Above the mage

Chapter 65 Negotiation

Flower Flame Moon, 16th.

Phil's Potion Shop.

The store, which could easily accommodate a dozen people without feeling crowded, was bustling with people coming and going.

Clearly, the potion market is booming during this period and has entered its peak sales season.

All of this is thanks to the strange events outside the city.

Most people saw the changes outside the city as an opportunity, and many people from other places even came specifically to "seek their fortune".

After all, normally, to hunt creatures from the ley lines, one has to venture deep into the dangerous primeval forest.

The edge of the forest near human cities is where few creatures from the ley lines appear.

But now, ley line creatures are a common sight in the forests outside Hogan City.

This kind of hunting activity, which offers a safer escape route, is practically like picking up money for many mages who rely on hunting ley line creatures as their main source of income.

The increase in hunting activities has also led to an unusual boom in the potion market in Hogan City.

There were three or four employees in the shop, busy serving customers.

Gao De waited for a while, and when one of the shop assistants was free, he immediately squeezed in.

"I'd like to see Mr. Oliver. Could you please inform him?" Gao De said.

The shop assistant was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, but once he realized it was Gaode Maps, he immediately understood and his smile became very attentive.

"Please wait a moment."

He immediately scurried up the stairs to the second floor, and after a while, he hurriedly came back down.

"Mr. Oliver is waiting for you upstairs, please come with me." He greeted him warmly as he led Gao De up to the second floor.

The upstairs area is not as spacious as the downstairs area, with only a few rooms.

The clerk led Gao De to the innermost room, saying, "This is Mr. Oliver's VIP room for receiving distinguished guests. I've brought you here; please go in by yourself."

After saying that, the shop assistant left on his own.

Gao De knocked on the door with a calm expression.

"Come in," Oliver's calm voice came through.

Gao De pushed open the door and saw Oliver sitting behind the large nanmu table in the luxurious VIP room.

He lowered his head and wrote something on the paper with a quill pen.

After entering, Gao De remained silent, patiently waiting for Oliver to finish what he was doing.

If there's something urgent that requires you to stop entertaining guests, is that not allowed?

Obviously not.

It was just to put psychological pressure on him.

If he loses patience and speaks first, he will subconsciously feel guilty for interrupting others, which will put him at a disadvantage before the conversation even begins.

Gao De looked around the VIP room with great interest.

It's clear that the materials used in the room's decorations are extremely precious, and even the green plants used as decorations are the extremely valuable Anoectochilus roxburghii.

But what shocked Gaode the most was the huge, diamond-shaped magic crystal, estimated to weigh over five kilograms, placed on the large nanmu table.

Magic crystals are one of the most precious mineral resources in the world.

Magic crystals contain astonishing energy, and almost all magical facilities rely on them for power.

Such a well-formed and enormous natural magic crystal would likely cost hundreds of gold coins, yet it's displayed on a table as a decoration.

In other words, a decoration worth 100,000 yuan was placed right in front of Gaode Maps.

That's incredibly extravagant.

That's really stingy.

Hundreds of gold coins worth of magic crystals are displayed on the table as decorations, signifying status.

However, they only offered a low price of two hundred gold coins to the Seda Herb Garden, which had been operating for over a decade.

Even after Gaode entered, Oliver, who was writing with his head down, took two or three minutes to put down his pen and look up at Gaode.

"What brings you here today? Have you figured things out?"

Gao De nodded. "I've thought it over carefully. Joining Phil's Potions is indeed a rare opportunity. If I miss it, I'll hardly get another chance. I don't think even if Mage Seda comes back and finds out about this decision, he won't have any objections."

"Therefore, I agree to your proposal and am willing to transfer the Seda Medicinal Herb Garden to you."

"A wise decision," Oliver praised, seemingly pleased with God's understanding.

"But..." Gaode continued.

"But what?" Oliver frowned, scrutinizing Gao De with a creepy gaze that exuded an unsettling aura.

"I have to pay more!" Gao De said through gritted teeth, "with difficulty."

