Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 95 - Sells Like Hot Cake!

"Whoah there horsey! We have finally arrived. My goodness, if that young friend of mine had never informed me to put this pillow under my b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s for the ride, I wouldn't have imagined it would do without that. Look, after years of riding on the wagon would I find it comfortable to finally rest my poor flat b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s in these soft pillows."

"Not only these pillows be meant for sleeping but also can be placed underneath these sweet checks to give a whole new meaning of riding in comfort and style. Hahaha. How ingenious can that young friend of mine be, eh?"

'Come on laddies, fetch three long benches from the warehouse so I would be able to sell these bread to the awaiting customers. Would there be in for a surprise once they find 11 varieties of bread waiting for them in these beautiful baskets."

"Not only these bread comes in standard load size, but it's heavier and more enticing for them too," Marcel instructed his assistants to get some benches from the warehouse so he could start peddling right in front of the Merchants Association doorstep.

Not only was he the chairman of the Association but he's also a Master Merchant where he had a fleet of horse-drawn carriages and a group of merchants working under him. Doing an outright sales in from of the Association doesn't actually hurt the trades of other establishments as they were busy handling the current trend of jewellery, fur, silk and bundles of cloth.

"Hey, Lord Blackburn, Lord Bristol... I'm back with the bread with fillings of fruits, vegetables and meat. 6c for the fruit and vegetables and 10c for the meat-filled ones. It's just arrived and it's great for dinner or high tea." Marcel hollered his sales to the nearby nobles whom he was acquainted with as they came forward along with some ladies as well.

The benches were set and the baskets were being arranged where it would remained covered with the note attached inside. The vegetable and fruits filled bread were arranged in a line while the meat-filled ones were lined next to him.

Since he had made an introduction of the initial bread to these men before, the bread was not moulded as such perfectly shaped mould. However, the bread now was moulded and weighs half a pound each...! Who would not consider paying extravagantly for something that is considered as a rare commodity. Even their local bakery cannot compare to this magnificent bread by a single fold.

"Hey Marcel, was it 8c you mentioned before regards to the meat-filled bread? Why the sudden increase? Are you going to earn extra to make you get rich quicker, eh? Pockets ain't too deep enough for you?" a pot-bellied man named Lord Charleston walked up to Marcel and chided him aside while jokingly laughed at him.

"Here, Lord Charleston, you would not regret it. There's three variety here, yours for 30c. Here... Take a look, each weighs half a pound. You won't regret it."

"My golly... Half a pounder? You must be pulling my breeches down, my old dear friend. Come here, let me take a look." the moment Marcel passed showed the loaves of bread and placed it in top of the basket, the three Lords and Ladies can't help but gasped as they looked at the bread and weighed it in their hands.

The scent of the freshly baked bread, even though it was a day old was still lingering inside the basket and was still soft and fluffy. In fact, it was much fluffier than the Manchet that the nobles normally eat...!

"Aaww... My bad. I didn't bring my basket with me to carry those bread back to me wife. I could only carry those under my armpit though. Hahaha." a Lord Derringer lamented.

"Haaaa... Fret not, my dear Lords. You can purchase these fine Ornamental baskets at a silver each and bring them every time I bring these bread along. It costs a mere 1 silver and this is a discounted price for you, dear Lords." Marcel jacked the price up that was only priced at 10c upon his sales invoice. He knew these Lords have deeper pockets and would buy even a broken broom from Marcel...!

In this way, he should be able to gauge the selling price and gave it to this relatives so that they would sell at that intended price.

"Boy, please prepare 5 baskets for our Lords here. I am sure they would not stop at one. Hahaha." Marcel was confident that these Lords who were gathering at his first wagon would also spark an interest among the rest of the onlookers. As it was just past midday and going to be high tea, there are quite a number of Ladies that goes to get some snacks and pastries for their household.

Soon, a rather large crowd gathered in front of the doorway of the Merchants Association as Marcel was busy doing his sales pitch and this made the sales of bread and Ornamental woven baskets to go hand in hand. It was simply killing 2 birds with a stone...!

Some of the crowd bought at least 2 bread and an Ornamental basket as well. Stop of that, he even recommended the woven accessories box that could be used to store jewellery instead of placing them in the vanity dressers.

"My Ladies, these are great woven accessories boxes, one for your rings, one for your bracelets and anklets, one for your earrings as well. This would be a great addition to your collection, don't you think so? One type of jewellery in one single box. 1 silver each, its on special discount. Here are 5 boxes, what do you think?"

"Why 5 boxes? Shouldn't it be just 4?" a Lady Mackenzie retorted even though she had held on to 5 of those accessories boxes, along with 2 Ornamental baskets and 4 loaves of bread. "Ah... It is one for your rogue and other beauty products, Milady. These designs are simple but exquisite. It's nowhere to be found 100 miles around."

