Fisher glanced at Corvinus but remained silent; the situation was already set in stone.
At that moment, Lion-Man David, Fox-Man Gando, and the other ten orc merchants arrived.
Fisher looked at Lion-Man David and the others, initially taken aback by the sheer number of wine merchants—eleven in total.
This caused a significant change in his expression. The pie wasn't very large, and Corvinus, that rascal, had invited so many jackals to share it?
However, once all the orc merchants had entered, Fisher's brow relaxed somewhat.
Apart from the lion-man being a wine merchant, he didn't recognize the other ten merchants.
The business circle in Canyon City was vast, yet also quite small. He knew or at least had some recollection of the well-known wine merchants, even if he didn't have close ties with them.
Could they be wine merchants from outside?
Fisher shook his head as he pondered. The business circle was relatively stable. On the surface, each merchant had their own trade routes, but sometimes they were quite united, especially when facing outsiders.
If Canyon City suddenly saw the emergence of ten foreign wine merchants, it would likely cause a stir in the entire wine business circle of Canyon City.
The local wine merchants would never allow foreign wine merchants to stay.
"Master Corvinus!"
"Greetings, Master!"
...
Lion-Man David and Fox-Man Gando greeted Corvinus one after another.
"Everyone, please, no need for formalities, have a seat!" Corvinus gestured for everyone to be at ease.
"Boss David, it really is you. I thought I was mistaken!" As soon as Lion-Man David and the others sat down, Fisher looked at Lion-Man David in surprise.
"Boss Fisher, long time no see. I didn't expect you to know Master Corvinus," Lion-Man David said with a smile.
"I'm just a bit puzzled. Isn't Boss Fisher a grain merchant? Why are you also getting involved in the wine business?"
He had noticed Fisher first. Fisher was a more famous merchant than him, but a major grain merchant. Apart from a few times they had joined a joint caravan, they hadn't had much interaction.
However, his merchant's intuition had raised a question in his mind the moment he saw Fisher.
Why was Fisher, a major grain merchant, here?
Could it be that Master Corvinus's other wine merchant partner was him?
This made David frown. He disliked this feeling.
Fisher was a very influential grain merchant. If he got involved in the wine business, it would be a real threat to them, the wine merchants.
"Corvinus is my brother-in-law," Fisher said with a smile in response to Lion-Man David's question.
If the business circle was a big cake, then wine merchants and grain merchants were smaller slices of that cake.
Grain merchants didn't want other merchants to enter the grain business, and wine merchants felt the same way about their industry.
For Lion-Man David, Fisher was an adversary.
So he quickly clarified his relationship with Corvinus, proving that he couldn't be pushed aside.
Otherwise, Fisher would definitely be targeted by Lion-Man David and the other wine merchants.
There were many ways to target someone.
For example, colluding with a bandit gang halfway to plunder his goods.
Or directly negotiating with the source, Corvinus, to exclude him.
There were many methods. If an entire industry's business circle targeted you, it would be very troublesome. Even if you could survive, the losses would be substantial.
But now it was different. He was Corvinus's brother-in-law, which naturally gave him an advantage over other wine merchants.
Especially wine merchants like Lion-Man David, who would be more afraid that he would use his relationship with Corvinus to exclude them.
Corvinus was a brewer. For the wine business, Corvinus was the source of wealth.
Indeed, upon hearing that Fisher was Corvinus's brother-in-law, Lion-Man David's expression changed slightly. The atmosphere cooled for a moment before David said with a smile, "I didn't expect Boss Fisher's brother-in-law to be Master Corvinus. Since Boss Fisher is getting involved in the wine business, and I am also a wine merchant, we should definitely cooperate more in the future."
Lion-Man David glanced at Fisher, feeling a bit envious inside. Fisher, leveraging his relationship with Corvinus, would now command respect from all wine merchants in Canyon City who cooperated with Corvinus.
After all, their relationship was there. If you offended him, he could easily maneuver behind the scenes and kick you out of the cooperation circle.
"Hahaha... No problem. Money is meant to be made together. Cooperation leads to mutual benefit," Fisher said, very satisfied.
Clearly, he had made Lion-Man David wary.
Afterward, he learned that aside from Lion-Man David, the others were all wine shop owners, which reassured him a lot.
Wine shop owners were of no concern to him. A few small wine shops—how much of the pie could they take?
Corvinus was not too surprised that Fisher and Lion-Man David knew each other. The business circle in Canyon City was just that small; it was nothing unusual to know each other.
However, he had observed the verbal sparring between the two.
He didn't expect that his brother-in-law Fisher would also play the big-shot card.
After brief introductions, they got down to the main topic.
Rice white wine!
According to the terms Corvinus had agreed upon, his brother-in-law Fisher took five thousand pounds of rice white wine, paying Corvinus a total of two hundred gold coins at the rate of four silver coins per pound of rice white wine.
Lion-Man David took three thousand five hundred pounds of rice white wine, paying Corvinus a total of one hundred and seventy-five gold coins at the rate of five silver coins per pound of rice white wine.
The remaining one thousand six hundred pounds of white wine were divided as follows: Fox-Man Gando took two hundred pounds of rice white wine, paying Corvinus a total of eight gold coins at the rate of three silver coins per pound of rice white wine.
The remaining one thousand four hundred pounds of white wine were evenly divided among the nine wine shop owners, who paid Corvinus a total of seventy gold coins at the rate of five silver coins per pound of rice white wine.
In this transaction, Corvinus received a total of four hundred and fifty-three gold coins for ten thousand and one hundred pounds of rice white wine.
The cost of these ten thousand and one hundred pounds of rice white wine was less than thirty gold coins, which could be considered a substantial profit.
Of course, it shouldn't be viewed in such a simplistic way. After all, labor hadn't been accounted for, and the value of the technique was priceless. It was only fair that he made a profit with such a valuable skill.
After all transactions were completed, Lion-Man David invited Corvinus to dinner. Corvinus had initially wanted to decline, but since he was returning to the tribe the next day, he decided to introduce his representatives here, Tyton and Cadia, to them.
So he gladly accepted. Fisher was all in favor, and Gando and the others also agreed to attend.
Of course, they couldn't refuse. Even if they didn't give Lion-Man David the face, they wouldn't dare to refuse Corvinus.
Moreover, this gathering was meant to solidify a circle. If you didn't participate, you might not be able to join in the future.
At the dinner table, Corvinus introduced Tyton and Cadia to everyone. Although they were surprised, Corvinus assured them that even in his absence, the brewing would not only continue but also gradually expand in production.
This reassured Lion-Man David and Fisher quite a bit.
...
The next morning!
In front of Casa Restaurant, fifty-six war wolves, including Fenrir, appeared on the street, causing passers-by to be terrified.
The werewolves and boar men preparing to return to the tribe were donning their armor, getting ready to depart.
In the hall, fully armored Corvinus looked at Tyton and Cadia and said, "I leave this place in your hands."
"I'll probably come back in half a month, or maybe a month later. In any case, I'll make time to come here."
"If something major happens, you should contact Fisher. For Agif's sake, he shouldn't refuse. If it comes to that, send someone back to the tribe to inform me," Corvinus instructed.