ASS 6

Unlocking the store, William was greeted by two Twilight Ogre wizards. It was an early Monday morning, but they were awake with grins on their faces.

William recognized both since they've worked with him before. One of them was called Grue, a tough-looking dude, but he was smaller than Dird. The other was a skinnier guy named Retsen.

"Mornin', boss."

"Sup, boss."

"Morning, boys. Come inside."

They followed after him, immediately going over to the table behind the counter. Two cups of coffee and a few sandwiches awaited them there, and they wasted no time sitting down and gobbling the food.

William had trained his guard dogs. Err, he treated them nicely, that is. Happy workers were hard-working workers, after all. Not that the two had much to do, other than to scare an unruly customer or two. He still wanted to be a good boss, trying to make it into a habit.

In his life, William has had one official and one unofficial job. The retail job was his so-called legal one. The work was shit; there was no sugar-coating it. Dealing with entitled customers that couldn't follow simple rules was something William would only wish upon his enemies. It was that bad. There were a few stupid policies, but that wasn't his fault, yet he was the one that got screamed at.

The coworkers, however, were great. All of them were cool personalities, well, almost all of them, but there were always a few bad apples no matter where you went. The breaks were always fun as they bonded over the dumb situations they had to deal with over the day. The coffee and the smoke also helped relieve some of the stress.

And the boss lady was pretty great as well. All she asked was for her employers to do their jobs. Quite simple. And as long as none of them were unreasonable, she was willing to help and support them. The boss was a good listener and had helped William when he needed it. If she hadn't been twice his age, he might've just crushed on her.

However, as good as his second boss was, the first one took the cake, in his opinion. It was a neighbor of his, one who had come over from Europe and set up his own tree cutting company in the states. William was a snot-nosed teenager back then, but his allowance hadn't been enough in his eyes. So, he sought out his neighbor and asked for a job.

"Sure, I will give you 30, 40, 50 bucks a day. I'll pay as much as you earned for the day. As long as you work hard, I will call you anytime I can to come over and help. But if you are lazy, I will pay you whatever you earned for the day, and that would be the end of our arrangement."

William still wasn't sure why, but the first impression he had of that man was that he was arrogant. Maybe that was the case because he was a stupid teenager back then, but he was offered good money, so he accepted.

The work he was supposed to do was pretty simple. William just had to haul stuff around and do the more manual labor. He wasn't allowed to use the machines since some of them required permits and were pretty dangerous. The boss had shown him the jagged scar he had on his leg, caused by a mistake when using the chainsaw. That was enough to deter William from making stupid demands.

From the very first day, his boss made him into a hard worker. More accurately said, he made William want to work hard.

The morning when he came to pick William, he greeted him with a coffee and some snacks. That already gave his teenager self a good impression of him, dwarfing his initial one.

During work, he told William he could take a breather whenever he needed to, just asked him not to abuse it. As a stupid teenager, he definitely considered abusing that offer. However, he then saw his boss doing the most work out of all. The very man that was paying them for the job was working the hardest. Something started to click inside him when he saw that, and he didn't want to be outdone.

When noon came, his boss went out and bought lunch for every single person there, not asking for a single penny in return. His boss didn't treat the people that worked for him as his employers; he treated them as his friends. All of them were happy to work for him. They didn't do so only because of the money, but because they wanted to.

His first boss left a very deep impression on William. He was the first adult figure that he truly came to respect. He was his boss, just as much as he was his friend, and William aspired to become someone people would be happy to work for one day. His system was already forcing him on that path, but it was up to him to decide what kind of person he would be.

"Thanks for the sandwiches, boss!" Retsen shot him a thumbs up and got up from his chair, stretching out.

"No problem," William replied.

"I'm gonna take a quick smoke," Retsen said as he picked up his coffee before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and offering it to William. "Want one?"

"Nah," William replied, staring at the cigarettes intently. He then waved his hand. "I'm good."

"Anythin' special goin' on today?" Grue asked him, leisurely sitting on his chair.

"Not really," William shook his head. "Hopefully, a day without too many complications."

"No new potions in stock?" Grue asked, making it obvious what he was inquiring about.

