Chapter 1348: Sincerity
"No, no. You should do this." Layla shook her head, pointing at a certain spot in the paper. "You made a mistake here."
"Oh?!" Anna squinted her eyes, recalculating everything in her mind. "Now that you say it, it's really a mistake. Let me correct them."
Layla and Anna had been doing their best preparing for the charity organization. Of course, Layla was the one teaching Anna how to set up the foundation.
Although Anna was a complete newbie, the saintess was actually quite surprised by how accurate Anna was. She expected Anna to make a lot more mistakes.
Yet, Anna only made some minor mistakes. And that was because of the log that Noel's parents gave to them.
Both of them had learned it together slightly, so they understood the operation a bit. In fact, these minor mistakes were not supposed to be mistakes, at least according to the log.
However, due to the changing era, several adjustments had to be made.
"Saintess." Aurelia entered the room with a serious expression. "They have come."
"They? Oh!" Layla nodded. "Please invite them here."
"Yes." Aurelia bowed to her first and exited the room before returning together with the three merchants, Maxwell, Theressa, and Zephyr.
"Saintess, Lady Anna. We have come." Maxwell politely bowed as the others followed.
"Thank you for coming here." Anna smiled. "I believe my husband has told you about this organization."
"Yes. The marquis has told us about the charity." Theressa nodded.
"May I know what kind of request you have for us? Is it only good procurement?" Zephyr asked with a shaking voice.
Anna nodded. "Yes. We do need you to procure items. We're going to need a lot of items from this point on, so I wish you can procure all those items. Basically, it's all the necessities to create buildings and roads. Of course, all the tools are necessary.
"The Ardagan family will reimburse your spending. And if possible, we would like to get a high-quality one since this is for the long-term stability of the land," explained Anna.
"I see. In that case, leave it to me. I'm good at daily necessities. I will also procure a lot of food. I don't need any reimbursement." Maxwell smiled confidently.
"That's not fair, Maxwell." Theressa frowned. "Lady Anna. Although my company is smaller than his, I believe no one can procure building materials better than me. I will prepare all the tools and materials to build houses and roads. You don't have to reimburse me. It's my way of repaying Marquis' kindness."
"I can procure all things, like clothes. I have a good relationship with the lords in the west." Zephyr raised his hand, not wanting to lose Noel's favor.
Layla was quite shocked. The Ardagan family planned to invest 120,000 gold coins for this charity every month. If these three planned to donate items outside those 120,000 gold coins, they basically donated another 100,000 coins' worth of materials. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time.
Anna, on the other hand, shook her head. "We are grateful for your help, but this is the foundation set up by the Ardagan family. So, of course, we should pay for the item."
"This..." Maxwell lowered his head. "How about this, Lady Anna? We will sell it to you at the cost price. In addition, you only have to pay 50% of the cost. Let us bear half the cost. We won't be able to achieve all this success without the marquis.
"Besides, if you continue developing this area, we will be able to help our potential customers in the future, which is a kind of investment."
"Yes. That's true. Please allow us to help as well, Lady Anna." Theressa nodded.
Anna smiled. Everything went according to Noel's expectation. "I understand. Let's proceed with that arrangement. As thanks, my husband has prepared a contract deed for your priority usage of the airships."
"This. We don't do this for a reward." Maxwell was happy with the reward, but if he accepted it, he would look greedy, which would tarnish his own reputation.
However, Anna waved her hand. "It was decided before this, so just accept it."
"I understand." Maxwell finally gave up on persuading Anna.
Little did Anna know, Maxwell planned to find the highest quality materials and lied to Anna about the price. Of course, he lowered the price further so that he would bear the majority of the cost.
But this small gesture couldn't escape Noel's eyes. Zephyr was a coward, so he didn't dare to do anything beyond what was requested.
However Maxwell and Theressa did it. They were actually the first two merchants who had their own airship given by Noel, but it was still in the future.
This request was more like a test from Noel. If they served him with sincerity, Noel would give them even more.
Anna nodded. "In that case, this is the list of the materials. See if you have any problems in procuring them. And this list is for every month, I believe.
"You three can discuss which items you plan to purchase." Anna gave them the list.
The three couldn't help but have their eyes glued to the list, skimming all kinds of items.
"It shouldn't be too hard. However, from this list, I don't see some essential items, such as salt. Although it's a small gesture, adding salt to the list would definitely make the people happier," Maxwell explained.
"Yes. Looking at the list of the materials as well as the number, I think you need a few other materials." Theressa squinted her eyes. As someone who focused on construction, Theressa obviously knew what was needed to build a house or any other thing.
So, she knew a few things were still missing.
"Is that so?" Anna crossed her arms. "In that case, please revise the list as you see fit and give it back to me so that I can review it again. In the end, we are lacking experience in doing charity, so I hope that the three of you help me to perfect it so that we don't have any trouble during the operation."
"Yes, we'll do our best."