Chapter 509

Regular Ferry Service and Trade
“The benefit of being involved with the regular ferry is getting what you want at a lower shipping cost. There’s a fair distance between Vardmoi—well, between Catastie and here—so shipping fees won’t be cheap.”

“You’ll be using high-speed magic ships?”

“Only when necessary. Otherwise, regular magic ships.”

Hmm, regular magic ships would take about half a month. Still, it’s an advantage to get what I need cheaply when the time comes.
The downside… well, obviously, is the initial investment.
Magic ships are no small purchase, especially when we’re talking about ocean-going merchant vessels.
Even the Vardmoi Trade Guild needs to gather investors to cover that cost.

“Alizée, if I paid from my own savings, would it affect my other business?”

“Not at all. Your transport business is doing extremely well. Even after your large donations to schools across various regions, there’s still plenty of surplus. Just the profits from your spider silk operations are considerable. I’d say you could consider this as an early investment toward future gains.”

As I thought, no effect on my business.
Not only in Vardmoi, but we’ve also built and operated schools in lands owned by nobles under the Marquis of Vardmoi.
Despite all that, we’re still profitable.
Aside from local distribution of surplus produce from Kiblinki Saltas farms, we’ve been handling deliveries of daily necessities and goods in fields where other merchants shy away because they’d lose money or face operational hurdles.
We specifically avoid clashing with others by taking on jobs no one else wants, and when someone else wants to take it over, we let them.
Yet somehow, most of it eventually comes back to us.

“Alright, I’ll participate in the ferry investment.”

“Thank you, that really helps. If someone like you, who’s climbed to the top ranks of Vardmoi’s merchants, joins in, it’ll be much easier to attract others.”

“But don’t forget about priority shipping for me.”

“Of course. By the way, do you have anything you want to export to the Isles?”

“Something to export… Let’s see…”

Honestly, this was a tricky question.
My company mainly sells agricultural produce and processed foods.
But I also know agricultural trade is often a major source of trade friction—one-sided profit isn’t sustainable.
If I want a balanced deal, I’ll need to buy from the Isles too.
What could that be?

“Well… in my company, processed agricultural goods are a focus, but those would require permission, right?”

“For foodstuffs, you’d need approval from Duke McFarlane.”

“Then clothing—but wouldn’t that hurt local industry?”

“Yeah… at your prices, it’d overwhelm the Isles’ market.”

As soon as she said that, I felt sharp glances from the Isle’s merchants.
No worries, I wouldn’t do something like that.

“Maybe I could sell skills instead?”

“Skills?”

“My Magic Tailoring techniques. I’ve compiled training methods and beginner applications from my three years of teaching at orphanages.”

For now, this should be a good product to offer.
… But maybe I should introduce it in McFarlane first?

What do you think about this chapter?