“We what!?” the pair reacted strongly.
“It seems that your business was never registered properly and thus you have seemingly been failing to pay the taxes that would’ve been owed.” the city staffer explained.
“But, we officially registered it under our names in the menus and it confirmed.” Mia countered.
“Yes, that may be so, but the kingdom requires a separate registration to be logged at each town in order to expedite audits of the economy. It also helps the kingdom to recognize fraud, excellence, and tax evasion.”
“How were we supposed to know that!?” Mia once again shifted it back onto the staffer.
“I hate to say it, but you should’ve checked.” the staffer stated, using a well rehearsed line.
“So, how do we proceed from here?” Brad asked.
“Well, the simple answer is to pay the fines.” the staffer said, handing over a sheet of paper stating the fines.
Taking the proffered paper, Mia’s eyes grew wide. “That is quite excessive is it not. It has not even been a season!”
“We understand that. That is why, in the letter sent, I was requesting you to pay us a visit. The mayor’s office welcomes new business and understands that new residents may accidentally misstep their first few seasons here. So he would like an interview with you and to discuss what may be an alternative to the fines.”
Narrowing her eyes slightly in thought, Mia nodded her head before speaking. “Okay, that is fine. When would such a meeting be possible? We would prefer to do it today, especially since we need to plan out our finances with the possible fine hanging over our heads at a time that we need to start purchasing for next season.”
“The mayor is currently out at a meeting, but he should be back in roughly an hour, at which point I can squeeze you in. His schedule today is luckily fairly flexible, since it is mostly administrative work.”
“Okay, thank you for your help.” Mia said.
“Well, do you want to go check out the market and the baked goods sale?” Brad asked, hoping to pull Mia’s mind onto a new subject to prevent her from fixating.
“We can. I could really go for a snack right now.” she said, her eyes staring hard at nothing while obviously still deep in thought.
With a friendly and reassuring voice, the staffer called out before they left. “I wouldn’t worry too much ma’am. You are not the first and the mayor, for all his gruffness, does want local business to grow. Keep that in mind and enjoy your brunch with such a cutie.”
This time Brad being red faced, Mia let out a short laugh before they continued on their way.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
~~~ The Market~~~
“Wow, this is great!” Brad said, already halfway through his blueberry cupcake.
“It really is quite good.” Mia agreed, as she took a sip of their shared coffee.
“A gentleman that I was talking to, while you were paying, told me that the discount is because everything was cooked by the new bakers as a test of sorts before the new season. I guess that is how they determine their pay for the next season.”
“Oh, that is quite the smart idea. They can reward their good bakers while motivating the lackluster ones. Especially since they will be trying extremely hard, thus resulting in quite the great promotion advertising the establishment and the year to come!” Mia said, obviously impressed.
“I just had a great idea Mia.” Brad said, quickly sorting his thoughts before continuing. “How about we plant a few crops in plot of land away from where you enrich and then after a season we set up a booth somewhere in order to advertise your services? Maybe we can also set up a service offering your sorting and pricing abilities to other farmers in order to get them a few extra coins, while getting a few more for ourselves.”
“It is early to offer ‘Enrich’ to other farmers as a sole product as of now, but you are right. If we take into account the other things that I have been practicing, there is a bit more I could do. I had not thought of that. There are people that do it, but I really have not heard of anyone doing it for farmers of our level.”
“It may be because of the thin margins at our level, but even if it is just a few coins it should still be worth it in the long haul. You said that guaranteed customer base is what pushes you past iron. So what if we lock in the customers now? I would guess that they would be way more likely to keep us throughout the tiers, especially if we keep going at the pace that we are!” Brad continued to expand upon his idea to a wide smiling Mia.
“Brad, for having been so isolated growing up, you have started to really understand society well. That is a brilliant idea. Chances are we will make next to no extra coin, but you are completely right about locking them in early. Now that I have a system down, it has sped up quite a bit. But honestly, the biggest time sink each night is sorting all of the bits that Rumble finds. If we delay the sorting and sale of Rumble’s items until a single day each week instead of nightly, then I would most likely be able to handle another two farms worth of work. I would need some help though.” Mia said, thoughtfully.
“And you will have the help. We can have Rumble pick up their shipments and carry everything to the road for the business. He has been quite bored lately, now that he finishes all of his chores so quickly using his upgraded status.” Brad suggested.
“Okay, then let us see what we can arrange.” Mia replied.
“Where would we go about getting the business though? Do we just go around visiting other farms or should we make some flyers?” Brad asked.
“We can most likely ask Samantha down at her store. She has been quite helpful, I am sure she knows of a fellow farmer or two that would be interested.” Mia said thoughtfully.
“Is she the one that owns ‘Homestead Tooling and Sales’?” Brad asked.
“That is the one. I am surprised that you remember the name though. I am sure that I have not mentioned it by name that many times.” Mia said in surprise.
“I see it a ton on our balance sheet and accounts page.” Brad clarified.
“Oh! Well that just made me super happy! I did not realize that you check it so much.”
“I tend to check it while doing dishes. I figured that I needed to be involved enough to not be a burden.”
“You are not a burden, but I am happy that you are trying so hard.” Mia said while standing up to walk around the table to hug Brad.
Accepting the hug, Brad asked; “So, I guess you are done eating? Are you ready to head back to the Mayor’s office?”
“That I am. Regardless of what happens, I think we still have a solid outlook for the end of this season and going into the next one.” Mia said, accepting the offered hand.
Which name do you think is a good fit for the book?
