Jien leaned back in his seat after inspecting the sample of the various spices that the Monsell pair was looking to sell to them. If it was just an ordinary one-time negotiation Jien felt confident that he could handle it well. However, after giving it more thought and knowing that the main part of this negotiation was in regard to allowing the Monsells to build a business in their city of Afrem the topic became much more complicated. Just off the top of his head there would be negotiation regarding the storefront or stall, then there would be some level of negotiation regarding the prices allowed on the goods as Lord Losler wouldn't want the Monsell family to be able to overcharge. There may also be discussion regarding trade routes and caravan security if the Monsell family wasn't already taking care of that particular topic. These are all topics he had either read about or heard about in his studies so far, but he had never had to consider them in the past.
Though Jien's expression was fairly stoic, and he had a calm smile Lord Losler could see the cogs turning in his mind as he tried to find out the next move. Earl, though not in an attempt to be cruel, had hidden a lesson inside of this lesson. Jien was still young, and he had no practical experience. All of the things he had read about and been taught could most definitely come in handy, but book smarts weren't the only thing in this world. He wanted Jien to understand that it is also okay to take a step back if needed and learn from someone with more experience. If he was able to pick up on this lesson, then he would be able to learn more and then bring that experience forward. However, if he didn't and made mistakes, Lord Losler was also present to assist in smoothing things out. He understood that Mr. Monsell would likely not be upset, after all he was using this negotiation for his daughter as well.
Jien picked up his cup of tea and took a long sip as he continued to think. It wasn't that he wished to drag things out, in fact he quite wished for this to be finished so that he could go back to working on his mana control. He was just at quite a loss. He disliked having to study the administration of a territory, so he knew little of the current tax rate, nor the situation of the space or buildings for the placement of the spice shop. Eventually he decided to take a step back and ask his father. If his father was able to help him with the details he could get through this faster and be on his way.
Jien placed his teacup on the table and then looked at his father calmly before speaking. "Father, what locations do we have available for their shop?" He had left the question as open as he could. He didn't want to make it seem that he wasn't knowledgeable about his own territory, instead he wanted to make it seem that there were different options in the hopes that knowing them would potentially give him a better idea of how to negotiate that piece. Earl smiled before responding that they had a total of three locations. One was a stall in the main street of the market, one was a small shop building in the plaza and the final one was a larger building with a fair amount of storage space but closer to the entrance of the city than to the market. He then reached to a table on the side that held a few pieces of paper. One was a map with three locations on it, while the other three were documents showing the layouts for the different buildings and the stall. After the location were presented, Jien turned to the father daughter pair calmly and facing Lizbeth he calmly asked them if any of these specific locations was to the pair's liking.
Unlike Jien, Lizbeth was not being tested in the same way. She was old enough and had worked with her father and mother long enough to know the spice business well. She looked over the location of the three storefronts on the on the map, then carefully inspected the building layouts and the stall. Given how important spices were to many and the rather exorbitant price for some of them she was less inclined toward the stall. Though the location was excellent, being in the main market the lack of good storage space and security was a detriment. She then more closely examined the two buildings before stating that though she would likely be more inclined to the plaza side building she would need to examine both in person. This seemed a reasonable request and though Jien really didn't want to take time to examine the buildings he agreed to this condition, knowing that nobody would buy without seeing what they were buying at least to the extent that they could.
Though the part regarding the storefront would be finalized after going to see the available locations they moved forward with the topic of the pricing of the spices and the transportation of the goods from the port towns to Afrem. During both of these discussions Jien left things fairly open ended in his requests of his father. He once again wanted to make it seem like he was generally knowledgeable but lacked only the finishing details. Earl found this impressive and couldn't help but smile each time Jien posed a question. He had never doubted Jien's education or skill but felt that it was the best outcome that Jien learn that he didn't need to be all knowing. As long as he had somebody that could assist him in areas he was unsure of and asked them for assistance rather than being stubborn, he would be able to make it through most situations and expand his horizons.
Lord Losler helped Jien when he asked for it and with that Lizbeth and Jien were able to get a rough draft of an agreement regarding prices for the spices within the city, taxes on sales, the fact that the Monsell family would take full responsibility of the traversal from the port cities to Afrem and several other small details. At that point Mr. Monsell and Earl took over the conversation, much to the satisfaction of Lizbeth and Jien. Jien remained seated calmly, with his same smile but anyone who knew him well would be able to see the exhaustion hinted in his eyes.
After a bit more laying out of the fine details Lord Losler stood and so did the others. He stated that he would be escorting the father daughter pair to the two locations and then that they would finalize negotiations. He also mentioned that Jien would not be joining them for the rest of the discussion as he still had studies to attend to. To this Jien sighted internally, knowing that he could finally go and rest, practice more with his mana control and ultimately relax from the stressful experience. He firmly shook both Lizbeth's and Arnold's hands as he escorted his father and the pair to the Losler carriage for their short trip into the city.
After they had left Jien walked back to his room and almost immediately fell onto his bed to take a rest. He wouldn't say that the discussion itself was difficult, but any business negotiation would have a certain level of stress to it. Without noticing, he had fallen asleep, only to be woken up around the time dinner was to be served. Runa led him to the dining room, where his father was seated as usual at the table. Lord Losler looked up from his thoughts when he felt Jien enter the room and gave him a broad smile. "That was excellently done." Earl stated, "You handled it very well given that you didn't have all the details. I am glad that you didn't hesitate to ask me for assistance. It is always important to be willing to ask for help when you need it and to try and learn from those with more experience." Jien nodded to this after he sat. He didn't particularly have much to say on the topic at that point. They ate and Lord Losler told Jien the details of the rest of the negotiation. The Monsell family had chosen the larger building at the entrance of the city as it would be able to hold a store of their spices and any other wares they chose to sell, beyond just the storefront. He discussed the pricing and how they had come up with the final numbers, as well as some general tax related information for those selling their products within the city as well as land costs and expenses for the building that was chosen.
After dinner and the end of the discussion Jien moved back to his bedroom, bathes, spent some time once more trying to figure out the secret of the Personal Library spell and went to bed without any success on that front.