Ch 28 HOW MUCH?!! Part 2

"Ladies and Gentleman of the reach, behold... THE STARKHORSE!!!"

The man's voice boomed with enthusiasm and excitement as he unveiled the product placed on the temporary platform in the middle of the busy street. The crowd erupted in awe and anticipation, captivated by the man's animated delivery as he skilfully heated the atmosphere with his excited voice, "This is an invention that is going to make your life countless times easier, it is going to save you so much time that it would feel like you got a second life..."

The man went on and on about the Starkhorse as if it was the god's gift and was the most wonderful invention after bread. He also talked about all the usual uses for the Starkhorse that he had perfected in the North, of course, he had tailored that marketing gimmick a little bit to suit the taste of the people of Reach according to his boss's instruction.

"And mark my words, my friends, the Reach will embrace the Starkhorse even more passionately than any other region in Westeros. Why, you may ask?" The man leaned in, building suspense, and the crowd eagerly shook their heads in anticipation. "Because the Reach boasts the finest roads in the entire realm, does it not?"

"Yes!" The crowd erupted in agreement, their voices blending into a resounding chorus.

"Now, for those eager to secure this marvel before supplies run out," the man announced, running his hands affectionately over the sleek wood of the Starkhorse, "Come forward swiftly, for our stock is limited, and who knows how long it will last!"

The crowd surged towards the tables and chairs positioned behind the platform, where Jon's crew awaited to take orders. The product was not placed here to save on the cost of renting a space but instead, the people who paid would get a token when they paid the total price after which they had to go to the docks to get their product which also saved Jon the cost of Transportation.

Above the bustling street, on the second floor of an inn, Jon and Willas watched the spectacle unfold from a spacious room with two windows, "I must say, you have quite a capable subordinate down there, " Willas said with an impressed tone, "Where did you even find him,"

"In a bar," Jon said with a shrug, he continued when he saw Willas look confused, "He was a singer in a bar but sadly he had no talent at singing but he was able to make ends meet somehow, Can you guess how?"

"No,"

"It's because he was funny and was a good storyteller," Jon said with a reminiscing smile, "His stories sometimes left them laughing their ass off and other times had them completely hooked, so they often forgot about his bad singing and tipped him generously. I immediately recognised his skill when I saw him for the first time so I persuaded him to use his talents elsewhere,"

"I must say, it's been quite some time since I've been this impressed with someone," Willas said while patting Jon's shoulder like an older brother.

"I am quite happy to hear that," Jon had taken a liking to the older man, he had an aura of intelligence about him and more importantly he was a good man, which was far too rare in this world, "I just hope that they can be impressed just as much," Jon said while looking at the people gathered around the other window.

On the left window of the room was a group of about ten people, three women and seven men, whispering amongst themselves while looking at the show below them intensely.

Even though none of them were of noble descent, it would be easy for people to distinguish them from common smallfolk, because every single one of them was wearing clothes and jewellery that just screamed wealth. They were the favour that he had asked from the Tyrell beside him and he had done a wonderful job of it by bringing most of the top merchants available in the area into a room in just a few days.

"So tell me, Miss Violet, did that—" Jon suddenly spoke while waving his hands towards the window, breaking the group from their discussions, "Assauge all your fears about them not selling as easily in the Reach,"

"Hehe..." The woman gave him what she thought was a coquettish smile and said, "I hope you don't take offence, My lord but as a woman in this business I need to be cautious about all my investments,"

"Of course," Jon nodded nonchalantly, the middle-aged woman was a ruthless brothel owner that had already used the gender card more than three times in the hour that he had known her so he knew better than to take anything she said at face value.

These people had been given the same speech that Bill had given to the crowd below, it's just that Jon's presentation had been a lot more subtle and sophisticated but since they were both written by him, the essence was the same. He too praised the Reach between his words softening them, as well as embellishing his products to high heavens with words like it would reduce the time of travelling by five times to reach the same destination as well as it being ten times cheaper than a normal horse in the long run over the years considering the feed and care.

Basically, he had used all the marketing gimmicks he could think of from the modern world with all kinds of Bogus facts and calculations that they couldn't hope to verify even with a team of the brightest Maesters from Citadel.

But of course, it wouldn't be as easy as it was for his friend Bill down there since his audience was a lot shrewder and cunning than Bill's. They were all experienced merchants who wouldn't get carried away to buy things at their face value. So the moment Jon had finished his pitch all of them started taking turns in yanking the Starkhorse down, listing one disadvantage after the other in hopes of pulling the value down.

But Jon had decided from the beginning that he would be selling these here at ten times the price he sold them in the North. And the reason was simply that they could afford it.

Considering the technology in this world, one of the easiest ways to become rich would be either to sit on a gold mine or to have a lot of good farmlands. And while the Westerlands may have a lot of rich nobles, the Smallfolks in Reach were a lot more wealthy than the ones in other kingdoms, so Jon wouldn't shy away from leeching them as much as he could.

