Chapter 197 – The Battle Between Abagon and Sherlock
"Yes, My Lord. There has been an overwhelming response to the Flower Soap. Many n.o.bles have offered to buy it."
Sherlock travelled often between Flower Town and North Valley City. As a merchant under Liszt, and Liszt having a thorn sprite, he became a prominent member of North Valley City"s trading community.
He immediately reported to Liszt the feedback about the Flower Soap.
All merchants are good at observing and watching. Sherlock knew that the young Lord might not be keen on power and common affairs. But he likes to have all the information he could get and doesn"t like anyone to blind his eyes. Therefore, he always looks for opportunities to gather information that he could to report to Liszt.
“It seems that the Flower Soap has brewed a good start and we have to keep it going. I look forward to seeing a Flower Soap-dominated Coral Island soap market.”
“As you wish, my Lord!" Sherlock answered loudly. “Sherlock is willing to give all his strength for the Lord"s wish! “
Liszt looked at Sherlock, who he suspected was just full of flattery, but since he was in a good mood, Liszt just said, “Don"t let me down, Mr. Sherlock.”
Sherlock left the castle feeling ambitious.
He knew that he was about to obtain a status no less than Abagon"s in the Lord"s heart and with the help of Flower Soap, he may even be on the same level as the Old Grandet.
“I need people to spread the news for me ! They could do this through word of mouth spreading the news of Flower Soap across the six cities on Coral Island and every small town below … First , I must let the caravan merchants who sell the soap understand that there some soaps are cheaper than the Flower Soap but the quality couldn"t get close to ours. For every Flower Soap sold, they make money as well. “
Clearly, Flower Soap cannot be given away in large quant.i.ties for free. Sherlock was anxious to spread the news through word of mouth to unify the market so later on, he could decide to lower the price of shipments.
No advertising effect is as good as letting the seller make more money for them to come quickly.
“What? Flower Soap is better than the usual soap? Just a silver coin plus 50 copper plates? “A foot merchant burst out in surprise.
“Yes, if you buy soap from Baron Henderson, you would need a silver coin plus 80 copper coins. With that, you"ll only get 20 plates for the transfer. But selling the Flower Soap means a return of 50 coppers, and that"s the equivalent of selling two and a half of the other soap. You can do the Math yourself.”
"Is this soap really good?"
“You can rest a.s.sured! The n.o.bles of North Valley City have already used it and every one of them is praising it. In addition, I also have a used Flower Soap myself, here, I can let you try it once.”
Of course, the foot merchants wouldn"t believe the words Sherlock blurted out from thin air. So they brought out some water and tried the soap themselves.
The sheer number of bubbles, the slippery texture, the clean effect and the skin-tight experience after use have taught those merchants that the Flower Soap really does outshine any ordinary soap.
It will for sure replace all the other soaps in the market.
Sherlock added in a winning coupon in the mix, "If you plan to order, better do it quick now! The soap factory in Flower Town has a limited output. When the n.o.bles compete to get some Flower Soap in their hands, we most probably will have to raise its price as well. “
The threat of a price increase defeated the final hesitation of the dealers.
He nodded his teeth and said, “So, Captain Sherlock, I want to order five … no, I want to order ten Flower Soaps!”
Striking a finger, Sherlock recorded the foot merchant"s order on a thick leather paper as he said, “A wise decision.” A deposit was then collected from the foot merchant and his order will be for delivery in three days.
Sherlock quickly got up and left.
His hands tightly held onto a thick paper which contained seven orders belonging to the seven traders in The North Valley City, who mainly ran the commercial road among the small towns around the city.
Among the seven foot merchants, a total of 58 Flower Soaps were ordered.
There were also many n.o.bles, who went above and beyond to that of foot dealers and ordered Flower Soaps directly from Sherlock. For example, Baron Gelt"s butler ordered eight Flower Soaps from Sherlock.
Sherlock"s smile at his heart was evident.”Looking at the numbers of people who used the soap, North Valley City will procure 300 pieces of soap a month, about the same as Snake Spear City, Gravel City, Jade Forest City and Birch City, adding up to 1,500 soaps all in all. Coral City, which has the highest number of aristocrats, Lord"s Knights, n.o.bles-in-training, and rich free people, they could use at least 2,000 soaps a month.”
