"Setting up a market directly inside the town instead of using the model of an outer commercial district," Mr. White rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Then if our Merchant Alliance branch moves in, won't we still have to pay you taxes?"
"Haha! No need for that. After all, we're partners," Ethan waved his hand with a smile, "But, well, if your Merchant Alliance wants to rent houses in my town and use my town's facilities and equipment, you'll still have to pay rent."
"After all, I'll have to send residents to manage and clean your houses."
"But as mutually beneficial partners, I'll definitely give you the lowest possible discount. You can rest assured about that, Mr. White."
Mr. White frowned as he thought about the new cooperation model Ethan had described.
For some reason… he always felt like he was being scammed.
But he couldn't find any actual evidence that he was being scammed.
For example, he had thought Lord Ethan would make an outrageous demand and take a cut of the Merchant Alliance branch's sales taxes or something.
But Ethan had said there would be no business tax.
That was rather strange.
"Then the rent…"
Mr. White was a little worried that Ethan would charge an extremely high rent, "How are you planning to charge it?"
"As for rent, I'll build another ten hotels and ten small villa buildings later," Ethan grinned, "The hotels will offer daily, monthly, and yearly rentals. The longer you rent, the cheaper it'll be."
"If your Merchant Alliance branch wants to rent the budget rooms, they'll be very cheap. A daily rental is only two Dragon Coins."
"A monthly rental is even cheaper. It only costs forty-five Dragon Coins a month."
"And if you rent by the year, it's even better. You only need to pay one Dragon Coin a day, and you'll get a large wooden bed, a comfortable soft blanket made from animal fur, a soft pillow, a fully automatic toilet, and so on."
"Isn't that very cheap?"
Ethan smiled and asked.
But he didn't mention that this was only the cost of lodging, and the budget hotel rooms were all single rooms. In other words, this was the price for a room with nothing but a toilet.
If it was a one-bedroom apartment with a living room, the price would naturally be higher.
And besides one-bedroom apartments, there were also two-bedroom apartments, as well as rooms with showers, small balconies, self-lighting, and so on. But those certainly weren't one Dragon Coin a day. They cost ten Dragon Coins a day.
Ethan naturally wasn't going to tell Mr. White that those little single rooms didn't even have a place to take a bath.
If you wanted to take a bath, you could. There was a public bathhouse downstairs, where a shower cost one Dragon Coin per use.
And if you had a little more money, you could go to the hot spring area. The first floor was the public area, where you only had to pay an admission fee of two Dragon Coins per visit.
For anyone who wasn't particularly short on money and wanted to take a bath, considering that the public bathhouse charged one Dragon Coin just to take a shower, while soaking in the hot springs only cost two Dragon Coins, most people would choose to soak in a small hot spring without hesitation.
After all, hot springs were comfortable and relaxing, and there was even a chance to see beautiful women showing some skin. Just thinking about it made them happy.
But… They would never know.
Whether they were people from the Merchant Alliance branch or people who came to the town to relax and prepare for the Magic Tree Climbing Competition, they would never know just how many spending traps Ethan had set up in this little hot spring area.
For example, the basic hot spring admission ticket really was very cheap. It only cost two Dragon Coins, an amount anyone could afford.
But, the hot spring area was divided into different levels.
The second-level Flower Petal Hot Spring Area not only offered hot spring pools at different temperatures, but also included a free buffet. All for just five Dragon Coins.
In other words, by spending just three more Dragon Coins, you could save the cost of a meal.
Isn't that great?
Isn't that cheap?
Most people would think that since they had to pay for food anyway, they might as well spend three extra Dragon Coins as the cost of the meal and enjoy a higher-level hot spring at the same time. Why not?
But… Besides the second-level Flower Petal Hot Spring Area, there was naturally also the High-Level Supreme Area.
The so-called High-Level Supreme Area was actually just the hot spring pool on the highest level. It was also the closest to the spring source, where the water was pure and unpolluted. Simply put, it was hot spring water that no one else had soaked in.
This was prepared for extremely wealthy customers, as well as some customers with a cleanliness obsession.
Customers who soaked in the Supreme Area not only could they enjoy attentive personal service, they could also enjoy a combination of a free buffet and homemade fruit wine. After all, a single drink at Ethan's bar cost five Dragon Coins.
Guests in the Supreme Area only had to spend ten Dragon Coins to enjoy all these benefits. What difference was there between that and getting it for free?
Not only that, there was even a Super Supreme Area. That was a private hot spring pool, private service, and even included a massage.
All for just twenty Dragon Coins.
That was absolutely an emperor-level experience, exclusively for the rich.
And after those people from the Merchant Alliance branch had been thoroughly squeezed dry by Ethan in the hot spring area, they might think about going to the tavern for a drink. Naturally, the tavern would have plenty more traps waiting for them.
If anyone could pass through Ethan's town and still leave with every last bit of hair intact, then that would be Ethan's fault.
As the saying went: Even a goose flying overhead gets plucked clean.
That was probably the best nickname for Ethan's town.