City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 27: Liquor

“Thank you again, Jonah, Dan; without you both, I wouldn’t have been able to return to the Greltheaven in one piece,” I said to them as they dropped me at the establishment.
 
“You have said that to us ten times already, Mister Remus; if you are really grateful, then hire us when you have a need of guards next time,” said Jonah.
 
“You can count on that,” I said to them and walked through the gates of the establishment.
 
As I walked toward the mansion, a smile couldn’t help but appear on my face. I have been away for five days, and I truly missed it; I hope everything went well. It should have, considering I have leveled up in the morning.
 
I had reached the fountain when the door opened, and Carla walked outside radiantly in a purple spaghetti dress.
 
“You have come early?” she asked as she stopped in front of me, “Well, I got a ride,” I replied. 
 
To which she arched her brow in question, and I began to tell her about the ride I had with Soren Arryn as I walked inside the manor.
 
Soon we reached my office, and I sat on my seat, which was slightly warm; Carla was likely sitting on it before I arrived.
 
“So, how was everything?” I asked the question, “Good, very good,” she said and forwarded the file toward me.
 
I took it without question, and in a minute, my eyes widened before I even finished reading the first page. 
 
I flipped the page, and with the page, I flipped, the greater and greater shock would spread through my heart, even after placing the file down twenty minutes later. I wasn’t able to calm myself fully.
 
The first night at opening, the establishment had earned one hundred and thirty-seven thousand crowns.
 
On the second night, it was one thousand and seventy-nine thousand crowns; on the third night, it was one hundred and ninety-one thousand crowns; and on the fourth night, it was ninety thousand crowns.
 
Seeing nearly the same earnings on the third and fourth night, I thought the earnings had been stabilized, but I had been wrong.
 
On the fifth night, on which I was on my way to the barony, the establishment had earned two hundred and two thousand crowns.
 
On the sixth night, it was two hundred and four thousand crowns; on the seventh night, it was two hundred and four thousand crowns, the same as the previous day.
 
Things have changed on the eighth night; several things happened. 
 
The first was an increase in rates; we have increased the rates by hundred crowns, making them three hundred per hour.
 
It happened after all the high-class brothel decided to increase the rate; I had asked Carla to follow the suit if they did it. Increasing our rates to be comparable to the brothel charging the highest.
 
Still, it wouldn’t have made such a huge increase; at most, it would have made us around thirty to fourth thousand crowns extra.
 
The increase is more than that; we have earned a total of two-hundred and eighty-eight thousand crowns last night, a shocking amount.
 
Taking the four nights' earnings over nine hundred thousand crowns, even after paying bills and everything, we had six hundred thousand remaining four days of earnings, not to mention little over two hundred thousand we had from the first four days after taxes and all expenses.
 
So, now we have eight hundred and fifty thousand crowns in our coffers, which is enough for me to do some things, but before I begin to discuss them, I want to ask one thing.
 
“So, what happened?” I asked directly; she understood the question and even expected it, as she immediately opened that tantalizing mouth of hers.
 
“A little before mid-night, a large group of people came; they were from Meldhorn and felt quite a high level. 
 
“They stayed till morning before leaving,” she replied.
 
“Do you able to find who they were?” I asked; she had access to information I subscribe to from the grey guild and our information.
 
“Some,” she said and took out the page from a file in front of her and gave it to me. I read the names, some of whom have the information below their names; reading the information, a smile couldn’t help but tug my lips.
 
No wonder we were able to earn so much, and I was even able to level up; these people were quite powerful and rich.
 
“Now, let’s take the plans we made forward,” I said as I took out the file from the drawer before opening it.
 
“We are renewing the teachers' contract, and this time for three months,” I said and wrote down something at the end of the page that I took out.
 
“We will also be hiring new teachers in these fields,” I said and slid the page toward her. The list is made using input from the girls, Carla, and my own opinions.
 
The teachers we hired are only teaching them basic things like etiquette and speech, and these new teachers will teach them different things, mostly art.
 
Music, painting, dancing, and a few other things like mathematics and language. Most girls know only know common; I want them to have fluency in one more language.
 
I am teaching them these things not only because I want them to have knowledge of it but, most importantly, their class.
 
Learning these things will take their class in the direction I want it to go.
 
“The girls will be happy,” said Carla, her eyes becoming a little emotional. “I am glad,” I replied before turning to other things.
 
“I want you to contact Ms. Rand and ask her whether she is willing to work for the establishment; if she is not interested, then ask Ms. Cooper,” I said 
 
“Though, tell them that they will be working under, Eudo,” I added, and it couldn’t help but surprise her.
 
This is not the thing I had discussed with her.
 
“Eudo is doing fine,” she said after a moment of silence. “We are making a fine artist do a mass job; his skill lies in finesse; we should let him do what he is good at,” I said with a smile; she seemed to understand what I meant as she nodded.
 
“Also, renew the staff's contract and hire a better band; while this one is good, I think it is time to hire a higher level one; we could afford that now,” I said, and she noted down.
 
In the next few minutes, we discussed the minor things before I walked out of my office Marla. 
 
Now that I have finally got the budget, it is time to do the things I want. It will immediately increase the earnings of the establishment.
 
I could hear the lessons in the different rooms as I walked down. Very soon, probably from tomorrow, there will be more noise from the rooms.
 
