Competition or Harmony?

Amatiya looked Kye dead in the eyes. She was looking for any hint of indecisiveness or hesitation but found none. Kye was in the dominant position in these negotiations simply because he had more hidden cards than she did. In this negotiation, what she was trying to establish was a beneficial deal for her house by getting exclusive access to the first line of Weavetech devices. Kye, on the other hand, was trying to probe for openings in the market. While he trusted his family and their branch families, he knew that merchants had minds like mazes.

In his past life, he had to negotiate several hard deals with influential merchants for rare materials after he had left The Tower of Magos getting his hands on rather rare materials became increasingly harder and harder as wars raged on and kingdoms started seizing rare and valuable materials for their soldiers, along with increased raids along established trade routes meant that negotiating for deals became necessary for Kye. This type of hustle wasn't foreign to him so he knew some tells of a merchant.

It was pretty apparent to Kye that Amatiya desperately wanted privileged access to Weavetech and there had to be a reason for this beyond personal greed. Kye deduced that she knew of other prominent merchants willing to throw down big amounts of gold for the same access with little questions asked. She needed to leverage her position as a branch family member for all it was worth to get as much over the other, non-affiliated merchant houses that she could. With her eagerness to see prototypes and to confirm if there were future plans thoroughly displayed, Kye had a decent picture of what was going on in his mind.

Kye didn't want a big cut of the domestic technology profits, in fact, he was willing to forego much of the profits completely. To him, having this technology in as many hands as possible was a positive thing. Where the margins Kye sought, was leasing tooling for civilian workshops and maintaining a steel grip on the production and distribution of Spellweave crystals. If Kye could establish a subsidiary company with the Klein household as the only way to buy and recharge Spellweave crystals, as well as offer competitive deals on repairs, then he would not only rake in the gold but also establish a good reputation for Spellweave and Weavetech.

With his reach and reputation established, it would become easier to try and convert cities to the Weave Generator once it was completed. Kye wasn't under any kind of delusion that this would be done quickly, but it was his end goal and moving towards it even this early on was a positive for him.

"I'll cut to the chase here Aunt Amatiya. Weavetech is not ready to start selling products as there is only a very limited amount of tested prototypes and almost all of them a military. For obvious reasons, I can't have anyone selling my military technology and the rest of the prototypes are not for domestic use."

"So what are they then?"

"They're things like the condenser that makes Spellweave gems and the tools I use to create complex runic matrices. These are industrial and all my current blueprints are military or industrial. If you want in on Weavetech ahead of your competition, then you need a large industrial contract with a mine or something similar to make any amount of profit."

"What of the condenser? Could you make more?"

"Of course, I could, but I'm not going to. See, my interest right now isn't in the domestic market which is your strong suit. Other mercantile houses can do industry on the scale I want to sell at. So what can you offer me that another house, such as maybe the Glowhorns couldn't?" This was Kye's ultimate trump card in this negotiation. The Glowhorns had their fingers on the pulse of industry in the Alioth Kingdom and once they heard of Spellweave, they would surely invest in the technology. If Amatiya wanted the Klein house to overtake the Glowhorns in the industrial sector, they would need Spellweave and what it could bring. Seeing that her hand was visible to Kye, Amatiya sighed and relaxed her shoulders.

"You're one of the toughest negotiators I've ever had the displeasure of going up against you know?" Kye gave a small smile.

"I enjoyed our little mental spar, so how about we start talking terms?"

"Alright then, layout what you want from us and we'll start the second round of discussion."

"Put bluntly, I'm not giving up control of Spellweave crystal manufacture to anyone. I have to maintain a death grip on this technology so that others can't make their own Weavetech easily."

"So then what you need rather than a partnership is something more involved."

"What I want, is a subsidiary that we joint manage. We set up a branch in major cities where you have branches and it becomes the only way to buy Spellweave stones and a competitive place for device repair. Once we establish a good reputation it will become easier to push new products for both of us."

"So then what happens to the profits?"

"You'd get none of the profits from the subsidiary, they'll go directly to me. Instead what you get, is premium access to one blueprint a year that can only be bought at your stores as well as priority on other orders."

"So after the year of exclusivity, what happens then? What if your exclusive blueprint isn't a big seller?"

"Well, for your first point, after the year I would make it available to all merchants to buy and sell at an inflated price. You'd be getting these at close to cost, my margins arent in selling to you but rather in the recharge and repair of Spellweave crystals and Weavetech. For the second question, that's really on you. I'll give you a choice of several blueprints that I design and you'll pick the one you want to be exclusive to you. If you pick badly because you misread the market, I can hardly be held accountable for that now can I?"

