City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 15: Merchant Guild

I woke up a little earlier than yesterday; I did not stay up until six and instead slept at 4 am before the establishment closed the gate for the day. 
 
By the time I reached my office after showering and breakfast, it was around nine-thirty. Carla was there, as usual, looking fresh and beautiful like she had taken the beauty sleep of ten hours, not barely two hours.
 
“Good morning,” she said as I walked into the office, “Morning,” I replied and sat down before taking the file and place in front of me.
 
I opened it without wasting any time and began to read it, and the more I read, the bigger the smile on my face would become. 
 
There was even a small surprise, as the money we earned was more than I had imagined; it had happened a second time in a day.
 
It is a hundred and seventy-nine thousand crowns, forty thousand more than yesterday. The girls have earned eighty-two thousand through their services, six thousand more than yesterday, while it is food and drinks that took an obvious jump.
 
It is food and drinks that made an obvious jump of over thirty-six thousand crowns, from sixty-one yesterday, earning me ninety-seven thousand crowns today.
 
The money earned by girls has limitations; it depends upon the rates and hours they put it. The only way that could increase is increasing the hourly rate of the girls, which I will do soon, but not now.
 
The food and drinks, on the other hand, had no limitations. The patrons were rich; as long as I brought expensive liquor and food, they would buy it, and I would earn money.
 
“Didn’t I tell you,” I said to Carla while pointing at the numbers; she had said it would be girls who would always earn more money, and I disagreed with her.
 
Though I did not think I would be able to prove my point this early, I had thought it would take me a few weeks, even a month or more, but I have done that on the second day.
 
“It is quite hard to believe it, especially when we are charging so much by hourly rate,” she said, with amazement dripping through her voice.
 
“I have told you before the sex will be just part of the establishment; it is other accompanying services that will earn us more,” I said, and she could nod after seeing the proof.
 
I closed the file after reading it carefully and took the newspaper and report from the grey guild, which has things that newspapers don’t.
 
Yesterday hundreds of ships came; not all were for Greltheaven, many would go to Greltheaven and other cities to unload and load the stuff, but still, Greltheaven is the first city of the Empire they would enter, which would make it the place, where the things will be cheapest.
 
As further they went, the greater the taxes they would have to pay; each city and each territory had their own taxes, small as they might.
 
With all the trade flowing through the Greltheaven, it will be the biggest beneficiary of all and will be developed rapidly. Just yesterday, over hundreds of ships have come, and more are coming today.
 
The papers are saying that the prince is going to Meldhorn in a few days to sign the trade deals. If it worked as the paper had said, the trade would increase even further.
 

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I read the papers before reading a report from the grey guild, which had information about all the important merchants that came from Meldhorn, including some sketches.
 
“These four had come to the establishment yesterday,” Carla said, pointing at sketches of four people as she read the report.
 
“Take a note on merchants from Meldhorn,” I said, to which she nodded. She did not stay for long; after reading the report and taking a few orders from me, she had left.
 
I focused on three letters that came for me today, not a single one from my uncle.
 
All three are about the party; the most important is merchant guilt; Damon Hardt had formally begun as head of the merchant guild yesterday, and today, they are throwing the part in honor of the prince.
 
It will be a huge party that will not only have Prince Grelt in attendance but also important nobles, especially merchants from Meldhorn, for which the guild and I are very excited about.
 
They are the people who will bring us the biggest profit.
 
It is today, and I am going to be attending it; I will also attend the other two parties, which are tomorrow and the day after that.
 
It is the best time to make the connection, as after the prince and all the guests leave; the parties will slow down, and there will be less chance to make the connection.
 
…
 
Click!
 
Hours passed, and soon it was afternoon; I was working when Carla came inside the office, holding an envelope.
 
“This came for you; the messenger is waiting for your reply down below,” she said as she placed the blue envelope in front of me.
 
It had a sigil of Nielson Guild, and beside it was a personal vigil of Mage Valentina; I opened the letter and looked inside.
 
A surprise couldn’t help but flash on my face as I read the small content before a smile appeared on my face. This is not the first thing it has happened to me, I had done this before, but it is for a good friend.
 
Mage Valentina is not my friend, a friendly acquaintance at most, and I wouldn’t accept her offer. If I did not need this as much as she.
 
“I didn’t think she was interested in you,” said Carla as I wrote my reply; her voice was different than usual; I am sensing a hint of something I had not sensed before.
 
“She is not,” I replied; it surprised her before she arched her brow in question, but I did not answer her question and instead gave her the letter.
 
…
 
Before I knew it, the evening had arrived, and the gates of the establishment opened within an hour; the guest filled the hall, and by seven fifteen, we had to close the door of the establishment temporarily.
 
Today, there was a change in clientele; for two days, most patrons were from the Empire, but now a third of them are from merchant cities.
 
They were quite surprised as they entered the establishment but adjusted very quickly, which is not surprising. 
 
There is a saying that even if you throw a merchant to hell, he will survive and thrive.
 
I wish I could stay more, but I have a party to attend, and before that, I have to go home. So, I looked hall one last time and walked toward the back entrance, where the carriage was waiting for me.
 
It did not take long for me to reach the place I had rented, and the first thing I did was shower and wear a suit.
 
Seeing there was still time, I sat in the small library I had and began to read the book from the shelf; these books came with the house.
 
Some of them were on my list to read.
 
Knock Knock
 
I was engrossed in reading when the knock sounded on my door, “Come in,” I said, and George walked in. “Mister Silver, your guest, has arrived,” he informed.
 
“Thank you, George,” I said and got up before walking out of the library.
 
When I walked down into the living room, I saw a beautiful woman sitting on the sofa; she was wearing a green cocktail gown that showed off her radiant shoulders and gave hints of her tempting cleavage.
 
“Remus, thank you for being my date for today’s party,” she said as she saw me.
 
“How can I reject the offer of a beautiful woman, Mage Valentina,” I said, “You can call me Valentina, Remus,” she said to that; I nodded as we walked out of the house.
 
We are going to party in her carriage; it is much better than my own and enchanted. I opened the door for her, and she walked in before walking inside and sitting on a very comfortable leathery cushion opposite her.
 
“I heard your establishment is doing good,” she said, “Yes, but it is not surprising seeing the number of guests that city is hosting,” I replied.
 
“True, but with the praises I have heard about your services, I don’t think you will face any problems, especially with merchants from Empire and merchant cities pouring in,” she said.
 
“I hope so,” I said to that, and she smiled.
 
“How is the business?” I asked, “Good, very good; we received a lot of projects yesterday, and today, that I am asking headquarters for more personal and resources,” she said and seemed quite happy about it. 
 
Nielson is a big guild, and its presence is counted in the top three in the city; if the city prospered, her guild would be one of the businesses that would prosper the most.
 
We conversed about general topics as the carriage moved toward the financial district, where the merchant guild is, and twenty minutes later, we reached it.

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