Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Sounding Each Other Out, Negotiating Cooperation
The council chamber was rather dimly lit. Torches hung on the walls, and their flames flickered unsteadily.
Alfred Jurgen sat in a high-backed chair at the far end of the council chamber. The chair was made of dark wood, and patterns were carved into its armrests.
He wore a deep-blue silk robe. The collar and cuffs were embroidered with the family’s silver crest, and a wide leather belt was fastened around his waist. Hanging from it was a short sword with a golden hilt set with a red gemstone.
He looked to be around thirty-five years old, a man with a very mature sort of charm.
“Greetings, friend from afar. Welcome to the Jurgen Family. I am Alfred, head of the Jurgen Family.”
“Greetings, Mr. Alfred. I am an adventurer from the Kingdom of Mia. My name is Ryan, and this is my companion, Nika. We came today especially to pay you a visit.”
Ryan spoke respectfully.
“Oh?”
At a glance, Alfred recognized Nika as a slave.
Yet Ryan had introduced her as his companion, which stirred a trace of curiosity in Alfred.
In this country—no, in this world—the way people viewed slaves was more or less the same.
They were treated entirely as disposable goods.
As the head of the Jurgen Family, he had seen countless people over the years.
This was the first time he had ever met an adventurer who regarded a slave as a companion.
“Then, adventurer Ryan, is that bottle of perfume the guard brought in just now something you intend to sell?”
Alfred went straight to the point.
“Uh... actually, not exactly.”
“Hm?”
Alfred frowned.
He had assumed Ryan had come to discuss a business partnership, but Ryan had unexpectedly said otherwise.
Was Ryan toying with him?
If that really was the case,
then he would make Ryan see the methods of the Jurgen Family for himself.
At that thought, Alfred’s gaze turned sharp.
Ryan naturally noticed the change in Alfred’s attitude.
But he remained calm and said, “Mr. Alfred, the truth is that I came here to find someone. But meeting you was simply too difficult, so I used perfume to attract your interest and make this meeting happen.”
“Find someone?”
“Yes.” Ryan nodded and explained, “When I came in, you must have already noticed that Nika beside me is a slave.”
Alfred nodded without speaking.
“But I do not treat Nika as a slave. I treat her as a companion on our adventures. Nika has a twin younger sister named Nila. We learned that Nila had been sold as a slave from the Kingdom of Mia to this place. So...”
Before Ryan could finish, Alfred interrupted him.
“So your purpose is to help her find her younger sister?”
“You are correct. That is exactly why we came to see you.”
“Hm...”
Alfred fell into thought.
Seeing this, Ryan guessed what Alfred was thinking.
“Of course, if you can help me find Nila, then we can discuss in detail a partnership regarding that product the guard showed you just now—perfume.”
“Heh... What an interesting adventurer.”
Alfred smiled faintly and said in a low voice,
“What if I say I will not help you find her?”
“Then regrettably, this cooperation will probably be impossible.”
“Oh? Do you know where you are? This is the Jurgen Family’s castle!”
Alfred narrowed his eyes and said coldly, “Without my permission, neither of you will be leaving today.”
“Heh.” Ryan merely smiled, unconcerned. “Mr. Alfred, what you need to understand is that I did not seek out only one possible partner. If I do not leave this castle safely, my subordinates will go and seek cooperation with other families.”
“I imagine many families in the Kingdom of Candel would be willing to cooperate in selling perfume. As an aside, in the Kingdom of Mia, I likewise found only one family to cooperate with, and perfume’s yearly profit is close to five million Gold Coins.”
“If Mr. Alfred does not care about those profits, then I have nothing more to say.”
Ryan shrugged and spoke in a relaxed tone.
The moment Nika heard Ryan’s words, her expression tensed.
She moved closer to him.
She had never expected that this visit would put them in such great danger.
After hearing Ryan’s words, Alfred sank into thought.
One second!
Two seconds!
Three seconds!
“Hahahahahaha...!”
Alfred suddenly burst into laughter so loud that it carried outside the council chamber.
Even the servants far away could tell that Alfred was in an extremely good mood.
“Good, good, good. This is the first time I have ever seen such a bold adventurer. You are right. Even the Jurgen Family cannot ignore a yearly profit of five million.”
“You win!”
“Then, Mr. Alfred, does that mean you are willing to help us find Nila?”
Ryan asked.
“Heh, since you have already come all the way to me, you must have investigated in advance, no? Nila is indeed in my castle.”
Alfred replied with a smile.
“Then my sister... how is Nila now?”
Nika could not help asking.
Alfred gave Nika a strange look. “Do not worry. Nila is living quite well here. She is currently my daughter’s personal maid and is responsible for her daily needs.”
