Chapter 25

After confirming that Toby had indeed recovered after taking the potion.

Boris ultimately drank the herbal potion Desinia had given him.

He had his own considerations and understood why Desinia had given him the potion.

What was more, before leaving, the young count had looked at him and said something.

"If Mr. Abel can't bring himself to drink this herbal potion, then you must be even less courageous than Toby."

Boris: "..."

He had no choice but to drink it.

He absolutely could not lose to a child only a few years old.

That night, Boris drank the first jar of potion, and the bitterness nearly numbed his mouth.

The next morning.

Count Desinia sent someone over with three new jars of potion, explaining that they were to be taken after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Vincent could not help asking, "Young Master Boris, how do you feel now?"

Boris said, "Since I woke up this morning, I've felt much better. My head doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday... This potion is truly effective."

He could not help picking up the empty jar left over from last night and bringing it to his nose. The strange odor that lingered inside immediately hit him again.

This time, however, he forced himself not to pull away.

Afterward, Boris had Vincent bring over a sheet of parchment and place it on the table.

He poured all the residue from the jar onto the parchment, then slowly picked through it with his fingers.

Vincent also leaned closer to inspect it.

After a long while, he shook his head and sighed. "Young Master Boris, it's completely impossible to tell what plants this was brewed from anymore. I wonder which physician could be so capable..."

"Because of this potion, I'm afraid we'll have to lower our stance when negotiating with Count Desinia."

As the chief steward of the Nagabi Merchant Guild, Vincent possessed exceptional insight and methods.

How could he fail to see that if such a fast-acting and safe potion were put into production and then sold publicly, the profits it generated would be enormous?

Especially since this herbal potion could effectively treat coughing and fever.

Commoners and slaves would no longer need to seek out physicians and beg for treatment. They could spend a certain amount of money in a shop to buy medicine with guaranteed effects, while nobles would have their lives safeguarded...

This was the most urgent hope everyone dreamed of.

Count Desinia had deliberately revealed this herbal potion, and had successfully baited them.

"Young Master Boris, what do you think?"

Boris fell silent for a moment, slowly rubbing the residue between his fingers before suddenly smiling. "I truly underestimated Count Desinia."

After taking the potion for another day, Boris's illness improved rapidly. His body had clearly recovered, and he was full of energy.

He and Vincent were invited to the castle again.

Both sides still sat at opposite ends of the long table, with exactly the same number of people present.

Xia Zuoyi spoke first. "Mr. Abel, what do you think of this herbal potion?"

Boris said, "It is very good."

"May I ask whether Your Excellency can introduce me to the physician who developed it?"

Xia Zuoyi smiled at him.

"No hurry. Why don't we discuss cooperation first?"

Boris raised an eyebrow. "Cooperation?"

"As I recall, the Nagabi Merchant Guild and the Thorn Merchant Guild have never engaged in any cooperation. Did Your Excellency misspeak?"

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Xia Zuoyi said, "Of course I didn't misspeak. The lack of cooperation in the past doesn't mean there won't be any in the future."

"Mr. Abel, don't you think this herbal potion would make an excellent basis for cooperation?"

"Or perhaps... Mr. Abel doesn't actually believe this herbal potion is worth selling through the Nagabi Merchant Guild?"

Whoever held enough bargaining chips held the initiative.

During the days Boris had spent in Visas, he had already thoroughly learned the method and process for refining fine salt.

Once Betara Lake produced crystals through the solar evaporation method and refined fine salt... Rose Salt would no longer be constrained by Nagabi Salt.

Under their original plan, they would have had Desinia completely under their control, forcing him to merge the Thorn Merchant Guild into the Nagabi Merchant Guild. Rose Salt and Nagabi Salt would then both be sold through the Nagabi Merchant Guild.

The profits they had lost would eventually return.

But once the herbal potion appeared, the entire situation changed completely.

They were no longer the proactive side, and Desinia had seized control of the negotiations.

Boris said, "This herbal potion is certainly worth selling through the Nagabi Merchant Guild. It is even of tremendous significance."

"Your Excellency might as well speak plainly. How do you wish to cooperate with the Nagabi Merchant Guild? Or rather, what conditions do you believe this herbal potion can make the Nagabi Merchant Guild offer?"

Xia Zuoyi said, "I'll tell Mr. Abel how we will cooperate."

"The proportions and dosages of this herbal potion all need to be prepared in advance. Adding more or less of any plant will affect the medicinal efficacy... I will only sell the finished medicine to the Nagabi Merchant Guild."

"First, the plants used to brew the potion will be mixed together and ground into powder, then packed into individual parchment packets. Each packet can brew one jar of potion."

"I will send people to deliver the finished medicine to the Anas Empire. Your Nagabi Merchant Guild can brew and sell it on the spot."

"Since we must cover the costs of cultivating the plants, labor, production, shipping, and so on, while the Nagabi Merchant Guild only needs to brew and sell it."

"The profit split will therefore be seven for me and three for Nagabi."

Boris did not answer immediately.

Vincent promptly said, "Impossible. The Nagabi Merchant Guild cannot give up such a large share of the profits."

Xia Zuoyi pursed his lips. "Oh, then I'll take eight and you can have two."

Vincent: "..."

He suspected that the young count was deliberately toying with him.

But he had no proof.

Boris shook his head. "The Nagabi Merchant Guild will not agree to such a profit split."

"The method of cooperation you proposed is not reasonable either. Leaving aside the distance from Gadayat to the Anas Empire, sailing on the Volri River is extremely time-consuming..."

