Chapter 2109: Net Profit

Changing the order that the Blue Elves were placing that dramatically caused them to need to rebalance everything from their client list to the budget for this run. The Villa Stones would definitely sell well, but they didn’t’ know what regions would pay the most for them yet.

And until they knew that, there were risks involved that they didn’t want to take too large of a loss on. So, they still needed some of the basic items they had come for, with the Villa Stones added.

The question was how many of them they needed.

If they added them to the order, they could likely make a huge profit off this run. But if they replaced the weapons, as Eryman wanted, they ran the risk of both getting a poor price, and running out of them too early in the trip.

That was part of the risk of being a Captain that nobody really talked about, but one of their most important tasks.

Buying the wrong thing, at the wrong time, or picking the wrong market to sell the goods you had, was enough to crush many Captains. The Blue Elves prohibited buying on credit, if you couldn’t fund your fleet, you weren’t fit to remain captain.

But that only increased the stakes for their trades, as margins got thin once the cost of long distance travel and the crew were factored in.

While they were known as pirates, they were also targeted by many nations, who either held a grudge, or who thought that they could get more out of looting the Elves than trading with them. Sometimes because they’d already been blacklisted from trade.

As the Captains did the mental math on what their potential profits and losses from this trip would add up to, especially with a change in cargo, Karl and Rue were already adding up the Guild’s profits from pushing the Villa Stones and the Illusionary Helper Trinkets to a wider market.

The Villa Stones were difficult, and somewhat limited in quantity. But the helpers? They were cheap to produce, could be put on nearly anything that would hold a charm, and they were the perfect addition to the simple carvings that the bunnies and lycans enjoyed making.

Most of the carvings were sold a simple nonmagical trinkets in the past, but for now they were simply sitting in storage, waiting for someone to add an enchantment to them with Runecrafting.

But they didn’t require any sort of special design just for an illusionary helper.

So, the only ones that were absolutely not suitable were the ones that depicted a deity or holy relic. Those would have to be made into something that represented their aspect, while the rest of the statues and carvings could be made into nearly anything.

It was even better if it was a small trinket that could be worn as an accessory in addition to your actual gear.

They didn’t equip, so you could wear them with anything as fashion, and not lose your bonuses.

Karl sent a message to the members who were at work, informing them of the need for the special items, and the Lycans happily got to work. Giving out their handcrafted bone and monster claw trinkets to people who would actually appreciate them was way better than having them shoved into a storage box somewhere as a memory of a visit to the Darklight Host.

Everyone had hundreds of items purchased while on vacation, that never saw the light of day again.

But one that would make a helper around the house to do daily chores? That was one that nobody would forget or leave behind, even if it was considered to be extremely affordable compared to most of the items that were sold in town.

So, they didn’t put all of them on statues that were cumbersome or intended to be placed somewhere, they put the majority of them on lycan themed accessories.

"You look like you’re deep in thought," one of the Captains informed Karl.

"I’m getting the staff to start making more of the illusionary helper trinkets, so that we can fill your likely order, and start offering them at more stores around town. The sudden supply, and a bit of a marketing push by our resident Fae and Badger propaganda department, will go a long way towards making sure that the ones we sell you will fetch a good price."

The Captain chuckled. "You put a badger in charge of propaganda?"

"Is there a better department for a chaos aligned creature? She is amazing at making sure that things stay the right sort of interesting around here, and part of that is making sure that people want what we’re offering."

Rue nodded her agreement with Karl, while Eryman tried not to laugh.

He knew that the Fae in question was Opal, the Forest Trickster, who specialized in illusions, so these trinkets would be very personal to her, as they were part of her specialty.

"How long will it take to create the items on this list?" The Captain asked after a moment, his expression stern.

Karl read the list, and compared it to what they had in stock.

"We can have it all ready by morning. I just need to have the Guild make some more of the Villa Stones, and a few of these specialty armour pieces. We have lots of armour, but you’ve specified some armour type and bonus combinations that I don’t see in our inventory.

They’re certainly possible, we just need an afternoon to finish them."

The Captain smiled. "That is excellent news. Then, we will take that as our order for the day, and try to take as little loss as possible on this shipment, while respecting the Legend’s wish not to push powerful weapons too close to his territory."

Eryman patted the Captain on the shoulder. "I appreciate that. I’ve sent a message to the Auction houses to ensure that they’re ready to push your armour sales as a preventative measure, instead of simply letting them go up on their own merits.

It’s a little thing, but it should buy a few extra bids."