episode_0037

“Are you saying I just have to sell it?”

“That’s right.”

All you had to do was place an order and everything from production to supply would be taken care of, and all the merchants had to do was sell it.

I had a sales outlet without having to worry about sales or inventory, and the merchant could run the store without having to worry about anything. Besides, as long as you set the price well, there is no need to change anything from before.

Even if the shipping cost was borne by the merchant, it was cheaper for me to transport it than for him to transport it. Therefore, it was natural that net profit would increase even if the top seller sold at the same price as before. Of course, I was able to gain additional benefits by paying the transportation costs.

I made a little more profit in the name of transportation costs, the merchant earned more profit by selling at a similar price as before even if he did not transport it directly without bearing the risk, and consumers were also able to purchase goods at a price that was not much different from before.

It was truly a method that did not harm anyone.

“Are you really giving me a chance?”

“Yes. Instead, you have to provide me with a route to get things like coal and charcoal. How do you feel?”

“Don’t you need iron ore?”

“Oh, that’s okay. There is an easy way to obtain high-quality iron ore.”

“Okay. We will do our best to help you obtain coal and charcoal. You will be able to purchase it at the same price I was purchasing.”

Sang-ju, who knew that this was an opportunity for him, nodded his head very quickly and held my hand as if he would agree before I changed my words.

I smiled at that and lightly signed the contract. There were some limiting conditions.

There were various conditions such as the price of the product could not be dumped and sold below the cost provided, the shipping cost was borne by the buyer, the merchant, and I was responsible for delivering the ordered products.

“Warlock. By any chance, what does the limit on benefit here mean?”

“First of all, what we at Smith Skeleton aim for is products that are both good in price and quality. So, it is prohibited to make huge profits just because the quality is good. It is okay to leave a reasonable amount of comments, but profiteering is not allowed.”

“Can I understand this to mean not to harm the reputation of the blacksmith run by the warlock?”

“That’s right.”

The idea was to create a perception that you can buy good products at good prices through Smith Skeleton. In terms of past life, it could be said that it was building a kind of brand image. In order to do this, conditions had to be set from the first franchise.

Of course, the upper management seemed a little disappointed with the conditions that limited profits. It was obvious that without that part, there would be significant profits.

However, seeing that I had no intention of backing down from that part, he gave up with a faint sigh. Rather than dismantling the failed business and running a proper general store, it was a better choice to run a Smith Skeleton franchise that would generate steady profits.

Shaking off his regret and accepting one condition, Sangsangju nodded and began to point out the other conditions.

“It’s unfortunate, but I understand that it’s something that can’t be helped. By the way, what does renting the skeleton here mean?”

“It’s literally renting a skeleton.”

“Can you lend me a skeleton that can be used as a blacksmith?”

“No, we are simply renting a skeleton for maintenance. If it sells enough to sell in the surrounding area, sales of new products will decrease and there will be more people who only want to do maintenance, right? You can think of it as a device to guarantee minimum profits.”

Our blacksmith shop was in exactly that condition right now. What he meant was that this was a situation he would face at some point if the merchant signed a franchise contract and operated the franchise.

When a product becomes worn out and worn out to the point where maintenance is impossible, sales of new products will return, but it is clear that this will decrease again and the situation will repeat itself. And, since we couldn’t just suck our fingers during a time when sales were low, we wanted to rent a skeleton that could do maintenance.

Anyway, I don’t know if it was because of his experience in running a merchant, but the merchant seemed to understand quickly.

“What is the cost?”

“It costs 10,000 meds per month for one skeleton. It’s a bit expensive, but the maintenance fee will be several times more than that.”

The plan was to lend MED ten thousand dollars a month to the skeleton, which, although it could not produce items, would only do tasks such as sharpening blades or straightening bent parts. It was beneficial to me because I could borrow the money to create a new skeleton by borrowing it for just a few months. Maintenance costs amount to more than 10,000 med per month, so it was natural that it was beneficial to the merchant owners as well.

“Good. Then this part… … .”

Then, the owner of the top began to read the contract carefully and make calculations. It appeared that they were calculating the expected profits that could be earned when signing a franchise agreement with Smith Skeleton, the costs required to open a store, etc.

Sangsangju mumbled for a moment so softly that it could not be heard, as if he was doing mental calculations, then nodded and without hesitation scribbled his signature on the contract.

“I will make a contract! Warlock!”

Seeing the Sang-ju’s enthusiastic signing, I also filled out the signature box and signed another contract with the same contents. We each handed out a copy of the contract and even shook hands in satisfaction.

Afterwards, discussions continued about where the franchise store would be opened, how long it would be open, etc.

“In what city do you plan to open the store?”

