Arc 2 - Chapter 4: Building Family Ties (3/3)

"You despicable, deceitful, cheating, swindling scum! It's not enough that you swindle people, now you're swindling the state."

"There's a popular saying in third class countries: the state's money is in the sea, and those who don't fish are stupid."

Neko was still angry that Yu had registered her as his daughter. Although Yu understood her, he did not regret what he had done, they would receive one gold piece every month.

"Don't look at me like that, Yurine. My sweet little child."

"Shut up..."

"Okay, okay... Don't get angry, I'm shutting up, Yurine."

Yurine's eyes were red with anger, but she forced herself to remain calm.

"I'm sorry for making you angry, but somehow I had to be your guardian, otherwise he said you would be given to the orphanage."

Yurine kept walking.

After doing some research, they returned to the inn around noon and went to sleep. When they woke up, the sun was about to set, it set by the time they had dinner, and after dinner the two made their way to the Swann Postal Organization.

Yu could not say that the information he gathered was very detailed. He had researched the population of the country and its settlements, future arena matches and public attitudes towards bookmaking.

Arena matches, or the arena game as it was commonly known, had been introduced about thirty years ago to stop the brutality of the coliseum, where fights with real weapons used to take place, and had quickly become popular.

In the game, there were two different teams and plates were tied to each player's head, each player earned points by breaking the opposing player's plate, and the match was over after a certain amount of time or when all opposing players had been eliminated.

Yu learned all this while Yurine did nothing but sulk beside him.

They arrived in front of Marino's company. A two-story building stood in front of them. Yu pushed the door and it opened with the sound of a bell. No one was inside.

"Mr. Valarfin? I'm here."

As Yu looked around, Marino, who heard the bell attached to the door ringing, came out of his office and greeted Yu and Yurine.

"Come in, let's go to the office."

They entered Marino's office and Marino sat at his desk. Yu and Yurine sat opposite each other on the seats in front of the desk.

Marino leaned his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together and shook his legs in excitement, waiting for Yu to say something.

"I want to get right to the point."

Seeing Marino excited, Yu didn't want to waste time with small talk.

"Yes, let's do that," Marino said excitedly.

There was hope in Marino's eyes. Yu didn't know what to think when he saw that Marino was hopeful about someone he had just met.

"The job I offer will take about two months. If we succeed, we will receive our money and leave Rolderhelm on October twenty-sixth."

A tournament was to be held in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Principality of Rolderhelm on October twenty-sixth. The eight-team tournament was to start on September fourteenth, with one match a week. It would last seven weeks in total, with the final match on October twenty-sixth.

"It's a tried and tested tactic where I come from, I'm sure it will work."

Yu had seen it on a video and learned that it was successful. If he assumed that people in his world were smarter than in this world, it should definitely work here.

"Our work is related to the arena game. For the first two games we won't be able to take care of them because we will be preparing for them, but for the next five games we will send letters to thousands of people's homes every week. The letters will contain the results of the matches. For the third match of the tournament we will deliver one hundred thousand letters, and for each subsequent match the number will be halved. Fifty thousand letters for the fourth match, twenty-five thousand for the fifth match, twelve thousand five hundred for the sixth match."

He paused and gave Marino a moment to understand, then resumed.

"Each time we will write on one half of the letters that Team A will win and on the other half that Team B will win. When the match takes place, we will send letters to the people to whom we sent the letters with the winning team, and then we will send letters again for the next match. We will write on one half that team A will win and on the other half that team B will win."

Marino's face fell as Yu explained. When he saw Marino's face fall, his self-belief was shaken for a moment, but he quickly recovered. If he didn't believe in success, he couldn't expect others to believe in it.

"The number of people we give the right results to every time will be halved. By the time we get to the final match, we will have six thousand two hundred and fifty people whose previous matches we got right. We will send them a letter again, but this time not with the result of the match, but with the result of the previous matches and that if they want the result of the next match they have to give us a gold piece."

And this is where they would make money.

"If an estimated three thousand people believe us and give us a gold piece, we will have three thousand gold pieces and we will share it fairly. It could be less or more, I believe it will be higher."

Marino Swann listened without saying a word until Yu had finished, but he wore an unpleasant expression towards Yu.

"It's called fraud," Marino said.

"If you need to ease your conscience, I suggest we call it selling hope. And we won't take anyone's money by force, everything will be voluntary. They realize that betting is about luck."

Even though he knew his plan was a scam, he believed that what he was doing was minor compared to other crimes.

"I can't accept this, please let's end it here."

Marino got up from his chair in frustration and prepared to send Yu away, but Yu had no intention of giving up. Apart from wanting to make money, he wondered how far he could go.

He leaned back, crossed his right leg over his left and took a comfortable position. He was going to leave here victorious today.

"You don't think about yourself, and I understand you don't think about your wife. I wonder, don't you think about your daughters Odette and Charlotte?"

"I do..." There was no strength in Marino's voice, he lowered his eyes to the floor and sat back in his chair.

"What will your daughters think when the bank seizes their property in exchange for your debt? What will your wife, who trusted you and married you, think when her husband loses everything?" Yu was attacking Marino on a vulnerable spot to make him accept his offer. Family was sacred, and even if one would not commit a crime for oneself, one could do so when it came to one's family. "Let's say the bank seizes your assets and throws you and your family out of your home. What about the loan shark? What will your family think when they get angry when they can't get their money back, and they come with knives and iron clubs and beat you to death in front of your wife and children?"

"I don't know," Marino said, his voice even weaker than before.

"You know, but you are afraid to tell yourself the truth. Your wife and children will hate you when you lose everything, including your life. They will curse your soul for giving them this nightmare. But there's more, and what's more, what will your wife and children do then? Will they become slaves or beggars? Or will they use their bodies to feed their..."

"ENOUGH!"

Not wanting to hear any more, Marino screamed, covered his ears and buried his head in the table. Yu was surprised by the reaction, but he didn't stop and said his last words, "You're in the sea Mr. Swann. I offer to be a snake for you, if you accept."

After he finished, he waited for Marino's reply, confident that he would accept.

When Marino looked up, Yu saw that the man's black eyes were watering.

"If the princess finds out about a big job like this, we'll lose our heads."

"We'll maintain secrecy and we won't be considered guilty until the last moment. Besides, there is no precedent in Rolderhelm for what we are about to do. Besides, I don't think we need to worry as we will flee as soon as we get our money, unless you want to continue living here." When no one spoke for a while, Yu spoke again, "So, I assume you agree?"

"On September twelfth, the loan shark's deadline to pay will expire, and then they will probably come to take my life, as you say." Marino buried his head in the table again. Yu was both annoyed and empathetic at the way he buried his head like a peacock to escape reality.

"That would be bad." Marino had to survive at least until the third week of October. "Let's go and talk to your loan shark tomorrow and ask for an extension until the end of October."

"And he'll just give you a grace period?" Marino had a point, the loan shark must have run out of patience if he was to the point of beating a man in the street.

"How much do you owe?"

"Four hundred and fifty gold coins to the bank, nine hundred and ninety to the loan shark."

"You try offering the loan shark your house, and if that doesn't work, we have no choice but to try to sweet-talk him. If sweet talk doesn't work, there's nothing else to do."

Since Yu would not be foolish enough to vouch for the debt, his options were limited.

"Pray hard tonight and wait for us here tomorrow. When we arrive, we will go to the loan shark and talk to him. If we get a favorable result, we'll make our deal and get to work, and if not... then we'll say goodbye."