Lord: Stripped of My Inheritance from the Start - Chapter 58 - 57: The Selling Price of a Magic Scroll
Chapter 58: Chapter 57: The Selling Price of a Magic Scroll
The building before them was about as tall as the other Chamber of Commerce buildings, around five or six stories, but its design was rather unique.
The exterior of the Silva Magic Energy Chamber of Commerce was cylindrical, constructed entirely of green stone. It was carved with reliefs of Magical Beasts and mysterious symbols, giving it an arcane atmosphere.
Ronin examined it closely and even discovered the Magic Patterns for the Basic Level Magic, Clear Wind Skill. He hadn’t expected them to use Magic Patterns as murals.
The building had a golden spire, like a long, slender golden needle piercing the sky, inspiring a sense of profound solemnity and sanctity.
“My lord, I can feel the fluctuation of Magic.”
Elron looked up. “It seems to be coming from the top-floor platform.”
Ronin nodded. He seemed to have felt a little something as well, but it wasn’t as clear as what Elron sensed.
“Come on, let’s go inside and have a look.”
With that, Ronin led the other two inside.
The moment he stepped inside, Ronin was astonished by the scene.
The exterior of the building was made of green stone, but the floors inside were built from wood. A staircase hugged the inner wall, spiraling all the way up to the top of the building.
Standing on the first floor and looking up, Ronin could see rows of bookshelves on every level. The air carried the faint scent of parchment, mixed with a light, fresh fragrance and a gently blowing breeze.
Magic Crystal Lamps were generally a rare sight, but in this building, they were dotted everywhere as if they were free.
The enormous chandelier in the center was particularly eye-catching. Its brilliance and design were in no way inferior to the top luxury light fixtures of the modern era. He couldn’t imagine how many Gold Coins it would cost to buy.
Opulent. Extraordinary.
“Welcome, gentlemen. How may I help you?”
The all-too-familiar greeting almost gave Ronin a sense of temporal displacement.
Ronin sized up the attendant before him. The man wore a pale blue robe with a purple crystal pattern embroidered on the left side of his chest—the emblem of the Silva Magic Energy Chamber of Commerce.
“Hello, I’d like to purchase some Magic Crystal Stones and Magical Beast Hide,” Ronin stated his purpose directly.
“This way, please, sir.”
Led by the attendant, Ronin entered a small room on the first floor.
The room had no windows, but the Magic Crystal Lamp on the ceiling illuminated the space brightly.
Soon, an elegant gentleman in a tailcoat knocked and entered. Ronin understood. The previous attendant was just a runner; this man was the sales manager.
The man performed a gentleman’s bow as he entered. “My name is Hook. It is a pleasure to be of service to you three gentlemen!”
As soon as Hook came in, he saw that only Ronin was seated, with Elron and Macken standing behind him. He knew at once that this young man was the one in charge.
And those black eyes, that silver hair…
Hook’s eyes darted. “Might I ask, Your Excellency, if you are Baron Ronin of Mountain Forest Town?”
Ronin was a bit surprised but didn’t hide it. “How did you recognize me?”
“Black eyes and silver hair are the signature traits of the Wushan Clan’s members. As a citizen of the Wushan Territory, it is only natural that I would recognize you!”
Perhaps due to his preconceived notions, Ronin had, until now, still thought of himself as having black eyes and black hair and hadn’t noticed his unusual hair color.
Hook adopted a very deferential posture. “The attendant mentioned that Your Excellency the Baron wishes to purchase Magic Crystal Stones and Magical Beast Hide. May I ask what quality you require?”
“Quality?” Ronin was a little confused.
Hook immediately displayed his skills as a “salesman” and began to explain the details of Magic Crystal Stones and Magical Beast Hide.
Simply put, there were five qualities of Magic Crystal Stone: purple, yellow, gray, white, and nearly transparent.
This quality was determined by how much of the Energy inside the Magic Crystal Stone had been consumed.
Purple basically represented a full charge. Yellow was 50% to 90%, gray was 30% to 50%, and white was 10% to 30%. The more transparent the stone, the less Energy it contained, until finally, only an empty shell remained.
Different qualities had different prices.
Ronin fiddled with Pedro’s Magic Crystal Stone in his pocket. It was purple, which meant its internal Energy was still full.
As for the quality of Magical Beast Hide, it was much simpler. It was classified according to the Level of the Magical Beast; the higher the Level of the Magical Beast, the more expensive the hide.
Since Mountain Forest Town was close to the Wushan Demon Beast Mountain Range, and he would inevitably be killing Magical Beasts in the future, Ronin asked about the process of preparing Magical Beast Hide.
Hook answered every question without holding anything back.
In fact, there was nothing special about preparing Magical Beast Hide; the process was similar to that for leathers like Sheepskin and Cowhide.
“My lord’s territory is close to Wushan. If you have the opportunity to kill Magical Beasts, you could entrust them to me for processing, if it’s convenient. I will give you an extremely suitable price!”
