This time, a stylish and handsome young man with glasses donning the Association's uniform came in, and approached Alfraed, startling him. He introduced himself as a finance staff, and handed over the payment to him with grace like a member of high society, which he was. The staff politely reminded Alfraed to make sure the handed sum was correct, and excused from the room in a dignified manner while showing a dazzling smile when he announced that the number match.
'...….' Alfraed tried to imagine himself act in the same level of manner and style like either of them. Apparently, he lacked the creativity to picture such a complicated scene…
"Now, since the business formality is over, may I ask you something?" said Vanessa in a relaxed while stretching her arms forward.
"Certainly, I also have a question actually"
"Is that so, then, you may have the honour to be the first to ask the question"
"…Well, out of curiosity, what is the emergency about?"
"…Since you're neither an adventurer nor a staff, I can't go into details. What I can tell you is that a dungeon is…. malfunctioning…"
"That's… troubling…
"Precisely so…"
Dungeon, a complex underground labyrinth. Though, there were numerous speculations, no one knew who constructed it. According to many, the dungeon seemingly alive, spawning monsters from walls and ceilings, and repairing itself from damage on its own.
'Malfunctioning' was a term referring when a dungeon spawned more monsters than usual. If not contained, there was a chance for a monster outbreak, endangering the people. Therefore, adventurers were hired to trim off their numbers
'...There are twelve dungeons, I wonder which dungeon she's referring to…? Oh well, she's right, I'm not an adventurer nor a staff. So, I'm unrelated'
...Fate seemed to disagree with his statement...
"My turn. I'm also curious, if you happened to be the one who apologized first, what would you do to convince us to still accept the potions?"
"…I planned to convince you with three....propositions"
"That's resourceful, please tell me"
"First, I'd offer additional five percent discount"
"...Are you okay, offering another discount?"
From her question, Alfraed guessed that Vanessa knew quite a bit of the potion industry. In general, giving a twenty-five-percent was equivalent to not receiving anything from the sales. Fortunately, not for him.
"All I can say, the discount still within my accepted costs"
"I see, remarkable, you make me want know the remaining reasons more and more"
"The second…Well, seems related to your condition right now"
"How so…?"
"…Consignment…"
An arrangement where the supplier of goods, in this case Alfraed, would only be paid after the goods were sold. Basically, he gave the Association an opportunity to make money without needing to spend money first. For anyone, this was a good arrangement, especially since the Association was facing restricted liquidity at the moment.
"Captivating… answer this question, truthfully, how many potions can you supply to us?"
"…At least, ten Greater Grade Potions per week. Oh, I also bring another ten Greater Grade Potions with me, are you interested…?"
Vanessa was calculating the figures in her head in response to his answer.
The market price was one-hundred-thousand rune, giving the Association twenty-thousand rune profit for each sold potion. As such, Alfraed was allowing them to make two-hundred-thousand rune profit per week for free, aside from providing a bit of space and promotion in their store.
Although Greater Grade Potions might be affordable to high-ranked adventurers only, with that small quantity Vanessa, as a former adventurer, was sure the potions would be selling like hot cakes. In reality, it might not take a week to sell the potions, and the Associations could keep the money until the payment date.
"…Say, Mr. Logick, why don't we enter a consignment contract after this?"
"…I'd love to…"
Of course, it would be the most ideal for Alfraed to receive the payment as soon as he delivered the product. But, with this arrangement, he ensured his products were continuously on display in the Association to grab the attention of his target buyers; the adventurers.
"What is the third reason?"
"I'm an outstanding potion maker" declared Alfraed, pointing himself.
"…How, can you convince me that you are what you claimed to be?"
In truth, Vanessa felt slight perplexed with his out-of-character show of confidence.
"By presenting this"
The bottle he presented was no different than Greater Grade Potion he sold before. Vanessa started to think this was some humorless joke. Still and all, she soon realized the content was entirely different.
"…Don't tell me, t-this…"
"…A Perfect Grade Health Potion…"
Vanessa was utterly surprised, and called upon the dandy appraiser once again to have him immediately analyse the potion.
After thoroughly inspected the bluish liquid emitting solid brightness, he stutteredly announced this was indeed Perfect Grade Health Potion, a potion that could heal virtually any physical wounds, and it had been years since the same grade of potion was produced.
"...How many can you produce?"
"I can't make any estimation for now"
"…I guess, it can't be helped...Mr. Logick, I propose to hold an auction for this potion…"
"…Auction…? Why not just consignment like the rest?"
"Assuming the discount stay the same, we can at most receive two-hundred-thousand rune. Through auction, we can make buyers compete to have this potion. I am confident, you can receive more than the market price, and we can also gain more since there is fifteen-percent listing fee for the auction"
"Obviously you know more about this, then, I trust this matter to you"
"Good answer! Let us prepare the contract today!"
"…To-today…?"
"Yes! We are operating twenty four hours after all!"
Alfraed predicted he would only be in the Association until around lunch time. However, to properly arrange details of the consignment contract and the auction by today, he ended up staying in the meeting room until late in the afternoon with Vanessa and other staffs.
At the end of their meeting, Alfraed received his copy of the contract, and was informed that the auction would be hold on the day of Frigga so the Association could invite adventurers, merchants, nobles, and other influential people to participate. Additionally, Vanessa would prepare a seat for him if he wanted to attend.
Alfraed intended to go back right away to the store and get a good long sleep. Unfortunately, the downpour had not been giving any sign of stopping anytime soon. It was at that time he remembered that the third floor was a hotel, and decided to go there.
The fee for staying a night was five-hundred-rune, an amount that usually would be enough to eat for five days.
'...Just for today, I'm dead tired' though Alfraed when settling the fee.
Healing magic was effective in easing physical fatigue. But, unable to do anything on one's mental fatigue, and Alfraed had been piling up lots of that fatigue in the last seven days.
The room he booked was elegantly furnished with handmade furniture, include... Alfraed did not care. He went straight to the bed, closed his eyes and let his consciousness suspended...
Be that as it may, it was hard not to notice a smile that was plastered on his face, knowing he was a step closer to reach his dream...