A mid-level (middle-aged) office worker's laid-back industrial revolution in another world - Chapter 159

Translator: Jasper Kadowaki | Editor: NovelMultiverse

“We do need people to buy large quantities of these trench coats, or else we’ll go under,” said Takeo. 

“Hm… I see. Would you be opposed to these trench coats being manufactured in the royal capital?” asked King Azupal. The shopkeeper frowned. 

“Please don’t,” said Takeo, “We’ve only just come out with this new product. I don’t want it to be overshadowed. Besides, according to our patent, we’ve established that only these products that are sold in this store will be called ‘trench coats’… If imitations are being sold in town, a fine is to be imposed on the seller. If any similar products are being sold, we’ll use our patent as a pretext to go knock down that business, whether it’s in the royal capital or not.”

The king laughed softly and said, “The unions at the royal capital don’t know anything about that patent.”

“…Well, then, we’ll come out with a new, better product and start distribution on that. That would put the tailor shops at the royal capital in a bind, you know?” said Takeo. “And besides, the shops at the royal capital would only be making reproductions, wouldn’t they? If tailors that don’t understand the main concepts of the trench coat try to reproduce them, they won’t be of better quality than the ones sold here.”

“Hmm… That’s…” King Azupal muttered, troubled by this unexpected counterargument from Takeo. 

“Your customers will be saying things like ‘These tailor shops are behind the times’, ‘They only cater to aristocrats so their ideas aren’t up to par’, or ‘They’re third-rate tailors that don’t think about the common people’. These rumors will only hurt your businesses, right? On the other hand, we’ll just keep on making all kinds of products for the people in the rural districts,” said Takeo. 

“…You won’t sell to the royal capital?” asked the king. 

“We won’t support any stores that intend on ignore our patents, and so they can just keep wearing their clothes that don’t look to change for the better and acting better than everyone. I’ll keep on strengthening the marketing and design skills of this tailor shop, and sell clothes exclusively to rural districts.”

“Hmm… That won’t do… That would make it so that the royal capital’s fashion isn’t on the cutting edge.”

“If you want the royal capital to stay on the cutting edge, you’ll have to accept and recognize patents. Then, you’ll open up your city to all kinds of new styles of clothing. Your vendors will start valuing the independent creativity involved in the fusion of styles and development of new styles. To tell you the truth, I think that the sellers at the royal capital may be able to come up with luxurious forms of clothing, but I don’t really think they can come up with new kinds of clothes. Have you ever seen new concepts for clothes… actually being invented there?” asked Takeo. 

“You’re right – the sellers we employ don’t invent new kinds of clothes. When they look to make new but derivative styles, they look to the outer districts for ideas,” said the king. 

“It’s true. The stores here have a strong sense of creativity,” said William.

“If this shop was tasked with changing the styles of our own inventions,” said Takeo, “I believe we would come up with many more variations than the shops in the capital could come up with. On top of that, since we’re in the outer districts, we’re not swayed by the influence of aristocratic tastes, and we can come up with more inventive ideas. However, I’m sure that if you bought the basic versions of clothes here and decorated them at the shops in the capital, those products would sell, also.”

“I see. That’s a good idea, too… Shopkeeper, would you consider drawing up a contract between the tailor unions here and the unions in the capital over distribution rights for the trench coat?” asked the king. 

“What?!” exclaimed the shopkeeper. He couldn’t help but to show his surprise at this sudden proposition. 

“Is that really something you can decide, Alan-san?” asked Takeo. “Isn’t that something that should be between the unions themselves?”

“Hmph. Those unions are full of workers from rivaling aristocratic families. Their discussions never seem to go anywhere. This way, if someone like me (whose standing is close to the seat of power) administrates, things will progress more quickly. Besides, I find the products at this shop to be personally intriguing, and I want to try out some of the style variations myself.”

“Would the unions really act as quickly as you’d like them to?” asked Takeo. 

The king laughed softly and said, “Takeo, you don’t understand how much power I have. However, I’m quite busy, and so I shall let William handle it.”

“Oh, me?” asked William. 

“You have the time, don’t you?” asked the king. 

“Well, it’s true that I’m not very busy at the moment,” said William. He accepted the role of contract negotiator between the unions. 

“All right,” said Takeo, thinking for a moment. “Shopkeeper, what do you think? Should we go for it?”

“Yes!! I will gladly notify our unions and start the process moving immediately!” said the shopkeeper. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“I see… Well, let me tell you what I think,” said Takeo. 

