Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 89 - Seals The Contract.

As I was writing the list of things that would be sold to Marcel, I left the prices blank as I made a more systematic order for the sales list. One column would be the description, then the base price, followed by quantity and total and right at the bottom I had written grand total.

As Marcel was having light refreshments of sliced bread that were made using blueberry jam, prepared by Kayla, he was totally in delight since he never knew such a spread could be eaten at any one time.

Ben directed some of the miners to help hauled the goods into each respective shed and counted them off before storing them. Frank was tasked to guide the new 5 engineers on how they go about to produce planks out from the base and middle logs.

As Marcel was observing the bustling activities around the village, having pocketed the coins as part of the initial transactions, he noticed some men were carrying the fabricated parts of a structure and laying them on the residential lots in sequence.

The base stilts and skids were being placed, followed by the thatched roofs, the floors, walls and doorways. "They are going to construct houses right now?" Marcel asked as the men were laughing and joking around as they carried the heavier parts while women carried some of the thatched roofs and wall partitions.

"Aye, they are going to build 12 houses at one time and 2 people would be assigned to one. It would be done in stages and could you imagine that three 6' by 8' houses could be set up within a foot of shadow's length? By the end of the day, 12 houses would be ready for occupancy. The design is light, simple and practical."

"Why use bamboo if you have clay bricks? Would there be constant maintenance to replace broken parts and so on?" Marcel eyed me questioningly since I did not use the resources that I currently have.

"Aahh... It is our little secret that our villages have right now. Even though the houses were in this residential lots, but it would serve a purpose when the time comes. By the way, these houses would be anchored to the ground and it would not be blown away in a fierce gale."

Marcel nodded his head as he digested all the information that he had received from me. After I had finally completed the list that GraceHaven produces, I showed to him and ensure the prices had been properly set. Those new items were set below since the prices would be set by him.

He looked at the list and was very bewildered and shocked since he never expected that we would be able to produce these quality goods listed that he had never seen before. "Let's take a look at the items first and let you decide. It may be a shock to you but in business and trade, a seller depends on the buyer to resell at a higher price to gain profit, right?" I reassured him since I was afraid that the long list of products would scare any potential merchant.

"I had never expected to see a long list like this. All right, bring out the items so that I could evaluate and offer you the right prices." Seeing Marcel had taken a bait, he then requested to view the items and I informed those who were milling around to bring out every single item of products that we have and present them on several benches.

Within a short while, those items that were unmarked with prices were all lain on the benches for Marcel to view and offer his price.

He brought my list with him as he picked up the fishing pole and was delighted it was of a design that he had never seen before. He was shown by Gwen on how to use it and he even said his boys could fish at the docks when they are free...!

After checking every single item that was displayed, he wrote the price he is going to offer and then asked about the quantity. "You can write the d.e.s.i.r.ed quantity, we have more than 50 for each of those unmarked. Do you have those in stick before?"

"Not really, I normally deal with other commodities, but these commodities on hand are rarely found. It would normally be carried by those traders and makers of these handicrafts but they had not been passing our town for some years."

"These quality are in fact better than the ones offered before." Marcel thought of the bazaar in the marketplace that was run by several of his relatives and decided that these goods could be sent there to be sold instead.

He doesn't need to peddle the goods since he would only be concentrating on those like hunting bows, bricks, planks, pig iron and bread. The rest would go to the shops serviced by his relatives.

"I have a proposition to make but in the meantime let me do a final check before I hand this to you, alright mate? I will put in the base price and see what prices I could fetch and then I will adjust accordingly the next time." Marcel suggested as he sat in front of me once again, humming a tune as he wrote on the list, and marking those as he goes along.

He placed his hand under his chin as he looked up as if there were some answers he was trying to figure out before he continued with his writings.

=*=

"Big brother... Is this what you could do if one learns to read and write as well as count? I want to be like you and also like him. A merchant needs to be a learned person, right?" a small girl about the age of 9 came to me and tugged my sleeve as she asked me those questions. Her mother, the Kensington looked in horror at what her daughter had casually done as she wrings her hand nervously from the bakery.

"Ah, hello little girl. Who is your momma? Well, a person has to learn to read and write so that he or she would be able to write words that everyone can understand. On top of that, the person could not only become a merchant but also be able to be a secretary, a nurse or even a teacher too. Learning to count would also be important if one d.e.s.i.r.es to be a merchant."

"It is the same as a baker like what my momma is doing right now. She told me she would weigh the flour, mix the right ingredients, and also bake according to the length of a shadow. This is also part of counting?" the girl asked me with her bashful eyes.

"Haha... That's right little girl. Learning to count also is important if else how is your momma knows the right amount of flour to use, right? Sister Heather is slightly busy at the moment and she would be able to teach once again for a mandatory 2 hours of class every day."