"What's this basket then? It looked something where you put your dirty clothes on before sending it to be laundered." another Lady holding a cute brolly asked after getting her hands on 3 loaves if fruit and vegetable fillings bread.

"Oh this, you mean, milady? It's a baby cot, great for a baby shower and also to put in gifts inside to present to the newlyweds or would-be mothers. I only have a few pieces but you could have them at 5 silver each."

Knowing that the baby cot was the single biggest woven item on sale that day, followed by the sunshade and the largest woven mat, the products were soon snapped up like hot cakes...!

He even managed to sell those sunshades at 5 silvers after he explained if the uses and even told them that their family coat of arms could be painted on it to make it more prominent when used in their verandah or porch. This was a selling point while others who bought the woven mats earlier had used them like a picnic mat, where they had their bread and some wine right in the park across the Merchants Association.

Sales were impromptu as Marcel took the opportunity to make several promotions on the spot to those Lords and Ladies who had deeper pockets and purses. He wondered how many gold coins and silvers these people had, jiggling in their pockets waiting to shower him with it.

"Great, I would like to have two, please. Could you get your assistants to bring them for me back to the house? My hands are quite full you know with this brolly I'm carrying."

"Oh sure, milady. A little service goes a long way for sure. Let me get the address and my other assistant could help with your baggage."

"Boy, get more hands to help with the deliveries. Milady here wishes it to be sent to her house." hearing this, the other Lords and Ladies also decide to have their purchases sent to their homes instead and since there was free delivery, they decided to take a look around at the goods that was prominently displayed at the sides of the hoarding.

All the items were being sold for 1 silver each except for certain items like bricks and rocket stoves that were meant for other buyers. An assistant went to fetch a few more hands to assist in the deliveries and soon 5 boys came with 5 handcarts.

Soon the assistants were making a few trips back and forth from the wagon that was parked in front of the Merchants Association and as the main attraction nearly ended for the nobles as the supply of bread dwindled down and left with only 4 loaves for Marcel to savour for the next few days, he decided to make another trip just for the bread alone.

The total takings for that one foot of a shadow's length had earned Marcel slightly more than 2 gold coins or 100 silvers as he made several sales in the large items that he had jacked up earlier.

He knew he was a little short of 10 gold coins but as for the rocket stoves that were sold as 6 silvers each as well as the clay bricks that were sold at 10c each, pretty soon he would be able to cover the cost and then he would be paying them back to his dear good friend.

After all the Lords and Ladies had dispersed from the front of the Merchant Association, the commoners soon formed throngs and crowd the wagons next. They knew the prices were jacked up and only meant for the nobles and even knew that the prices were way cheaper than what was being hollered earlier.

Some bought rocket stoves, anti-pest food covers, baby cots, fishing poles, hunting bows and other woven mats and bamboo or woven products, prices were whispered to a hush as products and coins exchanged hands as the commoners held their purchases and went back home.

Marcel even saw someone who bought as many as 6 fishing traps as he used to put up his tent near some body of water and make dried salted fish for sale among the commoners as a treat. Fishing traps were bought for 2c were sold for 3c and fishing poles bought at 5c were sold at 6c.

A small profit makes a whole difference when sold in bulk. Young fathers bought fishing poles for their sons to learn how to fish and was quite surprised at the practicality of a fishing reel despite its crude attachment.

It wouldn't stop anyone from hauling a 10 pounder seabass or a perch from the docks. The young father had dug some sea worms for bait and soon was happily fishing with it after one of the boys (a Shadow) showed the fundamentals of the fishing rod.

In just a quarter of a foot of shadow's length, the young father soon carried a large rock garoupa in his hands and showed it to Marcel and the group. "Lookey here folks, me fishing with thee pole was easy-peasy. Caught me a fine fish with this rod. This is pretty easy and good. Me go back home now to clean and cook this mighty fish now...!"

Hearing the young father claimed to the others in the fish he caught, the sales of the fishing poles and other stuff soared once more. Earning a single copper or two made Marcel a favoured merchant for the residents of Corral.

The commoners knew that soon, these products would be displayed in two shops that ran by Marcel's relatives. One would be in the business district, where it is more posh and upscale, cleaner and human traffic only meant for the rich and famous while the other shop would be in the market place, filled with people of all kinds of trade and profession, hot and humid and the floor would always be wet with water from fishes in the market and sidewalk vendors selling food and stuff.

There was a difference in prices as well since the commoners would not be allowed to walk within the business district while the Lords and Ladies avoid such filthy places, vice versa.

Thinking of this matter, Marcel can't help to sigh to himself, wondering why people would have to be segregated by class and caste. Even himself, a reputable Earl, would cast his title aside and would preferably be known as his given name without any honorific, and would readily sit with the commoners to dine and chat with them.