“I plan to open a store in Carbon. Ah, Carbon is a city in an area rich in coal and charcoal that the warlock is looking for. It was also my hometown, so I decided to go there.”

The owner of the top took out a map that, although not exact, shows the approximate location… … . No, now he, the franchise owner, had pinpointed a specific location.

“If you go without stopping, it will take about five days.”

“Warlock. It’s because the map is not accurate, but if you actually go up, it will take about 10 days.”

“That’s because it doesn’t move with ordinary words. Five days… … . Even considering the weight of the items, it won’t take a week.”

If the cart skeleton was connected to the skeleton horse, the time could be drastically reduced. Since reducing the time required for transportation naturally meant reducing transportation costs, the franchise owner seemed very envious.

But the envy was short-lived. This was because the top was already ruined. It felt like I no longer cared about the past.

“It won’t take long to complete the store. Although it was intended to be used as an office and lounge on the upper level, the building had been prepared in advance. All you have to do is simply modify the interior to suit the store.”

“Oh, then you can start doing business quickly.”

“Yes. I coordinate my return time and schedule with the carpenters… … . Just follow a few procedures and you will be able to do business.”

“Good, good.”

I was very happy to hear that the store could soon begin operations. The fact that a franchise store starts operating means that my profits will increase again.

Anyway, after coordinating the schedule, we had additional discussions with the franchise owner. We talked about all sorts of things, starting with skeleton rental.

And, after talking for a while, the franchise owner left the blacksmith shop with a satisfied expression and began preparing to leave the village. I felt a desire to start operating a franchise as soon as possible.

The franchise owner may have been traumatized by being attacked by orcs while traveling, and left the village with numerous mercenaries along with the merchant employees who were trying to return to their hometown. Even though it seemed like the cost of hiring mercenaries was quite high, they didn’t seem to care.

It seemed like they had invested all the money they had disposed of, such as large wagons, that were no longer needed.

Of course, it wasn’t something I cared about. Anyway, as long as I had enough capital to open a franchise, order products, and sell them, there was no reason for me to care.

“Son.”

However, after seeing the store owner off, my mother came up to me.

“Huh?”

“Do you have anything to go to the capital or somewhere else?”

“Uh… … . After a few days, you have to go to the mine to get iron ore, and after that, you have to go to Carbon to open a franchise. But why?”

“I need lemon and butter, so can I ask you a favor?”

I tried to purchase lemons and butter for the bakery through the merchant, but the merchant said that butter and lemons were among the items lost in the orc attack.

“It’s not difficult.”

No matter how good the bakery was, it was limited to the village, so the amount needed was not that large. So there was nothing difficult about it. Anyway, I was planning to make several cart skeletons in case the number of franchises increased, so there was no problem in bringing some lemons and butter.

However, I don’t know if it was because I received such orders from my mother, but the villagers also began to ask me for things little by little. I received requests from my friends and from my parents’ acquaintances. Even people I just knew in the village were asking me for various things.

“Andy, I need some glue. Can you buy it for me? I heard you’re going to the city where the top tier departed this time. Please do me a favor. I’ll give you the price you paid at the top, and I’ll buy you some food too.”

“Yayayaya. Didn’t I get a wish when I made a bet before? I’ll use that this time. Buy me some dried fish. It’s my mom’s birthday, so I think I should make her something. Let’s do a real favor.”

“Mr. Andrew. If you don’t mind, could you get me some seed potatoes? The example will be very helpful.”

“Warlock. I heard you were going to Carbon… … . Could you please give this item to my friend there? Since he is a member of the Carbon Guard, all you have to do is tell the guard… … .”

In a situation where the cart that regularly visits the village disappeared, people started asking various requests when I told them that I would move along the same route that the cart used to travel.

At first, I thought it would be a bother, so I tried to turn it down, but then I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea as long as I was given a reasonable level of compensation. Since you have to travel between franchises and mines regularly, wouldn’t it be a good thing if you could make some extra income in the process?

In the end, like Smith Skeleton, we decided to come up with a name for the logistics business as a skeleton.

“Uh… … . Then, should I name it Rosy Skeleton?”

It was just a name that came to mind, but it was a name that strangely suited me well.

Anyway, since I was given a name for my logistics business, I somehow felt like I wanted to start a big business.

Immediately, he obtained the corpses of monsters through mercenaries and began creating skeleton horses using cart skeletons and horse corpses. A total of five skeleton horses appeared, and several large cart skeletons also appeared.

It was clear that there would be plenty of room even after transporting all the iron ore that would have been mined for a month. Even if people filled it with the things they wanted, there would still be room.

After making a cart that could carry any amount of luggage and a skeleton horse that could easily pull any amount of luggage, I immediately moved towards the mine. First, I planned to take the iron ore mined from the mine and then get some of the items that people had requested.