Chapter 4: Business Structure

"Sure," Sydney raised his eyebrow. "For firsts, I heard from the Marquis that you will be leading the inspection to the Northern Merveille fief this time?"

In Morobeau, each noble was granted guardianship over a fief, and in honour of their guardianship, the fief's name would take after the noble's House name. Under the institutions and laws of Clomodor, each noble is held accountable to his or her own fief and people, and the performance of their fiefs would determine how much prestige they hold in court. The Merveille fief in question was so huge that it was separated into four different sections, managed directly by appointed officers and only periodically by the Merveille Head.

"Yes. Father finally saw that I was fit to take charge and said it would be a good experience. The Northern fief has been isolated for a long time, and it is time for us to do an audit. Father also suspects that some suspicious activity is ongoing."

"What's an 'audit'? Nevertheless, this is a huge jump in responsibility for you. Are you scared?"

"An audit is just to check on the accounts and situation of a business or location, but to your second question: No." In her past life, she had been 23 years old. Despite her current age at 19, Libitina was mentally not much younger than Sydney who was 25 years old. Compared to what this young man has accomplished, she should be ready to do much more than a mere inspection in order to reach his level.

Sydney looked at Libitina with admiration. "Looks like our little Lina has grown up."

Libitina grinned. "Of course. One day I will catch up to you, so watch out!"

Sydney shook his head in amusement. Two years ago, Sydney had received news of the Mervielles adopting a new daughter into the household. The Mervielle couple had retired from the social scene after the death of their only daughter. While their Marquess position still held power, its influence had fallen greatly.

What kind of girl would she be, he wondered? He received information that she was a nameless, abandoned orphan who was sickly and rarely smiled. He also knew that the couple found her injured in one of the holiday estates they were visiting.

'Although I wished she had stayed as innocent as when I first met her, it's good to see her grow up so well,' he wistfully thought.

"Well, I'll be looking forward to travelling with you and catching that 'rat' together," Sydney laughed as he crossed his legs. "Now, the magic tools trade.

"Lina, now that we have obtained the permit to trade in magical artifacts, shall we proceed with the designated shops?"

"Yes," Libitina mused, her large eyes sparkling with cleverness. "As agreed, the Merveille House will take charge of providing the store locations. I shall be relying on you to bridge our joint venture with the Magic Tower and manage the production side. The five store locations will be in the Capital, the Magic Tower, and the marketplaces of Merveille, Rayford and Grayson territories. These shall simply be pilot shops to test the market waters before we expand further.

"The magical artifacts can be lower-tiered, such as the longer ranged Melodies, the low-ranked spatial rings, the wind-powered motors and other trinkets. Naturally, there would be the industry ranged catalogue that needs to be prepared according to the agreed list. I am of the opinion that we should engage in some advertisements before we start sales officially, and this can get us more time to manufacture and stock up on product inventory."

"But wouldn't the passing of the Bill to trade in magic products be sufficient advertisement?" Sydney asked.

"Yes, but only for the nobility. The commoners are not politically educated enough to follow the news consistently, and the information on where the shop locations are may not have reached the ears of interested parties that are of grassroot levels or come from outside the Capital."

"That's a good consideration. Can I leave it to you to do that?"

"Yes, but we will need to discuss the splitting of costs and how much you are willing to fund."

They negotiated a suitable budget for advertisement. Libitina once again felt relieved that she was working with an intelligent business partner who would not question why so much money was needed for advertisement. Advertising costs were large, but if appropriately used, its impact can be huge. It was good to work with smart people who trust each other.

"There is also the issue of transferring and distributing the profits to the Magic Tower," Sydney folded his hands and grinned. "Per the agreement, excluding production expenses, the Magic Tower will also demand a 40% profit at the end of each month. Sperenza is looking into this, you can't run from her."

Sperenza was the first princess of Clomodor, the oldest sister of Sydney, and also the youngest magic professor of the Magic Tower. The pushing through of the initiative can largely be attributed to her lobbying and garnering of support amongst the younger wizards and witches.

"Yes, I know," Libitina laughed. "After all, she has been fighting for more funds since forever. I'll get a message to her as soon as possible to discuss this."

"Well, she's not the only one waiting for your reply," Sydney drank his tea as he peered at Libitina from his cup. "Someone else is waiting for you to write to him, too."