The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1974 Spreading Profits

”So, you would like to have your own members do the sales for the city, and then weʼre free to have the merchants send the rest of the region goods as they see fit?

At the risk of them being accosted by those arrogant disciples, naturally.

But thatʼs part of their business model, Iʼm sure. Our own members who are making trips to sell goods are well enough protected that we donʼt worry about them too much. However, we donʼt do a lot of travelling ourselves.

We leave that to the New Home, and to our customers.”

The Elder gave him an understanding nod. ”I wouldnʼt expect you to. Craftsmen need their tools and workspace, itʼs not easy for them to go anywhere. Thatʼs one of the great weaknesses of the Crafting Guilds, as they need to get all the supplies to one location, so they need a wide network of connections.

Your work with the Blue Elves will help with that, but I hear that youʼre also working with the Yizimon Clan to obtain metals.”

Karl nodded. ”That has been most beneficial to us. We go with them weekly.”

The Elders were mentally calculating what sort of resource flow Karl already had, and what they would be able to offer. The Almeixei Sect controlled a half dozen regular dungeons, and many more resource points. But not all of them were good for the sort of resources that Karl and his people would want.

In fact, most Dungeons either gave mostly consumable resources or gear.

And with so few craftsmen, and so many skills designed to damage or destroy items, it was a constant struggle to keep up. Even the best blade could only parry so many skills before it began to crack, and without a skilled smith around, there was nothing you could do.

Every Clan tried to have at least some level of repair capability, but that only helped the lower grade weapons. Epic Grade and higher needed commensurate levels of skill to repair.

And if you had the skill to repair them, you had the skill to make them. At least, some sort of weapon of that grade.

And if you could make the weapons, repair was only a tiny bit of the potential profits. It was better to pretend that you couldnʼt, and then sell the Immortals a new one after they broke the last one.

That had been that way for so long that the few remaining craftsmen didnʼt even design things to be repaired anymore, they made them to look impressive.

It was a brilliant way of ensuring repeat customers.

The Elder quickly wrote a short note, outlining the details of his proposal. It was simple enough. Twice a month, they would send an Elder to pick up an order, and then they would sell them in their home city.

The first order would be all stock, and the next would be based on sales.

Karl nodded. ”Thatʼs the best way. No need to set a quota because every location has different requirements. The Elves pick things based on value and what they can auction. Everyone else is better off just replacing what they sell.

Once Almeixei has a regular patten of sales, we can prepare in advance, which will take some workload off our craftsmen. But we do keep some stock on hand, as we donʼt know when the sea caravans will arrive.

That is largely based on how and where they reload, so they show up on short notice, and donʼt have time to wait days or weeks for us to finish the bulk of the order.

That allows us to produce what makes the workers happy, while still making sales.”

The Elders knew that was more than a little bit of an understatement. The items that the store displayed at the front counter were more valuable than most Clans would order in a month. If that was just their members making what made them happy, what would ʼspecializedʼ look like?

He had heard rumours of what they were selling, so what were they NOT selling and keeping for themselves?

Unless a piece of equipment was removed for inspection, only those with specialized skills would be able to tell what its stats were, and neither of these Elders had those skills.

However, what Karl was wearing was just the Epic Grade accessories he made for himself, and a casual outfit that Rae made for him. If they were hoping that he would show something of the Guildʼs hidden wealth, they were bound to be disappointed.

Anyone else in the Guild would be more likely to be wearing rare valuables than Karl was.

”The only issue will be the negotiations for the first shipmentʼs stock. While we have centuries of data on the sales that our markets make, we donʼt have an equivalent shop to compare to. Trying to estimate what we will need for stock and what items will not be easy.” The Elder noted.

Karl shrugged. ”We have people for that. Just let me know what sort of members you have, and how many at each level, and I can make a good guess of what you will sell monthly.

However, if there has been a shortage, the first month tends to be much heavier in sales than the subsequent months, as members will have stored Clan Credits.”

The Elder nodded. ”We will do our own shopping while we are here. Perhaps a few custom pieces, if your craftsmen have the time? But then we have four thousand Ascended Elders, including two hundred peak Immortals, and a little over two hundred thousand regular members.

Most follow the Almeixei Style, with a focus on blade skills and combat magic. But we have taken in other members from nearby Clans and defeated foes, so there are many others. We also have a large healing corps that is made of followers of the Light Gods.”

Karl nodded. ”So, holy magic, but not Dragon God followers? Thatʼs fine, we can work with that. Making items for the healers is always a priority.”

”Indeed. Nothing that the warriors can do will save a Clan as surely as a skilled healer.”