"Twenty five gold coins for a period of three years only. Non refundable. Plus a monthly deposit of ten coppers for insurance against fire hazards and other stuff."
Lucas could barely hear him above the clattering of cutlery and the reckless sound of him chewing aggressively. But he did manage to make out the key words and phrases.
"Done. Anything else?"
Surprised that the stranger had not even bothered to negotitate, the fat man looked up from his plate for the first time and eyed Lucas warily. Even though he was getting a good deal, the wary, distrustful part of him felt like he was being cheated.
"Also, you're gonna have to pay ten coppers a week- for protection."
"Is that all? I need the keys right away."
"Then there's also the fee for obtaining a license to conduct business in these parts, I'm assuming that you don't have one of course?" He could not even try to hide his greed, neither did he have the decency to stop looking at Lucas like he was a walking, breathing cash bag.
"I have it all sorted out."
He took one more look at Lucas, then shrugged. "Make the payment at the front desk. The lady will give hand over the keys." He went back to attacking his meal. Lucas could not help but feel sad that the poor pig, even in death, was subject to the overwhelming appetite of this fat greedy man.
Without haggling much, Lucas made the down payment for the lease and set off.
The license was a bit tougher. At the registry, he was told he had to wait for three whole days for his permit to be processed. As Lucas left, he wondered if he was being punished because he did not at least offer to bribe the middle aged woman at the registry. Eventually, he got the license.
So, with everything finally in place for him, the very next day, went out to get supplies. This time, he did not dare to go alone. He had learnt his lesson from before, and therefore knew it was a good idea to get some indigenes of the country to accompany him. Luckily for him, he had three of such indigenes on his side.
With Lolita in the lead, and the other girls behind her, Lucas followed them closely as they wafted through the ever busy wholesale markets.
Getting there, Lucas congratulated himself for bringing the girls. Truly, it had been a splendid idea. Lucas gawked on like a tourist that was lost. The wholesale market was nothing like the mega malls, department stores or the corner stores he was used to. This place was more like the farmers' market he had heard off but never shopped at.
The throng, the first thing that hit him was the thick throng of people haggling and negotiating aggressively. It was chaotic, and at the same time, surprisingly organized. This ordered diversity of stalls, wares, and people all seemed to be like moving parts of one living organism. It was a really interesting experience.
Following the girls closely, Lucas noticed that there was little to no processed food here. Everything looked like it was straight out of the farm. Again, he saw that the people were limited due to the lack of technology. As he journeyed through the sea of organic fresh wares, he came to realize that their situation was actually understandable. Even in this isekai, people did not have enough to eat.
The produce brought in from the rural areas was simply was not enough for a thriving, industrial urban region like the capital city. So, Lucas' concluding analysis was that until the glaring problem of quantity was addressed, it would be impractical to even think of quality.
As Lucas wrestled with the solution (or solutions) to this issue, his eye caught a vendor. She was sighing openly, and Lucas instantly recongized that look as one that was typical of businessmen who were facing a dilema. From a close distance, Lucas scanned her shop and saw that she was in the business of milk. Lucas sginalled the girls, and they all headed towards her stall.
The lady virtually had no customers patronizing her, so Lucas was kind of surprised that the did not even cheer up despite seeing four people walk up to her.
"Good afternoon ma'am." He greeted warmly. "I could not help but notice you sighing, is something wrong with the milk?"
"NO. The milk is fine actually, it's just---" she paused, "A lot of it will defintely go bad before sundown tomorrow. Due to the surplus of milk in the market, I have not been able to break even. Even if I do manage to sell half, the rest is still large enough to make me run at a loss if it goes bad!!"
She was clearly distressed, and for good reason.
While the woman was lamenting, Lucas' mind was racing. And just like that, a light bulb came on in his head, as a brilliant idea occured to him in that moment. Feeling like he had been struck with lightning by the force behind all genius inspirations, and overwhelmed by a fresh surge of passion, Lucas asked her in an assertive tone;
"I want to buy the milk."
Still discouraged, she asked him absent mindedly; "How many bottles sir?"
"Everything." Just in case he wasn't clear enough, he added; "Yes, I want to clear out your entire store."
The poor woman jerked her head so suddenly that Lucas was afraid her neck would snap. The look of surprise on her face was almost comical.
"Everything?" She stammered "Like everything?"
"What's the cost?"
The owner of the shop was still in shock, but she quickly recovered and gave him a rough estimate. Lucas did not haggle. He brought out five silver coins and handed it over to her.
Completely at a loss as to what Lucas was thinking or even doing, the girls remained transfixed to the spot, utterly surprised and even more confused that the shop keeper. Buying up milk that was about to go bad was nuts! Even by insane or business standards! They were very curious to know what he was thinking.
But despite the stream of questions forming in the minds, and burning the tip of their tongues, they trusted his judgment and remained calm. This definitely was not the first time they were had been put in this kind of situation. But it seemed like each and every time, Lucas came out on top.
Having gotten the deal of a lifetime, the shop keeper happily offered to take care of the logistics. She had an donkey-driven cart to deliver it to the address that the strange customer gave her.
A few hours later, saddled with a huge amount of milk that was about to go bad, Lucas proceeded to the next stage of his real seemingly indecipherable plan.
"Heaven A.I system, commence the conversion process of milk to yoghurt!"
This was mere child's play for the A.I. compared to the more complex (and near impossible) tasks it was designed for. Within a short time, the process was complete and the end product was ready.
Magic- that was the only explanation that the girls could come up with after witnessing it. Lucas gingerly got a cup, and poured in a decent helping of the fine, white creamy liquid. It looked every inch like weird mystic sorcery to the girls. Holding the cup in his hand, Lucas pointed at Lolita and beckoned her to come.
Her eyes nervously widened as her curiosity increased.
"Come, don't be shy, have a taste and tell me what you think."
She eagerly lifted up the cup to her lips and let a tiny tasting portion touch her tongue. As soon as the taste hit her, she gasped in surprise and hurriedly finished the content in the cup. By the time she put the cup down, she had a white moustache above her upper lip! That, as well as the pure look of delight on her face, almost made Lucas roll over in laughter.
Even though it was pretty obvious, Catherine could not resist asking; "So, what do you think? Is it good?"
"Good??? This is the best dairy product ever!"
"Oh master can we have some of the magic milk too??"
"Sure, help yourself."