You know what," I said, taking a long drag. I will tell you something. I do not mind this. In fact, in the interest of long-term cooperation, I will wait three months for the gold before I come knocking. If you bring the gold quicker, I will have more for you. If not, all the other goods I got will not enter your hands. Do you understand?"
"You caved quickly."
I raised my hand, and someone entered, setting down food for the both of us. I grinned as they left, "I would not call it caving in. The thing is that we both want to get rich off this. As I am in this exchange, you are taking a lot of risk. So why should I try to lower my risk? Betray me, and we will fight; we both know that is the outcome, and the winner will take all. Or we can both be winners, and you can pay me. Whichever it is, we both know the dance that we are doing."
I took another drag of the Timber leaf and enjoyed it. I was not much of a smoking woman in my past life, but this was fine socially, I think.
"You know, I like you more already. You understand things with a mind that is sharp. You understand that both sides must take risks in this venture, and there is no going to the guard if one fucks over the other. I think this is going to be a fruitful relationship." He grinned, "Now, tell me about the details of the exchange. I have some backup things that I might exchange some of these supplies for if I cannot get my hands on the right thing."
"Sounds good. Let's enjoy our meal while we go over it."
The meeting went really well, and we started to eat and reviewed the exchange's details. Instead of doing it out in the open, we picked one of his warehouses, and we would both bring three people. Any more, and it would be a declaration of war. We could choose the three, except he could not bring his mistress, whom I trained. That was because it would break her training, plus I did not want the drama.
The replacements and everything were picked out, and much to my surprise, we left without any issue. I was going to be wary of the exchange, but I was looking forward to moving to the next place of my schemes. I would probably bring Avery, although I would not tell him what it was all about. I would reward him afterward but not let him see too much yet. I needed to ease him into things.
Still, I wanted him there; 'Daddy' was too easy to get along with. I was slightly suspicious if he was trying to butter me up before stabbing me in the back. I could leave Avery outside as a backup in case things go wrong. I would think things over tonight as I had a couple of days before the exchange.