"18% is the lowest I'll go. I know that the Bartholomew Corporation can pay that much. It's better than seeing our cooperation fail, right?" Michael said, his fingers tapping lightly on the table's smooth surface.
Since the start of the negotiation, more than ten minutes passed, and they entered a stalemate. Michael started his negotiation with a 25% profit share, thinking that it was necessary to exaggerate his demand a little. However, he didn't expect Helen Ascaln to start with 2.5%. Her offer was way too low, given that Michael was willing to harvest thousands of agriculture-type blueprints every month.
He could procure tens of times the amount the Bartholomew Corporation could procure in a month. Did the Bartholomew Corporation take him for a fool?
Fortunately, Michael wasn't defeated that easily. He knew that he had the advantage and that he could make a choice. The Bartholomew Corporation needed him, not the other way around.
His final provocation broke Helen Ascaln's confidence. Michael mentioned the Olympus – a big organization that had been clashing with the Bartholomew Corporation for decades. So far, none of them could gain a big advantage over the other, leading to intense competition between the two organizations.
Their most-intense competition was in the Barren Lands with both organizations attempting to carry out reforestation on the Barren Land to turn it fertile again.
Losing a treasure trove like Michael meant that the Bartholomew Corporation would lose their competitive edge, and the opportunity to gain an advantage against the Olympus. Michael could provide them with more agriculture-type blueprints than they could procure in a year or two.
By using him, they would not only emerge victorious against the Olympus, but they would be able to widen the gap.
"You…15%...I can agree to give you 15% of the Agriculture Project's profit share but--…." Helen agreed reluctantly while having a hard time acknowledging that her mission to tame him had failed miserably.
She was certain that her negotiation skills were great and that she could convince Michael to accept a profit share of no more than 10%. However, that wasn't even close to the final result.
"18%." Michael intercepted Helen. He got up from his chair, his hands resting on the table in front of him, "Or I'm out. I can pay the termination fee of the exclusive contract immediately as well."
Michael had done enough research on the market, the Barren Lands, and mankind's organizations to know how valuable his blueprints were, and what he could demand by selling the agriculture-type blueprints in bulk, and exclusively to one organization.
"Sit down…please. The Bartholomew Corporation can agree to your demand. 18% it is… I'll send you a draft of the contract soon. Read through it and ask Kilian if you have any questions. If there is nothing wrong, we can proceed with the contract signing," Helen Asclan said, evidently trying hard to keep her composure.
Losing an important negotiation against a young Lord, who had not even become an Awakened a full year ago, and wasn't from a big merchant family, felt like a slap in the face.
Michael instinctively knew how to put pressure, what to mention at particular points during the negotiation, and when to push ahead. It was infuriating, but also something that deserved her utmost respect.
Most Lords focused on their military power to increase their territory's strength. They were less interested in economics, brain games and the importance of negotiation skills.
That seemed different in Michael's case. The young Lord was not even 19 years old, but he had already reached the 2nd Tier. Michael was also a freshman in the Saphirelake Military Academy. He was far from weak and knew a thing or two about advanced negotiation.
Michael felt that his back was drenched in sweat when he heard Helen's words. He wanted to sigh in relief but knew that it would be a grave mistake to show a sign of weakness.
No matter how he looked at the situation, Michael had scored a big deal today. The only work he had to do was providing agriculture-type blueprints, and he would obtain 18% of the Agriculture Project's profit as long as he provided agriculture-type blueprints, and a base fee equivalent to the price of a rare blueprint for every agriculture-type blueprint he sold.
That was more than enough for him, given that most of the hard work would be done by others. Furthermore, Michael didn't want to exploit the Bartholomew Corporation any further, knowing that they would start loathing him if he pressed harder on an even higher profit share. He knew that he was already in a very good position, and that the Bartholomew Corporation could accept his demands without any hard feelings.
They would still gain a lot from the deal, and would be willing to retain him as a customer and business partner. If he had asked for a higher profit share that might have been a little different. They might even consider him a greedy bastard and blacklist him from their facilities if he went overboard.
Given the 18% profit share, Michael would only be considered a sly fox, maybe even a feisty businessman.
That was not too bad.
Michael left Bartholomew Shop after his business was done. He returned to his room and entered the Origin Expanse, where he encountered Lilica.
"We'll focus on procuring more agriculture-type blueprints for the time being. Is the demand for low-level armaments still as high as before?" Michael asked.
