CORNERING THE MARKET AGAIN?
"What is that damn Radiance of Agni? I've never seen you loot such an artifact from Vogron?" Ratatouille asked me.
"I didn't get it from Vogron. I crafted it myself", I replied to him.
"How did you craft the Radiance of Agni?" Rinna asked me in surprise.
"Sara searched through her database of crafting skills and found a suitable artifact plan for me, the Lantern of Agni. The artifact could permeate heat to its surroundings although it needed magma to power its heat. I crafted the artifact using Hell rocks, so its heat becomes concentrated and unceasing", I explained to them.
"And you renamed it to the Radiance of Agni?" Chash asked me.
"It is an apt name. Besides, people have crafted Lanterns of Agni before and they don't sell for much", I replied to her.
"How many of these Radiance of Agni's did you craft?" Rinna asked me.
"I have about a hundred of them after giving five of them to the Control Freaks for their mission, but I am selling twelve of them tonight. This is the A series obtained from Lord Vogron. There will be more series coming from maybe Lord Oghtak?" I told them of my plan.
"Fifty million Aurs", someone raised the paddle to bid for the Radiance of Agni.
"Hell, you would be richer than a Robber Baron soon by selling these worthless stones", Ratatouille said to me.
"Mistral is complaining to me about my expenses, so the sale of these artifacts will make up for it", I told them.
"Our husband will be the richest man in the Ten-Kingdoms soon", Rinna told my harem of wives and my friends.
"He probably already is. He is a genius at profiting from calamities", Ratatouille replied to her.
"Will you pay for my hair tonics, good friend?" Melroy asked me with his eyes blinking cutely.
"Buy all you can. Everyone's shopping bill tonight is on me", I told them.
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"Duke Oriese, it is always a pleasure to meet you for business", Gagarine, the merchant from Trogdol came to meet me in the Kaleon Trading House.
"The pleasure is mine too. Like Hagar has told you, we will buy any and all grains from you at your usual price with an additional mark up of ten percent, provided you and all your merchant buddies sell only to us", I offered to Gagarine.
Gagarine thought about this deal for a moment, and he had some doubts.
"Are you going to corner the market like you did last time in Starri city? You will make exorbitant profits while we make only a small gain," Gagarine asked me unhappy with the deal that he is getting.
"There are no major calamities or war on the horizon, so there is no excuse to hoard grains now. We are planning long term. We may be holding the grains for years inside our warehouse with no interest. That is a big cost to consider", I told Gagarine.
Gagarine thought about the matter again before he made a decision.
"You are right. We do not have the money to keep the grains for long. Trading is our only profit. Twenty percent over our usual price and we have a deal, me together with all the merchants from Trogdol will agree to it", Gagarine told me.
"It is a deal", I replied to him as Hagar looked over our haggling with horror.
"Young master..", Hagar tried to protest but stopped after realizing that I must have a plan.
"Does Trogdol have another bumper harvest this year?", I asked Gagarine after realizing the number of grains they were selling to us.
"Actually, the harvest from the countryside remains the same although there is a lot less demand from the cities in Trogdol. That is why we must sell our excess grains urgently here", Gagarine told me to my surprise.
"That is a surprise. I thought after the death of the Lich King, the population of Trogdol should return to normal and even growth. There should be more people consuming grains", I asked Gagarine.
Then Gagarine moved closer to tell me a secret.
"I have information that there is another like the Lich King in the capital city of Trogdol. People are missing daily for no reason. Nowadays, we travel only to the countryside to collect grains and avoid going to the cities if possible", Gagarine told me.
"Damn, there is another Lich King again? How many of those must we kill?" I asked him.
"The Conjurer Court helped us a lot by dealing with two of the Lich Kings, but I am afraid your Conjurer Court may have to help us again soon", Gagarine told me.
"Keep our information channel open. I am a Conjurer with the Conjurer Court. I can get the conjurers to act promptly if the situation warrants", I told Gagarine.
"Thank you, Duke Oriese", Gagarine thanked me before he left.
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"Young Master, why are you buying so many grains from the Trogdol merchant and at such a high mark-up? What is your plan?" Hagar asked me when Gagarine left us.
"Yes, son, what is your plan this time? We don't have so much money to buy all this grains," Orol asked me as he walked into the room with Prince Geoffraie.
"Wow, I witness how my son-in-law does business firsthand", Prince Gregoire said to us as we greeted each other.
"Don't worry about the price, I will buy all the grains that the Kaleon Trading House could not afford. I have partners that are willing to speculate with me. Hugo from Noten House will buy any excess grains from us but at our cost", I told them.
"But I don't understand. There is no war yet with the demons, should we prepare about it so soon?" Prince Geoffraie asked me.
"It is always good to look forward. We never know if something happens unexpectedly. Besides, this trade is not necessarily a loss for us", I told them.
"How can it not be a loss if you buy grain from the merchants at twenty percent over their usual price?" Orol asked me.