LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 173
The deal with the Duke went off without a hitch.
It was an expected result. His face had already been half captivated since we started talking.
Still, he hesitated to give a definite answer right away, as if the years he had lived as a Duke had not been in vain, but that was only for a moment.
Rather, he had gotten in touch first, since he hadn’t heard from us.
‘Yeah, I knew you’d be looking.’
Maybe he pretended to hesitate, thinking that if we didn’t contact him, he would get impatient and ask for a better deal.
But it didn’t work. Why did I say,
‘We’ll find someone else,’
while trying to hide the unease?
‘We can’t let the initiative slip away.’
The moment we take the initiative, the weakling Duke might quickly realize who would be more regretful if the deal didn’t work out, and who would have the
‘upper hand’
and be able to dictate the terms.
‘Because they will try to impose ridiculous conditions.’
Of course, I didn’t intend to honor any contract, but I should at least
‘pretend’
to.
Not only that, but the moment he realized we were beneath him, he might stop listening to what we had to say.
‘That would be difficult.’
Well, I still have a lot of
‘advice’
to give the Duke.
“Hmm, I wonder why I haven’t heard from you before now. I’m disappointed.”‘Ugh, why the antics!’
With a smile on my face, I said, fighting down the urge to lash out.
“Haha, I didn’t realize that my gesture of giving you plenty of time to think about it had upset the Duke, I apologize.” “Well, we’re in the same boat now, and I hope you’ll be more considerate.” “I will be mindful in the future, and as a way of apologizing…”With a meaningful chuckle, I nudged him.
“May I offer one more piece of advice that might be helpful to the Duke?”And as expected, the Duke listened intently, for he had already followed my advice and manipulated a game to his advantage.
It was all thanks to Lord River informing him of the situation.
— ‘Soon after the Princess left, he invited the Count to join us.’ — ‘Is that so?’Lord River continued with a bittersweet smile.
— ‘As you mentioned, they’ve… been coming more frequently.’The Duke of Goldman’s face, which must have been smiling from the moment he heard the words, grew grim before my eyes.
He was clearly satisfied. He must have been satisfied, because his skepticism, even before he heard my explanation, must have turned to conviction when he saw the results with his own eyes.
His trust in me must have grown.
“
I didn’t expect you to act so quickly.”So there was a bit of panic, but it wasn’t bad in terms of the results.
Once he got a taste of the operation, he’d be bolder and more aggressive, and the faster things moved, the closer he’d get to his demise. Until then, I’d be right there by his side, encouraging him.
“Don’t you think this should attract more people and increase the size of the gambling house?”With that, my suggestion to the Duke was simple.
The point was to use the recommendation system.
When he first heard the idea, the Duke was puzzled.
After all, as a membership-based gambling house, he was already getting referrals.
However, the Duke didn’t want to see referrals used indiscriminately.
“Wouldn’t it lower the quality of the gambling house?”…It was for this reason.
“The gamblers are there anyway, so who cares about the quality.”I clicked my tongue, but outwardly pretended to agree with him. After all, it wasn’t just any nobles I was after.
“That’s not it. I heard you brought in a Count using the method I mentioned this time, right?” “You heard it from River? That’s right. He seemed to be secretly enjoying himself, even though he didn’t seem to mind. He’s been in and out of the gambling houses more often lately.” “I’m glad to hear that. But should that be the end of it?” “What?” “Shouldn’t we bring in other nobles who are related to him? I mean, other high-ranking nobles.”The Duke’s eyes lit up as if he recognized my words. But his face soon turned troubled.
“But their pride usually comes with a price, and I doubt they’d do a favor….” “It’s not just a favor.” “Then?”I lowered my voice to a whisper,
“You have to ask for a favor with ‘conditions’.”With those words, I began to tell the Duke what I had in mind. The Duke’s eyes widened in surprise as I continued.
“A cut of the profits?” “That’s right. For every person they bring in, they get a percentage, a small cut from the revenue of the person they bring in.” “From the revenue of the person they brought?” “Yes. It might not be much when you only bring one person, but if you bring more people, that’s quite a bit of money, isn’t it?” “Ohhh…” “Then the Duke won’t have to spend any money, and they’ll be more willing to bring in people, isn’t that a trade-off?”The Duke seemed genuinely impressed by what I said, but I had to fight back the laughter that threatened to break out in front of him.
What I was proposing was a blight on modern civilization comparable to fraud.
‘This is what a pyramid scheme is!’
Later, when Jeron heard about my trick, he shook his head and said,
‘It’s worse than the devil,’but it was none of my business.
Manipulation or pyramid scheme.
Eventually, they would pile up and accumulate to bring down the whole duke in one fell swoop.
