After confirming that Toby had indeed recovered after taking the medicine.
Boris finally drank the herbal medicine Desinia had given him.
He had his own considerations and understood why Desinia had given him the medicine.
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 medicine, then your courage is probably inferior even to Toby's."
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 medicine, and the bitterness nearly numbed his mouth.
The next morning.
Count Desinia sent someone over with three new jars of medicine, 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, "Ever since I woke up this morning, I've felt much better. My head doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday either... This medicine is really effective."
He could not help picking up the empty jar left over from the previous night and bringing it to his nose. The strange smell that lingered inside immediately assaulted him again.
This time, however, he forced himself not to pull away.
Afterward, Boris had Vincent bring over a piece of parchment and lay it on the table.
He poured all the residue from the jar onto the parchment, then slowly picked through it with his fingers for a closer look.
Vincent also leaned in 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. I also don't know which physician could be so capable..."
"Because of this medicine, 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 first-rate vision and methods.
How could he fail to see that if such fast-acting, harmless medicine entered mass production and the finished product was sold publicly, the profits it generated would be enormous?
Especially since this herbal medicine could effectively treat coughs and fevers.
Commoners and slaves would no longer need to seek out physicians and beg for treatment. They could simply spend a certain amount of money to buy it from a shop, with guaranteed results. The safety of nobles' lives would be protected as well...
This was the most urgent hope everyone dreamed of.
Count Desinia had deliberately brought out this herbal medicine, and he had successfully hooked them.
"Young Master Boris, what do you think?"
Boris fell silent for a while, slowly rolling the residue between his fingers. Then he suddenly smiled. "I truly underestimated Count Desinia."
Boris took the medicine for another day, and his condition improved rapidly. His body had visibly 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, and even the number of people present was exactly the same.
Cyrus spoke first. "Mr. Abel, what do you think of this herbal medicine?"
Boris said, "It's very good."
"May I ask whether Your Excellency can introduce me to the physician who developed this medicine?"
Cyrus smiled at him.
"No rush. 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 entered into any cooperation. Did Your Excellency misspeak?"
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Cyrus said, "Of course I didn't misspeak. Just because there was no cooperation before doesn't mean there can't be any in the future."
"Doesn't Mr. Abel think this herbal medicine would make an excellent basis for cooperation?"
"Or perhaps... Mr. Abel doesn't believe this herbal medicine is worth selling through the Nagabi Merchant Guild?"
Whoever held enough bargaining chips held the initiative.
During the few days Boris had spent in Visas, he had thoroughly learned the method and process for refining pure salt.
Once Betara Lake produced crystals through sun-drying and refined pure salt... Rose Salt would no longer be constrained by Nagabi Salt.
According to their original plan, they would have completely taken hold of Desinia, 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 medicine appeared, the entire situation changed completely.
They were no longer the proactive party, and Desinia had seized the right to speak.
Boris said, "This herbal medicine is certainly worth selling through the Nagabi Merchant Guild. It even carries tremendous significance."
"Your Excellency might as well speak plainly. How do you wish to cooperate with the Nagabi Merchant Guild? Or rather, what terms do you believe this herbal medicine can make the Nagabi Merchant Guild offer?"
Cyrus said, "I'll tell Mr. Abel how we can cooperate."
"The proportions and dosages of this herbal medicine must all be allocated beforehand. Adding more or less of any plant will affect the efficacy... I will only sell finished medicine to the Nagabi Merchant Guild."
"First, the plants used to brew this medicine will be mixed together and ground into powder, then packed into individual parchment packets. Each packet can brew one jar of medicine."
"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 the costs of cultivating the plants, labor, production, shipping, and so on will all be borne by us, the Nagabi Merchant Guild will only need to brew and sell it."
"So the profit split will be seventy percent for me and thirty percent for the Nagabi Merchant Guild."
Boris did not answer immediately.
Vincent immediately said, "Impossible. The Nagabi Merchant Guild cannot give up such a large share of the profits."
Cyrus pursed his lips. "Oh, then I'll take eighty and you can take twenty."
Vincent: "..."
He suspected this 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, traveling by ship on the Volri River takes far too much time..."
"If we encounter storms or disasters and the ship sinks or takes on water, with an entire shipload of herbal medicine dissolving into the river, who will compensate for that loss?"
"Besides, we don't know the proportions or dosages of the plants."