“Of course,” said William. 

“I don’t want the general model for the trench coat to be altered. However, I think we will have to make a compromise in letting their tailors accessorize our product. One thing I don’t think we should back down on is keeping the factory that makes the trench coats themselves here, in this town,” said Takeo. 

“All right. We’ll include a clause that states that the method of production and the specifications in the trench coat model will remain a product of this town,” said William. 

“Thank you,” said Takeo. 

“We’ll go on to specify what the base model for trench coats that can be altered will be, but we would like to be able to purchase the market-ready trench coats produced here, as well. It will take a lot of effort to change the designs from here on out… We’ll make it so that as long as the placement of the pockets and lapels aren’t altered, any other design changes are permissible. We also definitely need one coat to be sent to us immediately,” said William. 

“I see. You want to raise demand for it at the royal capital, straight away,” said Takeo. 

“Yes. We will be inspecting it and researching it at the unions in the royal capital,” said William. 

“That should be fine. Trends will always come and go. The trench coat might be regulated, but it’s always good to establish these things for other clothes that may be considered for sale at the royal capital.”

“Yes. So, that’s the general outline for the contract we’ll be going for,” said William. 

“I don’t have any objections. I just think that the discussions between the unions will be rather tedious,” said Takeo. 

“Oh, really?” asked William. 

“Yes, the unions over there are prideful of being from the royal capital, aren’t they? The unions here are going to have to play along with their dramatic negotiations,” said Takeo. 

“Wow. Takeo, you have a good idea of what these unions are like,” said William. 

“It’s obvious, if you think about it,” said Takeo. “I have thought up a simple scenario. First of all, we will have the unions here and the unions from the royal capital sit down for a meeting. However, to ensure fair arbitration, we’ll have you present, William-san,” said Takeo. 

“All right,” said William, nodding. 

“From your seat, please announce the rather strict demands our unions are coming to the table with,” said Takeo. 

“Um… what kind of demands?” asked the shopkeeper. 

“An absolute ban on alterations. If they want to make any design alterations, they must submit proposals to our unions. Our unions will decide supply deadlines, along with the product prices. Any onlooker could see that they are impossibly challenging demands,” said Takeo. 

“Any businessman would be angered by such a proposition,” said the shopkeeper. 

“Then, when the capital unions react with anger, I would like you to hold them back, William-san,” said Takeo. 

“All right,” said William. 

“At that point, our demands will be one-sided, with all the benefits going to us. And so, in exchange for all manufacturing rights, you will ask for a compromise on allowing some alterations on a base model and permission for the capital unions to set their own prices for their sales,” said Takeo. 

“I see,” said King Azupal, nodding. 

“Then, we will take a short break from the proceedings, and after giving some time for consideration, we’ll return to the negotiations, and our unions will promise a strict observance of supply dates and technical specifications. For example… if one order is for ten coats, we will supply the coats within two weeks,” said Takeo. 

“Essentially, taking transportation time into consideration, we would have one week to complete the order… It wouldn’t be impossible, but it wouldn’t be easy, either,” said the shopkeeper, making preliminary calculations in his head. 

“Yes. I think they will be aware of that as well. I think it would be good to say to them, ‘We’re willing to make some difficult compromises as well’,” said Takeo. 

“I see. I think that capital unions would find that agreeable,” said William, nodding. 

“I thought that it would be good to go into negotiations with this general plan,” said Takeo. 

“Yes. If we adhere to this plan of Takeo’s, I think there’s a good chance that the unions from the royal capital will be willing to compromise. Well, then. I’ll leave the rest of these arrangements up to the unions and William,” said the king. 

“Yes, Father,” said William. 

“Understood,” said the shopkeeper, “I will go to our unions tonight and explain the situation. I will convince them to start negotiations.”

“I’m sorry we’ve gotten into such heavy business discussions so suddenly,” said Takeo. 

“No, no. This is a good thing for our shop, as well,” said the shopkeeper, happily. 

Then, Layla and Alice returned. 

“Oh? Father and William – you look quite happy,” said Layla. 

“Yes. We’ve just had a valuable conversation,” said King Azupal, grinning cheerfully. 

“Ah, so you’ve been showing off what this province is made of,” said Alice. 

William and Layla started chatting, happily. 

“Well, then, I guess it’s our turn, now,” said King Azupal. The king and William headed to the back of the shop. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]