Chapter 70: Sulfuric Reunion
Urma rose from his seat, the subtle tension that had returned to his shoulders easing as the conversation concluded. "So anyway, Mr. Karl, that’s all from me. I was just sent here to notify you about the town council’s offer and to evaluate your establishment. I won’t make this any longer."
Karl stood up as well. "Ah, yes, of course. I will be visiting Stonehorn Crossing in a few days to meet with the town council and discuss the matter with them. At the moment, our company is still preparing a lot of things to push forward and eventually expand our reach into Stonehorn Crossing."
"Ah, no pressure from us," Urma said, raising a hand. "Please take all the time you need, and thank you so much for your time."
Karl offered his hand. "You as well, Commander." He smiled. Urma shook his hand, and after a brief, firm grip, he turned and exited the office.
Karl sat back down, leaning into the chair and letting out a long, quiet sigh, trying to relax and mentally prepare for the next visitor. The air in the office felt calming, and he allowed himself a rare moment of stillness. Just then, a knock came from the door.
The manager popped his head in. "My lord, Master Bjorn Vulle’nun from the Rogina Merchant Company is here."
Karl’s face returned to its impassive business expression. "Let him in."
The manager nodded and stepped aside. A moment later, a goatfolk entered, his long, neatly groomed beard almost touching his chest. He smiled wide, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a professional, practiced manner. He carried himself with an air of subtle arrogance, the confidence of a merchant who had negotiated countless deals and come out on top.
Karl met him with a small, polite smile and offered his hand. "My name is Karl."
Bjorn took his hand, his grip surprisingly firm and calloused from a lifetime of handling goods and coin. "Bjorn Vulle’nun of the Rogina Merchant Company. It is an honor, Mr. Karl. I’ve heard so much about your establishment. The word of your marketplace has spread like wildfire among the trading guilds."
Karl gestured to the chair Urma had just vacated. "Please, sit down."
The meeting that followed was a brisk and efficient exchange. Karl, armed with the information his intelligence department had gathered on Rogina Merchant Company’s finances and operations, presented a proposal so tempting Bjorn could barely contain his excitement. Bjorn, a known shrewd opportunist, had come in expecting to haggle and barter for a small slice of the pie, but Karl was offering him the entire cake. When the meeting was over, Bjorn and Karl shook hands again at the office door, the goatfolk’s face split into a wide grin, his usual professional demeanor completely gone.
"It is a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Karl," Bjorn said, bouncing happily on the balls of his feet as he walked away, a new spring in his step. He was already calculating the profits, the sheer volume of goods he would be able to move with the Necro Corp as a partner.
The manager, who had been standing by the door, looked at Karl with a hint of concern. "My lord, I assume everything went well?" he asked, a subtle anxiety in his voice, worried Karl had been outsmarted by the goatfolk merchant.
"Yeah," Karl said, a satisfied smirk on his skull. "In fact, it went better than I expected."
"What do you mean, my lord?" the manager asked, completely baffled.
"In short," Karl said, turning to face him, "I just made him our logistics and distribution partner. He will handle the outsourcing of all our supplies—the wools, ores, raw mana stones, everything—at only a 10% markup on the market price. In exchange, we’ll sell him our finished products at a wholesale price, which he can then resell to other stores at the suggested retail price."
Karl tapped a finger on his temple. "It’s a win-win for us. We get a logistics partner who will outsource all the supplies we need, saving us a vast amount of time and manpower. This allows me to focus on production, research, manufacturing rather than also handling the logistics. Though that is only for the mean time, but for him, he just gained a jackpot. He gets to earn a substantial amount of profit by doing what he does best without having to worry about competition from other major trading companies. While our "trust" for him grows, he will become a reliable logistics partner that will help us expand our reach without having to spend too much on our own manpower and resources. Of course, we’ll still put a guard to monitor his caravans, but mainly to make sure he doesn’t do anything funny."
The manager’s concern wasn’t fully assuaged. "But can he really be trusted, sir? He is a known opportunist."
Karl scoffed. "I don’t see why we can’t trust him. He’s smart enough not to make trouble for us, since he’s going to earn a lot more from our partnership alone than from him just making measly silvers by reselling products he bought from other villages and settlements. Besides, if he does anything to jeopardize our partnership, we can just remove him from the equation and have one of his executives take over."
The manager paled and thinks to himself. "Sometimes he can be quite scary. He doesn’t hesitate to remove and replace someone of value, even if they made a single mistake. Does that mean if I also made a single mistake I’ll be replaced?"
The manager’s thoughts being transmitted to the entire skeletons through the lich-uplink, everyone shuddered at the thought of being replaced without a single hesitation. For once, every skeleton thought working, in their own respective fields said. "I mustn’t make a single mistake." They started to work hard from then on. Carefully checking their work.
Karl continued. "This is also a great way for our intelligence department to gain more information about existing factions by having them assigned to each of our new partner’s caravans. Our information is limited to our market here, but once we have men on the road, we will gain valuable information."
He then patted the manager’s shoulders. "I’ll be expanding the first floor and create a new accounting and administrative department. They will help you manage the front end of our company, while you deal with the pesky merchants and nobles for me, I myself will supervise the development of our product and technology. In the future, I may send you out to the different territories and introduce our new financial system. This new system of trading and commerce will be a foundation to control the entire region’s economy and eventually the entire continent."
