NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter-194 Negotiation
The moons’ advent after days and nights of staying in the shadow of the sun stirred the Morinfair, and the ocean rose up in a torrent to meet its mate. The towering waves swayed the anchored Stormfalcon, the exceptional high tides flooded the port. The onslaught of nature’s wrath, from the sun’s torment to the ocean’s rage had the Kyrons shivering in their homes. Yet, tonight became the perfect night for Ewan’s clandestine meeting.
He sat on the edge of the Stormfalcon and dropped the crystal ball into the turbulent waters, sinking it with his Ryvia towards the decided point. The extent of the secrecy gave him some hope for the authenticity of the deal. Even if the negotiations failed on his part and he paid the premium, he could at least get the unadulterated class-A Rigen. But nevertheless, the modified version of his <Identify> spell was ready to go—he couldn’t let unidentified substance enter his Warship’s core when its own scanning and security systems were dead.
“Feels like years since I last saw the moons, I was beginning to miss them,” Kidd said, gazing at the starry sky while keeping guard on one edge, his legs dangling down. Walyn phased in beside him, his spectral form denser than before and visible to others, and he lay down to watch the moons. Though barely and for a few moments, their progress allowed them to separate.
“The recent events make me feel like the world is coming to an end,” Stefan said, leaning on the wall by the staircase. “And to think the cause of it all was something related to us.”
“You guys still haven’t told me everything,” Lance said, sitting in the middle of the top deck with his scythe chained with the shield hovering before him. “What happened back then?”
“You’re still a guinea pig, graduate from that first,” Kidd said, laughing.
“G-Guinea pig.” Walyn repeated and cracked up, his ghostly cackles complementing the coincidental howls of the wolves.
“They also missed the moons,” Stefan said with a smile.
“Quiet now, it’s starting. Be on guard and alert me if you see anything amiss,” Ewan said and shushed them down.
Ice Daggers!
The air around the Warship misted up, and the wet surfaces crusted with a thin layer of frost when dozens of ice daggers fashioned around him. The spell was for his Ryvia’s sake, but also for just in case the meeting forged the worst outcome possible.
And with a deep breath that stirred the fog, he touched his crystal ball to another at the dark depth of the ocean.
“Good evening. I presume you don’t want any introductions, so let’s proceed with the matter.” A grating voice came from the opposite crystal ball and passed to his as it glowed with a soft pearly halo, yet the surroundings retained its pin-drop silence.
“Price negotiation for your Rigen,” Ewan said, his crystal ball flickering with his words, and passed it to the other side.
“There will be none,” the voice said. “The price is final; you can buy it if you want.”
“Not at that price, I won't. Drop it and I’ll bring you good business, I can consume your stock,” Ewan said. “Unless you’re exporting it away, I don’t see any source lining up to buy your product.”
The crystal ball didn’t light up and a minute ticked by. The school of fish circled around them, the predators of the ocean awaited their prey with deathly patience, and a curious baby octopus poked at the balls, changing its hues as it drifted about. “How much do you want?” the voice finally asked, and the flicker scared the little octopus away.
“How much can you sell?” Ewan asked.
“We have a stock of twenty kiloliters.”
“I’ll take it all, at thirty-five Novas per kiloliter, elements of my choice,” Ewan said, a slight smile tugging at his lips. As long as they weren’t adamant about the seventy-five, he could yank them down to a decent number. His coin pouch would still shrink much more than the market price, but at least it wouldn’t be a premium of triple.
“Too little, we can do seventy at best,” the voice said.
“Forty, I won't go any higher,” Ewan said.
“Sixty-five, we won't go any lower, buy it or not.”
“Forty-five, my last price. If you don’t want it, I’ll just wait a month for the transport.”
“Sixty, that’s the final price, we’re not profiting anything with that,” the voice said.
“Let’s take the middle ground, neither here nor there. Shake hands on fifty, that’s double the market price, I really won't go any higher,” Ewan said.
“No, can't do fifty, let’s finalize at fifty-five.”
“Well, good luck with your business then. I won't buy it, but I’m sure others will,” Ewan said, and his crystal ball broke away, floating up to the Stormfalcon. The opposite crystal ball raced after his after a momentary pause, smashing anything that came in its way, and they crashed together into a coral. When the stirred cloud of mud settled down, only a sapped voice came with the pearly flicker.
“Fine, we’ll do fifty. You will buy all twenty kiloliters, and payment will be at the time of delivery.”
“Deal,” Ewan said. “When can you deliver?”
“Tomorrow, at the same time if its night. If not, we’ll contact you again whenever the sun goes down.”
“I’ll be waiting, and I hope you don’t play any tricks with the product. I’m sure you don’t want to create an enemy out of a simple business deal.”
“Don’t worry, its class-A, you’ll be free to confirm it yourself.”
The crystal ball separated with the last sentence and the negotiation meeting came to an end, leaving a fruitful conclusion for Ewan.
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