Chapter 41 - Volume 3 (2/2)

“Bring that person here.”

“Yes.”

Soland walked down the stairs at Isaac’s order. Everyone waited with curiosity as to who Soland was bringing.

Soon after, Soland brought a young man with him to the roof of the City Hall. He was a handsome blond man who immediately complained to Isaac the moment he came up.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Even if my family has come to ruin, I, Bluff, am still successor to Baron Dairen, whose t.i.tle is still recorded in the Empire’s list of n.o.bles!”

Everyone’s eyes turned wide and looked to the young man. Even Isaac was at a loss for words, but he quickly regained composure and smirked.

“Do you know where this is?”

“Ha! How arrogant! For New Port City to kidnap someone. Do you have any idea how much of a problem this will be to you? Some of my father’s acquaintances works in the police department. You better release me at this moment before you regret it.”

Isaac looked at Soland.

“You didn’t just bring him, but you kidnapped him?”

“Things ended up that way.”

“He’s still a n.o.ble. If he were to report to the police, it’ll make things complicated. Did you think Port City or I will take care of the problem if things got out of hand?”

“Well… my men were a bit overzealous when he tried to run the moment we saw him.”

“How many witnesses are there?”

“Eh… there shouldn’t be many.”

“Really? Then just bury him under if things go awry. It’ll get annoying if he reports us to the police.”

“Yes.”

Bluff’s face began to pale when the two men in front of him casually spoke of killing him, stumbling backwards.

“H-how dare you! M-murdering a n.o.ble will get you at least a life sentence!”

“d.a.m.n you talk so much. You think that n.o.bility status of yours is going to stop a knife from going up your a.s.s?!”

Isaac’s snarky comment brought the employees and hubaes’ eyes to the ground, while the syndicate bosses shook their heads as if they’d lost. Those were the words of a criminal and definitely not how someone given a t.i.tle from the Empire should speak.

“There is no need to even go that far.”

“Why?”

“We’ve bought out most of his loans.”

“Really? I guess you know how to get the work done. If things go bad, just shove him in the mines and have him pay it back.”

As a n.o.ble, Bluff did receive some education and manners, and a.n.a.lysing the situation quickly is the lifeline of becoming a hustler. He quickly b.u.t.t into the conversation between Isaac and Soland.

“I will do whatever you tell me to do.”

“Ho? I like how sharp he is. I think he’ll be quite useful if we teach him well.”

Satisfied with Bluff’s submissive att.i.tude, Isaac pointed to one of the chairs with his finger.

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

Bluff quickly scrambled to the chair, his body tense and legs ready to leap at Isaac’s feet respond to his beck and call.

“Give me some background.”

Soland opened his mouth instead of the young man.

“Bluff Dairen is a fallen n.o.ble whose name is well known in the n.o.ble community. He isn’t someone aiming to rebuild his fallen house by looking to wed an innocent n.o.ble woman; instead, he prefers to use his wit and handsome face to liven up the mood in parties. He uses that to move from one n.o.ble’s house to another as their guest, but this is just a façade. In truth, he is a hustler who lives off the many scams he had come with.”

“Against n.o.bles? I’m surprised he hasn’t been found out.”

“His main targets are the young sons of n.o.bles who have yet to learn about the world, and his scams are so meticulous that even the scammed victims would try to defend him. He is very well-known in the world of hustlers. He knows his situation well, and rather than trying to aim for profit that is beyond him, he would only take what is necessary. Those that have found out about his true ident.i.ty sometimes ask him to hustle their own children to teach them a lesson about the real world

“So they just pretend not to know.”

“Yes. But there is a breaking point, even for hustling industry. Even though there haven’t been many invitations for Bluff, he has tried to maintain his elegance and acc.u.mulated many debts. But now he’s reached his limit and is in a precarious situation. I have deemed him to be the perfect candidate for the man the Lord’s Representative asked of.”

“It’s exactly what I wanted.”

Isaac nodded with satisfaction while everyone became curious as to for what purpose did Isaac brought over a hustler.

“You know many rich unemployed people who are bored out of their minds, right?”

