Close Combat Mage
chapter-314

Chapter 314 – Thriving and Prosperous Business Pt. 1

Finally, an old man said, “Um…this friend over here, how are you selling this little item?”

Seeing the arrival of a business opportunity, Suo Jia immediately became spirited. He excitedly stood up and said with the toy in his hand, “Elder, you really have good taste. To think that you’d manage to choose the best item among all my stuff here.”

Suo Jia paused for a bit before pretending to ponder deeply. He then firmly said, “Originally, this item was worth a lot of money. However, this is my first time on your grounds, and the first transaction. Thus, I won’t charge you. Just give me whatever amount you’d like!”

The elder stared long and hard at the toy in Suo Jia’s hand, and furrowed his brows as he pondered this for a while. He then firmly stated, “Friend, how many of these do you have total? If I wanted 100 of them, would you be able to supply them?”

“A hundred!” Suo Jia stared at the elder in shock, not daring to believe his own ears. He didn’t understand, it was just a toy. Why did this old man want to buy so many?!

The elder saw Suo Jia’s astonished expression and he said in a low voice, “These things are really too ingenuous. I think…that if each child was given one, they’d be able to receive guidance for systematic military skills since a young age. Once these actions are carved into their minds, then….they’ll naturally be able to change these into part of their abilities after they grow older!”

“Wow!” Suo Jia couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. This old man was really too smart. If children were forced into learning and training, their vexed state of mind would make it impossible for them to properly learn anything. However, if it was a toy, that was a different story. They could play around with it in their hands all day, and it would secretly influence them, allowing them learn it all.

‘

Suo Jia withdrew the toy in his hand, and sincerely said to the elder, “Mister Elder, honestly speaking, this is just a toy. It still falls a bit short of being able to be used as a tool to instruct children.”

“No!” The elder impatiently shook his head and replied, “Although it’s very simple, it’s already quite good. This is most elaborate toy I’ve seen in my long life. It’s enough…”

Without waiting for the elder to finish speaking, Suo Jia suddenly raised a hand to interrupt him. At the same time, Suo Jia continued, “Anyways, give me a week’s time. If you want a toy to instruct the children in their training, then I’ll be able to provide something even better!”

“That’s…” The elder hesitantly looked at Suo Jia before reluctantly nodding. “Alright, since you’re so insistent, I can only agree to you. However, I want to know something. Exactly how are you selling these? If it’s too expensive, we won’t be able to afford it!”

Suo Jia smiled and resolutely said, “Mister Elder, don’t worry. Although I’m a merchant, I’m not black-hearted. In terms of pricing, you can give whatever you find appropriate!”

“That’s…” After stuttering for a bit, the elder bitterly said, “You must also know that this is a hunting village. Nobody here is well off. That’s why…we can only give you 100 Trade Route coins for each toy! What do you think…”

After hearing the elder’s words, Suo Jia was so excited that he almost shouted out. A hundred Trade Route coins couldn’t be looked down on; 100 of these toys would give him 10,000 coins! That was enough to buy a rank 3 magic fruit.

However, since he was a merchant, Suo Jia obviously couldn’t just agree. Although these toys’ manufacturing costs were pretty much negligible, a merchant always tried to obtain a large amount of profit.

Suo Jia furrowed his brows and said, “Um…Mister Elder, isn’t that price too low? Even if I gave them out for free, that amount doesn’t even cover manufacturing costs. See…the difference is really too great!”

“Ah…” The elder awkwardly looked at Suo Jia and hesitantly replied, “I also know it’s too low. However, we really can’t bring out anything worth more money. How about…we only ask for 10 then?”

“Hm…” Feigning a thoughtful appearance, Suo Jia then abruptly slapped his leg and cried out, “How about this, Mister Elder. In terms of price, it can’t become any cheaper. However, you have to bring items over in exchange!”

“Use items to exchange for it?” The elder asked doubtfully.

Suo Jia nodded and smiled, “That’s right. From my knowledge, a magical beast called the Golden Raccoon Dog roams about the village. I’m sure that…you guys must have a lot of its fur, right?”

