Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Derot locked eyes with Kadricke.

"Oh, please," he said. It wasn't like the Coalition was any big in the potion business. Their losses would be minimal. That wasn't why the Coalition was doing this.

"I know what you want, and you," Derot leaned forward without breaking eye contact with Kadricke. "...Know what I want. Somewhere, there's a deal to be made. We just need to find the middle ground. There's no reason we both can't walk away here satisfied." Derot leaned back in his chair again. The ball was in Kadricke's court. He just had to wait.

Kadricke was silent. He also did not look away from Derot, even when the other merchants looked at him.

"You're right," Kadricke eventually said.

"There is a solution here to our common problem—the problem of profits not going where we want them to go. I must say, Derot, you're more magnanimous than I would have thought. Alright. Let's start." Kadricked loosened his tie slightly and slicked back his hair with his hands before leaning in and resting his elbows on the table.

Derot didn't go as far, but he also leaned in and rested his forearms on the table, not so much as glancing as anything but Kadricke. He nodded at Kadricke, gesturing for him to start.

"All of us become partners. The guild's profits are all of our profits. The guild's investments come from all of our pockets."

"No way. I'm not relinquishing authority." If the others became partners, it wouldn't even take them a heartbeat to oust Derot from the operation as soon as they got their hands on what they wanted.

Of course, with Zach and Alzara being the source of recipes, Derot wasn't worried. But recouping the losses and starting over after the Coalition seized the current recipes and alchemists would be a mountainous task far surpassing that of their current predicament.

He countered,

"You can become an executive with a handful of shares. The rest of you get a few shares of your own. The more the guild earns, the more you earn. Minimal risk, minimal effort."

"There's no risk involved in this matter. The more we invest, the more we earn, but we won't be pouring our coffers into your guild without getting anything back. Monopoly. All ingredients come through Lila's Lillies and the Golden Egg. Distribution is handled by Ben's Boons and Wors' Wares."

Derot shook his head. That would give the Coalition too much control over the business.

"You won't be able to handle it. It would take years for their business to catch up to demand."

Derot's comment made Kadricke frown, but he didn't say anything as he waited for Derot's counterproposal.

"With my agreement, you can appoint heads of distribution and retrieval."

"We can work with that. Profit and investment distribution. Fifty-fifty."

"Ninety. Five. Five." Derot pointed at first himself, then Kadricke, and finally the other members of the Coalition. Three-way split since Kadricke wasn't on the same level as the members of his coalition.

Kadricke was silent for a moment. His lowball offer was met with a highball one. But he had to admit that without Derot, there would be nothing. If he had been in the same position as Derot, he would have also wanted a majority of the profit, regardless of the money it would take.
Your next read is at empire

He threw out another offer.

Derot countered.

Kadricke countered his counter.

The restaurant's cool lounge grew heated with the intense exchange of numbers between the two representatives. It was fiery.

Another part of the city was the opposite.

It was the street with the guild's flagship store and main base of operations. It hadn't been the most successful location due to the harassment from the Coalition and other merchants, as well as the location being suboptimal. But it was the best Derot could get with his limited connections and resources at the time of establishment.

Still, there was no containing the effects of Alzara's potions. As soon as it got off the ground, the store had soared, its reputation spreading and securing a semi-steady stream of customers who wouldn't let themselves be stopped by the Coalition.

Right now, however, the store was deserted. There was neither customer nor worker to be seen inside or outside the establishment. Even the shelves were completely barren.

"Are you sure this is the place, Herring? It looks deserted?" A man in a dark blue suit asked his partner, one of many men in similar clothing.

"Of course, this is the place. I was born and raised on these streets. Do you think I would get lost?"

"Aren't you from Kester?"

"...Whatever. I've been here before. This is the place. This is the Nameless Alchemist Guild's main store."

"So…Where's the firesale?"

Their intel told them where to go before the stores opened. They were supposed to clean the shelves before any real customers could get to the stores holding the firesale. If they could get their hands on the potions, they would be able to cheat the Guild out of a hefty profit by reselling everything at a higher price.

The Guild would be lucky if they didn't lose out on selling everything at the promised cheap price. But if their competition bought everything and resold it at a higher price instead of customers buying and using everything, the Guild would end up on the brink of financial ruin.

Herring and his partner looked around in confusion. It was obvious the store was dead and empty, but they continued flipping over shelves. Maybe they were early?

Right then, footsteps pounded against the street outside before a young boy burst through the door.

"It's not here!" He shouted while panting.

"I-it's—!" He couldn't get the rest out since he could hardly breathe.

"Hey, hey, slow down, boy. Take a breath!"

The boy gulped down as much air as he could. He couldn't slow down. He had to tell them as soon as possible.

"The potions aren't being sold here! Other stores!"

Herring and his partner frowned slightly. It was a little strange that the Guild wasn't using their main store, but it made sense if they had used it as a diversion.

"Alright. Lead the way, but we should already have men at the other branches. What's the rush?"

The boy hurriedly shook his head, his breath a little more stable.

"It's not the Guild's stores!"

"What? Then which stores?" Herring asked, confused.

"All of them!"