Already, Bluff came up with a list of people in his head. In fact, the reason Bluff lived a life of hustling moving from party to party was so that he could trick and hara.s.s these lucky individuals who were born into rich families.

These people who kicked away the opportunity to study in the greatest educational facility which was their birthright had no place to stand in the meritocratic society of the n.o.bles. So they naturally ended up with one another using social events and parties as excuses.

“Bring them here and make them gamble in our casinos. 30% of the money they spend in the casino will be yours.”

Bluff’s head quickly began to think of a plan. These rich men hate boredom. But they also hate to lose, and their sense of pride makes them easy to taunt into recklessness. Baiting them into the casinos wasn’t even a problem at this point.

“It sounds like a tempting offer, but most of the people I can bring over already enjoy playing in the casinos of both Port and New Port City.”

Bluff had also partic.i.p.ated in these gambling tours as he followed around some of these rich men before. It wasn’t an illegal gambling den, but there was a secret hideout where the group gathered to play some card games. They took pride in these activities, calling it an activity befitting the n.o.ble status of theirs, but in Bluff’s eyes, it was a mess of booze, women, and money being thrown around everywhere. Just bringing in those men would be enough to make a profit for Bluff.

The problem was that these men who were always in search of entertainment hadn’t been idle the last 6 months since Port and New Port City opened their casinos.

Bluff had already met some of them as he prowled for new victims in Port City. This would have been an excellent offer 6 months ago, but it was too late at this point.

“Tsk tsk. You call yourself a hustler with a brain like that?”

“What?”

“What do you think will happen if you tell them that they can get back some of their spending in the casinos back if they were listed as one of your guests?”

Bluff wasn’t a fool. He quickly figured out Isaac’s words.

“Since I’m already taking 30% of their spending, all I’d have to do is give a portion of my profit back to them. Then those men would flock to me since they can get at least some money back.”

“That’s right. And you get to make money without doing anything.”

“But there is one problem.”

“Problem?”

“Yes. I can see that you want to make people spend as much money as possible, but in truth, I might only be able to manage ten people at most.”

Isaac made an interested expression.

“I see you’re quite sharp.”

There is a significant difference in pressure one feels between someone who would lose everything, and someone who has some form of insurance even if they lose. By providing them with a small safety net, these men who would become desperate after their losses would begin ease up and end up losing more money than they would have. Even if the money was given back, nine out of ten people would go back to the casinos to spend it again.

Basically, this refund system wasn’t to help the men who lost their money, but to entrance them deeper into gambling.

“I’m sure you’ll start getting compet.i.tion once the word spreads that you can make money without doing anything. I like compet.i.tion. Because without compet.i.tion, there is no progress.”

“…”

Bluff quickly shut his mouth, hopeful that Isaac would finish speaking and let him go.

Lanburton, who had been quietly drinking tea as he was overhearing the conversation, muttered to himself.

“Is the meaning of compet.i.tion different to humans?”

The employees and hubaes remained quiet, making a bitter smile.

“Well, being first is always important, so I’ll give you some help to make you succeed. Give them members.h.i.+p.”

“A members.h.i.+p?”

“That’s right. Let’s say you can only manage ten people. Then those ten men can also have ten members below them. The condition is the same. 30% of their member’s spending is theirs. But there’s a rank. You will be Rank 1 since you’re first. A Rank 1 can have ten Rank 2s. A Rank 2 can have ten Rank 3s and so on. Let’s say that the ranks reach 5 levels at this point. Then 30% of the spending by members managed by Rank 5s will be solely their profit right?”

“Yes…”

“And the 30% of the profit Rank 5 members make will be the Rank 4s’ profit. The same applies to the level above, and Rank 4 must give 30% of the total profit from Rank 4s and Rank 5s. You keep on climbing that way and you, the Rank 1, get to take all of it.”

Bluff’s jaws dropped at Isaac’s explanation. All he could think of was success.

“I would love to do it! Just give me the word and I’ll do everything I can! No, I’ll make sure to bring in guests for you.”

Isaac spectated Bluff’s spineless att.i.tude at its finest: grovelling at his feet for the job. Isaac put out his cigarette on an ashtray as he spoke.