Lilica gave him a nod and smiled wryly, "All Forest Elven Lords are going crazy over your low-level armaments. Their durability is exceptional, and the energy conductivity is simply phenomenal. We were pretty lucky with the ore deposits in the lizard cave. The deposits are huge and we can forge a wide variety of armaments that can be wielded efficiently by people up to the Peak of Tier-1. The blacksmith's proficiency increases rapidly as well, resulting in a faster armament production. We're currently considering introducing more armaments to the Forest Elven Lords since they loved the changes in the last batch."
Lilica's eyes gleamed in excitement as she reported the situation to Michael. She was happy that she could still help her race by providing them with low-level armaments. The support she provided was even better than it had been when they were still an ordinary adventurer team in Xiltra.
Right now, she could actually do something to support her people.
In exchange, Michael was given exceptional benefits as well. Seeing Michael benefit just as much as her people from the deal was great. It was a perfect relationship, a symbiosis any organism dreamed about.
"Oh? That sounds great. In that case, We should continue to focus on the Forging Hall's expansion for a while – at least until I return from the Lord Rift" Michael said, encouraging Lilica to work harder.
He had yet to give detailed orders about the territory's development for the next few weeks. For now, he could give daily orders to tweak their initial plan to make sure that everyone worked on the projects that provided most benefits. However, the daily orders would be rendered useless if he was absent. That was also why Michael struggled a little bit trying to provide both comfort for his subjects and obtaining exceptional results.
'I should finish the deal with the Bartholomew Corporation first, and deal with the rest after that.'
With that in mind, Michael spent a few more minutes talking to Lilica, asking a few questions before he excused himself. He walked over to warehouse nr. 3 where all blueprints were stored safely. Releasing his origin energy, Michael engulfed a few crates to pull them inside the War Rune's storage space.
Once that was completed, Michael spent an hour walking through his territory. He talked a lot to his subjects and analyzed the development of his territory. Doubts about the territory's infrastructure surfaced in his mind, and questions about the appearance and sturdiness of certain treehouse complexes.
Instead of leaving his doubts and questions open, Michael chose to meet up with the architects and workers responsible for the constructions. The architects and workers were a little worried when they were called to meet their Lord, but Michael's warm expression and calming presence was enough to dispel their worries the moment they entered the meeting hall inside the wooden manor.
"There is no need to worry. I just want to solve a few doubts and find out why you altered the treehouse complex blueprints. I might not be a master in this field, but it looks like the treehouse complexes have been connected much more efficiently than before. They're more durable with the same amount of resources, if not less," Michael pointed out after his subjects sat down.
They looked at him, only to see a spark of interest in Michael's eyes.
Michael didn't care that they had altered the construction blueprint of the treehouse complexes. No, he was happy about that!
The modified blueprint was much better in every possible aspect. It created more space with less resources, and maintained the same exceptional sturdiness as before.
"After reading the manuals and instruction notes you purchased, esteemed Lord, I was filled with doubts. At first, I dispelled the doubts, but after weeks of working in the Untamed Jungle, I couldn't help myself anymore. I altered one of the duplicated blueprints and began to experiment a little bit with them – in my freetime, of course. At last, we finally dared to construct one of the High Treehouses..." The architect explained slowly, trying to contain the excitement that rushed through him when the memories and result of his hard work resurfaced.
He was proud of his work, and that could be seen clearly.
"You did a good job. How about we inspect the High Treehouse a little bit before we start mass-producing it? Would you be fine with that?" Michael asked without much thought.
But the Architect jumped up, his eyes glowing.
"It has only been one day since we completed the High Treehouses, but I'm more than willing to share my research with everyone as long as it helps the territory! You pay lots of attention to details, my Lord!" The Architect exclaimed.
Michael just smiled. It was his job to pay attention to the territory. If he didn't pay attention to his territory, who would?
He spent the next twenty minutes gathering the architects and workers to share the news of the High Treehouse. He rewarded the architect for his invention and showed everyone that they were not only allowed to conduct their own research in his territory but also that they would be rewarded for great inventions.
'I hope we'll see some nice inventions soon enough,' Michael mused after completing the inspection and he left the Origin Expanse.
He had a contract to sign, and wanted to get rid of 2500 Agriculture-type blueprints.
Furthermore, a bunch of Tier-2 Artifacts were waiting for him to be purchased.
It was about time to spend a fortune on himself!
