One Last System

Chapter 32 - Arthurs Presentation

"Before I begin, let me tell pass on a piece of knowledge my father taught me," I said, putting a wide smile on my face.

I spent an entire year in sales back on earth, trying to make a living out of it before my other projects hit it up. As such, while not substantial, I had some experience in selling a product of my own.

"There are times of great prosperity and times of great hunger. There are times of moderate times and times when everything seems to change," I started up with a bit of narration, hoping to lure the audience in on it.

"But there is only one commodity that will always be in demand. A commodity that will be demanded both when the times are great and when the times are dire," I said before spreading my arms wide.

"This commodity is bread and rice. No matter what, people are going to eat, as such, bread makers and rice farmers will never run out of the demand for what they can supply," I stated one of the very basic rules of the economy.

The reason why I expanded the law of bread to rice was simple. I had no idea what was the staple in this world, so by adding this second most common dish of earth, I hoped to have a better shot at guessing the truth correctly.

"This law that my father passed on to me got me to think. If people are going to eat anyway, why not make it a bit more enjoyable?" I asked, waiting for a moment as if expecting an answer from the audience.

"Now, to fully understand my point, there is one thing that I believe all of you, esteemed guests, will agree on. People are always going to pay for the luxury," I stated, only to bow my entire body down, implying that the very audience listening to me were the people I just spoke about.

"I would never dare to assume that's something new for you, esteemed guests, but there is one more thing that I learned on my own," I said, once again taking a moment of silence to build up the tension.

"People are always going to pay extra to get the original product!" I announced, making sure that the importance of this message was visible in all of myself, not only through my words.

For a few moments, I just stood in silence with a small smirk on my face. And then...

"In order to make the fries that took this town by a storm, one needs to put chopped potatoes into a pot of boiling oil. Once the pieces turn golden in color, they are fit for consumption. By adding a sprinkle of salt to every serving, their true taste will be revealed," I revealed the recipe for the fries that some poor fellow paid entire three gold coins.

And I did it for free.

Because the people that listened to my words were all big shots. Just from how this building looked like, I could tell that one had to possess a substantial wealth to be even allowed to the bidding stands.

And while a huge part of those people would be simply born into wealth, I counted that there was also a considerable number of people swift in their brains to understand my aim.

To understand the reason why I just revealed what should be a massive secret... for free!

"I believe I said everything that I should for the esteemed guests to understand the value of the sauce that was originally introduced along with the fries," I finally spoke, calmly looking at the crowd surrounding me from three sides. "Oh, and on the last note, in a single hour that I spent selling it, I earned five gold coins," I said, whipping out the money from my pocket and showing it to the spectators.

I then turned my head towards the jade beauty serving as an announcer.

"My presentation is finished," I said, hiding the money back and gracing the beautiful girl with a shy smile.

"You heard him, folks!" the girl picked up on my words in an instant. Her voice instantly spread throughout the massive hall, announcing the start of the most important part of my presentation.

The bidding.

"What this young man is selling is a recipe for the secret sauce to the fries that he presented to us!" the girl shouted.

An idea appeared in my mind, forcing me to raise my hand a little.

"Do you want to add something?" the girl noticed my gesture and asked. With how close I was to her, I could see how she bit her lips in annoyance.

'It seems that I shouldn't have done that,' I thought as I nodded my head.

I took a step forward to make sure everyone's eyes would be directed at me.

"Just like this impossibly beautiful announcer said, who I'm sure is most of the reasons why all the men visit this place, what I'm selling is the sauce. But what she didn't know..." I took a moment for the tension to build up before dropping a bomb on everyone in the room.

"I'm selling the sauce along with all the commercial right to exploit it," I shouted.

The hall was previously filled with some slight murmurs coming from the people discussing the opportunity. But after my words, not a single soul dared to utter a word.

"What I mean is outside of my own, personal use, I will never again partake in selling the fries and ketchup, nor will I ever sell the recipe to anyone else for as long as I'm alive!"

For a few more moments, the hall turned silent.

If my offer was attractive before, giving all those money-hungry powerhouses a chance to earn insane amounts, then now, I doubled if not tripled its worth.

By adding those two simple rules, I ensured that whoever would buy the recipe would practically get a monopoly on the dish!

"The bidding will start at one hundred..." the announcer spoke,

"THREE HUNDRED!" Someone in the crowd shouted before the girl could even finish her words.

"Three hundred to the lot twenty..."

"Five hundred!" someone else outbid the first bid.

"Seven hundred!'

"Eight hundred!"

"Eight hundred-fifty!"

The initial drive quickly died off, reaching sums far higher than what the auction house proposed at the beginning.

In other words, I was already satisfied with the current bids. Yet, for some reason, whenever someone would hike up the price, my eyes would travel to that person.

Partly because I wanted to know who would potentially be after getting the recipe out of me forcefully and partly because I wanted to know who the people could splurge.

"One thousand!" someone shouted, raising the big by one hundred and fifty golden coins at once!

Moving my eyes to the buyer, I felt as if the world around me suddenly stopped progressing in time.

Because I could recognize the man who just made this insane bid!