Zoya truly didn't want to do this but she didn't have any other option. She had contracts to oblige. That came first. She didn't have coins to pay if she didn't fulfill the contract. More importantly, she didn't want a black mark on her career, and didn't want others to think that she might not fulfill other contracts too.
So she decided to cut short the blessed immortals. Only for a day or two. She still sold the potions but there was some caveat. Basic potions, limited amount, as before - check. Only, the amount was reduced a tiny bit. And cost of potions increased a tiny bit. Not enough to give up buying potions, but enough to feel the pinch in the wallet. Anyway, these blessed immortals had started raiding the dungeons, thus would have more coins than before. Other potions- ha ha ha. She would milk these people as much as possible. She raised the price to the limit and put restrictions in purchase too. Only she should have ability to alter demand and supply ratio.
"Holy crap! Zoya! You are increasing the price of these potions so much?" Artha still hadn't seen the board, only the price list stuck below the shelf.
Zoya shrugged. Didn't feel guilty at all. "Can't be helped. I don't have much of these potions to be sold." Artha looked at the potions he had arranged and yet to arrange. Looked again at Zoya who said potions were not enough.
Zoya lifted her arms and finally decided to explain to only blessed immortal who talked to her like a normal person.
"Fine! I'll explain clearly. I have contract to supply some potions, a lot of potions, to someone in town. He probably will sell those to other villages to make a lot of coins and get favours too. D*mn that capitalist!"
"You can sell to other villages yourself!"
"Trust issues. And also there is a big problem in transportation."
"So how can you sell these potions to them? A caravan?"
"Who uses caravans for potions? No, when we signed the contract, he provided limited time, single point teleportation array that can carry on living items within certain size. So I have to save enough potions before using the teleportation array every time.
The time for next handover is near but I don't have enough potions. I can only shortchange you people till this passes or some apprentices from your side starts making more potions."
"Don't you feel that we will start to dislike you and this village and probably give this up?"
"You have better options? Tell me!"
"I can sell you few, but what will I get in return?" Even if he didn't have any potions, he could buy and multiply them. Thanks to today's run, he had a lot of XP. He could make lots of credits if he sold the potions to guilds. Only thing stopping him now was his fear of getting nixed permanently.
"You have?" Zoya asked shocked. How could that be? Only she could make such potions in this village. Even if potions were dropped by monsters, surely he could not have earned that much by monsters and not used any for his own use.
Artha tried desperately to show his suave face and said, "I have my own ways." Zoya felt like it was like a teenager playing an adult. Misses most of the time rather than the hits.
"Okay. Fine. What do you want?"
"How would I know? Offer me something good. It should be good. Don't behave like capitalists you hate. I am helping you a lot."
"But I need to make profits too." Zoya complained.
Artha pretended to be shocked. "Ah! You are still thinking of making profits? You should be happy that you don't have to pay penalty fee. Think of that and pay me."
"You really have the potions I want?" Zoya suddenly pulled hard. How did she guess the truth?
"Okay. We'll take the middle path. Tell me which potions you are lacking and by how much. If you think I am bluffing or don't like to buy from me, you can do it as a task. Ask me gather the potions you want and I'll hand them over to you."
One think he noticed after playing the game for so long and interacting with these NPCs, they had no concept of XPs. Whenever they said task rewards, they skipped the XP portion completely. Yet those XP would be added to the XP pool, just like that.
Instead of selling potions to Zoya, though useful to his trader job, he preferred this method of transaction. As tasks. As this would be game generated task, he would get XP. Annnd, he would get multipler bonus on top of it. The coins and XP multiplied many times. He could use those XP to use it on other potions and stuff. A self sustaining cycle with lots of coins as byproduct. What a way!
This should be considered a bug. Better to make hay while sun shines, get XP and coins before bug gets corrected.
"You can do it? Really?" So skeptical.
"But such big order, I just can't give it out like a task?" Even NPCs have their own restrictions.
"Then issue me a quest!" A good alternative for tasks.
"A quest? Hmmm. Let me think."
Artha had found about this loophole only because so many NPCs who didn't want him to be apprentice had issued quests.
Quests are generally linked. So, Zoya could ask him to get few potions as first part of quest. If he fulfills that, issue next part requiring even more potions. Other than it taking more time, Zoya would not suffer. How much ever Artha gets to fulfill the quests, that much better. If he can't fulfill, let the situation continue till she had enough breathing space.
So where is profit for Artha? Coins, XP and more. Quests were long term projects, thus game AI monitored them more. The protection given was even more. However, Artha had not realised that yet.
To Artha quests or tasks, both were same. They gave coins, XP, sometimes some items. Doesn't matter buddy. What matters is that multiplier factor, his lifeline works in such instances, every time.
Zoya decided to humor Artha a bit. He was a nice clown. A good meaning one. One who didn't get on her nerves. Make that one who only gets on her nerves occasionally. She still remembers how he pestered her to become apprentice.
"Fine! As first part of quest, get me xx amount of bb potions, yy amount of dd potions, zz amount...."
Even she gave him a list. Thankfully, it was not as dangerous as the lists Artha had received from his tier 1 customers.
What a day! It's just raining XP and coins here.