Chapter 49 - 48 Mercenary Guild
The Continental Commerce Chamber that Aileen mentioned is one of the most powerful chambers in the entire Sky City.
What kind of background do these people have to be doing business with the Continental Commerce Chamber?
And Aileen also said that the other party would gift ten ogre teeth, which was even more unbelievable to the storeowner. It’s not that such a thing had never happened, but because even the purchase price of a Man-Eating Demon’s tooth would be around two thousand gold coins. How big a deal had they discussed with the Continental Commerce Chamber to receive such valuable items as gifts?
Due to the shock, when the storeowner looked at Rocky again, his expression had changed from before, clearly unable to figure out Rocky and his companions’ backgrounds.
It was no wonder that the storeowner was frightened because even Rocky was startled when he heard Aileen’s words; he knew best what they were there to sell, which was nowhere near as exaggerated as Aileen had described!
However, since Rocky had been with Aileen for quite a while, he quickly regained his composure and then coughed twice, "Aileen, don’t talk about me for now, look at this tooth, I think it’s pretty good."
"Nonsense, what good things could there be on the third floor of the exchange?"
During the conversation, they approached the counter. Aileen pursed her lips and examined the teeth in the counter, then she looked at the owner, "Boss, how much for this?"
"One thousand two hundred... gold coins..."
It must be said, Aileen’s series of actions after coming here genuinely shocked the storeowner, so when she asked him like this, the storeowner responded somewhat falteringly, looking very guilty.
"Tch!"
Aileen glanced at the owner impatiently, "This thing, my family likes it. Your fortune is selling it to us, five hundred gold coins at most, otherwise, I won’t let them buy it."
"This..."
The storeowner immediately showed a troubled expression; five hundred gold coins was indeed too low a price.
However, he didn’t immediately refuse because, conversely, he really wanted to quickly sell the tooth Rocky was interested in.
In fact, regarding this tooth, the owner hadn’t told a single lie; the tooth had indeed been stored in their warehouse for many years, for some reason kept in a corner unnoticed, unrecognized, and under such circumstances, the owner also wanted to quickly sell it off to avoid being stuck with it.
Moreover, since Aileen had been acting like money was no issue from start to finish, the owner didn’t want to offend Rocky and the others. So, after a moment’s hesitation, he finally bit the bullet and sold the unidentified Demon Tooth to Rocky.
Just like that, with a little cunning, Aileen managed to slash the price of the Demon Tooth by more than half and successfully purchased the unknown tooth.
Actually, Rocky and the others were well aware that everything Aileen had said earlier was just to scare the storeowner. It was all about "waving the big flag to beef up their appearance."
And logically speaking, the storeowner should not have been frightened by such tricks, but since Rocky was indeed a City Lord, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person. Furthermore, Aileen’s bluff was big enough, involving things like the Continental Commerce Chamber and the teeth of Man-Eating Demons, making the storeowner not even dare to doubt, thus he was duped.
"Aileen, how did it go, did you find a buyer?"
After leaving the store and securely storing the Demon’s Tooth, Rocky looked at Aileen, eager to know how her negotiations regarding the Greyrock Stone went.
"My lord, don’t worry, these things take time. I’ve already roughly talked with a few Chambers of Commerce and want to ask a few more, so we might not finish the discussions today."
Aileen’s idea was clearly right, so Rocky thought for a moment before saying, "If that’s the case, let’s split up. You keep looking for suitable buyers here, no rush, and I’ll go check out the leather and technicians."
"That works."
Nodding, Aileen then split up from Rocky and continued to look for Chambers of Commerce to discuss the Greyrock Stone affair.
As Rocky had stated, he quickly left the Hunting Exchange with Liliya and Monte.
His visit to Eternal City was not just to sell Greyrock Stone; there were many matters Rocky needed to handle, among which the most important were those he had just mentioned: buying leather and hiring technicians.
Previously, he had prepared to reform the economy of Thunderhawk City, for which he and Aileen had discussed for several days and successfully formulated a detailed plan, termed "Thunderhawk City’s Two Economic Reform Plan," or the Dual Reform Plan for short.
The so-called dual reform referred to both economic model and economic focus—gradually transitioning Thunderhawk City from a planned economy to a free market economy and shifting the economic focus from low-margin textiles to higher-cost, but likewise highly profitable, leather manufacturing.
The decision to choose leather manufacturing was a mutual decision between Rocky and Aileen after careful consideration.
Because leather production shared some similarities with textiles, it would be easier for the residents of Thunderhawk City to adapt. Furthermore, the leather industry had good market prospects, covering everything from military to daily uses, which suited a small city like Thunderhawk with a low population that needed an industry that, despite low output, didn’t worry about sales and profits.
To ensure success, Rocky was considering using the opportunity of his visit to Eternal City to hire a few technicians to teach in Thunderhawk City, so the local residents could learn leather manufacturing techniques and then gradually develop this industry in the city.
So, after splitting up with Aileen, he followed Monte’s lead towards the Technician Guild, ready to hire some technicians.
However, they hadn’t reached the Technician Guild when another guild caught Rocky’s attention.
"Monte, what is this Mercenary Guild?"
Stopping in his tracks, Rocky pointed at a building not far away and asked.
"My lord, that is where various Sky Cities congregate to distribute missions," Monte glanced at the building Rocky mentioned and provided an answer.
"There’s actually a place like this? Let’s check it out!"
Monte’s explanation immediately piqued Rocky’s interest, and without another word, he headed straight for the Mercenary Guild.
However, just as he had taken a few steps, Liliya stopped him.
"Rocky, what are you planning to do now?"
Stopping Rocky, Liliya looked at him disapprovingly, as if she could see right through him.
"Heh, I’m just going to take a look, I promise not to do anything rash."
With a chuckle to Liliya, Rocky said this but his feet didn’t stop, heading directly towards the Mercenary Guild.