Rodney pretended to hesitate for a moment before nodding.
"You're right but I'll need a letter of introduction if I'm going to be working with the Beklaedning clan. I don't suppose you'll write one for me?" He hopefully asked.
Chronos smiled sneakily, "I suppose I could but that will depend on what sort of agreement we reach."
Both men smiled at each other; Rodney because he knew that his entire future was about to take off while Chronos was happy to have someone he could offload some of his trash onto.
None of the bags he was offering were made from high grade materials, meaning that their maximum size was 3 meters, they would never be able to be larger than that. He was sure that the clan would come up with some method to further increase the size of the item bags in the future.
Selling his item bags now before they could become popular or his clan improved them would bring him the greatest profit.
"Now item bags aren't easy to create, requiring both the right materials and time, but over the past couple months I've managed to create ten item bags that I intend to sell today. I am planning on selling each of them for 5,000 gild." Chronos said.
"5,000! That comes out to 50,000 gild total! Don't you think that's a bit much?"
"Not at all. These are the first item bags available on the market, and you can easily cover your losses with just ten to twelve trips between Dracon Fen and the eastern nobles. Even if you only fill them up with low grade raw materials that comes out to a few thousand gild for one trip."
Rodney thought about it for a moment before secretly agreeing with Chronos. With these bags and the backing of the Eightfold Transit Company he would be seeing a return on his initial investment in only 5 trips, maybe even sooner depending on what he brought back with him. But that didn't mean he wouldn't barter with Chronos for a better price.
"The materials used in these item bags are not great and can be easily torn. If they take damage during an attack, there's a chance the raw materials inside would be damaged or even wasted, not to mention the money I spent on the bags. I think that 3,000 gild each is a fairer price given the chance of them being damaged." Rodney countered.
Honestly 3,000 was already a better starting point than Chronos had expected but he couldn't make this too easy for him. After all this deal could set a starting price for all future item bags.
"Come now Rodney, these bags aren't that easy to make. If there is any flaw during its creation, then the craftsmen have to start over from scratch. Buy it for 4,500 gild in honor of the craftsmen's efforts at least." Chronos said with a smile.
"As hard as the craftsmen work, I still have to transport it across increasingly dangerous areas these days. I can buy it for 3,750 gild."
Chronos looked at him for a moment before responding.
"The materials used in crafting item bags have to be held to a high standard. If the materials aren't good enough then the craftsmen have to waste money to acquire a whole new set of materials before they can begin, I really can't go lower than 4,250 gild." Chronos shook his head.
Rodney stared at him for a minute before finally giving in.
"Alright 4,250 gild per bag is a little higher than I wanted but still acceptable. Unfortunately, I don't carry nearly that much money with me, I don't suppose you'll be in a major city out west any time soon? I only came this far east because of the potential for profiting off of the war." He sheepishly said.
"We're on our way to the capital and expect to be there within the month. If you could just pay me what you can now, I'll accept an 'I owe you' for the rest once we arrive." Chronos chuckled.
He'd be surprised if any travelling merchant carried 42,500 gild with them.
"No problem."
Turning around Rodney opened a wall that had a small safe in it and several bags of gild. Taking 2 of them out along with a pre-written agreement he handed the bags to Chronos.
"That is 4000 gild, the remaining 38,500 gild will be paid through this note."
He filled out the product line, payment amount, and payment before giving it to Chronos and extending his hand. Accepting the note Chronos shook his hand and passed a letter of introduction back to Rodney.
"You can take that note to the Eightfold Transit's capital branch to receive the remainder of your payment." He said after receiving the introduction letter.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you."
"Agreed, now I hate to rush things, but I do need to make sure my merchants haven't screwed anything up while I've been busy. So, if you'll pass me the rest of the item bags, I'll be on my way."
"Of course." Chronos handed over ten nearly identical tote bags but just as he was about to leave the carriage, he seemed to remember something and turned back.
"I forgot to mention it before, but you can't store one item bag inside of another. We tried that before and both bags shattered."
"I see, anything else that can't be stored inside of them?"
"Just living beings but I think that's mostly because they run out of air when it's closed."
Rodney chuckled, "I'll make sure not to put anybody's pet inside then. Take care of yourself Chronos and the next time you have something this good be sure to bring it to the Eightfold Transit Company first."
Rodney waved goodbye as they went their separate ways.
"You too Rodney and I will." Chronos called out.
Chronos hummed as he walked, satisfied with having overstated the difficulty of crafting the bags and the quality of materials needed. This should prevent most merchants from swarming his family with requests for item bags, but he didn't think Rodney would have any issues buying more of them.
Despite the Ulv family's general dislike of greedy merchants Chronos had liked Rodney. He had recognized good craftsmanship when he saw it and made sure to offer them a good price for it instead of trying to price gouge him and turn the negotiation into a long, drawn-out process.
Which any member of the Ulv family would view as a massive waste of time and possibly as an insult as well.
Overall, he thought Rodney would do well on his trip to the Ulv territory.
If he had a chance in the future, he decided to sell Rodney one of the rarer items he was working on.
On his way back to the ship, he bumped into Lyla.
"Already finished teaching the city guards chef?"
"Yeah, he was pretty skilled to begin with, he just didn't have anybody to teach him. Now I'm going to be borrowing your shower if that's all right." She replied.
"I don't mind but why not use your own shower?"
"I turned it into a cold storage so that I could chill tonight's desert."
"You know if you keep turning your room into a food prep area we'll be living together. Eventually something might happen to you. Especially since you always seem to be in the way." He said with a frown.
"I don't think you'll do anything too drastic since if something happens to me, you won't be able to eat my food anymore." She laughed as they walked while secretly thinking that she might not mind if something happened.
She didn't seem to mind being in Chronos's way at all as long as she could cook and honestly Chronos didn't really mind either as long as he got to eat her cooking too. It really was delicious.
Wait, was she trying to tame him by cooking?
That little laughing smile he saw in her eyes said she might be doing just that.
Hm, maybe he would have to teach her a lesson soon. You couldn't just feed a man delicious food all the time, live in his room, and spend most of your day with him and think he wouldn't do anything afterwards, right?
Although she did always carry that mace with her for a reason and he didn't doubt that she would use it on him if needed.
But that was a matter for another time.
For now, he wanted to focus on learning as much as he could about flying ships and preparing to enter any tears they came across. Both of those things would help with his future escape plan as he didn't intend to stay in the capital for long.
Come to think of it, he should probably tell his friends about the change in direction before they arrive at their next destination.