On the eve of the opening of one of the most awaited stores in the history of Lanthanor, the marketplace was packed with people looking around suspiciously.
Each and every merchant seemed to be prepared for a riot, as there were more guards than merchants in the area.
Standing quite a distance away in an alleyway, Daneel realized that he had underestimated the sheer allure of such a product. Seeing the crowd, he felt really glad that he had not decided to enter the business himself.
Each and every guard seemed to be holding combat trinkets in their hands, ready to deploy weapons and fight if needed at a moment's notice.
The centerpiece of the scene was a huge store whose banner was covered. All of the merchants constantly glanced at this store before nervously looking around at their opponents.
At his current level, using the spell on 10 liters of honey completely drained Daneel, resulting in him having to recover by using a training chamber.
Thus, spending a major part of the time he had, 100 liters of the magical solution had been given to the minister's manor. With the manager's assistance, Daneel had requested all of the honey to be stored in a warehouse before teleporting inside after ensuring that no one was looking. The warehouse was in a protected location that could not be investigated by normal people. Only the court mage or the grand court mage had the ability to view the location, hence Daneel had borrowed the red coin from the minister before proceeding with the spell.
Like the system had said, it was impossible for the Grand Court Mage to keep his eye on him 24/7. The Kingdom had many more problems to take care of, but Daneel decided that using precautions was always best. This was especially the case when the product at hand was so valuable.
The price of a barrier that kept mosquitoes away from a radius similar to Daneel's product was 2000 Gold Lans. The only advantage with the barrier was that it lasted longer than the solution. A barrier of such a size could be used for 3 months day and night before it lost its effect. As for the solution, 500 ML of it, which was the amount present in each box, could last for 1 month.
Because it was only the first day, Daneel and the manager had decided to price 1 liter of the honey at 1000 Gold Lans. Although this amount would only suffice for 2 months, it was still quite a bit lesser than the price of the alternative.
As soon as the clock struck 12:00 PM, bright fireworks started going off above the banner. These were magically enhanced fireworks, with gold dragons and sphinxes that almost looked real flying around the top of the store.
Only the commoners who were watching from the side, shoved away by all of the merchants, went "ooh" and "aah" seeing the marvelous display.
With a BANG, both the cover over the banner and the curtain over the store fell to the ground.
"HONEY TRAP STORE"
Seeing these words, the merchants thought that the name was indeed fitting. In fact, Daneel had actually picked up the name after overhearing someone in the academy talk about the boxes that had been sent out. As he had seen the name already being used unofficially, Daneel decided that there was no harm in making it official. Besides, it was easy to remember.
Of course, Daneel couldn't help but wish that the name could have been "Anivron Honey Traps". He knew very well how effective a brand was, and he looked forward to the day when he would have enough power to use his name on each and every one of his products.
The store that had just been unveiled was unlike any other that Daneel had ever seen. Resolving to watch and learn, Daneel observed as the manager himself appeared on the stage.
Yes, the stage. The store was actually like a theater from Earth, with an open stage containing a podium facing all of the waiting merchants.
"Welcome to the opening of the Honey Trap Store! Let me get straight to the point. We have 100 liters of the honey up for sale, with each liter costing 1000 Gold Lans. Each liter's efficiency has already been communicated to you in the parchment. The trap will each cost 10 Gold Lans, and there are only a few available. Each merchant can only purchase 5 liters at maximum. Causing disturbance will automatically ban you from purchasing at the store. Now, please send someone with the money and collect your honey behind the door. There are constables at the rear who will keep the peace."
Hearing the last sentence, the merchants sighed before giving up on the nefarious plans in their minds. A minister was of course the best man suited for such a business, with the power to use government forces to ensure fair sales.
One by one, each merchant collected the honey before leaving the store, vowing to use all of their resources to find the creator of this wonderful solution. Even Daneel felt a little scared seeing the expressions of vexation on those who had planned to find the creator.
As for the merchants who didn't get a chance to reach the rear before the honey was up, they could only curse and stare at the leaving merchants' backs with envy.
Almost all of the traps had been left alone. This was also the brilliance of the solution: everything except the core part was non proprietary. Anyone could make the traps, but there was only one source for the honey.
This actually reminded Daneel of a situation on Earth. There, fuel had very few sources, and the corporations which supplied this fuel were the richest in the world. Anyone could make cars or machines which used this fuel, but the corporations would always be the ones who stood on top because they supplied the lifeblood to all of these machines.
100,000 Gold Lans! He had already earned such a huge sum of money! In contrast to his earlier state where he had to scrounge for a few Silver Lans, this achievement was even more noteworthy.
Although this amount would be nothing for large factions, it was an excellent start especially for the number of people Daneel had right now. Trinkets, Ether, anything they wished for could now be theirs.
[Achievement "First Financial Success" obtained.
First Financial Success: By identifying a problem and solving it by using knowledge from your previous world, you have succeeded in building a product which has shaken the business landscape of the Kingdom Of Lanthanor. By doing so, you have also obtained the first major financial success on your journey to World Domination. Congratulations on embarking on the path of a business mastermind!
2000 EXP Awarded.
Total EXP: 2350]
Busy grinning wide, Daneel was startled when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. Hurriedly turning around, he realized that it was just Elanev.
Panting with exhaustion, Elanev first took a few deep breaths before saying something that made Daneel freeze with shock.
"The King just made a visit to the manor. As soon as he left, father ordered me to get you there as discreetly as possible. Lets go."