Venture

"This isn't excessive," Trilok chuckled, "We are already giving your men what they usually use their salaries on! My oils for their well-being, and Noland's pill for stress relief. Every day, they would enter the ocean, refreshed and stronger than before. Each day marks an improvement for them!"

His words were rousing while Noland barely kept himself from smiling. In this pitch, Trilok is stationed to be the heavy hitter. After all, right now, Noland had become weaker than Trilok in both reputation and strength.

"With our support, your enhancers will grow quicker than before. The captain under your command will finally have his stagnated cultivation move at the low cost of 900 coins! You can deduct the amount from their salaries and they wouldn't feel disgruntled at all."

"Now that's a bowl of bullshit in the morning," Roa scowled, "What is the use of you two being a sponsor if you cannot even lower the prices for my men?"

"We will, of course. Any further purchase from our stores by your men will be subjected to a 3% discount. But the daily supply of products will cost the same as everyone else. The Spirit Trace Oil is what will become the foundation of the community soon enough. Do you think the Old Man doesn't share the same thought as me?" Trilok cackled.

"He would want to establish a supply line of the vial of oil to other communities. He will earn a huge profit off the trade by helping me expand my area of sales. By then, he will also stop despising Noland's pill. He isn't blind. He knows that subjectively, Nolan's pills are exotic, cheap, and will be welcomed with even more fervor!

What would happen then?" Trilok inquired as Noland's smile grew wider.

"We will definitely raise our prices and forget about this place in a heartbeat. The Chief might be the strongest, but he doesn't have the community's best interest in his heart. The reason is simple. Unlike us, he didn't grow up here. He migrated to this community. But you... late brother Hill, and Jeli, you three are born and raised here."

Roa's expression grew dark.

"And... we are still at risk here. Say, even when we keep the prices same and you deduct almost a hundred thousand from your men's salary every other day, who's to say that your earnings from the ocean will remain consistent?"

Roa still wasn't willing to accept the terms as such.

If it came to the worst then all he would do is simply deny the sponsorship.

After constant banter, seeing that Roa wouldn't budge, Noland and Trilok looked at each other.

It was time to tap in the partner.

This was the benefit of negotiating with a single person while being a combination of two.

"Uncle Roa, come on. Trilok managed to create a rare potion. Who's to say that he won't end up introducing a steady supply of rare potions sooner or later?"

"I will just wait for trade ships and purchase in bulk there," Roa replied without a hint of hesitation.

"Then what about me? Can't you give me face? Your friends purchase my stuff daily. Remember those four lovely aunts? My products keep them satisfied and they keep you satisfied!"

"No worries. I'm not married to any of them. I'll purchase a slave for myself," Roa replied adamantly.

"Then—"

"There is nothing you can say to me that will give you this much profits. You can sell to other communities and turn them strong. You can feed father until he's full. You can feed spiritual fishes, even!" Roa narrowed his eyes.

To the two, it was clear that Roa wasn't going to budge on the matter. But none of them broke the negotiations just yet.

What a joke! Negotiate with the chief?

The two barely held even grounds against Roa. If they try the hornet's nest that is the chief, they will be swallowed whole!

"Hmm, you really want to drain us whole... well, as opposing parties, we both know each other's stances," Trilok smiled, "Now, if you really are interested in the investment, will you show us your balances and accounts? We cannot be sure about your earnings unless we see the proper, taxable sources of income."

Roa smiled and nodded.

He had been wanting to go for a bath but clearly, this is more important.

Soon, Roa brought multiple parchments and fish skin scrolls and placed them on the table.

The two youths began going through the accounts.

This was clearly a time-consuming task but the two could hold off alchemy for a few hours. The depictions of the account were way more profitable than Kol and Trilok could imagine after observing Roa's business since the beginning.