“Th-Then can I see Nila?”
“Of course.”
Alfred nodded, then called out toward the door of the council chamber.
“Someone come in!”
Creak—
The doors of the council chamber were pushed open, and a middle-aged man in his forties walked in.
He was about 1.7 meters tall and rather thin, with somewhat narrow shoulders and a slightly hunched back, the result of long years spent bowing in greeting.
He wore a black tailcoat. The fabric was smooth and neat, without a wrinkle, and a white bow tie was fastened at his collar with meticulous precision.
The cuffs of a white shirt showed at his wrists, where gold cufflinks in the style of the Jurgen Family emblem were visible.
His hair was gray-white, combed with impeccable care and lying flat against his scalp.
Fine wrinkles covered his face, especially at the corners of his eyes and mouth.
He had no beard. His chin was narrow and sharp, and his skin was light brown with the pallor of someone who had spent many years working indoors.
“He is my butler. His name is Marcus.”
Alfred introduced him.
“My Lord, what are your orders?”
“Go to my daughter and bring over that Fox Tribe slave maid we bought some time ago. Tell her that her older sister has come looking for her.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Before Marcus turned to leave, he glanced at Nika and immediately understood what was happening.
Were these two hoping to take the maid away?
Carrying that question in his heart, Marcus departed and headed toward the young lady’s bedchamber.
As Nika watched Marcus’s departing figure, a flash of anxiety passed through her eyes.
Ryan patted Nika’s hand.
There was no need to rush over such a short wait. They would be reunited very soon.
Nika held Ryan’s hand, and her emotions gradually calmed.
“Ryan, I have a question for you.”
“Please ask.”
“When you said just now that if you did not leave on time, your subordinates would go negotiate with another family, was that really true?”
Alfred stared directly into Ryan’s eyes.
“What do you think?”
Ryan neither confirmed nor denied it.
There was no way he could tell Alfred that he had been bluffing.
He had not prepared any subordinates at all.
He had simply been deceiving Alfred.
It could not be helped.
When one was out in the world, one’s identity was often whatever one made it.
Was it unreasonable for him to arrange a number of subordinates for himself?
Not at all.
“Heh.”
Alfred smiled and asked no further questions.
He understood what Ryan meant.
And he knew that Ryan understood what he meant as well.
In his view, what Ryan had said about having subordinates was credible by no more than one percent.
If he denied that Nila was here, the cooperation over perfume could still very likely be concluded.
This was the Jurgen Family’s home ground. It was no laughing matter.
And yet, Alfred did not dare gamble.
He did not dare gamble on that one percent chance.
If Ryan tampered with the perfume in some way, his own people would have great difficulty detecting it.
So even if there was only a one percent possibility, he still did not dare take the risk.
He could only maintain a friendly partnership with Ryan.
That question just now had also been his way of telling Ryan something.
He knew Ryan had used a small trick, but he did not care. He was willing to cooperate with Ryan.
Ryan had also understood Alfred’s meaning, which was why he did not continue the matter.
Both men were intelligent. A few words were enough.
Yet beneath the table, where Ryan could not see,
both of Alfred’s hands were trembling.
The truth was that he had been utterly shocked by the profits perfume could bring.
Five million Gold Coins in profit every year!
And note well, that was profit, not sales revenue.
The profits from perfume were simply too enormous.
The Jurgen Family’s total annual sales revenue from all its businesses combined was only around eight million Gold Coins.
But once costs were deducted, their profit was merely around three to four million.
And the Jurgen Family had many members, so its expenses were far from small.
Faced with a product capable of generating five million Gold Coins in profit each year, even Alfred was shouting inwardly:
This must be secured!
It must be secured completely and safely!
That was the real reason he did not mind Ryan’s little trick and was determined to make the partnership happen.
As long as he could conclude this deal with Ryan,
the Jurgen Family’s annual profits would at least double.
It was only because he had developed excellent self-control through his many years as the head of the Jurgen Family that he was able to keep his face expressionless.
Seeing Alfred’s calm expression, Ryan assumed Alfred truly was not surprised.
He did not realize that Alfred’s shock was merely being displayed somewhere Ryan could not see.
At that thought, Alfred could not help asking Ryan about the specific details.
Since the butler was unlikely to return anytime soon, Ryan began explaining the details of perfume to Alfred.
The more Alfred listened, the more he felt that perfume had extraordinary potential.
After all, everything Ryan told him was based on the real situation in the Kingdom of Mia.
The fact that perfume had become a bestseller had already been proven by the market. There was no way it would lose money.
So Alfred grew more and more excited.