"Your Highness Ron." Jasper bowed respectfully and greeted him.
Ron nodded and smiled. "Come inside and have a seat."
Jasper followed him into the shop, and they sat across from each other.
"Did you come by for something?" Ron asked casually.
He guessed Jasper had come because of the three thugs.
But then he reconsidered and thought that seemed like making a big deal out of nothing.
After all, if it was just this minor matter, they could have sent anyone to inform him.
So Jasper must have had something else to discuss with him.
"I did come to see you about something, Your Highness Ron." Jasper chuckled, trying to make himself look less serious. "With Professor Hicks's help yesterday, we caught the magic apprentice who'd been directing the thugs. In the end, we confirmed that he was behind it."
"The court handed down its judgment yesterday. Besides six months in detention, he also has to pay you fifty gold coins in compensation for emotional distress. And after Professor Hicks confirmed what happened, he had the Academy's admissions department process the apprentice's expulsion."
"Here's the fifty gold coins." As Jasper spoke, he set the purse from his belt on the table. "If there's anything else you're unhappy with, Your Highness Ron, I can also arrange for someone to take care of him in his cell."
"No need for that." Ron shrugged indifferently and tossed the purse onto the counter without bothering to open it and count the coins. He looked at Jasper. "Thanks for handling this. I appreciate it."
"It was the least I could do." Jasper smiled, his gaze flickering discreetly toward the purse on the counter.
Fifty gold coins was no small sum.
Although Ron's Flower Shop could bring in twenty gold coins for every Nether Orchid sold, Jasper didn't believe Ron got to keep all that money.
Aside from the cost of growing the Nether Orchids, the Magic Academy behind Ron would surely take the lion's share of the profits.
It was even possible that Ron got no cut at all and only received a fixed allowance from the Magic Academy.
That was just like the hundred gold coins the Glorious Mercenary Group provided Jasper every month.
So in Jasper's eyes, fifty gold coins was already a considerable sum for Ron. There was no way he'd toss the money onto the counter without even looking at it.
He's putting on quite a show... Jasper thought. Still smiling, he said, "Besides the magic apprentice, there's actually something else I wanted to discuss with you today, Your Highness Ron."
"Oh?" Ron raised an eyebrow, thinking that the real business was finally beginning. "What is it?"
"Heh, well..." Jasper smiled unhurriedly. "Your shop sells a plant that can improve the efficiency of meditation, doesn't it? Most of our mercenaries are warriors, but we have quite a few mages as well, so there's some demand for it."
"I was wondering if we could place regular orders for Nether Orchids, to help our mages and boost your sales. It would be a win-win."
That morning, Jasper had taken the Nether Orchid Holt bought and shown it to the mercenary group's mage stationed in Chaos City. They'd confirmed its miraculous effects on the spot.
So when Jasper proposed a long-term partnership, he was entirely sincere.
Ron stroked his chin and considered it before replying cautiously. "I have no objections in principle, but I'm not the one who actually grows the Nether Orchids. There's a limited number available each month, so I'm afraid I can't provide you with too many."
Jasper's expression remained unchanged, but he understood.
As if you could grow Nether Orchids yourself... Jasper grumbled to himself.
It was obvious that the Magic Academy provided Ron with the Nether Orchids, and the supply was bound to be limited. Jasper had expected that and was prepared for it.
"That's fine. We'll take whatever amount Your Highness can provide. Our mercenary group has relatively few mages, so we won't need too many Nether Orchids." Jasper picked up on Ron's words. "About how many could you provide each month?"
Ron pretended to think for a moment before answering. "I should be able to provide about a hundred. How does that sound?"
Jasper was a little surprised. He hadn't expected the monthly supply of Nether Orchids to be so large.
But then he remembered that Ron had the Magic Academy behind him, so it wasn't all that surprising.
Jasper nodded readily. "That works for us."
Though he said that, a hundred actually wouldn't be enough.
The Glorious Mercenary Group had branches throughout the Human Empire. Even its core members numbered well over a hundred thousand.
There were at least several hundred mages in the group stationed in Chaos City alone, not to mention the teams that came to Chaos City temporarily from other places, as well as countless branches across the Human Empire. They would all need Nether Orchids.
But since someone else controlled the supply, he didn't haggle over the quantity. Instead, he asked tentatively, "A hundred Nether Orchids a month is quite a large order. Could you offer us a discount, Your Highness Ron?"
Ron immediately shook his head and replied apologetically, "I'm afraid not. I don't set the price of Nether Orchids. They're twenty gold coins each, and that can't be changed."
The system had fixed the price. Ron hadn't been able to negotiate it even when he'd made a deal with the Magic Academy.
Of course, that was also because Professor Hicks had voluntarily given ground.
In Professor Hicks's view, His Highness Ron had the Empire backing him and was in possession of a miraculous plant like the Nether Orchid. It was better not to haggle, and to leave a good impression instead.
In fact, Professor Hicks had even been prepared to pay above market price at the beginning.
After hearing Ron's reply, Jasper nodded to show that he understood. He didn't push his luck.
In his view, even though His Highness Ron had the Magic Academy behind him and had been entrusted with a miraculous plant like the Nether Orchid, he surely didn't have the final say in certain matters. It made sense that he couldn't offer a discount.
This had also been a test to see how much autonomy Ron really had when it came to the Nether Orchids.
At this rate, he seems more like a puppet... Jasper thought. He kept smiling and said, "Heh, the discount isn't important. Since you can provide a hundred Nether Orchids each month, shall we settle on that? I'll have someone draft an agreement and bring it over tomorrow."
"Sure. Thanks for handling it." Ron nodded readily, reaching an agreement with Jasper. Then he spoke in a coaxing tone. "Actually, I think the new plants in the shop would suit the Glorious Mercenary Group better than the Nether Orchids. Would you like to hear about them?"
Struggling Author's Diary: We were chatting in the writers' group today when a big-shot author who'd just published a new book said that he'd released tens of thousands of words but still hadn't gotten a recommendation slot. Someone in the group immediately tagged me and said, "This is the perfect time to tag that person who still hasn't even signed a contract." Me: sob... (The person who tagged me is a good friend. He was just teasing me.)
Before you continue