The Merchant Who Would be King

More Cryo Slime

The first problem they faced was money. As in, they actually had some for once. But they couldn't very well go around with heavy buckets of silver coins. They were 'saved' from having to deal with this by an overly friendly and aggressive Guild tax collector.

The Guild agent was a middle-aged man with a balding pate and round-framed glasses. He veritably blinked into existence next to them with a thin smile. "Good afternoon. May I assume that the two of you have concluded business for the day?"

Hadiin jumped at the sudden voice. "Uh, yes."

The collector eyed the silver coins meaningfully and the edged smiled widened. "My my, what a profitable day for you both. My sincerest congratulations. This new product called ice cream is quite a hit, isn't it?"

Hadiin sighed. "And now you'd like your cut, is that it?"

The tax collector looked frankly at him. "Taxes are every individual's responsibility, sir. They are an integral part of not just a thriving business, but civilization in general. After all, taxes go to pay for the roads your wagon drives on and the guards that prevent unsavoury folk from making off with your wares and your profits. They fund health and education and government so that we have a society in which you have customers who can afford four silver coins for a temporary treat on a hot summer's day."

"Of course," Hadiin replied with a forced smile. "We'd be happy to do our part." Actually, he'd be happy to keep all of his money in his own pocket but this was an unavoidable cost of doing business. Well, unavoidable for now, until he got himself an accountant and learned the various loopholes in the system.

Because of course there were loopholes. There were rich people in this world, yes? And you didn't get rich by working hard and paying taxes. You got rich by making others work for you and paying as little taxes as possible. The idea kind of rubbed him the wrong way but he understood that this was how rich people thought. If he was going to get rich, he needed to act like they did.

The tax collector called over someone to help with the pots and buckets of money and then led them to the Guild. There the money was counted and deposited into Hadiin's account. They'd earned a total of thirteen gold and forty-six silver. Out of that, they paid taxes on the ice cream and the leather sold previously, leaving them with ten gold and seventeen silver.

It pained Hadiin to see so much of his money disappear into the oblivion that was bureaucracy, but the ten gold felt very good in his hand. "Not bad, eh, Marian?" He wiggled his brows. "Three times what we started with."

She grinned. "It's a start." Then she plucked a gold from the pile in his palm. "An advance on my share. A girl needs spending money."

"Uh, of course." He swiftly pocketed the rest before any more of it could disappear. "Now, to resupply."

The tax collector waved them towards the Services counter. "The Merchants Guild would be happy to lend you a hand in that regard, sir."

"Oh?" He glanced at the Service agents. "How so?"

"Simply leave them a list of what you require and the funds necessary for acquisition or allow them to draw on your account in your name. They'll send runners out to shop for you and should have most anything you need in very short order."

"I see. And what would that service cost me?"

The agent shrugged easily. "A mere five percent of whatever is spent." As if it were a trifle expense.

He mulled that figure over. Sure, it would help to have someone else run around and buy things for him. But he wasn't sure if he should be wasting money so early in his career when every silver counted. So he shook his head. "I think we'll be fine on our own for now. Although, we will need another stall for tomorrow. We plan on doing even more business than we did today."