Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 216

“I have to do something about this, or I won’t be able to get any work done,” I grumble.

Hearing me, Sara asks, “Why is this happening? When we launched the Guardian shoes, we didn’t have these kinds of issues, did we?”

When we first launched the Guardian Shoes, no one came to the office like this, so Sara can’t help but wonder what has changed.

“You’re right, this time it is my mistake…” I begin, after prefacing it with a sigh. “I think there are two main reasons for the chaos surrounding the pioneer shoes. The first reason is that the trade flow doesn’t include any sales or retail functions. We thought leaving everything up to the church would work, but it’s not going smoothly. I think Father Nicolo and Deacon Michelino are prioritizing certain factions, which means some clergy aren’t getting what they need and are coming directly to us.”

“Yeah, they did mention something about using them that way,” Sara responds.

“And with the Guardian Shoes, the status of the Sword Fang Legion serves as a buffer. Kiriku can turn away people who show up directly.”

“But you can’t just turn away clergy.”

I nod at Sara’s words.

“That’s the second reason. These aren’t adventurers; they’re priests. Adventurers may not be highly educated, but they’re rational consumers. They see the Guardian Shoes as tools they need to make money. If they can’t afford them, they won’t buy them. If they aren’t available, they’ll wait patiently until they are. That’s how adventurers behave.”

“Isn’t that how most people behave?” Sara responds.

“But priests aren’t like most people. They have more than enough money, and the reason they buy things, even when they’re not involved in pioneering, is to show off or impress their followers. So, prices don’t matter much to them. They’re used to being respected, so if they don’t get what they want, they think they can just go directly to a merchant and get what they need. Especially if the merchants used to be adventurers—they have no qualms about offering more money.”

“…That’s kind of annoying.”

I grab a pair of pioneer shoes nearby and hold them up. “Thanks to that, a pair of these shoes now costs five silver coins.”

Even though the current production cost has stabilized at about one large copper coin per pair, five silver coins means the price is fifty times the cost.

“Why not just sell them at that price?” Sara suggests.

“No. If we sell them now, the entire system for managing the seals at the church will collapse. Five silver coins isn’t worth the risk.”

The key to brand management is centralized control and preventing counterfeits. That’s why we put unique numbers on the shoes, ensuring unauthorized copies don’t exist.

That said, if we leave the problem as it is, I can’t imagine how much the price of the pioneer shoes will inflate.

Plus, if Father Nicolo or Deacon Michelino catch wind of this premium pricing frenzy and start suggesting strange ideas, it will only make things worse. They aren’t experts in business, and I want these shoes to be accessible to the workers, not create a luxury brand or spark a speculative bubble like the tulip craze.

We need to discuss this with the church and come up with some kind of solution.

“I guess testing really is important after all…”

I shudder at the thought of what kind of disaster would unfold if we had launched the Pioneer shoes in every church across the kingdom all at once. Even imagining that scene sends a chill down my spine.