Amatiya sat there and closed her eyes, thinking about the deal that Kye was proposing. Ultimately, she got what she wanted out of this deal but Kye was getting more. He was getting the guarantee that someone would be buying his devices as well as free access to all the cities they had established relations with. Then again, this subsidiary plan also meant that they could advertise they were affiliated with one another, meaning that if Kye's plan worked out, they would both gain reputation. Amatiya still had this uneasy feeling about the plan, it all felt... too neatly put together.

Kye had an ulterior motive that was plain for her to see, but it was so veiled that even though she knew of its presence, she had no leads to unravel what it was. This frustrated her because more than negotiations going Kye's way, it felt like she was being played for a fool, the one thing she hated more than anything. She had two choices in front of her, accept what was rightly a good deal and confront this ulterior motive later on when she had a proper idea of what it was or reject this deal and attempt to negotiate for a smaller deal with less involvement because of the dangers this hidden plan might hold for her and her family. She was about to speak but Kye interrupted her before she could start.

"I'll give you some time to think it over and consult with your little mind reader over there."

Amatiya's eyes shot open and she looked at Kye with a wide-eyed expression. Kye gave a small laugh.

"Haha, I deal with mana more than most mages and arcanists so I know when foreign magics are being cast on me, as discrete as they are to the naked eye. Your eldest has just turned fifteen no? She must have acquired a crest related to judging or sight correct? In talks like this, her ability will be extremely useful, just take care not to use it on experienced arcanists. While we can't stop you from reading out minds, we can certainly detect it and we'll lose a lot of trust in you for it. Just a word of caution." Kye winked at Lilly who knew that she had been caught and she blushed a brilliant shade of vermillion.

"You're here for the next few days, so you have until you depart to give us an answer. I hope it will be a favourable one for both of us." Kye stood up and turned to Frey.

"Father, may I be excused so that I may continue to enjoy my leisure time?"

"Yes Kye, you may leave." Kye bowed to Amatiya and left the room. Once the door closed behind him, the room fell silent for a brief moment before Layla burst into laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHA, oh goddess that was so funny. THE Amatiya Klein given the run around by a nine-year-old! If those associates of yours saw this they'd lose their minds!" Amatiya could only scowl. Layla and she had been friends at the Starhold Academy many years ago. Though they were deeply close friends, they always had a competitive rivalry between them and constantly dug each other out over small things. Now that her son had beaten her friend, Layla was not about to let her live this one down.

"How is a nine-year-old that good? What kind of training have you been giving him?" The family would never disclose the secret they had learned a day ago from Vanessa about Kye's memories but even then, Layla was teaching Kye a very special curriculum.

"I've been teaching him the last level of diplomacy from the teachings we had at Starhold. He's like a sponge, he just absorbs everything I give him. If he wasn't my son, I'd be deathly afraid of him in a battle of wits."

"A warning would have been nice you snarky bitch."

"Aww, but then I wouldn't have been able to laugh at you for losing to a child." Layla turned her head to Lilly who was sitting next to her.

"Speaking of losing to children, did Lilly really get a crest related to mind reading?" Amatiya nodded.

"Yes, she gained the major crest of judging. It allows her to instinctively tell if someone is lying or telling the truth rather accurately and if she uses a spell like [True Sight], its effects can extend to being able to glimpse into the thoughts of the target."

"I'm really happy for you Amatiya, and of course for you as well Lilly. This skill will make you a very good negotiator in the future." Lilly nodded her head bashfully.

"Thank you for the kind words, Aunty Layla." Layla pulled Lilly into a light hug before standing up to sit across from Amatiya.

"Let me give you a warning then now, my old friend. Kye is only going to grow up to be even more impressive and he will reach his goals, even if it means taking the long route. It's not happened yet, but if something were to get in the way I can't imagine he would leave it standing. Kye is a kind-hearted boy who genuinely wants to make the world a better place to live in, but he is also willing to fight for every inch and standing in his way is an act of futility. If he cannot get around you or climb over the top of you, he will make something that levels you so he can walk on through." Layla placed a hand on Amatiya's shoulder.

"Kye isn't the sort of person to care about a fallen through deal and he won't hold it against you if you say no, he's not entitled like that. But if you have to reject, don't try and get in his way. I don't want to find out what the aftermath of that is."

With those words of earnest warning from her friend, Amatiya had one more layer of this deal to consider. Her relationship with Kye and if it was going to be one of prosperous harmony or a bloody war of competition.