“Go speak with Cordnell over there and sort out the money problem with him. Make sure it doesn’t cause trouble later.”

Bluff’s eyes turned to Cordnell, and Cordnell sighed, knowing that his workload just got bigger. Cordnell fired off a barrage of words, intending to include as much people in this scheme as possible.

Isaac, however, kicked them all out from the meeting room with a wave of his hand, telling them to sort out the problem elsewhere.

With the roof finally silent after the ma.s.s exit of the employees, Soland quietly entered the roof again.

“That’s a rather special form of management.”

There was a degree of admiration in his words. It was a business that could be started with no fund – just connections. Since what their guests spend would become their profit, they would do whatever it takes to keep the guests under them, which would mean an improvement in the quality of their service.

New Port City now had the benefit of gaining more guests and increase their spending without any expenses. It was like catching two birds with one stone.

Isaac watched the smoke from his cigarette disappear into the air. Soland may have thought of this as some revolutionary method, but in truth, this was just the infamous pyramid scheme.

He was well aware of the damages the pyramid scheme could cause, but he wasn’t one to care about what methods he took. He would do whatever is necessary, and if the damages begin to cause a problem, Isaac was sure that the Empire will place some sanctions against it. Isaac was going to make sure he made the best of it until such sanctions were in place.

Isaac smirked at Soland, who was making a disappointed face.

“What, do you want to do it too?”

Soland quickly fixed his posture and expression and crossed his head.

“No. I personally know very few people so I wouldn’t be able to even if I wanted to.”

“But would you like to if you did have connections?”

“Hehe, if I can get the opportunity…”

Isaac smiled at Soland, whose voice faltered as he tried to laugh it off.

“You can forget about that nonsense and gather some funds right now. I’m not planning on giving out loans since I have reputations to maintain and such.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“How gambling addiction ends is always the same. All that’s different is when. They aren’t people who would stop gambling just because they’ve run out of money. They’ll try to borrow it from somewhere. Join forces with the other syndicate bosses and scrounge up some funds. Make sure you doc.u.ment the paperwork regarding the amount they owe and proper terms and conditions with a third-party witness so we have solid evidence.”

“I’m happy if you’re willing to leave the financing to us, but it’ll be difficult since we’re targeting n.o.bles…”

This was a business with such potential profit that it would make loan shark business in the slums of New Port City pale in comparison. But the problem was that they couldn’t just visit the n.o.ble’s house to threaten them to pay back their money unlike how they’d been treating the people of New Port City.

They weren’t a proper financing business. No sane n.o.ble would simply pay back the money when it’s in the name of some criminal syndicate in New Port City. In fact, they’d be glad if they simply got out of the visit unscathed.

“Don’t worry and approve as many loans as you can. I’ll buy out all of their loans. It’s better to have as much doc.u.mentation as possible.”

A n.o.ble house falling from grace because of their foolish son is a very cliché story. These n.o.ble families will have no choice but to take side with Isaac if they were to try save their stupid sons out of their problem. Just one or two credits will have little impact, but gathered enough it will become an excellent card to use against Count Milros when things came to shove.

“And how goes the preparation?”

“I’ve already made up a team of the greatest professionals in their field.”

Isaac spoke words of warning when he saw Soland smirk as if he’d figured out what was happening.

“It’s nice that you’re sharp, but you must also be tight-lipped if you want to live a long life.”

“I’m not a fool who would be tempted by pitiful pay at the cost of kicking away the chance to earn a fortune.”

“Good. I was planning to kill you first if this got leaked.”

Soland tried to act as calm as possible, suppressing the chill crawling up his spine.

“I am glad you trusted me with this project.”

Emergency Order

Sender: The Grand Council

Recipient: All agents

Level: Code Red

Order: ‘Demonic’ turncoat escaped after stealing the ‘Queen’s’ artifact.

The ‘Queen’ refuses to reveal information regarding the artifact because of the turncoat.

Unable to confirm artifact’s purpose.

Unable to confirm artifact’s shape.

All agents are to terminate their current mission. Find the turncoat.

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