This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 300 - 278 Commercial Action

Chapter 300: Chapter 278 Commercial Action

Amberser didn’t linger at the ice sculpture; instead, he went straight to find Harvey.

Though dealers helped with product sales, Amberser still needed a shop on the surface for stock and business negotiations.

Harvey was the manager of this shop, and by casually mentioning he was there for business, Amberser easily got through the door.

Harvey was fretting over a pile of forms; these were all new orders. The ice sculpture promotion had worked exceptionally well, so sunscreen orders came in like a sandstorm, piling up on Harvey’s desk.

The problem was, the underground factory didn’t have such strong production capability since only one furnace was in operation, struggling to meet the demand of the whole country.

Harvey hadn’t figured out how to report this to Amberser when the mentor himself showed up.

Harvey promptly stood up to offer his seat to the mentor, asking, "Mentor, what brings you up here?"

"Of course, I came to check on the work progress," Amberser glanced at the orders and then said, "It seems that the outcome is quite good, the effect of the ice sculpture promotion is really something."

"It’s not just ’something’ simple, our sunscreen has created a brand effect. The desert cities of the Dwarf Kingdom are all preparing to order from us. But we simply can’t supply enough."

Amberser chuckled and said, "What’s there to be afraid of? Now we have a monopoly in the market. If the goods aren’t enough, just let them wait. It’s them who are in a hurry, we just need to proceed step-by-step, not fantasize about increasing production just because the orders are overflowing.

"This brand effect is temporary; the numbers on these orders are filled in haphazardly. How many people are in the desert? The quantities in these orders combined would suffice for the entire kingdom for ten years, they just blindly filled it out for fear that others would snatch up all the sunscreen. If we expand production according to this scale, we’d lose until we cried next year."

Amberser had already investigated, and his production plan was based on the population of the Desert People. It might be conservative, but it certainly wasn’t off by tens of multiples.

He wanted a steady stream of business to maintain the "Alchemy God’s Choice" brand.

A one-time explosion of profits followed by an excess of unwanted products would actually reduce the brand’s value.

Harvey listened, somewhat understanding. With no natural flair for business, he immediately suggested that Amberser should hire a professional.

Amberser retorted, "Professional people are not so easy to find. Those who know business have minds sharp as devils, and ninety-nine percent of them want to turn others’ businesses into their own. Those trustworthy and capable are rarer than legends."

Harvey countered, "It can’t be that bad, mentor. Your expectations might be too high. With so many shops around, it’s not possible that all shop owners manage everything hands-on; how do they manage to hire talent in business?"

Despite his great respect for Amberser, his mentor, Harvey knew that not many truths came from his mouth. When he himself wanted to do something, he exaggerated the difficulty; but when ordering others, he’d dismiss the challenges, working with very flexible standards, or rather, no standards at all.

"Then this task is yours, you’re in charge of hiring, you screen the candidates if there’s a problem, it’s on you."

After Amberser said this, Harvey knew he had been outwitted again; the mentor had anticipated his counter argument and then shifted the responsibility of hiring onto him.

This extreme pressure gave Harvey the feeling of being enslaved once again.

However, Harvey had no choice but to accept it, after all, even his life was saved by his mentor.

"By the way, what’s the deal with that ice sculpture?" Amberser asked.

Harvey explained, "Oh, that’s sister Isabel’s doing. She followed your instructions and created a special kind of ice block that looks and feels cold like ice but melts very slowly."

"Melts very slowly?" Amberser thought for a moment, then said, "She must have added a special freezing agent? But those agents always have color, they can’t be as transparent as ice."

Harvey exclaimed, "Mentor, you’re really amazing, you hit the nail on the head immediately. Isabel did use a freezing agent, but how she made it transparent, I’m not sure, I really don’t know anything about alchemy."

Amberser didn’t delve further, guessing Isabel must’ve developed a new type of colorless freezing agent, which looked to perform better than the usual ones; just the cost was unknown. This thing would have a market in the desert, too.

This young lady’s growth rate was quite fast. The Youth Potion was due to luck with new materials, but this new freezing agent was indeed her own achievement.

Previously, he thought Isabel’s fame was somewhat overblown and feared she wouldn’t handle it well, but it looked like she’d inevitably become a true Alchemy Master.

Indeed, it was a great era full of changes where various talents emerged.

Amberser didn’t pay too much attention to the ice sculpture, gave a few instructions to Harvey, corrected a minor work issue, and then he headed off to the tavern in Dew City.

Drones needed promoting again, and to find Adventurers, naturally, he went to the tavern.

However, after learning about the great success of the sunscreen promotion, Amberser slightly altered his plan; he should make good use of this brand effect.

