Chapter 28: Ch28 Trade Deals Delightfully Determined And Delegated

Once back in the council room, they were once again throwing arguments back and forth. They were debating the plans for the comfort level of travel, minor things  from how comfortable the seats should be to what color the trim should be.

I coughed again to get their attention. “How is the progress?” I said, causing everyone to shake or jump back slightly.

“Good, Lady Astrid. We have a rough design of what the mine cart should look like.” Firth said, presenting a design sketch.

They had definitely made it look sleek and tubular. The passenger area was enclosed, similar to the appearance of a car. They had included vents for the air system to travel through and a spot for me to put my enchantment or a gem in the future.

They also included an attachable flat bed cart in the back that had sides that could be flipped up to stop things from rolling off. It also included a design for an extendable cage for animal transportation.

“Wow, this is really great! Well done!”

“Thank you Lady Astrid,” Mais said as they all nodded in agreement, smiles on their faces. They looked so proud of themselves for making something I liked. It seemed like it would be pretty easy to make them happy, which was a relief.

“So, what are the arguments about this time?” I asked, looking at each of them.

“Well, the first thing we were arguing about was how comfortable the seating should be. Some of us think it should be as comfy as possible, especially if you decide to ride. Though we think you will just teleport around. Others, including me, think they should be rough so people don’t try to sleep in them.”

“For starters, they should be as comfortable as possible because I will read in them. I mean ride in them. Also, if people sleep there instead of in our village, then we have failed our jobs. People should want to stay here, not in the cart.”

“That makes sense, Lady Astrid. We should strive to make our village as great as possible for the people.” Peri said some of the other council members’ shoulders slumped.

“The other issue is the colors. What are your favorites so that the cart can be painted in your image?” Firth said, pointing to papers on the wall with different color swatches.

“I like all colors, well, it’s more like I don’t really favor any over another. They all serve a purpose and look wonderful when used well. Why don’t you compile some color swatches for me, and every time I use the cart, I can swap them out with a simple dye spell?” I asked, looking at all of them, not really being able to decide. Changing it every now and again would keep it feeling new. It’s simple tricks that made it bearable to stay in the library for such a long time.

“That is a great idea. Where is Guye?” Peri asked, looking concerned.

“He is feeling a little worn out after we completed the whole tunnel. He should be back later today or tomorrow.”

They all look puzzled. “The whole tunnel?!” Firth exclaimed when he realized I wasn’t joking.

“Yeah, it’s not that hard once you read and understand high tier geomancy books,” I said nonchalantly.

“That’s our Godd— Lady.” Minnette said, with a look in her eye like she had big plans. I recognized it from when wizards found an important spell.

Okay, I understand that was a bit irregular. I mean, to even understand the base theory of geomancy, you had to study for twenty years. Let alone the needed power. “Thank you. It is a team effort. Guye helped me sort out some design ideas and also issue with the stairs. That is something I wanted to discuss.” I said l cocking one eyelid half closed as I looked at each of them.

Several councilors looked away sheepishly, knowing what I was about to talk about.

“I already fixed the hand rail issue to the mushroom farm. If there is an issue with something I make, please tell me. Most of you weren’t in your positions yet, but I need to be able to count on you to tell me when things are wrong. I can’t be everywhere at once. ”

“Yes, Lady Astrid, we understand.” Firth said, speaking up for the group. I am sure they will still make mistakes on when to tell me things, but safety is important.

“That is something I wanted to bring up, Lady Astrid. If we are going to be trading mushrooms, we need a quicker way to move them around.” Mais said.

“I can make more farms as we need. We will also need a new one for the other residents when we expand. Please include that in the plan.”

“Yes, milady.” Peri said, using a different moniker for my title.

“Trade is what we need to discuss. Would Firth and Mais come with me? We need to grab Lizlin and discuss trade in my private conference room.”

Firth and Mais nearly jumped out of their chairs and rushed over to me. Everyone else had a glint of envy in their eyes.. “I will invite the rest of you another time. Please focus on finalizing the cart and work on the other projects. As soon as we are done, I want to open this place up.”

We headed out of the room, my councilors in tow.

“Could we stop by my place? It is on the way. My granddaughter hasn’t been sleeping properly.” Firth said, looking a little worried.

“Yes, of course. Lead the way. Tell me more about your granddaughter. I heard she was the reason you gave up your position and came here.”