"Maybe in a couple weeks up to a month, but don't worry, I'm going to give you guys a heads-up before I release them," William finished with a wink, to which Grue chuckled as he rubbed his head.

Twilight Ogre were currently his biggest purchasers, so he didn't mind giving them some heads-up info. They came over every few days to buy a big batch of potions, and he hadn't given them a discount even once. Informing them in advance was his way of showing some preferential treatment.

Retsen returned shortly from his smoke, followed by his first set of customers. The skinnier wizard dropped on his chair, starting a discussion with Grue.

They talked in low voices but loud enough for William to hear them. He didn't mind that since he learned about what was going on with their guild and Magnolia Town. The two even included him in their conversations from time to time since they figured out he wasn't some rich asshat.

Plus, both of them didn't have much to do other than talk. The two wizards just had to sit there and look intimidating, making their presence known only once in a while. Most customers had already learned his guard dogs, err, bodyguards were from Twilight Ogre. Though there was always someone who believed they were special.

"This price is simply outrageous! How could you expect your customers to buy this? Are they supposed to sell an organ or two to be able to afford your products? Do those potions even work as described, or are you just scamming people out of their money? This is outrageous, I tell you!" The snobbish tone of a woman rang inside the store.

Honestly, William thought he was selling his potions cheaper than he should, considering what they could do. He could've tried explaining that to the woman, but she clearly was here to cause trouble or to try and get something for free.

So, William just turned his head sideways and gave the two wizards a look. As the more intimidating, Grue stood up, puffing his chest and towering over the lady.

"Either buy or get the fuck out of the store before I make you," Grue growled out, baring his teeth at her.

'Such a good guard dog,' William chuckled as the woman's eyes were about to pop out of her sockets. She turned to him, her mouth open wide.

"A-aren't you g-going to do something a-about this?" She asked with her voice trembling from fear.

"Are you going to buy something or cause trouble?" William asked, giving her a chance.

"I-I..." The woman looked around, seeing that none of the customers inside were willing to help her. All of them were just looking away and avoiding her gaze. She let out a huff and stormed out of the store when no one supported her.

Grue returned back to his seat as if that hadn't even happened, going back to conversing with Retsen, who had an amused smile. They had such a simple job; just scare away anyone that came to cause a scene. The pay was good, and to top it off, they had a cool boss. The two wouldn't even mind if they were hired full-time to do this.

The day continued, and it was getting close to noon, the usual time William closed the store. Only two customers remained inside, though one of them was standing to the side and wore a nice suit and had a pair of glasses resting on his nose. Once William dealt with the last customer, the man in formal wear stepped up.

"Are you perhaps the owner?" He asked.

"That's me," William nodded.

"I'm here to make you an offer," the man said and looked expectantly at William as if he was supposed to just accept without asking questions.

"Well, why don't you start with introducing yourself first. Then you could tell me who you represent and what's the offer," William replied.

"I am Ron Xander," the man started.

William narrowed his eyes. 'This man... he has two first names. There is only one guy with two first names that I trust, and this dude's name isn't Ryan George.'

"I represent Fortune, the biggest construction company in the Fiore Kingdom," Ron continued. William hadn't heard of it, but that wasn't surprising considering his lack of knowledge.

"We are looking to form a contract with you to supply us with your Magic Potions," Ron pushed up his glasses as he said that.

"The owner, Mr. Fortune, was here in Magnolia Town on your opening day. He bought both of your potions and was impressed with your products," Ron continued.

William tilted his head in thought, trying to figure out if he could remember someone that caught his attention. He then recalled the older, finely dressed gentleman. He couldn't think of anyone else, but he wasn't sure.

"Mr. Fortune would like for your store to support his company with your potions. Your Magic Potions would be very helpful to the wizards that we employ," Ron finished and flashed a smile.

This was something William had been looking forward to, a deal that would net him a shit ton of Jewels and credits. Though there was one problem with that.

"I'm assuming this would involve a lot of potions from my end," William said.

"You would be correct. The fine details of the contact could be negotiated, but..." Ron paused, readjusting his glasses. "2000 Magic Potions, that's the number the company needs per month. That part is non-negotiable as we are looking to expand out of Fiore."

