episode_0122

“That price is too expensive.”

“Is it expensive? The price is reasonable for the effect.”

“So, it’s expensive. It’s effective, but it’s definitely not worth 10 million meds.”

It’s expensive, this price is reasonable. The two opinions went back and forth for a while, and thanks to this, the price of the alchemy solution gradually fell. In particular, the price had no choice but to fall due to the difference of opinion between Count Art’s position that it should be sold first and mine’s position that it was good to have it, but not having it was not a big problem.

“The value of a product may have its own value, but it is also determined by its demand. If you think about that, 10 million med is excessive. Isn’t there almost no place to buy that pension amount other than me?”

“If you sell these pension liquids, there will be a lot of people who will buy them. Where are there one or two blacksmiths?”

“That’s right. But how are you going to sell something that needs to be diluted a thousand times? Most blacksmiths operate individual, small-scale blacksmith shops. Is it really possible for them to purchase more than a few drops? At most, I would buy a couple of drops a month.”

“There are also blacksmiths who operate blacksmith shops in the form of cooperatives.”

“As far as I know, there are only two such places in this country. One is the royal workshop run by the royal family, and the other is the blacksmith guild in a commercial city located near the borders of the four countries. It might be possible to sell it at the Royal Workshop, but not at the Blacksmith’s Guild. There is a risk of it flowing to other countries. Would you sell it?”

It was Count Arth who explained that it was a school that conducted research in a direction that would benefit the kingdom. Perhaps because of that, Count Art sighed softly.

“Jeongmaal… … . I made a mistake. At first, I said too much about being friendly. If I had known it would be like this, I would have been remiss.”

It was Count Art who admitted that what the school was pursuing and that the budget had been cut was to instill familiarity in order to sell me alchemy medicine. Of course, I didn’t bring up this and that for no reason.

In the end, Count Art let out a long sigh as if he was willing to surrender.

“So, what price does Baron Steele think?”

“Three million meds per bottle.”

“Are you crazy? For that price, you can’t afford to die.”

Seeing that the price was drastically reduced to less than 1/3, Count Art forgot all manners and immediately asked if I was crazy. Of course, I would have done the same if it were me. This wasn’t cutting, it was closer to hitting.

But now I had the advantage. To be honest, it is true that I really wanted the alchemy amount, but not having it didn’t mean I was ruined. However, Count Arth, on the other hand, was not like that. He was the one who had to sell me the pension amount to secure his budget.

“Three million meds.”

“… … How about nine million meds?”

“Three million meds.”

“… … Okay, I’ll give you more discount. Eight million meds!”

“Three million meds.”

“No, really! Let’s do something called negotiation! Negotiation!”

“Yes, so let’s say three million meds.”

I did not give up my will, as if I had no intention of giving in. Count Art looked at me like that and thought about it for a while, then started to lower the price a little more.

“Oh really! Okay, seven million!”

“I don’t like it.”

“Ahhhh!”

Count Art didn’t know if it was because things weren’t working out properly, but he was making nervous noises and shaking his head. I couldn’t help but flinch a little as he gave me a slightly scattered and eerie look.

Still, there was no real problem, so I maintained my confidence. There was absolutely nothing legally problematic about being forced into price negotiations.

“Phew… … .”

As if glaring grimly was his last resort, Count Art once again let out a long sigh. And again, the price was lowered little by little.

“6.5 million… … ?”

Of course, from now on, the units to be reduced have also become smaller. What used to decrease by a million has now become half that amount. I thought I was getting close to my limit.

From 6.5 million meds, it was reduced by 500,000 meds, and then from 6 million meds, it was reduced by 100,000 meds. Since it was really getting to the point where it couldn’t be reduced any further, Count Art seemed to be thinking, wouldn’t it be better to just give up?

It’s not that I have the level of insight that Count Art has, but it was strange that I didn’t know it, seeing as he seemed to be much more worried than before.

“Five million! I can’t get it cheaper than this. Our school is for studying alchemy, not for spreading information to others. Considering the materials used in the alchemy solution and the costs incurred during the development process, it is impossible to sell it cheaper than this.”

And finally, it was declared that the price could no longer be reduced from 5 million med.

He seemed so adamant that he wouldn’t change it no matter how hard I tried to force him, so I decided to end the negotiation.

Anyway, even if I bought it for 5 million meds, it wasn’t a loss. This is because it was possible to create many things with just a glass bottle the size of my forearm filled 3/5 full of the elixir.

Since it was diluted a thousand times and used, it was possible to make more than a thousand armored swords with that amount. If the press processing was a little tighter, it was possible to make up to 2,000 bags. It was said that even if the price of the product containing the alchemy solution was 5,000 med more than the basic product, it would be enough to break even.

Of course, I didn’t intend to receive just 5,000 med more, so it was unconditionally advantageous for me to buy the pension for 5 million med.

“Good. Buy it for 5 million med.”

I shrugged my shoulders at Count Art’s mortified appearance. To be honest, I wanted to find out the lowest price that could be supplied, and I also wanted to see how long Count Art, who kept cutting the price, would continue to cut it.

Of course, that fact was never said out loud. I felt like their perception of me had worsened a little because they had already cut the price in half, but there was no reason to make it even worse.

Instead, he came up with a suggestion. It is a proposal that can benefit both me and Count Arth’s school in its own way.

“Although I say it as a minister, I will support the school that the Count is affiliated with.”

“Sponsorship… … Is this?”

Count Art’s eyes widened instantly upon hearing the offer of sponsorship, and he looked at me as if asking for an explanation as to what I was talking about.