“It is a good thing you have brought more guards,” I said to Carla; nearly every room where the lessons are being held has guards, and most of these guards are women; if there is any problem, they will act immediately.
 
Thankfully, till now, no problem has occurred.
 
I looked at Carla as if she had read my mind; she shook her head.
 
“It would have been great if we had dedicated space for learning,” I said softly; while I could rent a building, it is not an efficient approach. It needed to be close, at walking distance from the establishment.
 
“We will have it. If the business kept going such a way,” she said. To that, I couldn’t help but nod.
 
Soon, we reach the first floor, where Ms. Elme is conducting her lessons.
 
The old woman is directing ten girls to walk gracefully while keeping a glass that is filled with water to brim on their heads; spilling even a single drop, would make the old woman hit the girl's bottoms with the cane.
 
I still remember, with their skills and suppose grace, they used to drop the empty glass, and now, a month later, they are dropping a single drop from the brimmed glass.
 
Ms. Elme nor the ladies glanced at us as we walked by the hall. The old woman because did not focus on anything other than her lessons when teaching, while the ladies did for fear of punishment.
 
The old women did not hold back when it came to punishing.
 
Soon, we walked out of the manor, and a minute later; the carriage walked out of the gates of the establishment toward River Street.
 
Around fifteen minutes later, the carriage rolled through the river street.
 
The street house the most expensive shops; one could find everything here. 
 
From boutiques to shops that sell enchanted weapons, the only thing one needs here is money in the pocket.
 
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the three-story building, which had large glass doors. Carla and I walked out of the carriage and into the building through the glass doors.
 
As we entered, we saw the hanging sign of ‘Harwood Wines’ like a chandelier in the air, with tall wooden racks by the wall filled with different kinds of wine bottles, with people buying them.
 
“It seemed like their collection had increased the last time we were here,” I said to Carla as we walked toward the big counter. We were just halfway there when a familiar young man came toward us with a big smile on his face.
 
“Remus, you came; miss Carla did say you would come here the day you returned from the barony,” said Aydin as he came in front of us and shook my hand before turning to Carla with enamored eyes.
 
“Miss Carla,” he said and shook her hand for a little too long before letting go unwillingly.
 
“Mister Silver, welcome to the Harwood wines,” said the old man, who looked to be in his early seventies, as he appeared in front of us silently.
 
“Mr. Taylor,” I said to the old man, while Aydin might be an owner in the name of its old man who runs everything. When Harwood left, he left this man in charge of this huge shop and his son.
 
“Since you have come personally, then there must be an order,” he said with the eyes of the old man shining softly in anticipation. 
 
“Yes,” I replied with a smile. “Then we should discuss it in private,” he said as he led us to the private room, which also had twenty-some wine bottles placed decorative. 
 
They are not decorative pieces but expensive wines, more than half of which I couldn’t afford with the money I have, but one day I will.
 
“So, what kind of wines do you want? Do you like a catalog?” asked the old man. “There is no need,” I said with a shake of my hand and turned to Carla, who out the folder from her bag and slid a few pages toward the old man.
 
“Do you want all of them in an exact quantity?” he asked, “Yes,” I replied, and the old man nodded and felt the feeling covering me as he activated his skills.
 
“Then, it would be nine-hundred, forty-three thousand crowns,” he said, and I wanted to agree immediately. “The price is too high, Mr. Taylor; how about nine hundred thousand crowns,” I countered with a smile.
 
“You must be joking, Master Silver; if we sell you at that price, then forget earning the profit, we will suffer a loss,”
 
“How about nine hundred and forty thousand crowns,” said the old man, and the power of his skills increased further, and the smile on my face became straining as I made the counteroffer.
 
We negotiated while Carla and Aydin watched in silence.
 
“Fine, we will not earn a profit on this order and take nine hundred and twenty thousand crowns,” said the old man with a fake sad sigh.
 
In the next few minutes, I have signed a few bills and paid them half of the amount, nearly half a million.
 
Half of the wines will be delivered today by five, while the other half will be by the end of the week; that is when I will pay the rest of the money.
 
Usually, I did not buy wine worth more than a hundred thousand at once, but seeing the guests and how much our guests drank. I decided to buy the wines from the third list a little sooner than I had planned.
 
It should last about a month or more, but I would be very happy if we could sell it all before that.
 
Wine is one of the things from which we earned the most; each wine provides at least double margins, and some even give us a margin of five to six times when used through the cocktails. 
 
“Master Remus, new stock of wines has come from the Meldhorn, ones we seldom find in the empire.”
 
“Do you want to see them?” asked the old man, “Sure,” I said, and half an hour, I had fifty thousand crowns more added to our bill.
 
“That old bastard!” I cursed as I sat inside the carriage. “We have gotten them at quite a rate. If we had brought them outside, we would need to pay fifty to a hundred thousand crowns extra,” said Carla.
 
“I know,” I said with a smile.
 
Mr. Harwood is building a relationship; smart ones always focus on that, and if my business continues to grow at such speed, then it wouldn’t be long before he started reaping huge profits from me.
 
We stayed out for two more hours, and in two hours, I had spent all the money I had, even signed the bills I would pay in the coming days.
 
The establishment better keeps earning as it is right now, or I will be in huge trouble with the merchants.

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