"Thank you Big Brother. Sorry if I disturb you a the dining table." the little spoke with her meek voice as I rubbed her head and she ran back to her mother who was worried about her daughter who had interrupted my discussions. Seeing that I had not seen her taken that as an interruption, she heaved a sigh of relief.

She had similar experiences in her town where the upper class would just shove her daughter away if she gets in their way without giving the little girl a thought.

That was during the time where her daughter was selling garlands of flowers when she was pushed to the ground. The basket she was carrying was crushed under a wheel of carriage as her little girl's head missed by an inch from being crushed.

No one took notice of that incident or offered any form of assistance. She doesn't mind the flowers her little daughter was selling but her like was tossed worse than a soiled handkerchief.

=*=

Kayla approached me carrying the sacks of seeds from both the fruits and vegetables and pointed to me that they would start cultivating and germinating these seeds as soon as possible. As for the fruit trees, it would take 2 to 3 seasons before it would produce a harvest.

I pointed to her the empty grounds across the river bank at the residential lots and told her to plant the fruit seeds of 5 kinds per sector. It would be 2 lanes per fruit and be beside the current corn and wheat. "Mark those ground later tomorrow, Kayla. Some of the ladies and men could prepare 10 planters about 30 feet in length today and be planting them tomorrow." I suggested to Kayla and she nodded before asking me about the vegetables.

"What did Marcel brought for us? Is it a duplicate and how many seeds per pound?" I asked and Kayla quickly responded, "some are duplicates while the majority are new ones. They are quick to harvest and would be between 30-45 days before maturity."

"That's very positive to hear that. What seeds are those?" and Kayla quickly pointed out every single pouch that she had and informed me that there were aubergine, beetroots, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, courgette, leeks, kale, marrow, turnip, parsnip, radish, spinach, squash and swede seeds. The rest 14 seeds were duplicate but there are some seeds that need to be germinated before she knew what it would turn out to be.

"Simply splendid Kayla... Heather, could you ever so kindly label all the seeds and compile them together before placing them into one of the baskets? At least we would be able to know what we have and would like to have in the future. Thank you, dearie... "Heather smiled and kissed me on the cheek as she and Kayla sat on another outdoor dining table as Marcel and I continued our discussion.

=*=

Marcel finally handed me the list after I had done talking with the little girl. He was surprised that our little GraceHaven had even initiated a mandatory education for the young? What other surprises would this booming town bring next?!

I took a look at the list and asked him if he wanted to contest or propose anything as he fumbled with his words and asked me if he could have a consignment.

"A consignment is...." Marcel started to explain in detail about the mechanics and I agree with him to have these goods for consignment. But the bread had to be paid, and the same goes for the rest of the goods. "I had purchased slightly more than 1g of goods, so I would like to have a deposit of 1g back and the balance is paid on your next trip, would that be alright?"

It was almost like a barter trade but an advantage for the merchant. "Tell me about the price....." I asked Marcel about the intended selling price he would be selling for all the items and found that it was close to double the price. "Alright, I am going to counter so that you could also have a kind of leverage from all the sales, eh?"

I then took the quill and rewrote the new prices against the ones that he had offered and he was so glad that he could holler all he wants if he could. This was the sweetest deal a merchant could get and the prices that were being countered had already been set in ink.

The new list shows as follow:

Description Cost Qty Total

Reed broom 1c 50 50c

2' by 5' mat 50c 100 5000c

5' by 5" mat 125c 50 6250c

10' by 10' mat 300c 50 15,000c

Sunshade 10' by 10' *300c 50 15,000c

Hunting 100c 100 10,000c

Fishing Pole *5c 100 500c

Pelt all small 3c 30 90c

Cured pelt all small 6c 40 240c

Pelt / boar 30c 1 30c

Rocket Stove 100c 30 3000c

Bricks 2c 2500 5,000c

Wood Plank 5c —

Pig Iron 2c —

Bread w/ fillings 3c 80 240c

Bread w/ meat 5c 30 150c

Serving Trays 2c 50 100c

Food baskets with lid 5c 50 250c

Storage c.h.e.s.ts with lid 10c 20 200c

Accessories boxes 10c 50 500c

Farmer's hats 2c 50 100c

Anti pest food covers 2c 50 100c

Baby cots 10c 20 200c

Fish traps 2c 20 40c

Ornamental baskets 10c 20 200c

Pillow with fluff 3c 50 150c

Folding screen 50c 10 500c

Grand Total 62,890c eq. 12g 28s 9c

Deposit Paid 28s 9c

Balance due 12g

When Marcel saw the deposit he needs to pay instead, he was totally overjoyed and thanked me profusely. "Sign here, please, and the trade contract is hereby sealed." I smiled as he signed the form and I countered sign it.

Unbeknownst to both of us, a sales proforma invoice had been born right in GraceHaven...!