CHAPTER 57: A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

"A job?"

The man’s face changed in a second.

Just a moment ago, he had all the marks of someone at the edge of their patience.

And with just this single word, Theo managed to change his attitude in a second.

Then, wasting no time, he pulled out a small note, reaching out with his hand to pass it over.

"In five days, I need all of those items, in the ratios specified on the note," Theo explained right away. "I’m giving you the ratios over amount, so that you can stock up to the limits of your capacity," he added.

The mercenary captain looked down, measuring Theo with a steady gaze.

He then looked down, towards the bunch of scribbles on Theo’s note.

"That..." the man squinted his eyes, "that would cost quite the pretty penny," he pointed out before locking his arms over his chest, his gaze full of doubt.

All of that only for Theo to just shrug his arms.

"If you need money, find Kremy Ignacios and tell him I’ve sent you," Theo bounced the ball back. "Or," he put his best salesman’s smile, "you can front the money yourself. And if you do," Theo leaned his head over his right shoulder, "I promise, you will be thanking heavens for doing so while begging to join this sect."

That was quite the powerful statement.

And one made in public, in the full view of the huge crowd, making it all the more costly to take those words back.

The captain looked to the side, to a group of three mercenaries, two men and a woman. The older of the guys then shook his head.

The captain looked back.

"That’s quite the offer," he admitted before putting on a polite smile. "I’m sorry, but words are not what I can bet the future of my group on."

Theo nodded his head, half-expecting this outcome already.

Whether they accepted or not didn’t matter.

It was all about implanting a certain idea in their heads. An idea that would come in handy later.

"Then, just find Kremy," Theo shrugged his shoulders, "he will be happy to front any amount of money for the purchase of the stuff I’m requesting. And well," Theo bobbed his head up and down, "isn’t a stable, long-term contract better than awaiting opportunity at the guild?"

For the mercenary captain, it was all about money.

It cost a lot to maintain a host, especially a landless one like this group of mercenaries.

Having no real foundation for their group, they had to live off the commissions. And unless one belonged to the top of the class, those could be scarce, making it a real challenge for the landless mercenaries to survive. Apparently, there were some talks at the court to establish a different kind of force, adventurers or something, but knowing the court, it could be years before anything would be done in that direction.

Which is why a potentially stable employment, even if provided for a lesser fare, was a godsend to any freeloading mercenary group.

"And let’s omit the topic of the obscene fees the guild would tax you on the contracts they commission," Theo added while putting on a wry smile.

Out in the frontier, avoiding taxes wasn’t a crime but a semi-national sport.

Only those too stupid to cheat the taxman would pay their dues, fully aware their contributions funded mostly other provinces.

Still, for a mercenary, to avoid the middle-man commission on their contract?

That alone often made any sort of outside employment more than worth the jump.

"That’s certainly a lot for me to think long and hard about," the mercenary captain riposted yet still grabbed the note from Theo’s hands.

"Well then," Theo hurriedly clapped his hands down on his thighs, "that’s all that I really had to say. Thanks for your time. And now..." Theo turned his eyes up, taking a moment to recall some detail.

"Oh, right," he jolted as he turned, bringing his stare over to Narmidor’s sour face.

Both in theory and in practice, this kind of dealing was within his authority. And by dealing with them directly and without seeking the patriarch’s approval...?

In his haste, Theo committed quite the faux pas.

Sadly, by now, there was nothing that could be done about it, leaving Narmidor in quite the unpleasant spot.

And now, Theo had to pour salt upon the man’s wounds...

"I’m sorry for that, but there’s hardly any time to waste now," Theo spoke softly, mindful of the crowd nearby. "Would you allow me to address the sect?"

The mercenary captain, still near enough, shot a stare at the two, only to then shake his head, and turn around, more than happy to leave and hurry back to Vistra, where he could peacefully investigate Theo to make a better judgment over his offer.

"I don’t really mind, so if you REALLY want to..." Narmidor turned sideways before pointing his arm out towards the sect’s crowd.

The message was clear.

But this once, Theo had to pretend he noticed nothing.

"Before you do, please tell me you are not planning to pay them with... those," Narmidor muttered, properly hushing his voice as he stole a glance off the mercenary’s back.

"But that’s exactly what I’m planning to do, though," Theo replied with the most casual look on his face possible.

Then, it struck him.

For Narmidor, someone from the world where spirit stones were precious just couldn’t understand Theo’s perspective.

The sect patriarch considered spirit stones a precious, special commodity that should be gathered at any cost.

Spirit stones were the most direct way to induce growth in one of their disciples. The sect elders cultivated with those too, although they needed a huge number of the stones for them to be effective.

In other words, Narmidor still considered the spirit stones to be precious.

Theo, however, knew the truth.

The moment the production method would slip out of his grasp, the value of the spirit stones would drop through the floor. Once everyone will be able to make them, no one will ever bother paying for them.

’Obviously, that’s a trap all on its own, for there will come a day when this land’s magic dries up which will push the prices of everything up... but that’s not something I need to worry about in the timeline I have to follow.’

For now, though, Theo was more than happy to find new ways to obtain something, anything in exchange for the spirit stones.

By injecting them into the economy in this way, the effect of their growing accessibility shouldn’t hit as hard.

And for something that Theo could produce en masse, he could pretty much buy out an entire group of professional warriors, a group consisting of people like Kato’s opponent who already proved to be much stronger than the sect’s inner disciple.

In a way, this sort of acquisition would bolster the sect’s strength to more than twice its current power...

But whether or not they would take the bait all depended on their captain now.

’This could be the start of a beautiful friendship,’ Theo thought sarcastically before shaking his head and turning his eyes to the more pressing matter.

"I’m sorry man, but we really need to speed things up right now." Theo gave the sect’s patriarch a nod of apology... before stepping out to the crowd of people eager to learn more about everything that happened.

"Hear thy, hear thy!" Theo called out, quickly bringing everyone’s attention upon himself. "It’s your resident prince speaking!"