"Whoops," the bar of soap, slippery from having just been used, flew out of the old man’s grip the instant Lucas handed it to him, but with uncanny reflexes, he managed to reach out and catch it between his thumb and pointer finger, applying just enough pressure to not let it slip again.

Impressive, Lucas thought to himself.

Since this was a bathroom, Lucas naturally didn’t release his Soul Sense to investigate the other party, but even then, he could tell that this old man was at least a Spirit Initiate, a powerful one at that.

Obviously, he was someone of importance, perhaps a high-ranking Commander, or maybe an Elder of the Randolph Family; but right now, that really wasn’t relevant.

Once all the trappings were stripped away, quite literally in this case, he was just another old man.

"Using it is simple," Lucas explained, "Just rub it together with your hands until they’re fully lathered, then scrub yourself down. Using a washcloth for that is my preference, but I only have one on me."

Taking Lucas’ advice, the old man began lathering his hands before scrubbing down his arms and chest.

A few minutes and a few buckets of hot water later, the old man and Lucas both settled into the hot-spring, sitting side by side as they leaned back and relaxed.

"This soap is a good thing, boy," the old man smiled, sniffing his arm slightly, "It even has a pleasant scent to it."

"Glad you like it, old sir. I can’t remember exactly what type was used for this batch, but we normally add various kinds of wildflowers to give it different scents," Lucas replied somewhat proudly.

"Oh? You made this yourself? And in batches, you say?" The old man’s brow rose, "That must mean you plan on selling it, yes?"

Lucas nodded, "En. We’re in the middle of moving to the South-East Province, so we’re not currently selling any, but I imagine we’ll be churning out many bars of soap in the near future."

"Would you like to put in an order?" Lucas turned and grinned, "Buy in bulk now, and I’ll give you a small discount, along with a few free samples."

"Hahaha," the old man laughed loudly, "Quite the little merchant, aren’t you, brat?"

Ruffling Lucas’ hair with his rough, calloused hand, the old man grinned, "Still, you make a compelling pitch. How much for 100 bars?"

His eyes gleaming at the sound of profit rolling in, Lucas made an offer, "Normally, a bar of soap sells for around 2 Silvers, but since this is the first deal I’ve made since arriving in Falcon’s Bend, I’ll offer it to you at 1 Silver, 50 Coppers per bar."

"Really? Just 15 Gold for 100 bars of this soap?" The old man was genuinely surprised when he heard this price, "And how many uses is each bar good for?"

"That varies from person to person," Lucas acknowledged, "but in general, an adult can get 20 to 30 uses out of a single bar."

"So, a month’s worth of use from a single bar if used conservatively," the old man muttered, doing some quick calculations in his head.

He might not be a merchant, but he wasn’t ignorant of how expensive a bottle of Bathing Cream was or how many uses you could get out of one.

If what Lucas was telling him was true, then 100 bars of soap was equivalent to roughly 120 bottles of Bathing Cream, but importing 120 bottles of Bathing Cream to Falcon’s Bend would cost at least 150 Gold; probably more.

In order words, even without any kind of discounts, soap was over 7 times cheaper than Bathing Cream, yet from what the old man could tell, it did just about as good a job removing dirt and sweat.

Now, to a man like him, there was essentially no difference between 20 Gold and 150 Gold, both were pittances not worth worrying about; however, nobody liked the feeling of being ripped-off, especially when they knew there was a better alternative.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the old man asked pointedly, "Are you sure you’re allowed to sell so much of this soap at such a steep discount?"

Since Lucas was a guest at the Lord’s Manor, he obviously wasn’t a simple commoner, but at most, the old man believed this boy was the young son of the inventor of soap, meaning his ability to market and sell this product was limited.

Naturally, that was far from the truth.

"Hahah," this time, it was Lucas’ turn to laugh.

Soap was his product, how could he not have permission to sell it? Besides, the cost to produce a bar of soap was only about 20 to 25 Coppers, so even selling it at 1 Silver, 50 Coppers, Lucas was making a huge profit.