The manager just nodded, a weight seeming to lift from his shoulders. "Yes, my lord."
Karl walked away from the office, already mentally moving on to his next project. "Tell me if there’s anything interesting or important," he said, the words echoing in the vast, hall of the market that seemed to be nothing more than a sea of echo in a room full of visitors.
Three days later, Orkell, Yrix, and Verris trekked onward, their backpacks heavy with chunks of yellow rock. The foul smell of rotten eggs clung to them and the rocks they carried, seeping into their clothes and making every breath a struggle. As they walked uphill, their faces covered with cloth, they saw many beastfolk passing by, who also had their noses covered and gave them wide berths as they hurried past. Some of the taller beastfolk, like a group of curious foxkin, even looked at them with a mixture of disgust and pity.
Yrix, breathing heavily with his basket full of rocks, wheezed, "Are you sure we’re on the right path? This smell is getting worse, and the undead market might be in the other valley." He winced as a particularly pungent gust of air hit him.
Verris, walking last, grumbled, "Stop complaining, Yrix. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can finally rest."
Orkell, leading the two other kobolds, asked a passerby, "Hello, is this the way to the undead market?"
The harefolk nodded and said, "Yeah, just follow this dirt path, and you’ll end up there." He spoke while covering his nose and then quickened his pace, clearly eager to get away from them.
Orkell, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile, said, "See? We’re on the right path."
Yrix sighed, a sound of pure exhaustion. "Hopefully, they’ll buy these, though. If we carried this for nothing, I swear..."
Verris fumed, his small frame trembling with irritation. "Stop being so negative, you bastard!" He kicked Yrix’s ankles with a sharp snap.
Yrix screamed, "Oww! What did I do?!" As the two of them started to argue, Orkell said, "Save your energy. We don’t know how far we have to trek while carrying these." He wiped the sweat from his brow, his attention more on the weight than on his squabbling brothers.
Later, the three kobolds arrived ascended on a flat terrain, after a tiring trek up in the mountain. In a clearing in the forest, a stone stele said, "Welcome to Necro Market." Orkell smiled, a genuine, tired smile. "We’re finally here."
"I hope they buy these, though," Yrix said, his voice a low mutter, but still laced with doubt.
Verris fumed again. "Ahh! You bastard! Stop complaining!" He threw a soft, chunky yellow rock at Yrix’s head.
An angry Yrix said, "Hey! What did I do?" He threw a rock back with a furious shout. As the two kobolds threw rocks at each other, the air filled with the sickening smell of the rocks breaking apart. Verris muttered, "You’ve been complaining from the start, you asshole! You make me want to lose my mind!"
Orkell saw them throwing the rocks they had so tiredly carried, and he shouted, "Hey! You both! Stop that!" Verris threw a rock at Yrix, but Yrix dodged, and it hit Orkell’s face instead, a sickening thud as the soft stone flattened against his snout. Verris was shocked and sheepishly said, "Oops." Meanwhile, Yrix laughed, almost crying, "HAHAHA! You idiot!"
In a rage, Orkell joined the fight, a whirlwind of flailing limbs and angry yelps. The three of them rolled around in the dirt, bruised and reeking, but the brief fight seemed to release some of the pent-up frustration from their journey.
Later, the three kobolds continued their journey, their clothes and faces now smudged with dirt and yellow dust. "Whoa... what is this?" Yrix asked, his hand tracing the smooth, expertly carved trunks that now lined the dirt path. They were shaped into intricate, almost living patterns, a sign of artistry that seemed out of place in the wilderness.
"I don’t know," Orkell said, "but we sure are in the right place."
As the three kobolds walked, their mouths fell open when they saw the exterior of the Necro Market. At the foot of the mountain cliffs, the rough, natural mountain walls were transformed into a smooth, elegant facade of ornate carved patterns with the words "Necro Market" etched in a beautiful, flowing script.
A large stone fountain stood in the middle, surrounded by well-maintained gardens bursting with colorful flowers that glowed with soft light. The entire landscape was enclosed by a magnificent iron gate, its bars twisted into beautiful vines and leaves, guarded by two heavily armored skeletons who stood at perfect attention. The gates were open, and a small group of beastkins were also hanging outside, admiring the flowers the skeleton gardeners were meticulously tending to.
Their mouths agape, Orkell finally spoke. " What in the three gods, is this place?" His question was filled with a sense of wonder and disbelief.
"Wow! This is not a market; this is paradise! Are we dead?" Verris said, his eyes wide.
"Are we even allowed in?" a stunned Yrix asked, his voice a hushed whisper.
Verris fumed again and slapped him on the head. "Don’t you see the gates are open, and there are people coming in and out? Get ahold of yourself, you idiot."
Then a shout came from the woods. "Brother Orkell!" Everyone’s heads snapped behind them to see the kobold hunters employed by Karl, who were still hunting wildlife near the forests for game. It was Nona and Lisa with other 3 skeleton hunters wielding curved bows dragging 2 boars while the other, carried a dead doe, it’s arrow still stuck on it’s chest.
Orkell, nearly crying with a mix of relief and joy, shouted, "Nona?! Lisa!?" The kobolds ran and met each other in a hug, finally reuniting with the lost ones, they had lost from the village attack.