As Kevin pondered what more he could do to give the store another push forward, a familiar face walked through the door. It was Jas, the alchemist to whom Kevin had sold the Irista flower. Jas had previously tricked Kevin by selling him inferior quality potions, which had made Kevin quite angry at the ti. However, that was in the past. Now that Kevin was wealthier, he didn't care as much, and seeing Jas's current situation, any lingering anger vanished.
He seed to have aged years in just a few months. His hair was unkempt, he wore wrinkled clothes, and dark circles shadowed his bony cheeks. With a forced smile, the alchemist greeted Kevin. "Hi there."
"Hi, how are you doing?" Kevin smiled and greeted back.
"Just fine," he replied with the sa forced smile. "And you?"
"Just fine too. So, what can I do for you today?" Kevin asked with a smile.
Jas hesitated, glancing at the other custors before speaking. "I heard you have unique products from the Den?"
Kevin found his behavior a bit strange. He thought it might be related to the condition Jas was in. He wanted to ask what had happened to him, but rembering how this fellow had swindled him before, he refrained and just dealt with him simply. "Yeah, we have so."
"Then, would you have so Shadowcrest Lupin bones?" Jas asked with a bit of excitent.
Kevin nodded with a smile and said, "You're in luck, Mr. Jason. We have plenty of them. How much do you need?"
Jas's eyes lit up with excitent. "I need about 100 kg of them."
Kevin shook his head gently. "I can't sell them by weight like that, Mr. Jason. Each piece of bone has a different price based on its size and quality. What I can do is take out enough bones to asure up to 100 kg, but you'll need to pay for each piece individually."
"That's fine, please pack them," the alchemist said, then added, "but only the low-quality ones. They'll do."
"Will do." Kevin nodded with excitent, knowing this order would bring in a few thousand omnitokens. He turned to Sia and Amy, but seeing them busy with custors, he turned back to Jas and said, "Give a few minutes to get them ready."
"No worries, take your ti," Jas replied with a smile.
Kevin went to his makeshift office, tempted to slip in so higher-quality bones, but he knew trust was crucial for business. He gathered the smallest, lowest-quality bones, each worth only 10 to 15 tokens. There were about 30 of them, each weighing between a few hundred grams to a kilo, totaling 27 kg. Then he added so larger bones to complete 100 kg.
After calculating the price, it ca to just under 3000 tokens—2989 omnitokens to be exact. It was enough to excite him as he got closer to eting the store upgrade requirent.
He wrapped the bones in a large piece of cloth provided by the system for such purposes and placed it in front of Jas. "Here you go," he said.
Jas, still wearing an excited smile, began inspecting each bone. Kevin waited patiently for him to finish. When Jas finally seed satisfied, he said, "That will be 448,350 units."
The smile on Jas's face faded a bit as he asked in a lower tone, "Can't I get a discount?"
Kevin shook his head, still smiling. "You know I sell stuff way below market price, and you're asking for a discount? Co on, Mr. Jas, no can do." He pushed the bones back toward him.
Jas's smile turned a bit awkward. "Yeah, I get it, but I don't have that much cash on ."
Kevin shrugged, not too bothered. "No worries. Just buy what you can afford."
Jas sighed, clearly disappointed but not giving up. "Look, Kevin, how about a small discount? I'm a regular custor, after all."
Kevin raised an eyebrow and in his mind 'A regular who sort of swindle before,' while shaking his head in no.
Jas winced, but kept pushing. "Tis are tough right now. I'm barely scraping by. Can you cut so slack this one ti?"
Kevin leaned back, crossing his arms. "I get it, but I can't go any lower. The prices are already rock bottom. If I start giving discounts, I won't be able to keep the shop running."
Jas looked around, then leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "How about a trade? I've got so rare herbs and potions that might interest you."
Kevin considered this for a mont, then shook his head. "Unless you have sothing really special, it's gotta be cash."
Jas sighed again, clearly frustrated. "Alright, how about this
—I'll take half the bones now, and I'll co back with the rest of the money next week?"
Kevin frowned. "I don't do credit, Mr Jas. Cash on delivery."
Jas ran a hand through his unkempt hair, clearly desperate. "Co on, Mr Morrison. Help a guy out. I'll owe you one."
Kevin stood firm. "Sorry, man. Business is business. I can't risk it."
Jas threw up his hands in exasperation. "Okay, okay. Let's see... I've got 200,000 on . Can you pack bones worth that much?"
Kevin nodded. "That, I can do." He started to separate the bones, calculating as he went. "200,000 worth coming up."
As Kevin packed the bones, Jas stood by, clearly still hoping for a better deal. "You know, Mr Morrison, if you ever need a favor... I'm your guy."
Kevin glanced up, smirking. "I'll keep that in mind. But for now, let's stick to cash."
A few minutes later, Kevin handed over the wrapped bones. "Here you go. 200,000 worth."
Jas counted the bones, then reluctantly sent over the money. "Thanks, Mr Morrison. I appreciate it."
Kevin nodded, receiving the money. "No problem. See you around, Mr Jas."
"Who was that guy?" Amy asked, coming toward Kevin after finishing up with a custor who had just purchased so herbs.
"My first custor," Kevin replied, thinking about his encounter with Jas. As far as he knew, alchemists typically lived quite comfortably, able to produce money in the form of their potions and other products. So how had this one fallen so low that he had to haggle and swindle people?
Reviews
All reviews (0)