Sitting at the bar and casually ordering a drink as usual, Amberser turned his attention to those Adventurers, quietly eavesdropping on everyone’s conversations.

With his perceptive abilities, Amberser could capture every sound in the tavern, and he quickly found a suitable target.

It was a Tiflin Thief and an Orc Ranger, both lamenting the troubles of exploring the Underground City with heavy sighs. The Orc Ranger had recently started raising rats to aid in the exploration, but the rats kept dying in droves. As a partner to these beasts, the Ranger was under immense mental strain, almost to the point of depression.

Amberser understood this feeling all too well. The contract between a Ranger and their animal companion was a deep one, not just a mental link, but a sharing of many emotions. If Naomi were killed, Amberser would feel it as if it were his own pain.

The Orc Ranger had already lost a bunch of rats. The death of those pets hung over him like a shadow, and it was a testament to his willpower that he had managed to hold on this long.

The Tiflin Thief understood the situation too, but helplessly said, "There’s nothing we can do about it. The Underground is just like a maze, and if we don’t use your rats to scout ahead, we’d lose too many people in our group. The reward for the mission wouldn’t even cover the consolation money."

The Orc Ranger angrily said, "But they should have someone else take a turn scouting, shouldn’t they? Isn’t there another Ranger? Why doesn’t he do it?!"

The Tiflin Thief sighed, "That’s the team leader’s little brother-in-law."

Amberser felt a familiar sensation. When he was an Adventurer, he had often seen these family-and-friends adventure groups, but they generally ended up splitting more severely than those formed by friends.

The reason was simple. It was like dating within a company—once you break up, things get exceedingly awkward.

For adventure groups tied by blood, once they faced life-and-death crises, if one person became a problem, the situation could get more serious than with other adventure groups, because you can’t just simply kick someone out and be done with it.

And if that person remained in the team, it naturally caused more dissent and disloyalty within the group.

No adventure group was immune to trouble. With enough missions taken on, an accident was bound to happen eventually, and it was impossible to avoid such occurrences.

So, adventure groups made up of relatives usually couldn’t grow very big. Family ties took precedence over rules, and they could only engage in minor skirmishes at best.

However, these blood-connected adventure groups were generally not small in size because of their unique relationships, making it easier for them to accept new members and to build a good rapport at the beginning.

It was a case of gaining some, losing some.

These two in front of him were obviously outsiders marginalized by a family adventure group, exactly the kind of "customers" Amberser needed most.

Without a second thought, Amberser took out the smallest quadcopter drone and flew it directly onto the table of the two Adventurers.

Startled by the sudden appearance of such an exquisite little thing, both the Tiflin Thief and the Orc Ranger jumped.

"What’s this thing?"

"It looks like... Magipuppet Automatons?"

"I’ve never seen one so small. Can Mana Power Furnaces really be made at this size?"

"No, wait, something feels off. This thing seems to have Dark Magic Power."

...

Watching the two surprised and wary Adventurers, Amberseu approached them, directly holding his cup of wine.

"Gentlemen, I am an Alchemist. This is my latest creation, specially designed for exploring the ruins of the Underground. Don’t be fooled by the small size of this drone; it can carry a Memory Crystal and do a better job of scouting than rats."

Amberser pitched his product enthusiastically, but the two Adventurers didn’t believe a word.

After so many years as Adventurers, they had seen all sorts of scammers. Ninety-nine percent of the time, those who extolled their products right off the bat were swindlers. They had never heard of any drone that had an invisible Mana Power Furnace. Where was its power coming from? It was probably just some wind-up toy.

Knowing words alone wouldn’t convince them, Amberser took out a remote controller and handed it to the Orc Ranger, then said, "Half an hour’s free trial, if you’re not satisfied, you don’t have to buy it. Oh, this is an Alchemy God’s Choice product. You know about that popular sunscreen that’s all the rage lately, right? Here, take these samples as a gift."

Amberser handed out two boxes of sunscreen, placing them in front of the two men.

They wouldn’t pass up free stuff, even if it was poisoned—they’d just have it tested before using it.

After accepting Amberser’s gifts, the two Adventurers’ attitudes improved significantly.

The Orc Ranger, holding the simple remote control with just a few buttons, asked, "Can this thing really scout ahead?"

"Don’t believe it? Just give it a try. The control range is straight for five hundred meters. The functions are simple too—this is for scouting, this is for returning, this is for..."

After Amberser briefly introduced it, the Orc Ranger caught on and stroked his chin, saying, "I hear there’s a bathhouse on the second floor of this tavern reserved for female Adventurers. Why don’t we give it a test there?"

Amberser: ...

You’re so crude, no wonder the people in your adventure group isolate you!