It was sure that Flower Soap would dominate the soap market.
Coral Island consumes 3,500 soaps a month, plus Beer island can also consume at least 300 pieces. Lastly, counting in Flower Town"s own use, a month"s shipment should be close to 4,000 pieces.
“Four thousand Flower Soaps!" Sherlock thought of such a picture but he could not hold it in and could only grin, “A Flower Soap costs a silver coin plus fifty coppers, this is more than enough …”
He couldn"t figure it out.
Using his fingers to calculate, he finally got a number, a monthly sales of 6,000 silver coins! The cost of manufacturing a single Flower Soap is only forty coppers, which means that one could make 4,400 silver coins a month.
Without the unified market of Flower Soap, the price would increase to the price of one silver coin plus eighty copper plates, which was the original wholesale price of the soap.
But if they would continue to crush down Baron Henderson"s and the price of soap powder would go down, they would potentially reduce the unit price later on.
He roughly estimated that the unit price could be compressed further to thirty copper plates.
The net profit of a Flower Soap is one silver coin plus fifty copper plates, and the total profit for one month would reach sixty gold coins.
He could earn two gold coins a day.
"A net profit of two gold coins a day is slightly lower to that of the seafood business" at its peak. But this business has a lower operating cost, and… it is under me! The Thorns and Flower Caravan don"t have a choice but to cooperate with me!"
With such confidence, Sherlock met Abagon from Coral City and discussed with him how to unify the Coral Island market.
But Sherlock did not expect that Abagon was prepared as well.
The fellow from Little Papa Island, squinted at him, “Sherlock, your vision is too narrow. It is not a skill to unify the coral island market. With the advantage of Flower Soap, you don"t even need to do much to eliminate the ordinary soap. I think we should set our sights on the outer islands and the regular everyday people! “
“Outer islands? Ordinary people?” Sherlock froze.
“Flower Soap can be made into a special product of Coral Island. It can be exported to the outer islands through the channels of Tulip Fort and Beer Fort. At the same time, I asked Burnell and he said that Flowers Soap is made of a variety of materials. However, if we reduce the materials used to produce the soap, it"ll also produce poor results. Because of this, some ordinary soaps can be supplied to civilians at a lower cost. “
Abagon smiled proudly and gave Sherlock a proud look, “I have already reported this to Sir Baron and he supports my ideas and plans!”
Sherlock took a hit!
It made him very confused.
Chapter 198 – Forcible Cultivation of Corn Gra.s.s
“Abagon is a lot bolder, more of a visionary and hard-working than Sherlock. With Captain Kosto incharge of sailing, I plan to let Abagon preside over the cross-sea trade.”
It was night time in the castle study.
Liszt and butler Carter each held one gla.s.s of red wine, slowly tasting it and were preoccupied talking about the past, the present and the future.
Carter"s hair is a lot whiter now, but his spirit is much better than when he first arrived in Flower Town, “Master, will you take a big step in cross-sea trading now?”
“For now we will rely on the foreign trade channels of Tulip and Beer Castle. I"m not eager to take over channels that will belong to Flower Town." Liszt smiled, “Flower Town is only temporary, in the near future, I will have my own city or island.”
He took a sip of the red wine and said, “I can"t always be sheltered under the wings of my family. Though my father may not mind, but Levis… Leighton, they will always have something to say.”
“It turns out that your eyes have seen more places, Sir. Please forgive me for my short-sightedness.”
“It"s one thing to look far ahead, and another to be focused on the now. I need you to remind me from time to time about that, Mr. Carter.”
The two, master and servant, were praising each other and the atmosphere was harmonious.
After a while, the topic was about the Flower Soap.
Carter said, “I was very surprised to hear your conversation with Mr. Abagon. I did not expect Flower Soap to become so popular and to occupy such a huge market.”
“Popularity is expected.”
Liszt said calmly.
In truth, there was not much variety in the soap content and its cleaning effect was middling. But the addition of the pig pancreas and the gra.s.s ash added some chemical to the Flower Soap and made it so smooth, foamy and a have skin-firming effect. Those characteristics were enough to wipe out the old soap in the market.
