Trap
A man donning a hood and face mask opened the door to Achilles' company.
"Mister, you are here for Sir Achilles, I would assume? My teacher has left. Leave an address, and I will immediately notify you when he is back."
"No, no, no, I don't need to see Mr. Achilles specifically. I just wanted to establish a small business deal here."
The teenager Achilles only pupil. Achilles must've held him in high regard, though. He wouldn't have trusted him with the place, otherwise.
"Sorry, I do not know if I have the authority to make the decision. If possible, I hope you can wait for Mr. Achilles to return."
"If you didn't have the authority, he wouldn't have had you stay here, would he? You're Achilles' pupil. Wouldn't it be weird for his company to not do business during his absence?"
I was glad the boy didn't recognise me. I had Ross approach Edward in a disguise since the latter recognised me. I guess I was disguising as Ross, then. Achilles' pupil didn't know me, so he wouldn't have been familiar with my voice or appearance. Plus he was a pupil, so he was easy to fool.
"Mm… If it is a small commodity, then I think I can make the decision. What would you like to discuss, then, Mister?"
"It's simple, really. It's just a simple transaction," I answered. I took out several sheets of paper and expanded, "Let me come in, and then we can talk. I have a bit of a cold, so I'll keep my mask on."
"Ah, right, sure, sure, sure."
The boy seemed to finally realise he hadn't let me in. It was quite frustrating to him to have forgotten such basic reception manners. The fact that Achilles' entrusted his rear to him was a sign of trust and, clearly, he didn't want to disappoint. Even if he didn't have any accomplishments to note, he didn't want to let Achilles' business suffer a loss. Furthermore, it was his first time handling such tasks, so he wasn't used to it yet. Having said that, I didn't think he was a wall. At the very least, he was obedient. Perhaps Achilles believed obedience to be of more importance than competence.
The guest room he led me to wasn't exactly a big room, but that didn't bother me. He inquired, "Would you like to drink something? Would you prefer tea or wine?"
"I'll be all right. I just came for business. I'll be done quickly. I just need to show you these, and you will understand."
I passed the boy the sheets. He took them and earnestly read over them.
"These… these…"
"Exactly. These are insurance policies that they have bought to circumvent the risks undertaken. If the price of the stones doesn't plunge into the depths of hell within five days, I can walk away with fifty thousand gold coins from Edward and their money. What do you think? Quick money, isn't it? In saying that, if the price drops, I will need to cover Edward's losses. The good news is that Edward's money can be covered with their money. As for the smaller businesses, I have money to cover them. Bear in mind, though, the price of the stones are riding their popularity upwards. Would their price drop within five days?"
The boy spent a brief moment to contemplate it. He then shook his head: "So, you plan to sell this offer? I am very sorry, then, because Mr. Achilles is not interested in these stones. I have only bought a tiny amount myself. I do not think it is worth buying this insurance policy."
I felt that the boy wasn't suited for business. In business, you need to be able to think dynamically. He had gold coins in hand; what sort of person doesn't want gold coins when they see them? To my amazement, his first reaction was to wonder if he should spend money. How can that sort of person make money? I couldn't complain, though, as it was fantastic news for me.
"Of course, I am not here to ask you to buy it. You see these policies, right? Ignore the small policies for now. Let's analyse at Achilles' policy. This is a policy worth fifty thousand gold coins. You've seen it yourself. You don't get the money until five days after. I want money right now, though. Let's do this. I want thirty thousand gold coins. In exchange, you can have these policies. After five days, you'll have fifty thousand gold coins deposited into your account, meaning that you earned twenty thousand gold coins. What do you think?"
"Thirty thousand gold coins?! I… I have never seen so many gold coins…"
"That's a given. Only successful businessmen would be able to see so much money. If you're just a pupil you'd never see such a large sum. So, you want to write a letter to Achilles, and wait for him to write back? It would take three to four days at the fastest for you two to communicate, right? Would I need your money by then? Think about it. At the moment, you are purchasing this under Achilles' name. When he comes back, you would've made him a profit of twenty thousand gold coins. Do you think he'd still treat you as a pupil after accomplishing such an impressive feat?"
"But… But… But…" stammered the boy, similarly to a dying fish that was unable to make a sound.
I could tell that he was in a dilemma. On one hand, he didn't have the courage to proceed. At the same time, he wanted to prove himself with the twenty-thousand gold coin profit.
"To be frank, it's extremely rare to find a pupil who could generate a profit of twenty thousand gold coins. If he I can make a profit of twenty thousand gold coins, Mr. Achilles will see me in a beter light. That means that I'll get to learn more. I might even get to succeed this company," inwardly reasoned the boy.
Thirty thousand gold coins was undoubtedly a huge sum he'd never seen before as a pupil. On the flipside, it might be the reason he'd accept the offer.
"Have a think. If you can't call the shots, I'll go ask someone else. I'm confident that there will be someone who accepts making fifty thousand from thirty thousand."
"Please wait!"
The voice behind me told me I was successful. Nobody can withstand the allure of money unless they could prove the money was bait. To the pupil, nonetheless, the money was definitely not bait.
"If you think thirty thousand is too large of a sum, I have a good idea. You can do what I did, and sell these to others. You can sell them as individual policies. Either way works. This deal… is one super simple deal."