Unmotivated Deity

Though Lord Losler had said that he would be including Jien in some of his activities as a leader for the most part things continued almost as if the discussion had never happened in the first place. Earl had stated that he didn't intend to include Jien in the administrative aspect of things. Though he felt it could be helpful to Jien in the future his thoughts were presently on the immediate concern that Jien needed to gain a certain level of leadership experience in the field so that he would not be forced under the banners of the other students.

Unfortunately, while Afrem City was not as distant from the capital of the Elitrix Empire or terribly far from the southern border, it was not a major activity hub by any stretch. Most of the land in and around Afrem City was based in agriculture, specifically in wheat and livestock. This led to fewer negotiations in terms of incoming or outgoing traders. Most of the city's production was sent to the capital and sold there, some was sent to the ports in the south, but those negotiations had been firm for generations and nobody on either side felt that they needed adjusting.

Still, today, several weeks after the initial discussion, there was a chance to see how Jien would handle negotiating. There was a merchant from the capital that was looking to set a long trade deal for a wide variety of spices. Lord Losler was interested in this as most often they would need to send an envoy to buy spices from the port towns. If they could have this spice trader set up within their city, it would be beneficial to Lord Losler and it would assist the merchant in setting a secondary trade route to the capital. This would be a win for both sides. The deal itself was pretty much set in stone, today's discussion was only in relation to negotiating price and details of the business that would be set in the city.

The prior evening at dinner Jien had been informed of this occasion and that he was requested to attempt to handle this negotiation. Jien had of course been educated in negotiation in the past, though he had not ever been asked to handle one himself. While he wasn't particularly happy to have his training schedule interrupted, especially now that he was starting to make some real headway in mana manipulation in his sparring with Mark. Still, he knew that his father wouldn't let this chance to have him work on his negotiation skills go. Jien completed his early morning jog and physical training before returning to the manor to prepare for the negotiation. He bathed and dressed in some of his better clothes to ensure that he would be presentable in front of the guests. He knew that a part of negotiation was presentation. If you didn't look like you had the ability to negotiate then the other side would likely try and push negotiations to their favor more forcefully. After all, why would a king try and negotiate with a beggar off the street. If the beggar looked like and spoke like he had nothing to offer in the negotiation the king may either call the negotiation off completely or may press forcefully for the best terms in his favor.

Jien soon entered a sitting room with two couches sitting facing each other. Between them was a simple table and on the table was a selection of various snacks such as small pastries or crackers. Tea had yet to be brewed as it was best to time that with the arrival of the guests to make sure that it was fresh and hot during the talks that were about to occur. Jien saw Lord Losler sitting on the couch to the left, looking out of the large window that showed the entrance of the manor in the distance. When Jien followed his father's line of sight, he saw a simple looking wooden carriage with no visible insignia making its way down the main road toward the manor. This meant that he would have a short amount of time to talk with Earl before their guests arrived.

Jien sat next to his father and looked in his direction expectantly. He suspected that his father would have something to say before the guests arrived and his expectations were found to be accurate. Lord Losler turned to him with a happy smile when he observed that Jien had dressed well as he had been taught in his tutoring. "I don't expect perfection in this negotiation." he stated calmly. "This is both an experience to allow me to understand where you need further education and also to understand what kind of negotiator you are." With that said he looked back out the window to see that the carriage was nearing the manor's front gate. "Every negotiation style has its pros and cons. Most have a natural style of negotiation that they lean towards. Just do your best and I will help out as needed." With that Lord Losler stood up to wait by the door to the sitting room for their guests. Jien followed him and stood to his side. Greeting the guests either at the front of the manor or once they entered the space of the negotiation was common etiquette and Lord Losler had taught Jien well enough in that area to ensure that he would not make such a rookie mistake.

It was only a few minutes later that an older gentleman with short, grey hair and a similarly grey mustache, along with a young lady in her early twenties with long, bright red hair that reached her lower back and almost electric blue eyes followed behind Runa, who was leading them towards the room. The man was about 5'10" with a wiry frame, wearing a simple black suit and white button up shirt. The young lady wore a simple blue dress, but it did not make her look any less attractive given her athletic build, height that matched the man beside her and her sharp features. Looking at the man's similarly sharp features Jien assumed that they were related, perhaps father and daughter.

His assumption was proven correct when the man stepped forward and presented himself as Arnold Monsell. He then directed their attention to his daughter Lizbeth Monsell, stating that he brought her along to gain experience in the business. Both Jien and Lord Losler smiled politely and shook Arnold's hand firmly before greeting Lizbeth and inviting them both into the room. As they seated themselves across from one another on the two couches Jien observed the father daughter pair. He made sure not to stare at them, but he also made sure to do his best to watch their body language. There wasn't much to discover on that front. They were both seated calmly on the couch and wore neutral but professional smiles, which Lord Losler matched. Jien managed to smile as well, but it appeared to be slightly strained and it clearly didn't reach his eyes. He didn't particularly want to be there. He wanted to continue his practice with the arcane arts. Now that he was getting better at mana manipulation, he would soon delve more into spell craft and the use of more man-made spells.

Once they were all seated comfortably Runa quickly brought fresh tea, served it in a professional manner and left the room just as quickly. It was always preferred if only the involved parties were present in negotiations to ensure that there would be no third-party influence, or at least to attempt to stop this from happening. The four of them at first sipped their tea and spoke pleasantries such as the weather in the current fall season and how the merchant pair's travels had gone. It was only after about a half hour of pleasantries that the main discussion began.

It was at this point that Lord Losler turned his attention to Jien and similarly did Arnold turn toward Lizbeth. Arnold was a bit surprised given that Jien looked no older than perhaps ten years of age. Jien was actually still seven years old at this point in time but the look in his eyes and his bearing made him appear a bit older. Still, both of the older gentlemen appeared to have the same thought process regarding their youth and though the age difference was significant it would be more than a little impolite to bring up such a topic. With that Jien and Lizbeth sized each other up with their eyes once more before the conversation started.

Lizbeth picked up a wooden box that she had brought along with them and from it pulled a number of small leather pouches with text on them stating, salt, pepper, cayenne, bay leaf, cinnamon and several other spices. "These are the spices that we are looking to sell within your territory Lord Losler." Lizbeth stated while looking Jien in the eye. She wasn't ignoring Earl, but Jien was the one that was handling this negotiation. Jien looked over the varying pouches before asking if he could examine the contents of the pouches. Lizbeth accepted the request since these were their samples to show customers. The request also elicited a genuine smile from Lord Losler. At was always a benefit to examine the items being traded, even if it is just a sample. This would allow them to check the delivered product to ensure that the quality matched and if not then attempt a renegotiation.

Jien took each pouch, opened it and took a small amount, placing it on his palm and examining each spices quality. He went as far as to smell them to try and determine freshness and even in some cases tasted a small amount to check the quality to the best of his ability. He was by no means an expert on the topic of spices, but he had learned enough prior to this meeting from the manor's chef to have a basic understanding.

After finding everything to be satisfactory in terms of quality he prepared to start the negotiation.