Chapter 85 : Doing Business with the Marshall Trading Company
The man sitting across from me, Chairman Willy, looks like he’s about to have a heart attack.
Selina, of course, doesn’t seem to care one bit.
“Willy,” she says, her voice dripping with mock innocence, “don’t you offer your guests tea?”
He practically trips over himself shouting orders at his assistant.
A moment later, a tray appears with tea and… are those cookies? They look like the ones from my old life, but I’ve never actually tried one.
Maggie’s mother never taught us how to bake desserts.
Selina, completely ignoring the poor chairman who’s now sweating through his collar, elegantly plucks a cookie from the plate and takes a delicate sip of her tea.
“Um, Lady Selina,” he stammers, finally working up the nerve to speak.
He must be terrified she’s planning to camp out in his office all day.
“What can I do for you today?”
“My, my. Ordering me to get to the point? You’ve certainly gotten bold. But this time, it’s my granddaughter, Zoe, who has business with you. You can speak with her.”
And with that, Selina pulls a book out of her bag and starts to read.
“Wait,” I whisper, horrified. “You’re not going to do the talking?”
She glances up, gives a little snort, and disappears behind her book again.
So, I’m on my own. It’s up to me to negotiate.
But I don’t know the first thing about the price of lumber.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I begin, trying to sound more confident than I feel. “I’m Zoe. Are you Chairman Willy of the Marshall Trading Company?”
His attention is still mostly on Selina, but he seems to have calmed down a little. “The pleasure is all mine. My name is Willy, and I have the honor of serving as chairman.”
Okay. How do I even start? I’m so lost.
“Um, I’d like to sell some lumber…”
I don’t remember seeing any lumber for sale when we walked through the shop, though.
“Lumber, you say?” he asks, his eyes lighting up. “Could it be… Treant wood?”
He was pale as a ghost a second ago, but he’s a true merchant. The moment I say “lumber,” his mind jumps straight to the most valuable kind.
“Well, I can certainly go hunt some Treants if you need the wood,” I say, “but for now, I just want to sell regular lumber.”
For a split second, his face falls. Then he glances at Selina and forces his smile back into place.
“We always have a demand for Treant wood, so if you do happen to hunt any, please let us know. Wait a moment.”
His eyes narrow. “Aren’t Treants only found in massive woods like the Great Forest? Lady Selina’s granddaughter must be…”
He’s finally noticed my black robes. I guess he was too busy being terrified of Selina to pay much attention to me.
“I can transport the lumber here myself,” I say, trying to get the most important part out of the way first. “But getting it through the city gate seems like it would be a hassle. I was hoping you could send a wagon to pick it up from us on the main road, near the forest to the northwest.”
A girl my age driving a wagon piled high with logs would attract way too much attention.
Besides, I’d rather not have people asking how I got to Alina City in the first place, or worse, lying in wait to ambush me. That shantytown we passed on the way in looked pretty rough.
Then again, if someone did attack, I’m more than ready to fight back.
I read at the Guild that there’s a bounty for subduing bandits. Maybe I should buy some extra rope.
“You want us to bring one of our wagons to the main road?”
Chairman Willy frowns. “It would be much more convenient if you could deliver it directly to our warehouse. Transferring lumber from one wagon to another on the roadside would require extra men and be quite difficult.”
Oh. So that’s why Selina was so insistent about me building two wagons.
Fine, I’ll just have to make another one. Honestly, I wish she’d just explain these things.
“You can just take the whole wagon,” I offer. “If you bring two horses, all you’ll have to do is hitch them up. You can return the wagon during our next transaction.”
“Ah, yes,” he says, brightening. “In that case, it should go very smoothly.”
My plan was to just teleport the wagon to the edge of the woods and drive it out onto the road.
The thought of all the physical labor involved in moving logs from one cart to another—something my Storage Magic makes trivial—never even occurred to me.
A classic witch oversight.
“Since I’m here,” I ask, “what size lumber would you prefer?”
“Alina City is a trading port. That means there’s a high demand for lumber to build ships, so we need wood that is hard, thick, and long.”
That’s not very helpful. I have no idea how long. I just cut the logs to fit the wagon I built.
Does this mean I need to make the wagon longer, too? I based its design on the old, used one Selina bought.
As I stand there looking lost, Selina snorts from behind her book.
“Zoe, have him arrange a tour of the port and the shipyards for you. Willy,” she adds, not looking up, “I’ll need you to recommend a good inn. While my granddaughter gets an education on how the world works, I intend to relax.”
She must be tired of sitting up so straight. She’s much more used to lounging on a sofa.
“Of course, Lady Selina. Right away.”
It’s strange how differently Chairman Willy treats me versus how he treats Selina.
I guess it’s the age gap. Or… wait a minute.
Is he underestimating me?