Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter 137. How Dare You (2)
For an instant, silence hung in the air. The retainers all stood there blankly, their mouths agape.
“How dare you!”
“Impudent! Do you truly not understand that His Excellency is bestowing grace upon you?”
A stiff, fussy voice.
I did not know who it was, but he seemed very angry.
That was exactly what I had intended.
As a rule, people ruined things when they became agitated. If I kept my cool and made the other side lose theirs, I could secure the greatest possible profit.
The retainers’ reaction could be summarized in one sentence. How could a mere baronet refuse before the Duke, the man responsible for the kingdom’s internal affairs?
I acknowledged that too. Given the customs and reality of this era, this was something that should never happen.
But that was limited to the person called Dilen.
Inside the shell called Dilen was Kim Suhyeon, who carried the life of his previous world. I had not the slightest intention of accepting such an absurd deal.
Even if my head were to be cut off, I had to take what I needed first.
“I cannot hand over a product that my employees and I poured our hearts and souls into making. I ask for your forgiveness.”
“Hahaha. There seems to be some misunderstanding. I did not mean for you to simply hand it over. We will pay a fitting price for it. How could we rob you of your precious invention?”
The words “some misunderstanding” seemed to have been added belatedly, but that must have been my imagination.
“As expected of the Bahamut House, representative of impartial fairness. If you say a fitting price, what would that be?”
“There must be design drawings for making the fountain pen, and I hear you have also acquired patent rights. If you hand all of that over to me, I will provide you with a barony, a fief, and one hundred thousand gold.”
I fell into thought for a moment.
Of course, from the very beginning, I had no intention of accepting no matter what terms he offered.
So I had already made up my mind, but I wanted to analyze what value the Duke and his retainers placed on the product I had created.
Becoming a retainer of the Bahamut Ducal House, receiving a barony rather than a mere baronetcy, and even a fief were fairly tempting terms. On top of that, one hundred thousand gold. It was literally an enormous sum.
But none of those conditions felt attractive to me.
If I began displaying the abilities I had hidden one by one, I could receive not merely a barony but even a county, and one hundred thousand gold was money that would accumulate naturally with time.
In other words, the conditions they had offered were not very good at all.
After a moment, I opened my mouth.
“A barony and a fief, and even one hundred thousand gold. I never imagined Your Excellency would offer such excessive terms. On behalf of Metis, I express my gratitude.”
“I am glad we can understand each other. Then, regarding the contract stating that you will transfer all rights necessary for product development to me......”
“However, I cannot accept Your Excellency’s proposal.”
The surroundings began to murmur. The Duke’s expression, which had brightened, hardened.
Ah, did I cut him off too hastily?
As expected, one elderly retainer approached me. Judging from his voice, he seemed to be the old man who had shouted so stiffly earlier.
“You wretch! Do you know what sort of discourtesy you are committing right now? If His Excellency has offered you treatment to this extent, you should know enough to accept it gratefully!”
I looked at him with a lukewarm expression. How should I crush this fellow?
“You wretch? I am a person who came here at His Excellency the Duke’s summons. Who are you, and from where, that you use such a lowly expression toward me?”
Silence returned once more.
At the sharp rebuke of a blue-blooded young man, the old man stopped moving with his mouth hanging open.
If I followed my heart, I wanted to take off the Face Mask, but I held myself back. If I revealed that I was actually Dilen, and that I was the benefactor of Duchess Rosaria, then I would not be treated poorly.
Just then, the Duke stepped in.
“Mind your words and actions, and do not step forward.”
“M-My apologies, Your Excellency.”
Fortunately, the Duke was not a completely inflexible man. He controlled his retainers on his own. The old man stepped back.
After warning the other retainers with his eyes, the Duke glared at me.
“In that case, I would like to hear the terms you want.”
“No matter what conditions are offered, I cannot hand over the rights to this item. I ask for your understanding.”
“How frustrating.”
A sigh flowed from the Duke’s mouth. But I smiled instead.
“Your Excellency. If there is an easy path, is there any need to go out of one’s way to take the long road? If we change our way of thinking, there is a path where both sides can profit.”
“Continue.”
“Before that, I believe I must explain why it is difficult for me to hand over the sales rights.”
After opening the conversation that way, I swept my gaze over the retainers standing in attendance around us. It meant they should open their ears and listen well.
“In truth, it is not difficult for me to hand over all rights to the fountain pen to Your Excellency. It is not something precious enough to trade my life for. If not for the problem I have in mind, I would have already offered the design drawings and patent rights to Your Excellency. Would receiving a title from the Bahamut House not be a truly great honor?”
I drew out their agreement with exaggerated gestures. The retainers’ expressions softened considerably. The Duke was the same. He was completely focused on my story.
“However, before I am a merchant company master, I am an inventor. I take pride in the fact that my talent in that field surpasses anyone else’s.”
After leaving a strong impression in the minds of the retainers, I turned sharply toward the Duke.
“What that means is, I can create any number of items with far better performance than the fountain pen I have made now. Even if I hand over the design drawings and patent rights for the fountain pen I have developed now, if I were to develop a better item afterward, would that not be a grave discourtesy to the Ducal House?”