His face tilted downward, and his shoulders slumped. “Her parents abandoned her, horrified that they had an animal cursed, but I just saw her as an innocent baby. So I left and came here. She is so adorable. You will really like her. She loves writing. That's all she has been doing the last couple days. She just isn’t sleeping,” Firth said, voice sounding strained coming through gritted teeth and anger at her parents. I figured it wouldn’t be best to press for more information about that situation.

That sounded familiar to someone I knew. I tapped my finger on my chin. “What is your granddaughter’s name?”

“Fienna —”

“Oh, I love Fienna! Her story premise is fantastic.”

“Wait, you know her? You read her story?!? And liked it!” He said, mouth agape after.

“Yes, of course I love a forbidden romance plot. Don’t worry though. I ran into her this morning and sent her to bed,” I said, leaving out the more embarrassing parts.

“Thank you. I was really worried about her. I promise she will get the story done as soon as she can.” Firth said, returning to a normal posture.

“Make sure she stays healthy first. Remind her I told her to listen to you if she argues.”

Firth smiled and nodded.

We made it to his place, and we heard a noise coming through the door. Firth looked slightly worried and when we opened the door we saw a passed out Fienna laying on the couch snoring as loud as a roaring lion.

That instantly sent me into a giggle fit, but I caught myself quickly so as to not wake her up. WAY, WAY TOO CUTE!

We backed out of the door slowly. “Well, that’s a relief. Please don’t mention the snoring. I think she would be embarrassed,” Firth said to Mais, looking seriously at him.

“Obviously. A lady could die of embarrassment from something like that.” I said, giggling again.

After I recovered, we got back on our way to my conference room. Using the new handrail to get down the stairs. It made me feel a lot more secure when going down, even if I didn’t need it. I wanted to put some in the dungeon in the library. It would be a good way to go between levels. There was no way to add it to the foddian level.

I knocked on the Valwrecks door. When the door opened, Liz was there standing there. “Hey Lizlin, we are here to collect you to have our discussion on trade.”

She nodded before turning around and yelling, “Honey, look out for the kids! Astrid came to get me.” She stepped out of the door in a simple green dress. It looked similar to the one I had worn.“I see that you like the dress. It is a simplified version of your old outfit. Anything you wear will become the best new style.” She added after seeing me look her up and down.

Now I am like an influential noble woman. GREAT!… We went into my conference room with Firth and Mais looking around, awed at the design. I noticed new books on the shelves. I ran over to them and looked at the titles. They were the ones from the King’s study.

“I see I made the right choice by putting these in here.” Liz said with a grin.

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I nodded. “When did they get in?” I asked, looking over the titles. I was so excited I could barely hold it in. No, I can’t right now. If I read even one, then I won’t stop till they are all read.

I left my precious books behind. Their silent screams to be read were deafening. I reluctantly sat at the meeting table and said, “Please sit down. We have much to discuss.”

The group sat down at the table. They looked at each other, not sure who should speak up first. I had called the meeting, but I wanted my council to speak up.

I waited to see who was going to speak up first. We could sit there all day as far as I was concerned. I could stare at the books. Wait, if they don’t speak up, then how will I get to read?!? They needed to speak up.

“The two products we are going to distribute are mushrooms and history books. Both should bring in lots of money. We should also consider what to do with the profits.” Mais said with the smile of a merchant looking at a pile of the money.

“Pay the workers. Then use the rest to of the profits to maintaining Astraville,”

He smiled slightly. “There will be tons of money, especially as we expand the book offerings. It honestly should all go to you.”

“No, the whole reason for me starting the trade agreement is that we can have a source of revenue to make this place self-sufficient for items we can’t make. If there is any left over, then put it towards upgrades.” I said firmly, with the magic I knew I didn’t need money.

Mais backed down and changed topics. “Let’s talk about the mushroom farm first. We haven’t been able to come up with what to name them. Right now, we are floating Astra Farm,” Mais said.

“Oh, I came up with an idea yesterday. Astrid’s Mushies. We can have  Veggie Mushies, Meaty Mushies, and a range of Medi Mushies.” I said, feeling myself absolutely sparkle while I said that aloud. They just sounded like such cute names.

“I love it. Anything with your name should sell. Now we have to figure out their pricing.” Mais said while looking at the rest of us for approval.

Liz was smiling and nodding before speaking. “We can get kids to finally eat their veggies easily!”

“We can charge a lot. The kingdom is definitely suffering from a food shortage currently. It’s why we stopped getting supplies,” said Firth.

“I can take a test for that. People will pay. There just isn’t enough around, even at a decent price. It’s all just magically processed foods we can afford. They are of inferior quality and are compressed from garbage by the factories in bulk.” Liz explained while looking almost disgusted towards the end.