"Whether it’s 100 bars, or 10,000 bars, I can sell you however much you want," Lucas declared confidently, though he immediately added, "Of course, it might take a while to produce that many bars..."

"Hmm..." the old man took a hard look at Lucas, seemingly reevaluating him.

From the moment he had sensed Lucas entering the bathroom, he knew this boy wasn’t ordinary, but it seemed he was still underestimating him.

Interesting, the old man grinned, "Alright then, brat. Let’s start with 100 bars, and if all your claims about this soap prove to be true, you can expect bigger orders from me in the future."

"Deal! Sir...?" Lucas stretched out his hand, only now remembering he hadn’t actually asked for the other party’s name.

"Just call me Nicholas, or Old Nick," the man replied, reaching out and shaking the offered hand firmly.

"Then you can call me Lucas," the young boy responded, not showing the least bit of hesitation, "Pleasure doing business with, Sir Nicholas."

"Heh, Lucas, is it? I’ll remember that name," Nicholas grinned.

.....

"So, how did you two meet?" Count Randolph asked with some slight confusion as his young guest, Lucas, and the former Count, his father Nicholas, both entered the dining room together, laughing and chatting together.

"Oh, Lester, my boy! Listen to this," Nicholas Randolph grinned, his voice booming loudly, "My new little friend Lucas here has some incredible products he’s willing to sell us. You have to try them!"

"I... see," Lester Randolph was surprised to see his grumpy old man in such good spirits, really making him wonder just what kind of ’products’ Lucas was peddling now.

After remembering the great debate from last night, however, Lester didn’t actually find it that surprising that Lucas was involved in commerce as well.

This boy was just... different.

Not only was Lucas well versed in a wide variety of technical fields, he also had knowledge of military tactics and strategies that even an experienced veteran like General Caldwell had never heard of before.

Lucas’ cultivation was low, that was undeniable, but Lester wasn’t the least bit skeptical of why Celestina Balfour had taken him as her First Disciple.

Cultivation could be improved with time, effort, and resources, but no amount of money or training could ’create’ genius or character.

"Thank you for your hospitality last night, Lord Randolph," giving a polite salute, Lucas smiled towards the Count, "I also apologize for my unsightly behaviour during our discussion."

"Think nothing of it," Lester waved the apology off, "If anything, it should be Oscar and myself who are apologizing to you, Young Master Lucas. We became so engrossed in our late-night talks that we actually forget you are still just a boy."

Scratching his cheek awkwardly, Lucas just smiled and laughed, not taking offence at being called a child.

"Hm, what’s this about a late-night talk?" The former Count inquired, plunking himself down at the table while the maids busied themselves serving breakfast.

"General Caldwell and I were talking with little Lucas here about how to solve our ship-building problem," Count Randolph explained succinctly, motioning for Lucas to also take a seat next to him.

"Two grown men were actually asking a 10-year-old brat to fix that bloody mess?" Nicholas asked incredulously.

"Lucas offered to help," Lester shrugged, not the least bit embarrassed that he was consulting with a youngster, "Lucas practically solved all of our issues already, with the only problem left now being acquiring enough funds and implementing the new plan."

"Huh?" The former Count’s brain short-circuited for a moment when he heard this.

He was familiar with the smuggling situation, the demands from the Royal Council, and all the headaches both his son and his old friend Oscar had been enduring trying to deal with all of this.

Even his precious wife had been running around a lot over the past couple of years, busy with diplomatic and lobbying work, leaving her little time to just relax and enjoy retired life with him.

To suddenly be told that a young boy had casually dropped into the manor and solved all of their issues was more than just shocking.

"With regards to the funding issue, I actually have an idea," Lucas gulped down the piece of bread he had been chewing and casually announced.

""You do?"" Both the current and former Count Randolphs turned to Lucas and asked curiously.

"En," Lucas grinned, "But I’ll need to talk to the local lumberjacks and see the forests around Falcon’s Bend first to know if my idea is feasible or not."