A person accustomed to bathing with ordinary soaps, when he touches the Flower Soap, would feel the big contrast between the two. They would be cleaner, but what"s more important is the seemingly natural glow effect.
For the n.o.bles, this was enough for them to discard the old soap and switch to Flower Soap.
As for the other benefits of Flower Soap, it seems can also provoke a husband"s s.e.xual interest. It can be estimated that many people have not understood it yet, but Lady Gelt surely has her own experience.
Naturally.
With the Flower Caravan deliberately spreading the news, the Flower Soap"s reputation began to spread from North Valley City to the entire Coral Island. Coral City, in particular, has always had a vain population.
The Flower Soap did not come cheap hence it was impossible to give every n.o.bleman or woman a trial product. Abagon did not take Sherlock"s wide-netting idea, but instead preferred specific delivery.
——
“Miss Shirley, I come on behalf of my master, Baron Liszt. He has sent me to deliver to you a gift, two Flower Soaps made by Flower Town. It is better than any soap and will go with your stunning beauty and n.o.ble temperament. “
“Ahhh! It"s from Brother Liszt? Thank you!” Shirley happily took the gift and saw a thick sheet of paper attached to it.
Written on the thick paper was some snake-text written by Liszt himself.
“Dear Little Shirley, I have a lot of business to attend to here in Flower Town hence I cannot come to see you in Coral City. I can only give you two of my specialty Flower Soap. May you always be radiant and beautiful. Yours, Brother Liszt.”
——–
"Dear Madame, this one is named Mr. Abagon of Flower Town."
"Abagon? The head of the Flower Caravan? Did Liszt send you?" Madame Penelope let Abagon in.
“Master Baron Liszt misses you so much. He has sent me to deliver to you two specialty Flower Soaps from Flower Town. He hopes you would like it.” Abagon said respectfully. “The Baron has said that if you like, you can send a message through the caravan, and the Flower Soap will be available to you for free.”
“Special flower soap? Is it a kind of soap?” Madame Penelope was not a little girl like Shirley. With the movement of her eyes, she understood everything. "This boy, getting more and more clever, no wonder she looks like Melissa, this sharp-witted one is truly worthy of being the grandson of the Marquis Merlin. “
Abagon smiled and refused to answer. He would not dare to appraise a n.o.bleman or his lord for the fear of saying something wrong.
Finally, Madam Penelope said, “Yes, I will receive the gifts. If they"re really good, I"ll say nice things about it. With my old face at least I know a lot of people.”
"Thank you, Madam. I will now take my leave."
—————
Flower Soap was undoubtedly completing its impact on the soap market.
This was a big deal for Sherlock and Abagaon, but for Liszt, it was just an extra means of making money, dialing subordinates and leaving them behind.
Now, Liszt has a new mission.
Just this afternoon, the smoke changed, “Complete the mission and be rewarded five decaying bones.”
Unsurprisingly, Marcus and others who were far away on Black Horse Island have completed the construction of a temporary stronghold on the island and have accommodated a hundred serfs.
New missions were formed.
“Mission: Raising horse herds requires a large number and rich variety of pastures. Black Horse Island is not capable of more pastures at this time. Why not cultivate corn gra.s.s in Flower Town to increase nutrition for the black blood dragon horse? Please cultivate 100 acres of corn gra.s.s. Reward: A sprite worm. “
A task that gives sprite worms as a reward absolutely needs to be completed for each sprite worm is a treasure.
However, Liszt frowned when he saw the content of the mission. He called the manager of Wheat Town. ” Geiger, how many acres of corn gra.s.s are currently planted in Barley Town?”
“My Lord, there are thirty mu of corn gra.s.s in total.”
“If Corn Gra.s.s would be cultivated now, will it grow and safely survive the winter?”
“This …” Geiger hesitated a little. “Master Baron, Geiger hasn"t looked after corn gra.s.s in winter, and doesn"t know if it can survive.”
“So how much corn gra.s.s seeds did you harvest?”
“The seeds were handed over to the agency, probably a few hundred pounds. A lot of corn gra.s.s was cut directly for grazing, and only a small part was reserved for planting.”
Liszt looked at the weather outside. It was almost late autumn, and the weather was no longer warm.