The elder looked at Suo Jia in confusion and said, “That’s right, our village does have a lot of Golden Raccoon Dog fur. It’s both soft and glossy, and we normally use it to make clothes. You want to have this as exchange?”

Suo Jia excitedly nodded and firmly confirmed, “That’s right. I just need ten Golden Raccoon Dog furs for one toy. What do you think?”

“Not a problem, let’s just go with that!” After hearing Suo Jia’s words, the elder looked as if he’d seen a ghost. He hurriedly agreed to the terms. Seeing this, Suo Jia realized that he’d definitely sold it off for cheap.

The Golden Raccoon Dog was a wind type magical beast. It wasn’t that formidable, but it was extremely fast. Its fur was very beautiful, and seemed to have a halo of light enshrouding it. According to the reports from adventurers, the inland village could sell one Golden Raccoon Dog’s fur for a high price of 100 Trade Route coins! In other words, Suo Jia had basically sold each of those toys for 1000!

He could use the furs to make clothes. Aside from being beautiful, these furs could more importantly allow people to move without a sound. Their bodies would become lithe, and the furs also emitted an unusually sweet fragrance. Females enjoyed these clothes the most!

Although he knew that he’d sold it off for cheap, Suo Jia didn’t regret it. Even though he knew that he’d get what he wanted if he requested more, Suo Jia didn’t want more. Merchants pursued profits, but they could not be corrupt!

Although the villagers all considered these furs to be junk, it was because they didn’t communicate enough, and their information network wasn’t sufficiently developed. Earning 10 times the profits was already enough for Suo Jia.

Suo Jia smiled and picked up a bundle of four colored potions on the blanket. He said to the elder, “Mister Elder, please look at this. These are the four colored potions that I exclusively sell. They can recover wounds, replenish battle qi and magic power, restore spirit power, and physical strength. I think…that as a hunter, you guys must really need these things, right?”

“What!” The elder stared at the potions in Suo Jia’s hand in utter shock. “How is that possible? How can such potions even exist? You…you aren’t trying to cheat me, right?”

Suo Jia maintained his smile and tossed the bundle of potions at the elder. “Whether I’m cheating you or not doesn’t just depend on what I say. You can bring that bundle of potions back with you and test them. If the effects don’t agree with what I said, I’ll just give you the 100 toys for free!”

The elder gripped the potions and quickly turned around to leave. Suo Jia watched the elder’s retreating back. He knew that the elder had definitely gone to test these potions.

Suo Jia retracted his gaze in satisfaction. He cleaned up the things displayed on the blanket while also fantasizing…exactly how many Golden Raccoon Dog furs did this village have?

After cleaning up the blanket, Suo Jia returned to the inside of the tent and sat down on the cushion. He then closed his eyes and began the ponder. Since he’d already made a promise with the other party, Suo Jia would have to design a toy that would sufficiently satisfy the other party.

Although Suo Jia was a mage, not in name only, but also in reality, Suo Jia had been aiming to be a warrior from beginning to end. Thus…Suo Jia had researched warrior battle skills even more thoroughly than he’d studied magic. After all….warrior battle skills were limited, simple, but still effective. They weren’t as complicated as magic.

In general, the warrior’s battle skills could be defined as strike, poke, chop, pierce, slash, sweep, block, dash, and collide. These were the nine basic skills; no matter how powerful a skill was, it had to be developed from this foundation.

Since the other party wanted to teach children warrior skills, Suo Jia couldn’t make a mistake. He had to bring together all the basic warrior battle skills together. This was the only way he’d be able to instruct children with the right qualifications!

Suo Jia took out a pencil and paper, meticulously making calculations. After studying it for three days, Suo Jia could finally confirm the final attack plan!

During the next three days, Suo Jia created hundreds of toys with the help of the blueprints. These toys could all smoothly and activate the nine basic battle skills. That wasn’t all; in order to make the children interested, Suo Jia also brazenly tried a new invention.