As a businessman, Hook got straight to the point when speaking with the Lord of Mountain Forest Town. As long as there was money to be made, he didn’t care whether the man had inheritance rights or was just some useless, washed-up noble.
“I think we will have opportunities to cooperate!”
Ronin did indeed need to prepare for future sales channels. As he spoke, he gestured to Elron beside him.
“This is my follower, Elron, a Light Attribute Mage. The Magical Beast Hide I’m purchasing today is for him.”
Ronin smiled. “Although he is currently only an Intermediate Mage, he should be able to create Healing Spell Scrolls. I would like to ask you, sir, what is the market price for such a Scroll?”
As Ronin spoke, Hook’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. He hadn’t expected this elegant man with short, grayish-white hair to be a Light Attribute Mage.
“Your Excellency, Mage, please forgive Hook for my impoliteness!”
He stood up and bowed to Elron, then, perhaps for the sake of politeness, also bowed to Macken.
“May the light be with you!”
Elron gave a slight nod and, at the same time, cast a Vitality Skill on him.
A light fell upon Hook, making him feel as if he were bathed in a spring breeze, his spirits greatly invigorated.
’He really is a Light Attribute Mage!’
Hook turned back to Ronin and said, “My lord, a Second-level Spell Scroll generally sells for 10 to 20 Gold Coins on the market. Intermediate Mages with the Light Attribute are already rare, which makes Healing Spell Scrolls quite scarce. But their effect is excellent, so our Chamber sells a single Healing Spell Scroll at the maximum fixed price of 20 Gold Coins.”
Ronin was inwardly shocked.
Gold Coins. It might not sound like much—just a two-digit number, after all.
But one had to realize that an average Intermediate Knight’s monthly salary was less than 2 Gold Coins. It would take over a year of saving to afford a single Healing Skill Scroll.
No wonder these things were so rarely seen.
“What about other Magic Scrolls, like the Wind Blade Spell?”
Ronin quickly followed up. He himself was about to learn the Wind Blade Spell and planned to create Magic Scrolls for it in the future.
“The Wind Blade Spell is considered Second-level Magic. For it and a few other Magic Scrolls of similar power, like the Fireball Skill, our external selling price is set at 18 Gold Coins.”
The price for the Wind Blade Spell was actually a bit lower than for the Healing Skill.
Considering that Light Attribute Mages were rarer than those of the earth, wind, water, and fire attributes, this pricing was quite reasonable.
“In that case, if Elron wanted to sell the Healing Skill Scrolls he makes at your Chamber, what price could you offer to acquire them?”
Gold Coins was the external selling price. It was impossible for them to procure the scrolls from Ronin at that price, so there would have to be a discount.
“The Silva Magic Energy Chamber of Commerce is the largest Mage-focused chamber in the Oduin Kingdom, serving tens of thousands of Mages within the Kingdom every year! We have always provided our esteemed Mages with the greatest benefits and various convenient services.”
Hook spoke with a mixture of pride and humility.
“If an ordinary person were to come here to sell Magic Scrolls, we would acquire them at eighty percent of the market price.”
He paused, then said with a beaming smile, “But for someone of your esteemed status, I am willing to use my authority to raise the acquisition rate to its maximum. The Chamber will acquire them at eighty-five percent of the market price!”
“This… is also the largest concession the Silva Magic Energy Chamber of Commerce can offer! Of course, if you have a Seventh-level or higher Magic Scroll to sell, our Magic Energy Chamber of Commerce will help you sell it free of charge, and we won’t take a single one of the Gold Coins earned!”
A Seventh-level Spell Scroll was something only a Great Mage could possibly create.
How many Seventh-level Great Mages were there in the Oduin Kingdom?
Even Bellora Silva would have to treat such individuals with importance and respect. For them to bring something they created to the Chamber for sale was to give face to Bellora herself.
This kind of commission-free sale might seem like a loss, but in reality, the benefits brought by such a High Level Magic Scroll would vastly increase the Chamber’s dominance in the market.
Ronin had a single Seventh-level Scroll in his possession, and he had no intention of selling it.
“The price you’ve quoted is very reasonable.”
Eighty-five percent meant 17 Gold Coins per scroll. It seemed like the Chamber was earning 3 Gold Coins, but after deducting the taxes paid to Pasture City and the overhead for the shop rental, their actual profit was likely not that much.
Even if Ronin wanted to haggle, there wasn’t much room to do so, so he decided not to waste any time.
After learning about the Magic Scrolls, Ronin then asked Hook about the production costs.
This mainly involved Magical Beast Hide, Demon Cores, and Mana Ink.
After a quick calculation, the cost to create one Second-level Spell Scroll was approximately 9 Gold Coins.
In other words, the net profit from making a Healing Skill Scroll was 8 Gold Coins per scroll, a net profit margin of 47.00%.
Even with a few failed attempts during production, this business would not be a losing venture.
After the Ironwood Workshop, this was the second project with stable income for Mountain Forest Town. It had great potential.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