The climate was not suitable for planting crops anymore, but the smoke task is here, and it must be done, otherwise it will be difficult to ensure that the sprite worm would be born. Liszt was certain that it would be a corn gra.s.s sprite worm, but can it be bred out. It was hard to say for it depends on how the task progresses.
No matter how difficult it is, getting the ducks on a row will have to continue.
He immediately said, “Open up 70 mu of land, expand the cornfield to 100 mu, Geiger, and hurry.”
“Yes, Master. Geiger will set up a new field.”
The mission has begun.
There, Liszt also took time to inspect the corn gra.s.s field in Wheat Town. He was constantly exerting his Magic Eyes, trying to find signs of breeding sprite worms.
Even if the mission fails, as long as he found signs of the sprite worm, he was confident of the sprite worm reward.
But unfortunately, there was no sign of magic. This corn gra.s.s field was just ordinary corn gra.s.s; none of them looked special.
Sighing, he comforted himself, “I hope the corn gra.s.s can still grow in this weather and it would let me finish the task again.”
The next day, the Flowers returned.
Marcus brought him news about the mission rewards.
The servants were sent away but there were those who listened to him solemnly by the door. “Sir, we found a skeleton of an unknown animal on a valley on the island. Most of the bones have completely decayed, but five remain. Huge bones. Each one is as thick as a person, half buried in underground rocks. “
Chapter 199 – A Dragon Bone, Perhaps?
“What kind of bone do you think it is?”
Liszt asked curiously. An average person has a height of about 1.7 meters. Marcus reports that each bone was almost a height"s person in thickness, which would be close to 1.7 meters.
One can only imagine how big those skeletons were.
Marcus turned his head and looked at the door, making sure that no one was eavesdropping behind, then he replied , “I think it may be a dragon bone!”
“A dragon bone!”
Liszt was startled. He pressed down his surprise and excitement and asked his doubts. “If it was a dragon bone …were there any mineral deposits found in that valley?”
“It … it seems that there were no mineral deposits found. We dug bones so we dug a few more meters deep until we were blocked by the bedrock. No metal-like ore was found, and no crystals and gems were found either.”
“Really? Dragons can infect the surrounding area, and if it were the bones of a metal dragon or a gem dragon, Black Horse Island could be a mine. If it is not a mine, then that means the bones are not that of a metal dragon or a gem dragon.”
Marcus speculated, “Maybe those are the remains of an elemental dragon?”
"It is also unlikely to be an elemental dragon. I have talked with Elkson about this, he has a book about how to deal with magical beings. The book says that an elemental dragon will also infect its surroundings even after a very long time. Take for example the Wind Roar Valley of the Glorious Empire which was founded after the battle of the wind dragons. The winds are still roaring there today. "
They ended their discussion.
They ruled out half of the dragon species.
"Could it be an Advanced Level Dragon? " Marcus raised another possibility, “I have only heard of Advanced magical beasts, but no matter how big those monsters are, it is impossible for its bone to be 1.7 meters thick … So I guess it is a Superior Magical Beast, but a legendary species of it. “
There are four divisions of magical beast levels, low-level, mid-level, advanced and superior.
In truth, the difference between an Advanced and Superior Magical Beast is very vague. There was no standard to refer to since not many people have seen them. To effectively differentiate an advanced and superior magical beast, it should be in terms of combat skills or physical form. But of course, humans are not willing to provoke any powerful monster.
All of their information were just rumors.
There has been no record of a Superior Magical beast in the Grand Sapphire Duchy.
The mainland is infinitely vast. Only knight novels would often mention superior magical beasts. Every year the Count invades the Eagle Kingdom, which means he knew more than anyone. But even he has never heard of a Superior Magical Beast there.
Let alone a Superior Dragon.
However, a superior magical beast must have been infected by a dragon to achieve such a level. This is only a theoretical possibility though.
After a long discussion, the two did not discuss any more clues. It was impossible to guess what kind of creature would leave behind five huge bones.
“Tomorrow I will go to Black Horse Island in person and take a look at these five bones. What could be so amazing about it!”
——
It was time to leave.
The town officials have been urging the Wheat Town serfs to cultivate corn gra.s.s.
