Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
"I see that your glass is of slightly better quality than the one provided to us by Myr." The Braavosi merchant drawled, downplaying how much better his glass was than the glass sold by Myr.
And it was not only the fact that his glass was of great quality. He had created magical blades that were used when cutting the glass which left the glasses without any cracks.
Not only that but his transportation method was also more secure than the one of Myr so that about 99% of the glass reached its location without breaking up unlike the ones sent by Myr which had a 90% chance of breaking apart.
So, the fact that Braavosi had the gall to downplay the quality of his glass really got on his nerves. But he understood the game that the man was playing and that getting frustrated would only work in the merchant's favor.
He would admit that he was not as good as the Merchant in negotiations. But he wasn't so bad either. His Occlumency and eidetic memory gave him an edge at negotiating.
With his eidetic memory, he could remember every little detail about the topic and the person in front of him. And with Occlumency he could control his mimics and emotions perfectly. All he needed was experience and with time he would be better at negotiations than Braavosi merchants.
But what he lacked in negotiating skills, he made up for with his products. He had the upper hand here. Not the other way around.
"We have a long working relationship with the Magisters of Myr." The Braavosi merchant complained "Braavos has been buying glass from them for many decades. You on the other hand are entirely new to this whole business. How can we be guaranteed that you will be able to send a continuous supply of glass our way?"
Even though the merchant said so, Domeric knew that the man was quite desperate to buy his glass and get a contract with him before other merchants appeared and entered the competition.
If he was not so desperate, then he would not have come all the way to Dreadfort for this. After all, it takes 3 weeks to get from Braavos to Dreadfort. And 3 weeks more to return. No merchant would spend so much time coming here to look at low-quality work.
He scoffed at the man "Cut the bullshit Master Xerfar. You and I both know that there are no such things as guarantees in this world. Even the glass sold by Myr only has a 90% chance of reaching Braavos without getting cracks or shattering into pieces. And that is if the whole shipment is not attacked and looted by pirates in the first place. You'll have no such problems when buying from me."
"The only pirates of any note surrounding the sea route between Braavos and Dreadfort are the pirates operating from the Three Sisters. Or they would have if my naval forces had not routed and destroyed them a few moons ago. So, you know very well that you have a better chance of getting your glass if you buy it from me than from those Magisters of Myr."
"Not only that. You call my glass of decent quality but you're not fooling anyone here. The glass sold by me here is better than even the best-grade glass sold by Myr." He said, continuing his onslaught while the merchant looked paler and paler "So let's get to the main point. Here's the price of the glass that I'm willing to sell to you. If you want to buy it, then you'll have to do so at the set price. If not..." he shrugged "Then there are other merchants in line to buy this. The door is that way."
He pointed toward the door with one hand and waited. Domeric knew that he didn't need to do business with this merchant, but the merchant needed him and his product.
And considering how he was selling his glasses at the same price as glass from Myr, he knew that the merchant was getting a great deal out of this.
He just didn't want to deal with any more merchants after this. So, if he could set up a yearly contract with the man and then never see his face again then that would be just perfect.
"The prices... are fair." The merchant said through gritted teeth. The greedy man no doubt wanted to get the prices even lower to make more benefits for himself but was not willing to push the ball at this point.
"So how much glass are you willing to buy from me?" he asked, and the merchant spoke.
The negotiations continued for two more hours after that as they set up the details of their deal before the merchant finally left the room, a little tired but eager to see his new merchandise.
"I don't like that man," Varko said as soon the doors closed and Domeric fell back down on his luxurious chair, his throat a little parched from all the talking.
"They're from Braavos Varko. They'll take out your kidneys and then sell them to you at a high price while claiming to be fair and generous. You'll seldom meet more cutthroat and ruthless merchants than the merchants from Braavos. But just because they're greedy by nature doesn't mean that we couldn't use them."
"You're using them Dommy?" Raksa asked curiously as she started playing with her braids.
"Yes. I am using their services. Just like they're using mine. It's an equal yet fair trade, though a little in their favor as I want to make good business relations with Braavos at the start." He explained to them.
Raksa hummed, not really understanding while Varko nodded, understanding but choosing to remain silent.
He let out a huff, wondering why his sworn shields made for such bad conversation partners.
At least they were loyal. Even after all the loyalty charms cast them in the past lost their effects. And he loved this kind of loyalty. Not coming from brainwashing but gratitude, admiration, and trust. A real loyalty.
He realized this was the path he wanted to walk. Build a city, a kingdom, and maybe an empire with totally loyal people at his side and back.
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Ch.72: Improved Magical Density (This Chapter will be published as a Bonus Chapter in a few hours.)
Ch.73: City Planning