"If the medicine packets that were transported here with great difficulty were switched, and the medicine brewed afterward had no effect after patients drank it, or even harmed them... who would bear that responsibility?"
Cyrus said, "You don't agree with this method of cooperation or this profit split?"
Boris said, "That's right. I don't agree. This method has too many loopholes."
Cyrus said, "But I like this method of cooperation very much and don't intend to yield."
Boris said, "Your Excellency should reconsider carefully."
"No matter how well you hide the physician who developed the herbal medicine, 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."
"In that case, Your Excellency might as well bring him here and ask him personally, saving trouble later."
Cyrus could not help leisurely swinging his feet beneath the long table. "He's right here."
Boris raised his brows, and his gaze swept over Judas before moving to the two knights standing at the very back... None of them looked likely.
Vincent said, "Please do not speak nonsense, Your Excellency."
Cyrus raised a hand and pointed at himself. "Me."
Boris froze. "What?"
Cyrus said, "I'm the one who made the herbal medicine."
"..."
Vincent stared in disbelief and stammered, "Y-Your Excellency?!"
"Please don't joke..."
"I wouldn't joke carelessly about something like this. The herbal medicine is the result of my research. I will use it to apply to the Alchemy Association for a badge and qualifications to become an alchemist."
"..."
Cyrus placed both hands on the table and leaned forward slightly, staring 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 looked as though he still wanted to say something, but Boris raised a hand to stop him.
Boris said, "Did you really make this herbal medicine?"
In truth, he already believed it in his heart.
Cyrus nodded. "That's right."
After a while, Boris could not help sighing. "I truly didn't expect this... Your Excellency, you've put me in a difficult position..."
He shook his head. "But I still cannot agree to the method of cooperation you proposed. It seems that this time..."
Cyrus said at that moment, "How about I take a step back?"
Boris looked slightly surprised.
Cyrus said, "I can sell the complete formula, proportions, and everything else for this herbal medicine to the Nagabi Merchant Guild. Afterward, I naturally won't interfere with how the Nagabi Merchant Guild wishes to price or sell it."
"But I want independent trademark rights. In other words, every jar of medicine sold must bear the Desinia Family crest."
Boris said, "That is your only condition?"
Cyrus said, "Of course not."
"I also want the Nagabi Merchant Guild to promise that it will not interfere with or suppress any goods the Thorn Merchant Guild sells now or in the future."
"And you must also promise that Nagabi Salt will permanently withdraw from the Gadayat Kingdom."
Those words made Boris study Cyrus deeply.
There was something inexplicable in his gaze.
Cyrus calmly let him stare.
After a while.
Cyrus said, "If you keep looking, I'll charge you. You can pay one gold coin to keep looking."
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 smokescreen thrown out in advance to make up the numbers, hadn't it?!
Cyrus merely smiled at that and said nothing.
Boris said, "If there is a fourth condition, Your Excellency might as well state them all at once."
Cyrus shook his head with slight regret. "There isn't."
"Next, we can discuss how much the Nagabi Merchant Guild can offer to purchase the formula for this herbal medicine."
Boris said, "You have already made three conditions."
"Even if I purchase the formula, the Thorn Merchant Guild can still sell it. Looking at it this way, wouldn't the Nagabi Merchant Guild be at a disadvantage?"
"Besides, I haven't said whether I will agree to Your Excellency's conditions."
Cyrus said, "Does Mr. Abel think I can only make medicine for coughs and fevers?"
"The Thorn Merchant Guild and the Nagabi Merchant Guild can maintain friendly cooperation in the future. As long as the Nagabi Merchant Guild makes a little room, both sides can achieve a win-win outcome..."
"Don't you agree, 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 do not wish to be at a disadvantage in your conversation with Count Desinia, you can completely use the Nagabi Merchant Guild's power to ruthlessly suppress the Thorn Merchant Guild."
"You could even use this to force Count Desinia to hand over the formula for the herbal medicine..."
"There are countless means of obtaining something. You can choose a path that stops at nothing."
Boris had replied at the time, "My father once told me that making friends is better than making enemies. It was not easy for the Nagabi Merchant Guild to achieve what it has today. If we stop at nothing for profit, we will eventually lose everything."
Vincent had looked gratified.
Boris said, "If it truly comes to the point where we have no choice but to yield... then we should yield. Appropriate concessions can instead bring more lasting development."
But before yielding.
He would certainly use coercion, temptation, and even threats. Whichever side failed to 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...