“In addition…”In the days that followed, I gave the Duke plenty of advice.
For example, don’t take commissions when you first enter a gambling house, bribe appropriately, buy expensive items and spread the word that they were purchased through gambling.
The Duke, already enamored with that, listened intently to my words and put them into practice.
Thanks to his quickness of action, the gambling dens thrived day after day.
Whenever the nobles gathered, they would talk about the Duke of Goldman’s gambling house.
Even in restaurants in broad daylight.
As I stirred my tea with a teaspoon, I sneaked a sideways glance.
A few feet away, a group of noblemen huddled together, and soon their booming voices reached my ears.
“I hear it’s popular among men these days to go to the gambling houses?” “Oh, I know, it’s not just the men, there are also a lot of noble ladies who sneak in and out.” “Wow, was it really that popular?” “Well, it’s…”A man interrupted.
“Did you hear that Count Pelican just built a new villa, and he paid for it all with his gambling winnings?” “Oh, I heard that, too. Baron Parker bought a diamond, the Baroness was bragging about it.” “Oh my goodness, you can make that much profit?” “One good hit, and it’s a fortune…”They chatted and shared all kinds of information related to the gambling house.
To be precise, the main story was about who lived in luxury with the money they won through gambling.
The more the story was told, the more envy appeared in people’s eyes, and at that moment, someone blurted out something.
“But… Isn’t gambling illegal, was it still okay…?”The woman sitting next to her lowered her voice as her voice was filled with concern.
“I don’t know about that. Rumor has it that the Emperor was thinking of legalizing gambling.” “Legalize?”The nobles’ eyes narrowed.
“That’s strangely imposing…” “Does that mean they’re not going to ban it at all?” “If it’s truly legalized, yes. The Count says it can be considered a business.” “Then I’m in…”Looking over at the intrigued nobles, I puckered my lips.
And then I muttered to myself,
“Okay, good, keep spreading rumors like that.”As if I hadn’t heard myself, the person sitting before me sighed softly and said,
“If this continues, half of the nobles will disappear.” “What’s the big deal? I guess it’s time for a change at this opportunity.” “What do you mean, a change…”As complicated gazes followed, I finally looked away. Then a familiar figure came into view.
“Don’t think about it too complicated.”It was Lord River.
He and I were out for a show-off date, as we had promised beforehand.
Because last time we were interrupted by O’Neill and Jeron.
I was planning to have a quick lunch and then part ways this time, but I happened to hear something like that at the restaurant we had reserved.
‘Oh, that’s better than I thought.’
Was it because I am good at giving advice, or was it because I have a natural talent for deceiving people?
The Duke moved beyond being proactive and becoming
‘combative.’
How much manipulation would it take before people start to claim that they have already made a fortune through gambling?
“Thanks to you, the rumors have become more provocative, which is good for me.”I coughed, fighting the corners of my mouth that threatened to rise to my ears.
“I mean, things are going so well anyway, don’t you think we need to flip them one big upset like this so they won’t think about legalizing gambling?”Despite my plausibility, Lord River still looked shocked.
“That’s true, but…” “Stop worrying about unnecessary things. So, how was the Duke these days? He must be quite ecstatic.” “My father…”Lord River paused for a moment, then sighed heavily.
“As you said. He’s been so enthralled with running the gambling house lately that he’s put the estate matters aside.” “Is it that great?” “He says it’s making more money than he thought it would, and it’s attracted a lot of neutrals.” “I think legalization will definitely pass.” “That’s right. In fact, he’s thinking of building more gambling houses now.” “Hmm, then…”I added lightly, as if I’d known that was coming.
“Now it might be time to need some funds.” “What?”Lord River tilted his head, and instead of answering, I rummaged in my arms.
Then I pulled something out and held it out in front of him. His eyes widened as he looked down, following my hand.
“This…!” “It’s a bill of exchange. Didn’t the Duke tell you to bring it to me anyway?” “Yes, but… Aren’t you overdoing it? Even if you redeem it later, it may not be repaid it in full.” “I don’t care, it’s cheap compared to what we’re going to get.” “…” “And…”In a small voice, I whispered,
“I’ll pull it out when the time was right.” “What…?”I was going to tell him right away what I had planned.
“That…”But I couldn’t finish my sentence. Suddenly, I noticed a shadow cast from behind me.
My mouth dropped open as I realized who it was. I was about to call out his name when I realize that I’ve lost my train of thought.
Clank—!Suddenly, something happened.
Water poured down on Sir River’s head.
For an instant, the water covered him, freezing him completely, while my eyes widened to the point of bulging.
There was an eerie silence for a moment.
It wasn’t long before my terrified scream rang out.
“Rudrick!”