Chapter 27: Reply Letter

“My Lord, you have a letter.”

As Farra waited for the craftsmen to forge the wooden shields he needed, Mana gently knocked on his door.

“A letter?”

Farra reached out and accepted it, discovering that there were actually three envelopes. He picked them up and glanced at them. Of the three letters, one was a reply from Gagon Kone. The other two were from Kays Baron and Dugan Baron respectively. They were all minor lords near Cagary City.

“Hmph…what could those two guys want from me?”

Farra glanced at the System map, confirmed the locations of their territories, then tore open the envelope and gave the letter inside a quick scan. He first looked at Baron Kays’s letter.

The format was standard and exuded a certain aristocratic air. The beginning was filled with endless nonsense and insincere pleasantries. In the middle, it provided an “objective” assessment of Farra’s extortion of Lord Kaida. It then went on to roundaboutly explain the relationship between the author and Kaida. At the end, it sneered with a sarcastic remark:

“…Your actions are truly unbecoming of a noble’s etiquette.”

“You hypocritical idiot.”

After tossing off that casual remark, Farra threw the letter aside and opened the next one.

The opening format was just as standard. The first third was a concoction of flowery greetings cobbled together with great effort. In the middle, it dropped all pretenses and directly stated its relationship with Kaida. It then issued a warning…

“…If you are truly that hard up, you should engage in a gentleman’s discourse with Lord Kaida instead of acting like a thug and extorting his funds. As Kaida’s friend, I will not stand idly by at his misfortune.”

It did not specify exactly what it would do instead of standing by idly.

The final third described instances evidencing its friendly relations with Fritz Viscount, including recent shared meals. After hastily scanning the letter, Farra crumpled it into a ball, tossed it into the corner of his desk, and made an offhand comment.

“You’re all show and no substance, idiot.”

Even a Baron of this utterly impoverished region could not muster an army of a thousand men, even if he really took action. Although that would already be a tremendous threat to ordinary people. But for Farra… it was nothing, since he understood too well the true fighting strength of those lords. Only frontier lords who conducted military skirmishes with their enemies year after year were an exception. For example, the lords on the western border of Nosbaro Kingdom. Even a single Baron there could mobilize a fighting force many tiers stronger than the Barons here.

Barons who had barely experienced real combat would, when they moved, merely scramble together conscripts from ten or twenty villages in their fief and form a force that looked menacing but had little real fighting capability. Such a force could be cut through by Farra alone with his sword. Even the armored infantry raised by the lords on the borderlands of Blue Featherwing Kingdom were eventually slaughtered by him. Let alone militia groups that had scarcely seen blood.

Ignoring the threatening letters from those two foolish nobles, Farra opened Kone’s envelope and began reading his reply carefully. After reading it, a relaxed smile appeared on Farra’s face. Just from his restraint in not randomly seeking revenge, together with those five hundred silver coins, Farra immediately discerned this man’s true level after a brief test.

He picked up his pen again and began writing his reply. This time, the content was more straightforward and simple, with no superfluous words, and began by presenting his own bargaining chips:

“First, my chicken tastes better; since you’ve already tried it, you should know how much such chicken can sell for.

Second, I’m not going to make money off the poor for now. You are to supply this chicken only to high-end restaurants catering to the wealthy in Cagary City. Price it as high as you like… this chicken is unique to my operations alone. I don’t care how you package it; if that fails, give a small cut of the profits to Tenra Church, and you know the rest.

Third, I will sell you in bulk at a price of two hundred copper coins each: one thousand chickens this month, and no fewer than one thousand each month thereafter. You can price them at will, and how much you earn is up to you. However, if the price exceeds four hundred copper coins, any excess must be split fifty-fifty with me.

Fourth, this month, I will sell them to you at one hundred copper coins each; feel free to test the wealthy’s tastes.

Fifth, calculate your own net profit; you still cover the shipping costs. Smart people speak plainly… you won’t lose out even if you pay; there’s profit to be made. Finally, if you don’t do this business, I’ll find someone else just the same. My funds are nearly zero right now, and once I have enough capital to cover all the costs, you won’t have such a good opportunity to deal with me again.”

After packing in both threats and enticements, Farra blew on the still-wet ink and snorted.

Cagary City was a bit far, but that was no major issue. As long as the profits were sufficient, merchants would swoop in like sharks smelling blood from who-knows-how-far away to take a bite. His most important leverage was that both the yield and quality of his chicken stock were at a top-tier standard. Farra himself had tasted it, and that entry truly produced a noticeable change in flavor. Even without any spices in the cooking, it tasted distinctly different from ordinary chicken. That was his definitive core competitive advantage. Even the eggs laid by these chickens had an extraordinarily unique taste. He could then sell those separately and rake in another hefty profit. Until he had completely emptied the pockets of the wealthy in Cagary City.

If he could secure the Church’s endorsement, he could ship from Cagary City elsewhere and continue to make money. He would profit first from the wealthy, then from the nobility, and finally from the faithful. Even if he couldn’t secure a business with endless profits, he could lower the price down to that of ordinary chicken and monopolize the market.

In that regard, someone with Kone’s business mind could easily figure it out. He planned to first make big money off novelty and then, after that, go for the smaller gains. Currently, supply was insufficient, but once production ramped up, he would lower the price. By then, he would have already made enough from nobles and the wealthy, so his goal would shift from making money to seizing market share and pushing out other suppliers…

Once they perceived the profits, merchants from other major cities would converge on Cagary City, and from there set out to other regions to pocket another round of earnings. They had ample funds to build transportation networks and ensure the security of shipments. After attracting these merchants, Farra would then unleash the pigs, ducks, cattle, and sheep from his farms… which he had already expanded several- to tenfold… to run the same scheme for another profitable cycle…

Unfortunately, he had no mines at hand; otherwise, this launch would have been absolutely perfect, and he could have accelerated the startup even further.

“Mana, have this letter delivered to Master Kone in Cagary City!”

Farra slipped the letter into an envelope and handed it to Mana, who had just entered.

“Yes.”