Reborn As A Beastman With A System

"Brother Fish, do your eyes trouble you?" Fisher's piercing gaze sent a chill down Logan's spine.

"My vision is perfect, thank you very much!" Fisher retorted with a scowl.

"It's merely that I never imagined my brother-in-law to be such a hidden talent, a vintner, no less! You've kept that quite under wraps, haven't you?"

At that moment, Jean chimed in cheerfully, "My father and brother adored the wine I brought home. Father announced he'll be here in two days to purchase a hundred pounds!"

"Why should Uncle have to come himself to buy it? You should take some back for him, it's only right we are family after all," Logan replied, his smile lightening the room.

He wasn't fully aware of his father-in-law's capacity for wine, but it seemed impressive.

"Jean, step aside for a moment; I need to discuss some business dealings with Logan," Fisher interjected abruptly.

"Why should I leave? I'm here to make sure you treat Logan fairly!" Jean shot back defiantly.

Fisher massaged his temples, exasperated. Was this stubborn woman really his sister?

"Fine, stay if you must. He's my brother-in-law. Why would I bully him?"

"Logan, about the Brown Sugar venture, I'm on board with the second proposal you outlined," Fisher declared, shooting a frustrated glance at his sister before turning his attention back to Logan.

"Indeed, at ten silver coins per pound, the sugar is priced well below the cost of jam and fructose," Logan added.

Jam and fructose were considered luxury items, far pricier than any wine.

The market price of ten silver coins per pound was steep, but it was competitive considering the alternatives.

Logan had calculated meticulously: one pound of wheat, an ounce of rice, and an ounce of sweet potato could yield up to one and a half ounces of maltose.

With the basic ingredients costing between eighteen and twenty copper coins, the production cost per pound was around two silver coins, making it several times more expensive than producing wine.

Selling it for ten silver coins seemed lucrative, yet the complexities of maltose production justified the price. Once scaled up, the labor costs alone would be significant.

"The real challenge lies with the sweet potatoes," Logan thought, his brow furrowed in thought. "Harvesting tribal sweet potatoes takes no less than a month and a half. If we scale up production, I'd need to utilize reputation points to procure them from the system mall."

Calculating the cost of this was daunting. Logan valued his hard-earned reputation, which had soared beyond 2,000 points shortly after his arrival.

"Two thousand reputation points could fetch at most 20,000 kg of sweet potatoes. And frankly, I'm not even willing to trade for 200,000 kg," he thought to himself with reluctance.

Though sweet potatoes could also be bought with gold coins, the price was steep, one gold coin per pound. "If I resort to buying them that way, my costs would skyrocket to twelve silver coins per pound. Selling at ten silver coins would mean operating at a loss."

Thus, he concluded, "Until we secure a stable supply of sweet potatoes, large-scale maltose production is off the table."

"Ten silver coins?" Fisher echoed, skepticism in his tone.

"That does seem a bit steep," he added cautiously.

Jean's patience snapped; she knew her brother's tendencies all too well and suspected he was angling for a lower price. "A family rate was surely factored into that price for your benefit," she argued, her voice rising with indignation.

"Is that still too high?" she challenged, her frustration palpable. "Consider the human nobles, wealthy and always eager for luxury goods. You could resell it to them for ten times the amount. Don't even think about lowering the price."

Fisher's thoughts were interrupted by a surge of anger. It seemed his sister believed he had ventured to the human kingdom and negotiated prices carelessly.

"Even if I could sell it for ten times the price," Fisher mused aloud, "the risks en route could wipe out any profits, sometimes leading to total losses."

He glanced at Jean, opened his mouth to speak, but then hesitated, weighing his next words carefully.

Fisher knew that in disputes like these, he often ended up shouldering the blame, no matter his arguments. "Alright, given the price you've quoted, I'll take 10,000 kilograms for our initial order," he declared with firm resolve.

"Ten thousand kilograms?" Logan echoed, his tone mixed with surprise and contemplation before he gave a measured nod. "Okay!"

Fisher, seizing the moment, pushed forward with his business agenda. "I'd also like to discuss a partnership on white wine, similar to our arrangement with the brown sugar," he proposed.

This initiative was the true reason behind his urgent visit to the Casa Hotel. After tasting the exceptional white wine his sister had brought back, it struck him profoundly—was this what he'd been missing in Ta Ma? This revelation had prompted him to urgently seek out Logan, dragging his sister along without pause.

"A partnership on liquor?" Logan raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. "You're a grain merchant, aren't you? What's driving the sudden shift to focusing on wine?"

Indeed, Fisher was a savvy businessman, always eyeing the most lucrative opportunities. "Business is about profit. If trading grain brings profits, I'm a grain merchant. If trading wine is more profitable, then a wine merchant I shall be," he explained with a strategic smile.

Fisher knew all too well the saturated market of grain trading, crowded with competitors making it tough to dominate. His eyes had been set on diversifying his business interests, first with brown sugar and now with white wine.

The world of wine trading presented a less crowded field. While grain trading had no barriers to entry, becoming a significant player in the wine market demanded solid connections with winemakers and a steady supply chain. Without these, one could only hope to be a secondary player in the wine industry.

In Fisher's eyes, the wine trade not only held fewer competitors but also wielded more influence and potential for higher profits compared to grain. Thus, his pivot towards becoming a prominent wine merchant wasn't just strategic, it was essential for his aspirations to dominate a sector.

Fisher couldn't help but marvel at the serendipity of his situation. His brother-in-law, not only a skilled winemaker, produced wines that outclassed others. Surely, this was a boon from the Beast God himself. Seizing this chance could catapult him to unmatched prominence, at the helm of a formidable business empire.

Despite his outward calm, Fisher had been restless with anticipation for a long time.

"Let's say four silver coins per pound for the liquor," Logan offered, nodding decisively.

He didn't hesitate much. After all, dealing with family made it easier to reach agreeable terms, and Fisher's prowess as a winemaker was undeniable.

"Four silver coins is a steal!" Fisher managed to keep his exhilaration under wraps, maintaining his usual composed demeanor.

"You are Jean's brother, and thus my family as well, of course you get the family rate," Logan affirmed warmly.

"By the way, I have another proposal for cooperation to discuss with you!" Logan segued smoothly into another business venture.

Given that both sugar and wine production heavily relied on grain as a fundamental ingredient, and Fisher was an established grain merchant, it only made sense for Logan to partner closely with him. It was practical to source materials from someone within the family circle.

Ultimately, Fisher agreed to provide grain to Logan at a generous 20% discount.

Logan felt quite satisfied with this arrangement; the savings over time would be substantial.

After the negotiations, as Fisher prepared to leave, Logan requested, "Please take ten kilograms of liquor back to my father-in-law."

With the deal set, Logan eagerly began planning the construction of additional earthen stoves in his backyard, though this time he wasn't the main laborer, Cardia and others took on the bulk of the physical work while he supervised.

Despite already having seven stoves, Logan's ambitions dictated the need for more, ten stoves in total. His workforce was ample for the task.

"This place feels a bit cramped," Jean remarked, having decided to stay behind rather than return with Fisher.

"It is a little tight, but it will suffice for now. I hadn't fully envisioned its long-term use when we started," Logan agreed, nodding. Though the backyard was expansive, if it was to serve as a permanent processing site, they would eventually need more space.