NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22: Pitch
"It's a small price, stop complaining!" Charlotte incessantly kept complaining about the fact that she couldn't decide these things for herself and kept throwing tantrums for a long time. But in the end she accepted.
"We've settled this matter, so let's take a moment to discuss something more interesting." Demeter was sitting in front of me with her beautiful daughter, everything up to that point was a simple excuse to get to this moment.
"I'm looking for sponsors for a project with great potential, I'm sure you'll profit greatly from it." Demeter kept her composure as she sipped her tea, not at all surprised by how the situation had turned out. The insinuation that she had a skill like mine only increased.
"I'm already here and my ears are wide open, tell me what this is about." We needed a supplier of good quality wood and it had to be below market price, otherwise they would easily copy our invention and dominate the market first.
In addition, I needed someone willing to carry out research into new plants capable of producing undiscovered materials that could solve my problems with rubber or even a better substitute.
At the end of the day, I couldn't deal with so many issues at once, coming up with so many ideas and spitting them out like a maniac would only make me look crazy or have my ideas stolen.
I needed to be smart and know what to say and how much to say in order to get what I came for without getting into trouble. And in front of someone who seemed to be able to read me like a book, I felt under pressure.
She was a real power here, she had the means to make me talk and I doubted that the police or any kind of military force was going to help me. While maintaining a good relationship with me would also be beneficial to her if it was voluntary.
I was between a rock and a hard place, speaking too little would be the worst mistake, speaking too much would get me robbed, speaking in the right way was difficult. Taking a deep breath, I prepared for my speech, it had to be nothing less than perfect.
"I think you know how big Orario is, having lived here for so long, there are lots of long, narrow streets, lots of shops and restaurants, and although the city is beautiful, like all others it has its problems." Every pitch began with a story, a speech that was designed to move the listener.
"The city's rapid expansion centered around the dungeon, its main economic source, has led to a problem of overcrowding in some areas and the hasty construction of many neighborhoods with houses that are often irregular."
"In the midst of desperation, streets were built that can't always be crossed by ordinary locomotives, such as carts and carriages. Not to mention the exorbitant but necessary price of each one."
"You may have experienced this when making a delivery to more remote locations, the turbulence often spoils the most sensitive vegetables and fruit, the delay takes away the freshness of the fruit and ends up cheapening it."
"This creates a common problem that everyone faces, which is travel over long distances. Something that you feel in your products and that the population feels by losing precious time that everyone could be making money from."
"To solve this problem, I propose a new type of locomotive, which despite its low storage capacity is still faster and less demanding of terrain conditions. It's cheaper to produce and it's easy for anyone to make."
Demeter listened to me in silence until that moment, nothing I said impressing her very much. Apparently she was used to hearing this kind of thing, but she still seemed even remotely interested in what she had heard.
"How cheap are we talking?" Internally I began to lighten up, she really wanted to know more. I managed to hook this fish.
"According to our calculations, at least ten times cheaper than other locomotives, but it will depend on the materials you can supply us with as well as labor costs, which can be reduced or increased accordingly."
She pondered the topic for a few moments, it really wasn't as simple as I had expected. For the first time I felt like I was in front of a real goddess, one who at least thought...
"The proposal is good, but I still need more details to make a decision. A few projects and more specifications." She spoke like a kind lady discussing the weather, and this is where the danger lay.
"We can show you that when we have a formal contract, but as for the specifications, we need the raw materials first for these calculations. We're looking for a strong, flexible and light wood." Suddenly she stood up, yawning.
"Follow me." She began to lead us through the mansion until we came to a shed with various types of wood in storage. Her eyes wandered around looking for the one that seemed most ideal. At one point she grabbed a small log and handed it to me.
The wood was white with some natural darker details. I handed it to Charlotte who looked at it for a while. She tried bending it and tapped the wood a little analytically.
"It needs to be sturdier and lighter." She turned again, choosing another log, this time returning a darker one that resembled charcoal.
"Inflexible." The choice continued for some time, sometimes the wood was rejected for its price, sometimes for its condition, and so it went on. A little frustrated, Demeter picked up one last rather exciting log.
It was different from the others, black with what looked like veins of fire all over it. It didn't look like an ordinary tree and that already told me that it would be rejected again by its price.
"That's a good one." Charlotte gave the expected answer, but I was still afraid of what Demeter would say.
"As expected, I always thought this one would fit but..." Her sigh was deep. Persephone next to her also seemed to feel her pain.
"This tree grows inside the dungeon and although it's not difficult to create and grows quickly, both times we've tried there have been some pests along with it that we haven't been able to deal with yet."
Those pests again...
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