Liszt took Tremblingwoods, boarded the ship, and went with Marcus to Black Horse Island. After half a day of sailing, they successfully reached their destination.
A simple dock has been set up. It was suspended on the sea surface with wood and would slightly shake when walked on. As for Tremblingwoods, he would have to take a wooden boat ash.o.r.e. The floating dock could not withstand its overweight physique.
After landing, they saw a row of new wooden houses no more than one hundred meters away from the pier.
The serfs were clearing rubble and weeds around.
It was a very shabby stronghold.
But it was a stronghold nonetheless, and it meant Liszt had a foothold on Black horse Island.
Since they still had time, Liszt headed straight away to the valley where the five huge bones were found. Halfway through, they encountered the Black Blood [1] Dragon Horses. Lightning was being strange to Liszt, but when Liszt rode on it, it quickly became familiar. Carrying Liszt, he sprinted and folded back along the way.
On the way, Marcus reported to him the current conditions of Black horse Island.
“There is no magical beast on the island. At least no magical beast has been found. There are only some small carnivores and herbivores. The largest animals are the black blood dragon horses. The vegetation is also very monotonous. Some unknown trees with not so many branches. “
He pointed to a tree by the side of the road.
It was the tree he was referring to ; a very straight trunk, long branches but not lush. There were no flowers or fruits, and the tree was not tall at all. The leaves have slightly yellowed, suggesting that it could be a deciduous tree.
Just ordinary.
Marcus continued, “There are a lot of weeds on the island. Except for the gra.s.s on the gra.s.s field while the rest are just some common weeds. Black blood dragon horses do not eat these kinds of weeds. Removing them would be the best option.”
Finally, he added, “Sir, I"m drawing a map of Black Horse Island but I have yet to finish it.”
Liszt asked,"Have you chosen a spot where we can build the castle?"
“Not yet. There are not many defensive terrains on the island. The hills are not high and the terrain is not steep. It is impossible to build a castle as tough as Tulip Castle with a terrain similar to that of Beer Castle. I think if we would proceed to build a castle, we can only build it on flat ground. We"ll just have to fortify the city walls and excavate a moat. “
After all, not every castle can stand on a cliff, most castles are built on flat ground.
Liszt was getting concerned.
Soon, the group came to the valley where five bones were found just as the sun was falling in the west. The valley was located between the Ice Gra.s.s Hill and Needle Gra.s.s Hill.
Since the weeds were tall and the bones were buried deep, it was difficult to find.
“I was riding Black Magic to inspect the terrain and I found this wreckage and these five bones.” Marcus patted Black Magic under the saddle when they came to the center of the valley where weeds had been removed.
Behind him was a large hole that had just been dug. In the center of which is a giant, gray, broken bone that lies obliquely beneath the surface.
There were also four huge bones exposing a small section, and bone fragments scattered all over the ground.
It seems that some kind of creature fell down here. As time pa.s.sed, most of the bones gradually decayed, and only these five bones remained strong. But it should have decayed as well. It was clear that these were the decaying bones the smoke mission reward indicated.
Liszt dismounted Lightning.
He approached the pit, stepped on the rock at the bottom of the pit and stepped closer to the bone.
The closer one gets to the bone, the more one would feel small, as if standing in front of a huge stone pillar. He reached out to touch the surface of the bone; it was hard as a rock. He knocked on it and he could hear a stone-like sound.
Liszt released Magic Eyes to observe the five bones and the fragments of the bones all over the earth.
No signs of magic were found.
“This bone, shouldn"t it have become a fossil?”
But he quickly shook his head to dismiss the idea since he knew that fossils were integrated with the stones. Obviously, there was still a part of this bone that was exposed outside.
“Mr. Marcus, have any other bone fragments been detected on the ground?”
“Hardly suitable to be part of good bones.” Marcus responded shortly, enough to explain that the quality of bones were of at least the bones of low-level magical beast.
Knock!
Liszt knocked on the bones again. In addition to being surprised, he was left scratching his head. He didn"t know why the smoke task would give these bones as a reward.
“Is it because I know that my land is lacking iron that the smoke task knew it would make me bring these fragments back to Flower Town and build a good batch of bone tools?”
[1] This sounds much better.