So Jon had immediately taken these merchants to the window to show them a live demonstration of how popular his product could be and how easy it would be to sell them and make quick money. And he could see it in their faces that most of them were already sold on the idea.

"So are you all ready to place your orders?" Jon asked, breaking the silence and bringing their attention back to the matter at hand.

The oldest-looking man among the merchants calmly spoke up, addressing Jon, "My lord, the people down there were just caught in the excitement of seeing a new thing. I am sure that after they go home, most of them will realize that they spent a lot more than they intended and may come to regret buying it. So it would be hard to sell them at the price you're quoting after the furore dies down."

"Yes, My lord," Another one piped up immediately after, "Most of them would go back to preferring a normal horse,"

"It'll be hard for us to sell them unless you make it a bit more affordable,"

Jon knew that they just needed the last push before they bent completely so he looked out of the window and said, "Do you know what the best thing about Starkhorse is?"

"You already told us a lot of its advantages, My lord. I don't think another would make any difference—"

"Do you know who that person by the fountain is?"

All of them looked at the fountain in confusion to see a couple of kids jumping around while a girl rode the very product that was the topic of their discussion. A relatively younger female merchant who mainly dealt in clothes suddenly exclaimed, "Isn't that lady Margery?"

"You're right," Jon nodded with a smile, "She is indeed the famous Rose of the Reach. And do you know when she got that Starkhorse," Jon continued before anyone of them could answer, "Just this morning and she's already riding it quite skillfully, so what I am trying to say is that, anyone can learn to ride, from a ten-year-old commoner child to fifty-year-old farmer anyone can learn it in a few hours... Can you say the same for a normal horse?"

The scepticism in the room slowly transformed into greed as they envisioned the wide customer base they would have to sell their product to. The oldest merchant, who had been the most hesitant, finally stood up and said, "I would like to place an order of 150 Starkhorses."

His decision caught the rest of the merchants off guard, and they looked at him with a mix of surprise and betrayal. It was easy to deduce from their expression that they had some kind of an agreement between them to not buy at all until he budged on the prices. However, a single crack in their united front shattered their strategy.

Jon swiftly took out a small notebook from his pocket and noted down the man's name, while the merchant paid the down payment. "I'll make sure you can gather your order from the ships at the port at any time."

It didn't take long for the second one to stand up, "I concede to you, My lord," Miss Violet said ruefully, "I think it would be the first time in my life that I am buying something without negotiating a lower price," she thought for a moment before saying with a smile, "I'll take 200 of those if it pleases you,"

And like a domino, the rest of them started to fall in line one after the other and started shouting over each other to get their order first.

"I'll take 120,"

"I'll take 100,"

"Me 80,"

...

Finally, the last one of them, who was also the most hesitant, stood up, "I-I'll take fifty,"

"Ah, I am very sorry to say that you were too late, my friend," Jon apologized, causing the man's face to fall with regret. The other merchants beside him shamelessly gloated at his misfortune. "But don't worry too much, as it won't be too long before we arrive back with the next shipment. You need to be prepared for the next time."

After paying their down payments, the merchants quickly left the room, eager to get home and gather the rest of the money. They were aware of the advantage of being the first in the market with such an innovative product.

Only Jon, Willas, and the old merchant remained in the room. Jon put his notebook back in his breast pocket and smiled at the old man. "You did a very good job, Gary."

"I was just holding my end of the bargain, Milord."

"Don't worry," Jon reassured him, patting his shoulders. "You'll have a ten per cent discount on the market price with me."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Milord," the old merchant said, leaving the room with a skip in his steps.

"That was very smart of you," Willas said after they were alone in the room, "Buying an insider from the beginning. I think that alone earned you quite a few dragons,"

"It's just a trick I learned from my merchant friend," Jon replied modestly. "But I wouldn't have been able to do that if you didn't introduce me to—"

Before Jon could finish, the door abruptly swung open, and Dacey rushed in with an excited look on her face. "Jon, I saw them leaving—Ah I didn't see you, My Lord,"

"I was just leaving, Lady Mormont," Willas nodded politely and said to Jon with a satisfied sigh, "That was one of the most entertaining hours of my life, Jon. Thank you for that."

"I should be thanking you, my lord, for all the help you provided," Jon replied gratefully.

Willas waved away his gratitude and left the room with a nod to Dacey. Once alone, Dacey couldn't contain her excitement and leapt in front of Jon, asking breathlessly, "So?"

Jon decided to play along for a moment, hiding a smile. "So what?"

"Don't fuck with me here, Jon," Dacey said, "I am dying from suspense here, how much did we make?"

Jon rolled his eyes but he didn't keep her in agony for long and whispered the amount with a smug smile, "We made...10,000"

"HOW MUCH?!!"

"10,000 Dragons"