Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Agatha nodded at Renar and told him to grab a chair beside the butcher. The latter looked at Eren confusedly as if to ask him whether the good news that he had given them was good news or not.

Eren just shrugged his shoulders and stayed silent and asked Renar to just sit down beside him. Meanwhile, Miss Manager operated on the spectral screen and checked on the condition of her stocks. She then pondered a bit before answering.

"That's good. Tell them we are increasing the price for each type of our goods by 1.7x the previous amount. Sell our stocks to those who are willing to buy. Cut the ones that refuse to do business with us with our price hike."

Renar didn't know much about logistics. But even he knew such a price hike would affect the distribution chain. He was also not proficient in math. But he could see that 1.7x the previous amount was a subtle way of saying that White Raven was intending to double the price at which they were willing to sell their products.

"Agatha, I am not objecting to your decisions, but are you sure? This kind of price hike might make us lose some avenues…"

Agatha sighed and answered Renar's query.

"You are right, big brother. But a niche presence in the market is always better than an intermittent presence. We want to keep injecting our potions into the market, whether they get used by common rankers or elites.

Do you know what happens when we run out of our current stocks and consumers are forced to find alternatives? There would be a sudden decrease in demand after we start supplying the goods again. By the time we resume operation on a grand scale, various counterfeits would have arrived.

Trust me, I have experienced this on a smaller scale when I was in the Lionheart duchy."

Agatha then looked at Eren to see him smile at her. It was him that had guided her with his harsh stance when their potions first got counterfeited. Now she was handling these things on her own. His smile gave her the confidence she needed to proceed with her decision. She paused before addressing Renar again.

"Plus, 1.7x is still a great deal for our potions. In the future, I might raise the price even more before settling on something reasonable.

The potions' effects are what I am most familiar with. I can say for sure that our concoctions are one of a kind compared to the competition we have in our segment. I'm sure most rankers would be inclined to save our potions for emergency use.

White Raven potions won't become a regular product for the rankers for a while. The market for Slughorn potions and others of such kinds will remain somewhat intact. We'll not attract their wrath by being a niche product."

Agatha said and took a long breath. She had expected their sales to increase dramatically from the start. She just didn't know that the demand would be to this extent. And that too this early.

Eren was very satisfied with Agatha's way of handling things. She had become prudent when it came to marketing and logistical decisions. He now had even more confidence than before to leave things in her care.

Renar looked at Eren to confirm and all he received was a nod from him. He didn't add anything or overwrite any of Agatha's decisions, giving her full autonomy over the guild's potion manufacturing affairs.

Just when Renar was about to leave, they all felt a distinct mana signature that belonged to the B-Rank. The source came from outside the window.

Agatha and Renar both got tensed when they felt that presence. Aside from Eren's smile and expression, the non-threatening aura of the mana signature reassured the ex-Beast Bloods that the B-Rank entity was not a threat.

A young yet mature woman appeared on the ledge of the study hall's window the next moment. She looked stunning in her simple adventurer attire. But a loose waist belt that was loaded with vials of potions told the onlookers that she relied on potions.

Renar and Agatha met the Master ranker woman for the first time. But Eren knew her personally.

Levine de Montmorency was on White Raven's land. And she was here to stay.

The butcher got up from his seat and walked up to the window before offering her a hand to grab onto.

Levine accepted her student's gesture and graciously entered the study hall. Eren smiled at her before making introductions.

"Agatha, Renar. Meet Master Levine de Montmorency. She is my potioning master and also our guild's backer. From now on, she'll mostly stay on guild land.

Agatha, make sure you prepare another chamber for Master Levine by the end of the day."

Eren said while leading Levine to his seat. Renar had gotten up after seeing that A Master ranker was about to sit beside him. He and Eren stayed standing while Agatha was made to sit by Levine herself before asking a question to her.

Agatha nodded at Eren's suggestion before looking at Levine with tensed expressions.

"So you are Agatha. Eren has talked about how well you are handling things for him. I guess we have a lot to talk about since this guy says he is going to be out of the picture for a while, who knows for what reason."

Agatha gulped empty air before nodding at Levine. Frankly, Levine had tried to keep her presence as lowkey as possible. However, she was unable to completely put both rankers at ease from the start.

Levine informed Eren that the Montmorency family members of her faction will be coming to the guild land soon. She was also coordinating with Derringers at the time. Additionally, their people would arrive at the same time.

Upon Levine's request, the Derringer clan had increased its man force deployed on the ground. She mostly addressed Agatha who was in charge of all guild matters and let her know about a few things.

Levine also discussed the construction of buildings, arrays, and perimeter walls around guild lands. As Agatha listened to her talk, she realized how deep the water Eren and she were currently swimming in was.

Agatha felt overwhelmed as she kept on listening to Levine's talks. The mere presence of a Master ranked potioner had deterred her enough. The discussions about the construction also made her realize the guild she now called her own was poorer than she thought.