William bit his lower lip hearing that. Even if he gave them some kind of a discount, the price would still be over 10 000 000 Jewels, which also meant 2000 credits. William really wanted to straight-up accept, but he would have a hard time making that much a month. It would be an impossible task unless William decided to close his store.

"As much as I want to accept, at this very moment, that is something I'm unable to provide you with," William said reluctantly, making Ron frown, obviously not pleased with his response.

"The ingredients are rare and hard to obtain, and the production time won't allow me to provide you with the required number of potions," William continued, giving his reason. Not that made Ron feel any better.

"However, I can offer an alternative."

"I'm listening," Ron raised his eyebrow in interest.

"In two weeks, I could produce 500 Magic Potions for your company. Meanwhile, I will try my best to increase the production rate, and if I'm successful, we can set up the contract for 2000 Magic Potions. If not, about 1000 would be the maximum number I could produce in a month," William said, looking at Ron intently.

"500 in two weeks," Ron pulled out a notepad, looking thoughtfully at what was written there.

"It's not what we are looking for, but it's better than nothing," Ron muttered, his voice laced with disappointment.

"I advise you to do your best to increase your production since this isn't a deal you want to miss," Ron said as he took out two pieces of paper.

William wanted to point out that they couldn't find anyone else like him, but he stayed quiet. No reason to ruin this.

Ron's hand flashed like lightning as a magic circle formed. In seconds, he had written two identical contracts with only one thing missing from them.

"The only left is for us to discuss the price," Ron looked at him.

"500 Magic Potions cost 3 750 000 Jewels," William started, already having calculated that in his mind, and continued with a smile. "However, since you are making such a large purchase, I'm willing to offer a 5% discount."

"5%? That sounds unreasonable for the number we are buying. 15% sounds better," Ron replied, now a smirk growing on his face.

"Uhm, seems too much to me. I could maybe do 6%," William responded with a grin of his own. They both knew where this was going, but they continued playing it out.

"10%, that's the highest I'm willing to go!"

"That sounds acceptable," Ron nodded. "The total price then comes out as 3 375 000 Jewels."

William was then handed both contracts and a pen to sign them, which he happily did. He was satisfied with making a connection to a big firm, but Ron wasn't done yet. The man opened his bag, revealing it to be full of bills before taking out the money.

"1 687 500 Jewels, half the price paid upfront," Ron grinned at William's speechless face.

"As I advised you earlier, do make sure to increase your production rate. You won't regret it," Ron tipped his glasses up. "I will be back in two weeks with a team to get the promised potions. Make sure you fulfill your end of the deal. Have a nice day, Mr. Roberts."

"You too, Mr. Xander!" William enthusiastically waved to the man as he left. He was happy, and how could he not be? He just earned 85 credits in this single transaction, and 85 more awaited him in two weeks.

William grabbed 30 000 Jewels and turned around, handing them over to Grue and Retsen, who had quietly stood behind him. That was double their usual pay, but he was in a giving mood.

"Drinks are on me boys, have fun tonight!"

Both of them were happy to accept the offered money.

"Boss, you are the best!" The two wizards shot him thumbs ups, thinking to themselves that working for William full-time might not be a bad idea. That was something they strongly considered as they left the store.

William left shortly after as well. Checking the market for any interesting ingredients was part of his habit, and he wasn't in such a rush to create the potions now that he earned the additional 85 credits. He could purchase a better alchemy table, after all.

'God damn it! If I knew this beforehand, I would've accepted the first offer!' William yelled in his mind, but it was too late to change that. At least he would know for the future and keep that in mind.

After locking the store, William turned around, only to see Erza waiting for him.

"Erza," he greeted her with a smile as he walked over to her.

"You said I can come over whenever I want," Erza sheepishly said.

"And I meant it, princess," William gave her a kiss, which she happily responded in kind to.

"But I'm going out right now to the market. Want to come with me?" William offered her his hand.

"Yes," Erza smiled brightly as she gingerly grabbed the offered hand, lacing her fingers with his.