"If we encounter storms or disasters and the ship sinks or takes on water, causing an entire shipload of herbal medicine to dissolve into the river, who will compensate for that loss?"

"Besides, we do not know the proportions or dosages of the plants."

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"If the medicine packets that were painstakingly delivered were switched by someone, and the resulting brew had no effect after being consumed by patients, or even harmed them... who would bear that responsibility?"

Xia Zuoyi said, "You don't agree with this method of cooperation or the profit split?"

Boris said, "That's right. I don't agree. There are too many loopholes in this method."

Xia Zuoyi said, "But I like this method of cooperation very much and have no intention of compromising."

Boris said, "Your Excellency should reconsider carefully."

"No matter how well you hide the physician who developed the herbal potion, he will eventually be found. Compared to a small country like Gadayat, where do you think he would rather develop?"

"I think he would rather stay here."

Boris said, "Does Your Excellency wish to test the methods of the Nagabi Merchant Guild?"

"No."

"Since that is the case, Your Excellency might as well bring him over and ask him personally. It would save trouble later."

Xia Zuoyi could not help leisurely swinging his feet beneath the long table. "He's right here."

Boris raised his brows, and his gaze swept over Judith, then over the two knights standing at the very back... None of them looked likely.

Vincent said, "Please do not speak recklessly, Your Excellency."

Xia Zuoyi stretched out a hand and pointed at himself. "Me."

Boris froze. "What?"

Xia Zuoyi said, "I'm the one who made the herbal potion."

"..."

Vincent looked utterly incredulous and stammered, "Y-Your Excellency?!"

"Please don't joke..."

"I wouldn't joke about something like this. The herbal potion is the result of my research. I will use it to apply to the Alchemy Association for a badge and qualifications, becoming an alchemist."

"..."

Xia Zuoyi placed both hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and looked directly into Boris's deep lake-green eyes.

He said, "Do you want to take me back to the Anas Empire? But I prefer my own territory."

"Sorry, not interested."

Vincent seemed as though he wanted to say something else, but Boris raised a hand to stop him.

Boris said, "Did you really make this herbal potion?"

He already believed it in his heart.

Xia Zuoyi nodded. "That's right."

After a while, Boris could not help sighing. "I truly did not expect this... Your Excellency, you've made things difficult for me..."

He shook his head. "But I still cannot agree to the method of cooperation you proposed. It seems this time..."

Xia Zuoyi spoke then. "How about I take a step back?"

Boris looked somewhat surprised.

Xia Zuoyi said, "I can sell the formula, proportions, and everything else for this herbal potion entirely to the Nagabi Merchant Guild. After that, I naturally will not interfere with how the Nagabi Merchant Guild chooses to price or sell it."

"But I want exclusive trademark rights. In other words, every jar of medicine sold must bear the crest of the Desinia Family."

Boris said, "Is that your only request?"

Xia Zuoyi said, "Of course not."

"I also want the Nagabi Merchant Guild to promise that it will never interfere with or suppress any goods the Thorn Merchant Guild sells in the future, including those it has sold in the past."

"And you must also promise that Nagabi Salt will permanently withdraw from the Gadayat Kingdom."

Those words made Boris study Xia Zuoyi deeply.

There was something indescribable in his gaze.

Xia Zuoyi calmly let him stare.

After a while.

Xia Zuoyi said, "If you keep looking, I'll charge you. You can pay one gold coin to continue."

Even though the atmosphere had become somewhat tense, Vincent could not help pressing his lips together.

Boris said, "Was the second condition actually the only cooperation you wanted in the end?"

The first method of cooperation had merely been a decoy thrown out in advance to pad things out, hadn't it?!

Xia Zuoyi simply smiled at his words without saying anything.

Boris said, "If there is a fourth request, Your Excellency might as well state them all at once."

Xia Zuoyi shook his head with slight regret. "There isn't."

"We can now discuss what price the Nagabi Merchant Guild can offer to purchase the formula for this herbal potion."

Boris said, "You've already made three demands."

"Even if I buy the potion formula, the Thorn Merchant Guild can still sell it. Doesn't that mean the Nagabi Merchant Guild is at a disadvantage?"

"Besides, I haven't said whether I'll agree to Your Excellency's demands."

Xia Zuoyi said, "Does Mr. Abel believe I can only make medicine for coughing and fever?"

"The Thorn Merchant Guild and the Nagabi Merchant Guild can continue to cooperate amicably in the future. As long as the Nagabi Merchant Guild gives up a little space, both sides can achieve a win-win situation..."

"Don't you think so, Mr. Abel?"

Boris could not help recalling what Vincent had told him before they entered the castle.

Vincent had said, "Young Master Boris, if you don't want to be at a disadvantage when speaking with Count Desinia, you can use the Nagabi Merchant Guild's power to suppress the Thorn Merchant Guild without mercy."

"You could even use that to force Count Desinia to hand over the herbal potion formula..."

"There are countless ways to obtain it. You can choose a path where no means are beneath you."

Boris had answered at the time, "My father once told me that making enemies is worse than making friends. It wasn't easy for the Nagabi Merchant Guild to achieve what it has today. Pursuing profit without scruples will ultimately make us lose everything."

Vincent had looked gratified.

Boris said, "If we truly reach a point where we have no choice but to yield... then we should yield. Appropriate concessions can instead bring longer-lasting development."

But before yielding.

He would certainly use threats, inducements, and even intimidation. Whichever side could no longer hold out first would lose.

At this moment.

Boris said, "I need time to consider it. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

He had to leave himself some dignity...

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