Chapter 375: Trade agreement (03)

"It’s simple," Ethan smiled, tapping his finger against the table. "The Drakenoir family must build a branch in Goldenveil, adding it to the family’s map of trading posts."

By any measure, it wasn’t an excessive request.

Of course, the branch would have to pay taxes in Goldenveil, but that was standard practice for every nation. For a family of the Drakenoirs’ stature, such a condition wasn’t even remotely complicated.

Raynar nodded thoughtfully, twirling the glass between his fingers.

He was a cousin of the current Drakenoir patriarch and a member of the main line.

As a fleet commander, he didn’t hold the authority to approve new branches or long-term trade agreements on his own. As a member of the main line, however, his word would carry the final weight in the matter.

The only problem was the value of the treaty: nearly a billion a year.

A drop in the ocean of the Drakenoirs’ colossal wealth, no doubt. But for him—and for the portion of the fortune he personally managed—it was still a considerable sum.

If the agreement went through, his standing in the family would take a remarkable leap. If it failed, his prestige would suffer a blow he might never fully recover from.

"Can I see your inventory? Are all the products ready?" Raynar asked, resting his elbows on the table.

"Yes," Ethan nodded, "but first, let’s finish eating. I’ve already sent someone to prepare everything for you."

Hearing that, Raynar turned his attention back to the plate in front of him.

The aroma rising from the food was simply wonderful, and from the single bite he’d taken so far, the taste was even better than the smell had promised.

Without rushing, the two continued eating, chatting about mundane matters.

Ethan didn’t go into detail about himself. He had no interest in letting the commander uncover his identity as David Darkwall’s son.

Of course, that was already common knowledge in Goldenveil, but the young lord preferred that, at least for now, Raynar remain unaware of it.

A few minutes later, Raynar finally finished his meal, leaning back in his chair with an expression of pure contentment etched on his face.

"It’s delicious, Lord Ethan... If it weren’t for my family responsibilities, I’d move to Goldenveil just to eat this every day," Raynar sighed, taking a final sip of the green fairy wine before rising to his feet.

Ethan stood up as well, motioning for the commander to follow him.

After settling the bill, the young lord led the way toward Goldenveil’s warehouses, where everything had already been gathered.

With the city’s massive population growth, it had become necessary to build many more storage facilities for food and consumer goods. Currently, Goldenveil boasted five such complexes, scattered strategically throughout the city.

Ethan led them to the largest of them—a building that seemed modest on the surface, yet beneath its unassuming walls concealed an underground network capable of storing enough food to sustain Goldenveil’s entire population for three full years.

The warehouse workers had been notified of Ethan’s arrival long before Raynar set foot in the city, and every crop meant for sale had already been set aside.

The wine and magic cores were also being rushed there.

When they stepped into the warehouse’s spacious main hall, the sight made the commander stop in his tracks.

Thirty metric tons of magical crops stood in impeccable rows, alongside hundreds of gleaming magic cores and nearly two hundred thousand bottles of green fairy wine, all carefully organized and prepared for transport to Raynar’s ships.

The red-haired merchant swallowed hard, taking unsteady steps across the room.

He inspected each item carefully, one by one, and then let out a long sigh.

Honestly, he even felt a little embarrassed.

The quality of it all was so absurdly high that he felt like a country bumpkin standing next to such refined goods.

"I’ll pay a hundred million for this, Lord Ethan," Raynar declared. "Consider the extra a bonus for our friendship."

He wanted to stay in the young lord’s good graces at all costs.

Spending a few million more to win Ethan’s goodwill would certainly be worth it in the long run. It was a small sum by his standards, and he didn’t so much as bat an eye when making the decision.

Ethan smiled gently. "Thank you very much, Lord Raynar. I’ll have one of my wives take care of the contract shortly. If there are any clauses you’d like to add, I’m all ears."

Raynar didn’t reply right away. Instead, he reached into a carefully sealed crate filled with chilled rice, letting the grains trickle through his fingers as if weighing each one.

He sighed, shaking his head.

"I have my own chain of stores," Raynar said, stepping back and closing the box with a soft thud. "I’d like to ask permission to open branches of them here in Goldenveil as well."

"As long as you’re willing to follow Goldenveil’s laws," Ethan replied, his lips curving even further.

Ron’s store was already the largest in Goldenveil, and, in Ethan’s view, Ron could use a healthy dose of competition.

After all, corporations without competition grew complacent, disrespected their customers, and forgot who had made them as wealthy as they were.

Ethan wouldn’t be pleased if Ron ever let himself grow soft and forgot that the drive to be the best could never fade.

At the end of the conversation, Ethan and Raynar shook hands, and preparations soon began to transport all that merchandise to the commander’s ships.

In addition, Elena drafted a contract, which both men signed, formalizing the commercial agreement between the Drakenoir family and Goldenveil.

From that day forward, Goldenveil would become a port recognized by the Drakenoir family, and the Drakenoirs would regard Goldenveil as a full-fledged business partner, granting it permission to purchase land in the city and to dock freely.

A branch of the Drakenoir Chamber of Commerce would be opened in Goldenveil within six months at the latest, and Ethan himself committed to overseeing the construction of the main building for that branch.

Furthermore, if the volume of trade between Drakenoir and Goldenveil ever exceeded a certain threshold—ten billion gold coins annually—the House of Drakenoir would arrange to install teleportation arrays connecting Goldenveil to its other branches scattered throughout the world.