The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower
Chapter 27: Supplements (2)
There is a city in the Empire where dark clouds gather 365 days a year, and a drizzle falls continuously.
This place is the territory of the Blue Tower, Rafus.
A meeting was in session inside the tall tower in this gloomy land.
"......The Tower Master has issued a final ultimatum."
Moira Main, a 5th-level mage of the Blue Tower, spoke up.
She looked visibly exhausted, with dark shadows under her eyes from the past few weeks of grueling work.
"He said that if we fail to recover the losses the Tower has sustained this time, we should be prepared for the consequences."
At her words, some subordinates shivered and slammed the table in frustration.
"The Tower Master is being too harsh! Is this entirely our fault?"
"......Not exactly."
If it weren't for that arrogant young brat, Oscar Crucian, interrupting things midway, the atmosphere of this meeting would be completely different.
In that case, Moira might have already been promoted to a high-ranking position in the potion department.
"But the past is the past. What's important now is that we have one last chance left."
If a crisis arises, it must be turned into an opportunity.
If Moira could solve this problem, she could undoubtedly cement her status with the Tower Master.
"Show the requested data."
"Yes, ma'am."
The junior mage immediately projected the prepared data on one side of the meeting room wall.
"This is a comparison chart of potions from the Blue Tower and the White Tower, which recently entered the potion market."
"Hmm......"
Moira examined the data thoughtfully.
‘The White Tower has definitely restored records of old potions. The effects are indeed remarkable.
However, just because the effects were good doesn't mean it translated into sales.
The reason was simple, merchants were wary of the Blue Tower’s influence.
Their strategy seems to be offering low prices despite their effectiveness, but it likely won’t work.
No merchant in the potion market would dare incur the wrath of the Blue Tower.’
A junior mage muttered in amazement while looking at the same screen.
"It's honestly surprising. Even with such effective and much cheaper potions, merchants won't touch them at all because they're afraid of our influence."
"It’s to be expected. Humans are inherently distrustful creatures."
Moira smirked.
Humans often equate price with quality.
In other words, even if a similar product is introduced at a lower price, people tend not to switch from what they’re used to.
"Especially with potions, if the price is too low, people suspect cheap ingredients or potential side effects from long-term use."
This was the perception that Moira intended to exploit.
Having completed her calculations, Moira spoke.
"The White Tower... we could crush them easily right now, don't you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"Starting tomorrow, request a massive discount on all recovery potions below the premium level."
Her plan was to prevent the White Tower from even gaining a foothold in the market.
It was a tactic only a dominant player like the Blue Tower could afford to use.
A subordinate hesitantly raised his hand with a question.
"But if the White Tower endures this, won't we suffer significant losses? They did earn quite a bit from the Cadena flu treatment, after all."
"Heh, how much could they have possibly earned?"
Moira scoffed.
It was not baseless arrogance but rather confidence born from her calculations.
"They were foolish enough to release the treatment too early."
If the Blue Tower had developed the Cadena flu cure, they would have waited until the flu became a nationwide epidemic before selling it.
That would have maximized their profits.
But the White Tower foolishly squandered that opportunity.
"They released the treatment when the flu was only spreading in the northern region."
Moira estimated the sales in her mind and then spoke.
"They probably made, at most, a few tens of millions of bells."
"A few tens of millions of bells... That’s a pretty ambiguous sum."
While an enormous amount to the average person, it was hardly a substantial reserve for a Magic Tower’s treasury.
In fact, that kind of money was barely enough for basic operations.
"They likely planned to use the goodwill from the treatment to launch their potions and enter the market, but... that's not going to happen."
If the Blue Tower had suffered a loss, then the White Tower should, too.
Moira had no doubts about her decision.
"Three weeks."
She held up three fingers and declared confidently.
"If we discount our potions for just three weeks, it’ll be enough to choke them out. They won’t be able to establish themselves in the market."
She recalled the arrogant words the White Tower's brat had once told her:
- To use the potions you've created, you’ll either have to pay us royalties for using the patented technology or destroy the entire stock. You’ll have to choose one.
Remembering that moment, her eyes flared with anger once again.
‘That insolent fool. He must have felt on top of the world back then.
But now, our roles have reversed.
The White Tower will either jump into a price war and bleed out or be forced to hold onto all their stock and face ruin. They’ll have to choose one or the other.’
Lena White, a 5th-level mage of the White Tower, was in charge of managing the potion department in Oscar's absence.
Her expression darkened as she read the morning newspaper.
[Blue Tower Launches “Warm Winter” Discount Campaign.]
The Blue Tower, their competitor, had suddenly started offering discounts on all their potions.
The discount was a whopping 50%, with a seemingly good justification — to help the poor get through the harsh winter in good health.
Of course, with such a steep discount, there was no way they could make any profit.
‘In fact, they’re losing money with every potion they sell....’
Realizing the obvious trap in this move, Lena hurried to find Oscar.
"Oscar, this is serious."
"What’s the matter?"
"Look at this."
Instead of frowning, Oscar took the newspaper and let out a small laugh.
"Look at them, pulling such a cute little trick."
"......Cute? This insane discount could ruin us!"
"Why would it ruin us?"
Oscar crumpled the newspaper and tossed it into the trash can, unfazed.
"Don’t worry. They can’t sustain this kind of discount for more than two or three weeks."
"Those two or three weeks could be devastating for us! We need to establish a foothold while the Cadena flu-related products are still selling..."
After that, breaking into the market would be even harder.
Lena bit her lip and spoke.
"It’s not too late. Let’s bundle the Cadena flu products with our potions and sell them together."
"Absolutely not."
Oscar shook his head firmly.
