[b] Ayameko [/b]

It was so sad that Takumi's ignorance extended even to his assumption of why Ayameko found the man ignorant. Despite Ayameko's dislike of the man, her facial expression, now free of the formality of her culture, turned to her usual warm self. Like always, the small creep upwards on the end of her lips, from years of habit.

"It is kind of you to ask, dear Takumi, as always, the trip was fine," she responded, her hands resting over the tops of the chair's armrests. "While I would reciprocate, my time is very valuable, so i hope you will forgive my directness in getting to trade matters. I'm sure you have better things to do as well, to exchange in conversation with me. The iron has been requested by my Mastersmith, as he was relatively pleased with the quality, so I am indeed interested. In exchange, I can offer you 180 bushels of wheat and 300 bushels of oats. Would that be acceptable? My interest in the remaining 5 tonnes is still tentative right now. I would not at all be offended if you found another buyer."

Ayameko hoped that this would settle the matter of trade. Touzoku stood stoically to the side, starting directly at Takumi with an unwavering gaze. Kei, on the other hand, seemed a bit distracted, her eyes wandering about the room in sharp contrast to her counterpart.

Ayameko knew that this much of iron was probably a touch overkill, but the harvests looked to be good this year, yet again and there was more than enough in excess to make this trade. This was significantly different than the South, where the more exotic fruits had been slower growing this year. Ayameko was scheduled to spend some time down there assisting the farmers with diagnosing their plants. It was one of the reasons Yggdrasil and her had developed the Kekke Tota. Theoretically, it would allow those crops to be grown closer to the capital under closer supervision more consistently. As it stood now, only a few of the plants from the south could be run through in testing in sufficient numbers without being too taxing on their resources.