The Saracaen Company contacted Cain roughly one week later, informing him the prototype version of Othello had been finished. Cain asked Sebas to act as his coachman as he returned to the store. There, an excited Tamanis presented the prototype to him.
The prototype still needed some work. Cain pointed out possible improvements as he explained how the game worked. Othello was a game that could be enjoyed by both children and adults. Although its rules were simple and easy to remember, the game itself was deeply complex. It was also easy to make, so there wouldn’t be any difficulties mass-producing it.
They played a round as Cain explained the rules. As this was Parma’s first time playing, Cain managed to win easily.
“Master Cain! This is incredible! It will definitely be a big hit!” Despite losing, Parma was extremely excited.
Tamanis, who was watching by the side, folded his arms and nodded as well. “Let’s first register the finished product. That will prevent copycats. However, other companies are only restricted from making it for three years. After that, anyone can copy and sell it.”
Cain understood that to be something like the duration of the patent license. Three years of a monopoly was long enough to get a significant number of copies into circulation.
“Yes, that’s fine. When creating these Othello sets, let’s make two different versions: one for nobles, and one for general use. I believe nobles and wealthy individuals will want a more luxurious version. In exchange, we can make the standard version cheaper to the point anyone can afford it. The spread of leisure activities is the ultimate goal. Let’s make fifty sets of the luxury version and one thousand sets of the standard version. We can make more depending on sales.”
Tamanis winced slightly at Cain’s proposal. “Our company may not have enough assets on hand for that. If we sold the aristocrat version for one large silver and the general use version for one silver, the manufacturing costs would come out to…”
Given the numbers that were being worked with, Tamanis had to stop to think for a moment.
Cain calculated in his head and immediately answered for him, “If we assume that the manufacturing costs are thirty percent of the sales cost, it will cost us three silvers per luxury set for a total of one hundred and fifty silvers, and three large coppers per standard set for a total of three thousand large coppers. The total cost summing everything up would be four gold coins and five large silvers.”
“Master Cain, you calculate extremely quickly!” Parma said, her radiant eyes filled with respect.
Tamanis also seemed impressed by Cain’s calculation speed, but he had a gloomy look on his face.
“Master Cain, that is unfortunately too great a sum for our company to cover,” Tamanis said in an apologetic tone. “If we put all our assets into this, we won’t be able to purchase the other goods we offer.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll cover the initial startup costs. I don’t have any other plans for the money I have on hand anyway.”
Cain took five gold coins from his pouch and placed them on the table. Although he was technically an independent noble, he was still a ten-year-old child. Seeing Cain take out gold coins so easily shocked Tamanis, who tightened his expression.
“Thank you, Master Cain. We of the Saracaen Company will put our all into this.” Tamanis got up out of his chair and offered Cain a deep bow.
“No need for that. You can simply pay me back after we start selling them. The money I’m giving you is an investment.”
“Understood. Let’s first create the contract. We can offer it up to the God of Commerce alongside the finished product.”
Tamanis began to write the details of the contract onto parchment. He created three copies: one for himself, one for Cain, and one to offer up alongside the product to the God of Commerce. That was standard practice.
Mid-sized and larger companies all had a simple altar in their stores that they used to worship the God of Commerce, and the Saracaen Company naturally had one as well. It was similar to the household shrines from Cain’s previous life. Tamanis placed the prototype and contract on the altar and began to pray.
The shrine flashed, and the Othello set and contract vanished.
“Oh!” Cain couldn’t stop himself from yelping in surprise. Since that set vanished, does that mean it went to where the Gods are? I hope they enjoy it.
“By offering up this contract to the gods, we are essentially swearing that we will protect the terms outlined in it no matter what.”
“Thank you for showing me this. I’ll leave the matter of manufacturing to you. Let’s aim to start selling sets next month. Oh, I’m going to purchase ten of the luxury sets for myself, so hold onto them for me. I want to prepare one for the royal family as well, so make one especially luxurious for the royal family.”
“F-for the royal family?!” Tamanis’s face paled. “Understood. We will put all we have into the creation of this product.”
The royal family typically didn’t buy things from mid-sized companies. Large companies had a complete monopoly on their business. It would be strange to not be surprised at the sudden mention of selling something directly to the royal family. Despite this, Cain had made a promise to the gods. He had to do it.
The Othello sets were finished and ready for sale a month late. They were immensely popular and immediately sold out. The Saracaen Company began to mass-produce sets, but still struggled to keep up with demand. The product’s overwhelming success made Tamanis overjoyed to the point of tears. However, that is a story for the future.