Mais’s I gleaned with the look of money again, and he grinned. “We can make a lot off of it.”

I felt my anxiety build up bit by bit. Profit this, profit that. Money is just an exchange of value to enrich the people that earn it. “Food is not something we need to make money off of. What kind of person do you think I am? I want people's time paid and I want this place to be successful but after that we need not make more. Why would we punish those in need? People need to eat healthy to grow. Children need to eat healthy to grow. Workers, parents, creators all need to be healthy to continue to be successful. Base necessities should not be a profit avenue. It’s not the nobles. We will be. Punishing it is the poor. People like those that are here.” I said, looking at each and everyone of them. I had done extensive research on historical economics. Those who let their people fall were soon to follow.

Their shoulders slumped for a moment, and when they realized how they were acting, they looked ashamed

I realized that the line in my head was great, so I took a deep breath and repeated it with confidence. “Those who let their people fall were soon to follow.”

There was silence for a few moments while they processed what I had said. It also gave me time to calm my anxiety down. It also gave me time to add magically compressed foods into my list of things to look into.

“We can try to balance that out. It will take sometime to figure out the correct pricing.” Firth said, trying to get the conversation after I had put out its profiteering fire.

“We can start high to overcharge the nobles, then lower the price rapidly to where we need.” Mais said, regaining confidence and coming at it from a new angle.

“Are you sure the poor can wait?” I said, worried about who would suffer for our choices.

“The processed food gets you by just doesn’t do much else. We really can put it to the nobles by selling it high to them, then dropping the price and saying it’s the food of the nobles. People would trust it even more.” Liz replied, pushing me into agreement.

“Okay, let’s do that. What is this garbage processed food?” I asked, curious about the product. Its name alluded to something gross, but there may be ways to improve it.

“We know little other than certain waste products go in and food comes out.” Liz said.

“That wasn’t my company, either. I don’t have knowledge of it, only that execs like me got better options.” Firth added.

“Hmmm, that could be another thing we look into fixing long term, but not right now. I like the reuse idea. Maybe it would be good for animal feed. Let’s talk about the books. There has been a bit of a change.”

Everyone looked at me questingly

“We aren’t doing historical books. We are going to spread heroic tales and books on good leadership. The only history books I want to let out are the ones that show what happens when you fail your people.”

“Yes, Lady Astrid, I can grab those, but I need some sort of list.” Liz said, unsure of where to go.

“I made a list last night while I slept,” I said, popping out the list I had made with their locations

She took it while looking confused. That made sense since I hadn’t really said I can even work in my memobrary as I sleep.

“Is there any particular reason for the change?” Firth asked, sensing that I had ulterior motives.

“There are too many corrupt nobles that need better examples and reasons not to be corrupt. It can also make things better for people.” I said, exposing my plan of social change. Some of the other books had made me worried they would improve upon their negative leadership methods. They all still failed in the end, but even with that knowledge, I saw people use those books, thinking in their arrogance that they could do better than leaders, far better than them. Greed has no bounds on the minds of weak people..

“Those will still sell really well. I mean, they are coming from the library that we have heard about from every history source. So they have a lot going for them. The only problem is getting the necessary paper. We are running low on supplies already. People are fervently fighting for you.” Mais said encouragingly to the plan I had formed.

“Oh, that’s easy. Liz, can you get them paper and books?” I turned and asked her.

“I don’t know, can I?”

“Will you?” I replied, giggling, remembering how my mom had always corrected me. I tried keeping memories I had of family in easy access. Not in some hole in memory lane.

“No, I mean, I don’t know where to get them.”

“Oh, Where Tara got the supplies to do that drawing for us. It regenerates itself.”

“I was worried about that. Yes, of course I will get supplies.”

“With that, let’s end the day. Liz, can you start getting books and supplies starting tomorrow?” I said, wanting to rest for the day. I needed to do more research for tomorrow.

“Yes of course.”

“Firth go let the others know to wrap up. What’s next on the list so I can have time to think?”

“I believe in the enforcement squad and an expansion of laws. Also, health care and residences are like how we are going to house all the new people.” He replied concisely.

“Alright. Mais you are included in that. Go get some rest. I have learned over many, many years that you can only do your best with proper rest.”

He nodded, then we all went our separate ways with me just heading into the library to spend the rest of the night researching in my sleep with my memobrary. That is one of the reasons I learned how to sleep and work so I could rest and reread!

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