155 -) Shareholders’ Meeting (1)
Year 1452, month 09, day 18
The shareholders who invested in the Questers Guild before its foundation requested a meeting. They mentioned they wanted to discuss the Guild's further work and direction.
Some may think they have an involvement in the Guild or a say, which is nonexistent, but since we have had many business deals for a while and they supported me when the Guild was yet to be established, I should at least hear them.
A total of 10 people were invited, as they were asked to participate. 4 of them were merchants who used their money as an investment, and 6 of them were artisans who benefited from various advantages the Guild provided them: discounts on services, priority, care, and being the first point of contact for purchases of the Guild.
The merchants must be sure that the investment they provided at first is multiplied severalfold, and now they can demand regular dividends from the earnings of the Guild. The artisans should be content with the current situation, as they have already earned more than what they gave in the last 8 months because the Guild places most of its orders through them.
I prepared a meeting room and asked employees to prepare snacks and drinks as hospitality. The room was on the same fourth floor where my personal room was. Since the top floor is for me to use, I divided the rooms based on the general management of the Guild.
There are two floors underground that are used as storage. The wide ground floor is for the questers to get their quests and meet each other. The first floor is to organize and record the quests. The second floor is used to look after training, recruitment, buying new slaves, and promotions. The third floor is to organize and manage the whole facilities of the headquarters and branches.
As for the top floor, which is the fourth floor, it belongs to me. My study room is located there, and only the department heads of each department can acces there aside from my close aides. The meeting room I ordered to be prepared was also on that floor.
“Tok, tok, tok!” While I was waiting for people to come up as I seated myself in the head seat, the door was knocked on.
“Come in,” I said.
“Click.” The door was opened, and a young man in merchant attire entered. “Oh, Han, hello.” He was Orzhan. He looked inside the room as if searching for someone, and when he spotted me, he greeted me cheerfully.
He looked much better since I saw him last time. As the work was piling up, I started to send one of my employees to him to bring and deliver equipment and skill crystals with payment and repayment.
***
Orzhan
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Steel Dagger
Gold Amulet ◙+
Silver Ring ◙+
Job: Equipment Merchant Level 34
***
Even his job level has increased so much. He has been acting as a middleman and earning commissions from the businesses that went through him. It was only natural for him to gain some experience in his job and quite a lot of money to be able to wear fancy clothes like these.
“Hello, Orzhan, welcome,” I said with a smile. “But why are you here? I did not receive any request from you to attend the meeting.”
“Oh, I heard that some of the troublemakers want to meet with you.” He said while pulling a chair before he sat. “Why did you agree to meet with them anyway? They will surely demand something and cause a headache.”
“No, it is okay.” I shook my head. “They can’t do anything as long as I don’t give it to them after all. Let’s just hear them and decide what to do after that.”
“If that is what you say,” he said, not looking fully convinced.
“Knock, Knock.” While I was catching up with Orzhan, the door was knocked on.
“Come in.” I let them in.
“Master, your guests have arrived.” One of the servants came inside and said.
“Is that so? That is good.” I nodded. “Please lead them here.”
“Yes, master.” He said and left after closing the door.
“Aren’t you getting bigger and bigger?” Orzhan said with a bit of a jealous gaze. “You have many servants and employees now. You have this big headquarters of your guild, and there are many branches that are currently under construction. It is fascinating how fast you came to this point.”
“Hehe,” I laughed lightly at his remark. “Are you jealous?”
“Hmm, I can’t deny that.” He did not refute. “It is just so fast that it felt like you are supported with an infinite amount of capital from somewhere.”
“I just work hard. You know that best,” I said to reaffirm him.
“Yeah, I know.” He nodded. “Others might not know this, but all these outcomes are thanks to your skill, crystal job. I am already curious how much you gained from the capital.”
“You are right.” I nodded. “I grew this business with the coins I gained from the skill crystal business, as you said. I also earned a few thousand platinum coins at the capital. Naturally, I intend to use these coins for the Questers Guild, too.”
“A-a few thousand… Platinum coins?” Orzhan was left speechless when he heard the amount.
“Of course, the shareholders don’t have to know this,” I said to him as if asking him to keep this information for himself. “You can do that, right?”
“Uh? Y-yeah.” He could only nod and hardly agree.
“Knock, knock.” Before he regained his composure, the door was knocked again. “Master, your guests are here.” He said behind the door.
“Please, let them in,” I said with a smile and stood up.
Seeing me, Orzhan also stood up reflectively. I walked toward the door as the guests started to come in. They smiled lightly as they saw me and walked toward me.
“Welcome, everyone,” I said and shook hands with the closest one.
“Thank you.” They beamed when they were warmly welcomed. “We're happy to be here.”
“Please take a seat,” I said after I shook hands with each of them.
I took the head seat again, and others took seats at my left and right. 6 people sat at my right, while 5 sat at my left. I could say that it is Orzhan who broke the balance, but that was not a problem at all. After they sat down, we talked a bit about their well-being before we got to the main topic.
“Ahem!” I cleared my throat and gave another welcome to them. “Thank you for coming all the way here. I welcome you again. I heard that you want to discuss the current situation of the Questers Guild. As shareholders, it is only natural for you to want to know what is going on.”
“Yes.” One man who sat beside Orzhan joined the conversation with a confident expression. “That is exactly why we are here. We want to know how our guild is faring.”
He must be the ringleader, as he did not hesitate to hint at his desire by saying ‘our guild’. The others either nodded to what he said or remained silent as if eyeing my response. Orzhan looked dissatisfied as he also noticed what they were referring to.
“Sure, let me explain where we are currently,” I said and started counting the actions the Questers Guild had taken so far.
I explained the growth pattern of the guild, how many employees it has, how many slaves it has, why it established a training hall, and accepted apprentices; Why the guild recruited trainers and used our own money to raise new talents for free; and why it is even building an orphanage.
I also explained how many branches we are currently building and where they are located, when they will start to operate, how they will operate, how much autonomy they will have, and how they will cooperate with the headquarters, etc.
When I finished my explanation, most of the people at the meeting had eyes shining with satisfaction. They must be thinking that, as they have a part of the Guild, their investment is multiplied in value as all of those actions are taken.
“Sir Han, it seems like the Questers Guild has grown so much since its founding.” The same merchant said with a satisfied smile. “While I can’t approve of the whole investment you made, as some of them are not clearly profitable at all, seeing the general direction it is taking, I am simply amazed at how profitable this business has become.”
He must be referring to the training ground, daily training employees, and the orphanage as non-profitable establishments. He is a merchant, so it is normal for him to seek clear profits. In addition to that, he seems to be in a delusion that the whole growth is made with the Guild’s own money. He really thinks that the profit margin is high right now.
“I am happy to see you think that way,” I said with a smile, although I am not happy about it at all. “If the current growth pattern continues without any interruption, it would not be a dream for the Questers Guild to be the biggest and most versatile establishment in the whole Hazaroth Union.”
All of the people in the room looked satisfied with what I said. They would be dubious in the past, but seeing how big the Guild is right now, they must have some hope. Especially the merchant who spoke until now looked more confident than when he first came. He must be thinking that I acknowledged what he said and could not refute it as part of the Guild.
“It seems like you are quite happy with what you heard until now,” I said as I was about to get to the main topic. “However, you seem to be unaware of something. Do you all think that the Guild grew up this much with its own income?”