“Literally, we provide regular support to the school. Basically, it would be possible to provide money and, if necessary, iron products. Looking at it, it looks like it would be difficult to use a cauldron for a long time.”

“The cauldron is really replaced with a new one every ten days… … . This isn’t important, but are you really going to support me? Suddenly?”

“The more I thought about it, the more important it seemed that alchemy was. The two types of alchemy liquid aren’t all that can be created through alchemy, right? The more you research, the better and more useful things you will create.”

“Of course!”

“That’s why I do it. I also want to use the research results. There are also things I would like to see conducted in the direction I want.”

In fact, until now, I did not have a very good understanding of the alchemy liquid created through alchemy. This is because the alchemy solution that helps remove impurities when melting and recycling miscellaneous iron and scrap metal was at least useful.

However, it was a different story if it was an alchemy solution that amplified the hardness of iron and allowed more mana to be infused without any drawbacks. If these items continued to be produced, I planned to support the research by paying any amount of money.

“… … great. However, there are some conditions.”

Count Art, who seemed surprised by the word sponsorship, looked worried for a moment and then nodded.

At the same time, several conditions were attached, but none were particularly unreasonable. Most of the conditions had to be met, such as not requesting research related to illegal aspects.

However, there were some things that felt a little disappointing. The condition was that it was impossible to use the entire donation as I wanted. The reason was that there was a possibility of shaking up the entire school in the name of donations.

“It’s not that I can’t understand, but these are conditions that are fully acceptable.”

Still, it was clear that there would be many benefits to be gained through alchemy, so I talked a little more with Count Art.

Of course, since Count Art was not the head of the school, everything could not be confirmed. Since there was a separate final decision maker, all that could be done right away was the transaction of the two pension amounts.

“I didn’t know that I would be able to get the price of the pension like this, but I heard you are still sponsoring it… … .”

Count Art, who was carefully carrying the contract for the annuity transaction, looked regretful, but he seemed a little relieved, perhaps because of the support I mentioned.

He seemed to believe that many of the school’s troublesome budget issues could be resolved.

“You said that the head of the school is a princess, right? I hope I can explain it to him well and support him.”

“Don’t worry. Baron Steele. I will definitely convince the head of the school.”

Count Art, who narrowed one eye as if telling himself to trust him, carefully took the contract he was carrying. I protected it with magic so it wouldn’t get dented or erased anywhere, and shoved it deep into the bag.

“First of all, the contract has been signed, but it will take a while to receive the elixir of steel strengthening and mana ironing elixir. First, I have to stop by the territory, then go to the capital and report to the school leader.”

I felt disappointed when I heard that it took a while to receive the alchemy liquids called elixirs. Still, I was able to decide how to sell the items using the elixir in the meantime, so I nodded willingly.

“We will make the items you ordered as quickly as possible.”

Processing Count Art’s order as quickly as possible and sending her there was the only way to expedite receipt of the elixir by even an hour. So, we decided to immediately mobilize all of the blacksmith’s capabilities and process Count Art’s order first.

Of course, Count Art very readily accepted my proposal.

And, thanks to the mobilization of all the capabilities of the blacksmith shop, the goods ordered by Count Art were completed in three days. In addition to press processing, multiple skeletons were attached, making it possible to produce even large quantities of items in a short period of time.

Count Art, who received the ordered items in an instant, did not hesitate and decided to pack up all the alchemy he had been working on and move towards his territory.

“I’ll come back with good news, so I’m looking forward to it.”

“Is it okay to say that for sure? It’s not like the Count is the head of the school.”

“Because we don’t have enough budget right now. If you are the head of our school who loves alchemy more than the throne, you will never refuse.”

Count Art, who looked very confident, left in an instant, leaving a message that he would come back as soon as possible. With the items made using the two types of elixirs that were spelled for me.

After seeing the Count off, I headed to the blacksmith shop again. This is because even after making all the items that Count Art had ordered, a small amount of the iron plate made with the elixir remained.

I continued to worry about how to sell the items that could be made with that steel plate.

“The product line needs to be completely changed. We should change what was previously sold under the premium line to simple premium products, and only products made with special iron plates using elixirs should be included in the premium line.”

After much deliberation, the decision was made to completely change the premium line.

Previously, products made with strong force by orc skeletons were called premium lines, but now there is no significant difference from those made with a press. The quality was a little better, but that was it. However, now that the premium line has changed, there is a big difference.

The premium line consisted of three types: a product line that used one elixir and a product line that used both types of elixirs. The names were very intuitive: ‘Mana Iron’, ‘Reinforced Iron’, and ‘Reinforced Mana Iron’. So that we can distinguish which elixir was used depending on the product.

And, befitting the term premium line, the price difference from basic products has been slightly increased. Items that were previously sold for 10,000 med were priced at 20,000 or 30,000 med or more.

Since elixirs costing five million meds per bottle were used, the price was bound to rise significantly. Of course, in addition to the cost of the elixir, the amount to be provided to the alchemy school as a donation was also included, so it was a significant increase.

However, none of the customers who faced such increased prices complained. Although the price is more than twice that of the basic product, there is a clear difference in performance.

There were many cases where mercenaries and knights, whose lives depended on differences in the quality of their weapons, spent hundreds of thousands of meds on weapons made by craftsmen. They were people who would pay any amount of money if they could buy this much difference in performance for a few tens of thousands of meds.

Rather, since only a small number of items made from iron plates left over from the production of Count Art’s items were released, there were people who were willing to purchase them even if they had to pay a higher price.