'We only estimated a little over 200,000... but this reserve for the dead members changes everything. This will give Roa a chance to bit off a healthy chunk of profits in the name of insurance and even if he pays it off, how many men actually die under his command? This... guy has a large appetite!'

Even Noland gulped. 12% of these profits were similar to doubling his daily revenue!

Once everything was compiled and the consistency of the profits was matched, Trilok sighed.

"We will not account the reserve for the dead."

Roa narrowed his eyes.

"Are you saying that your source of revenue, my men, means so little?"

"Exactly," Before Noland could even think of a retort, Trilok began coldly.

"Loyalty of your men is not towards us. And, with the quality of our products, the deaths of your men will further reduce. Sure, they can be injured. The ocean is a dangerous place. But if 12-year-old kids like us can survive the ocean with little luck, then surely, your trained men won't have too many issues."

"I understand. But men always need assurance," Roa sighed deeply, "You have to think carefully. If they find out that you two do not care about their loyalty, and their life—"

"Who will tell them?" Trilok smirked at Roa.

"Uncle... are you saying that even after we do so much, you will rat us out?" Noland, too, inquired with a tilt of his head.

"We may not be bloodthirsty as Mithra, but come on, uncle. Really? You're going to threaten the entire deal, destroy long-term gains for just a little bit of coin?" Noland clicked his tongue.

"I thought you were someone who answered loyalty with kindness. Profits with love. We're going to be family with this venture... two alchemists as your family," Trilok shook his head sadly.

Roa felt a little stifled. He couldn't retort to such words at all. After all, who really would have instigated the fishers if not himself?

"We will have a non-disclosure clause in our contract," Roa stated clearly on the matter.

"And the clause where any form of recordings of this meeting, and the future meeting, will be considered an implication to the venture and the partnership will be dissolved the moment the evidence of such nature is found," Trilok added, making Roa nod.

"Well, we can discuss finances," Noland chuckled.

"Given our understanding, an average of 250,000 coins' worth of raw material is brought by your group. The daily salary of 72 of your men is 102,000. The cost of the ship's maintenance, on average is around 30,000 coins per day. We will be establishing that every day, their salary will be deducted by 28,800, and every other day, it will be deducted by 93,600. This amount will be added to the gross profit and then divided amongst ourselves in 10, 30, and 60%."

Trilok gave a general overview while calculating internally.

'From the perspective of 250,000 coins and the day where spirit trace oil is given, the gross profit would remain around 211,000. Out of which, I will earn around... 63000 coins and my cost of the day would be... 37,440.'

From a general point of view, this trade looked like a loss. But in reality, Trilok was trying to regulate his product in the market. He had already foreseen the settlement of the sale of spirit trace oil to 17 vials a day which only meant a gross profit of 8,500. Sure, he was getting a better value of his product in individual trade but his store was a means to an end. The greater the number of coins he can absorb, the quicker he will gain strength and finally step into the management circle of the ship!

But Roa felt a little sour.

He had seen through the plans of these two youngsters.

Their percentage income will only increase as his men grow stronger. Of course, many will feel disgruntled at first with their salaries cut off, but as they get used to the feeling of their women being satisfied, and their cultivation progressing daily, they would end up using the remainder of their income buying from Noland and Trilok still!

Not to mention, they got a discount there!

'But... I can turn this discount into something more...'

"Then I want my men to have a 10% discount in your stores. All the products."

Noland and Trilok began counting their inventory and profits, adjusting the personal trades and the sponsor trades. They still weren't making any loss!

"I agree."

"Me, too."

Noland and Trilok looked at each other.

"But, we would want our own men in accounting, too. I want to make Ron check on all the accounting."

"And I will have Vayu. Since the two are still young, I will send Kol to oversee them until they get the hang of it."

"It's no problem. I usually have Jeli look at my daily accounting so she doesn't gather rust in her head. She will learn well from a woman like Kol."

Roa nodded.

"Let's draft a contract and you guys can begin with your work."

Roa added finally.