"That’s exactly what the Blue Tower wants. We’d be giving them the perfect excuse to crush us."
The Cadena-related products would only be in demand for at most another month.
If they bundled them with potions, their sales would indeed skyrocket.
However, market dissatisfaction would quietly build.
‘When the Cadena treatment is no longer needed, we’d be finished as well.’
He could already imagine the sensational headlines that would pop up.
"So what should we do? We can’t just sit here and get pummeled until we collapse."
Lena looked frustrated, but then she noticed something odd.
‘Why is he... so calm in this situation?’
His relaxed demeanor was infuriating, as if the poor potion sales didn’t concern him at all.
"......Do you have something planned?"
"It would be rude not to respond when they attack us, right?"
Oscar turned to Lena with a question.
"Until now, we haven’t sold any potions, right?"
"Yes. We haven’t sold a single bottle."
"Which means we still have all that potion stock in our warehouse?"
"......In the warehouse? The stock is piled up like a mountain."
"Perfect."
Oscar made a bold decision.
"Starting today, reprocess all the intermediate potions piled up in the warehouse into the Zero Series. I've given you the recipe, so you can handle it, right?"
"...All that stock?"
"Or would you rather sit around hugging that stock while doing nothing?"
Oscar chuckled and continued.
"And tell the postmen to spread the word: if a household buys two or more kinds of Zero Series, offer an additional discount. That way, families with kids or elderly parents will be inclined to buy more."
"Heh."
Even Lena couldn’t help but be impressed.
It was as if Oscar had predicted this situation and was handling it with incredible flexibility.
"And one more thing. Let’s bribe a few people from the information guild to spread a little rumor."
"A rumor? What kind of rumor?"
"M-Zero."
M-Zero was the name of a male (Male) supplement.
Oscar lightly tapped his chin as he continued.
"If a rumor spreads that it also helps with vitality enhancement, won’t that be interesting?"
".........Would that actually boost sales?"
"Just wait and see."
Oscar shrugged with a confident smile.
Three weeks flew by in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Moira Main barely got any sleep, monitoring the potion market's sales every day.
And today, she came to a conclusion.
'The massive discount promotion by our Blue Tower ended two days ago.
I’ve been checking the sales charts since then, but White Tower's potions still haven’t been selling.
Moreover, the Cadena Flu issue has died down.
Today, I’m finally certain.
White Tower will never gain a foothold in the potion market.
If they really want to, they’ll need at least a decade of long-term investment.
Of course, even if they decide to invest that long, we could crush them whenever we want.'
Just as Moira was feeling confident in his complete victory, the head of the Blue Tower's potion department personally came to see her.
"Moira Main."
"Yes, sir."
Moira stood up abruptly, clenching her fists.
She was sure it was praise for driving White Tower out of the potion market.
But she didn’t let her guard down.
‘Just because I pushed White Tower out doesn’t mean I’ve completely recovered the Blue Tower’s losses. This is only the first hurdle.’
As she waited with a humble expression for the next words, the department head’s face twisted like crumpled paper.
"What kind of work have you been doing?"
"...Excuse me?"
"I’m asking if you sacrificed so much profit just to get these pathetic results!"
With that, a newspaper was flung at his face.
Stunned, Moira didn’t even think to rub her stinging nose; she glanced at the newspaper that had fallen to the floor.
On the front page were large headlines about the White Tower.
[White Tower Breaks into New Market? Hits Jackpot with Nutritional Supplements.]
[Zero Series Sells 10 Million Bottles in a Month, Popular Among Families as a Gift Product.]
[Convenient Home Deliveries: Spotlight on White Tower’s Door-to-Door Sales and Subscription System.]
[M-Zero for Men: Surprising Effects on Vitality, Leading to Shortages.]
[White Tower’s Success Story: From Cadena Flu Remedy to Nutritional Supplements.]
[Alchemist Genius Oscar Crucian’s Remarkable Statement: ‘Inspired by the Blue Tower’s Generous Discount, the White Tower Vows to Offer Lifetime Discounts on Potions.’]
"Wha...what?"
Nutritional supplements, not potions?
White Tower had been selling these all along?
‘No way. How could I not have known... Ah!’
Moira’s gaze stopped at the phrase "door-to-door sales."
She realized that the core of this business was face-to-face contracts using the postmen.
‘With this method, sales volumes wouldn’t be recorded in the market data.’
Since the transactions happened directly on the spot rather than through store inventories, there was no way to track them.
Understanding the situation at last, Moira Main’s face turned pale.
The potion department head coldly remarked as he observed her.
"He even declared that he’d keep selling White Tower’s potions at a lifetime discount."
Moira Main quickly checked the price they had announced and screamed.
"That’s blatant fraud! This price is exactly what they originally intended to sell at!"
"Do you think the public knows that? Not a single bottle was supplied to the market until now."
There were two main reasons why market vendors hadn’t accepted White Tower’s potions before:
One was to avoid the Blue Tower’s displeasure, and the other was the unbelievably low price.
‘...Given the situation now, worrying about the Blue Tower’s reaction has become irrelevant.
Even if it’s a different market, White Tower has already sold 10 million bottles of their supplement, becoming a rising star in the potion industry.’
‘Moreover, they’ve crafted a plausible justification for the low price, calling it a "lifetime discount."
It’s clear that White Tower’s potions will soon flood the market.’
As Moira Main opened and closed her mouth, unable to find words, the potion department head issued a chilling warning.
"You’ll be very busy from now on."
"Wh-what?"
"To recover the losses the Blue Tower suffered, you’ll have to work for the rest of your life without pay, and it still won’t be enough."
It was over.
Moira Main’s face filled with despair.

Comments

Loading...