“Hmm......”
The Duke let out a low groan. It was a reaction showing that he had not expected this.
Even he, who enjoyed chess, probably had not seen the board that broadly. The item called the fountain pen was that enchanting and left that powerful an impression in the mind.
He must have thought that if he obtained the design drawings and patent rights right away, he could reap a great profit.
But the fountain pen I had designed was a prototype, and I was also planning to develop a new product equipped with various convenience features. In other words, this was not a bluff.
“That is why I could not hand over the sales rights. I ask for your generous understanding.”
“I understand your meaning. Then what is this easy path? You clearly said there was a path that would benefit both sides.”
“It is simple. The Bahamut House can invest in our company.”
“Invest, you say.”
The Duke stroked his chin. It likely meant that his interest had been piqued, but he wanted to think carefully.
Of course, I had anticipated this entire situation, and I had prepared a special item to persuade those sinking into skepticism.
It was the trial product, the ballpoint pen.
I took the ballpoint pen from inside my coat and held it high so everyone could see.
“This is a tool that allows one to write conveniently, just like a fountain pen. It is called a ballpoint pen. This, too, allows one to write comfortably anytime and anywhere without dipping it in ink.”
The retainers began to murmur.
It looked far simpler than a fountain pen, yet it did not need to be dipped in ink? That was the feeling in the room.
When I sent a glance to Hermes, who was standing to one side, he immediately prepared paper for me. As expected of the Head Butler of a Ducal House. His quick wits were probably S-Rank.
“Now, please watch. I will write something.”
I opened the cap and wrote with the ballpoint pen.
The contents were simple. It was a clichéd phrase of praise: “May endless glory be upon the Bahamut Ducal House.”
“What do you think? Quite easy, is it not?”
“Amazing.”
“It seems even more convenient to use than a fountain pen.”
“Oh......”
I approached the elderly retainer who had criticized me earlier. Then I handed him the ballpoint pen and paper.
“Would you like to try writing with it as well, Sir?”
“Hmm.”
The old man who received the ballpoint pen first examined the item carefully. After staring intently at the ink on the ballpoint tip, he cautiously began writing.
“Hoho, are you truly saying it does not need to be dipped in ink?”
“There is ink built inside it. It is easy to carry and can be used anytime, anywhere.”
“If there is ink inside, should it not naturally flow downward?”
“It is special ink. We added viscosity to it and processed it so it would not flow down.”
Rather, the ballpoint pen had been invented later than the fountain pen. The ballpoint pen had emerged to improve the inconvenient parts of the fountain pen. The materials were important, but the technology to keep the ink from flowing was important as well.
The elderly retainer nodded as if acknowledging it, then handed the ballpoint pen back to me.
I stepped forward in front of the people again.
“If the fountain pen provides satisfaction through a luxurious writing feel, then this ballpoint pen in my hand will offer limitless convenience to the public.”
“Splendid!”
It was a single word from the Duke.
The murmuring retainers fell silent in an instant. It was because the Duke had risen from his seat.
“It seems my thinking was indeed too shallow. If this ballpoint pen goes on the market, demand for fountain pens may decrease.”
“That is correct. As I have said repeatedly, I do not wish to do anything that would damage the honor of the Ducal House.”
I changed strategies again and showed the utmost courtesy. The Duke, who had approached me before I knew it, asked,
“What amount of investment are you hoping for?”
“The one hundred thousand gold you mentioned earlier, and I would like you to secure a good plot of land in the Royal Capital. I plan to establish a branch office of the company here, and I need assistance.”
“Very well.”
As expected, the authority of the Ducal House was extraordinary. This did not seem like a matter that could be decided so easily. It was no different from saying he would cut off a golden piece of land in Gangnam and give it to me.
The Duke, who had answered positively, continued looking at me. As if asking whether I had anything more to say.
“As for the additional conditions, I would like to discuss them with Your Excellency alone.”
“Everyone, leave.”
The retainers began leaving one by one. The only one who remained was Hermes, the Head Butler. The fact that the Duke left him behind meant he was likely his trusted hand and foot.
I got to the main point.
“In order to sell goods in the Royal Capital, we must produce a large quantity of products. However, we are lacking in equipment. With Metis’s current assets, establishing the equipment will not be easy.”
“You want investment in production facilities.”
“That is correct. However, I would like them to be built somewhere convenient for distribution, not in the Adeline territory.”
The reason was simple. We needed to reduce the cost of transporting products as much as possible. The greater the distance, the more exponentially the cost rose. It was not merely a matter of transportation. Escort forces had to be attached as well.
“Our house will Handle all of that cost. We can decide the location slowly. In that case, what profit will I receive?”
“I will give you three percent of the sales amount.”
“That is too little.”
“The phrase attached to it is ‘for every product Metis produces from now on.’ Does it still seem little?”
The Duke’s insight flashed for a moment. I had already explained our company’s vision earlier. He smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
“I accept your proposal. How about we write the contract immediately?”
“Before that, I have one request.”
“Speak.”
“I want information on the Astria Count House and the Delfino Merchant Company. High-grade information that is not generally known.”
The Duke’s expression became serious for an instant.