"Two hundred gold coins is really too low. Master Seda didn't even pay that much when he bought this herb garden. If he finds out I sold it for this price when he comes back, he will definitely punish me."

"Is that so?" Oliver squinted at Gao De and smiled, revealing a sense of knowing something but not saying it.

"If you really say that, it does seem a bit low. If this causes you to be blamed by Master Seda, I will feel bad."

As he spoke, Oliver stood up from behind the large nanmu table, grabbed the paper he had just written on, and handed it to Gaode.

"Sign this contract," his face, wrinkled like withered tree bark, twitched, "and I'll give you another hundred gold coins."

Gao De's heart stirred, and he calmly took the contract, his gaze sweeping over it.

The content is quite simple.

The goal is for Gao De to join Phil's Potion Shop and concoct potions for them.

Phil's Potions Shop will provide him with resources to some extent to nurture him.

In addition, the contract stipulated that Gaode would receive a base salary of 10 gold coins per month, as well as half a percent of the profit from each batch of potions he prepared, as commission.

If you prepare one set of basic spider venom potion every day and sell them all, Gaode can earn about 12.5 gold coins or more in a month.

Although it doesn't earn as much as a medicinal herb garden in a month, it has the advantage of guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood, and you don't have to worry about sales or manage the medicinal herbs yourself.

Of course, this assessment is based on Gaode's current level of potion-making skills.

As his potion-making skills improve, the gap between this "salary" and the income he can generate from running his own herb garden will become increasingly larger.

If Phil's Potions Shop could adjust the treatment based on Gao De's potion-making skills in a timely manner, it would be a fairly reasonable agreement.

The problem is that it is obviously not possible.

Because the contract clearly states a term of "20 years"!

If Gaode no longer wishes to manufacture medicines for Phil's Potions Shop within 20 years, it can terminate the contract early.

However, for each year of early termination, a penalty fee of 100 Sean Gold Coins per year must be paid to Phil's Potion Shop.

Terminate the contract ten years early, and that's 1000 Sean Gold Coins.

Gao De frowned, directly expressing his dissatisfaction, "Isn't this contract term too long? And the termination fee is too high."

"Heh." Oliver gave a forced smile. "Twenty years is not a long time. In twenty years you will be in your thirties, in the prime of your life. Why worry that twenty years is too long?"

"Besides, this contract won't last forever. If your pharmaceutical skills improve quickly, I will appropriately increase your compensation and renegotiate the contract with you."

Don't take a single word of a merchant's guarantee seriously unless a written contract is signed.

Gaode did indeed do that, and he sneered inwardly, not believing it at all.

Meanwhile, Oliver continued to speak eloquently: "As for the termination fee, once you become our potion master, we will invest a lot of effort and resources in training you."

"If we don't raise the termination fee, once you improve your skills and become more independent, you can easily pay the termination fee and go work for another potion shop. Wouldn't we be the ones who get ripped off and end up doing all the work for someone else?"

"And putting aside the termination fee, signing this contract will bring in 300 gold coins," Oliver added meaningfully, seemingly referring to Gao De.

Upon hearing this, Gao De fell into a long silence, a conflicted expression on his face, as if he were deep in thought.

Oliver's eyes flashed with a hint of smugness as he witnessed this.

He's a seasoned businessman, and he's haggled countless times.

If you don't understand something, once the other party shows this expression, it basically means the deal is done.

Sure enough, a moment later, Gao De suddenly looked up and asked, "Why do the other apprentices in the herb garden only have my contract? Where are theirs?"

"We at Phil's Potions Shop don't sign contracts with everyone. Only for capable people like you will we specially draft a contract," Oliver said calmly.

"Rest assured, since I have paid a high price to acquire the Seda Herb Garden, I will naturally continue to employ the people in the herb garden."

Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, after hearing Oliver's assurance, Goddard seemed to have made up his mind, "Okay."

"However, I cannot produce the land title and house title at the moment."

(End of this chapter)