"O-of…ofc-ofcourse..it's for free." Boban had a hard time letting out those words. He almost tried to bite his tongue just to not say those words.
Caesar smiled as he nodded. "That's good. These are the list of the ingredients."
Boban took the piece of paper from Caesar and read the ingredients one by one. With each item, his face became more and more haggard.
"Homunculus skeleton…Immortal Jellyfish…these ingredients only appear in the black market once a year!"
Boban looked at Caesar and saw his unperturbed face. He could already tell what Caesar was going to say. 'That's not my problem.'
"I don't have these items even if I wanted to," Boban said as he wiped his own sweat.
Caesar shook his head. He didn't believe a word that Boban said. "You? The self-proclaimed greatest business man in the world doesn't have it? Are you sure you don't have a storage where you keep your most valuable ingredients? I would bet that you have 5 of those just laying around."
Boban flinched back. How did Caesar know about his secret vault? He was not only a supplier for the Joy manufacturers, but also a reseller in the black market. He definitely had these rare ingredients stored somewhere.
But Boban could never give these to Caesar. Not when he had to prostrate himself to the seller just to give him an opportunity to enter the auction. Not only that, he also had to pay twice the selling price just to acquire it.
"You think I'm going to give this to you for free?!" Boban said in anger, remembering the auction.
"So you do have it…"
Boban's words were caught in his throat. Caesar caught him into a lie and now he couldn't refuse to give Caesar these items. But even so, he couldn't force himself to give it for free. It was like dismembering his own arm.
"Don't think of it like you're giving it to me for free. Think of it as an investment."
Boban heard Caesar's words and his eyes lit up for a millisecond. But he quickly hid it away from Caesar so he won't be able to see what he was planning.
"Fine. I'll give you these ingredients, but I don't have the Water of Life," Boban relented.
This was the truth. He had a lot of rare items and ingredients in his storage, but one thing he didn't have was the Water of Life.
First of all, it was hard to acquire because he had to confess his sin to a priest. Even if he ordered someone that was completely innocent without any sins, he would still have to confess that he was ordered by someone to obtain the Water of Life.
This was way too troublesome for something that he didn't need.
There was no product that required the Water of Life as an ingredient. He didn't even know why Caesar wanted this item because aside from its rarity, it's completely useless.
"Now why should I believe you? You have lied to me every time."
Boban looked completely speechless. He didn't know how he would convince Caesar that he truly didn't have this item.
"But since you're giving me these items for free, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," Caesar said with a spine-chilling polite smile.
Boban had a bad feeling about Caesar's smile, but he was just thankful that a huge load of pressure was taken off his back. "Thank you, I'll give you the ingredients without the Water of Life."
Boban turned around as fast as he could to get the ingredients for Caesar before he could even…
"Huh?" Caesar uttered with his head tilted to the side.
Boban cursed his own fat body for being too slow to get away from Caesar before he could complain. This was the bad feeling he was getting.
"When did I say that I didn't want the Water of Life?" Caesar asked.
Boban clasped his hands together in a bid to make Caesar pity him. "But you believed me when I said I didn't have it in my storage…"
"I do. But you just have to get it, don't you?"
Boban's face was full of sweat as he looked up at Caesar. "What do you mean…"
"Just because you don't have it now, doesn't mean you can't get it. It's your problem on how to acquire it. I just need the Water of Life."
Boban's jaw dropped as he heard Caesar's shamelessness. It wasn't enough that he was getting the ingredients for free, he also wanted Boban to personally get the Water of Life no matter the cost.
"I can't do that…"
"What do you mean? You're the greatest businessman in the world, right? I'm sure you'll come up with a way," Caesar said as he gave a thumbs-up to the wilting Boban.
Boban made an internal calculation and thought that it was still within his safety when giving Caesar the ingredients. Giving him these ingredients to appease him would be better than having him wreck havoc again.
"Okay, Okay, I'll give you the ingredients. You can have the Water of Life in a week."
Boban looked up at Caesar's face and saw only disappointment. Caesar shook his head.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. That's too long. I want it this evening."
Boban's jaw couldn't be more open. Does Caesar's shamelessness have no bounds? Was this guy serious? But when Boban looked at Caesar's serious face, it looked like he won't leave this mansion if he doesn't get what he wants.
"Fine, this evening." Boban relented to Caesar's impossible request just to get him out as soon as possible.
"Good. I want 5 batches of the ingredients tomorrow morning."
"5?!?!?!?!?" Boban shouted. Caesar's request almost made his heart go into shock. He wants 5 batches? Does he think of me as an endless gold mine, Boban thought.
"I know you have that much."
"I don't! I don't!"
Caesar smiled. "Oh? Then should I personally check inside your house?"
This question was arguably the most heart-stopping words that Caesar could have said. This was one of the most scariest moments for Boban, and that included his request for 5 batches of ingredients.
"No, no, no, no, no there's no need. I'll give 5 batches to you tomorrow morning!" Boban said, leaning against the door as if he was afraid that Caesar would force himself inside.
Caesar smiled as he nodded. "Good. I'll come back later with great expectations."
Without waiting for another response, Caesar turned around and waved goodbye at Boban without looking back. Ichi and Knii, the veteran guards that Caesar fought before, guided Caesar back in silence.
The three of them walked to the entrance where Silas was arguing with one of the guards.
"I have to go there. What's happening with my master…—" Silas words stopped in their tracks as he saw Caesar walking casually towards the gate.
"Sir Caesar. Thank god you are safe."
"Don't thank god, Silas. Thank me," Caesar said as he mounted the carriage.
Silas was a bit surprised with Caesar's words, but he soon smiled as he realized this was the kind of person his employer was.
"Sir Caesar, there's someone blocking our way," Silas said as he looked ahead and saw two guards in the way. Caesar recognized them to be Ichi and Knii.
"What do you want?" Caesar said from inside the carriage, not giving them the respect of showing his face.
"Can we buy some of your pure Joy?" Ichi shouted.
Caesar finally opened the window and looked at their serious faces. He didn't think that they would be so addicted to his pure Joy that they would buy it from him, their employer's enemy and the person who beat them up.
"He'll definitely punish us later. That Joy was the only thing that keeps us sane," Knii said.
Caesar smiled as he heard that. "I feel pity for you, serving that incompetent pig. I'll give you Joy for free from tomorrow on."
As soon as they heard that, Ichi and Knii were shocked. They heard about the prices of Joy, so they were prepared to pay Caesar their salary for this month just to get a small taste of it.
But they didn't think they would get it for free. The two veteran guards were left wondering if this was a dream or not as they both watched Caesar's carriage leave into the distance.
From his carriage, Caesar smiled. Nothing in this world was ever free. He would definitely get payment from those guards, just not in the form of money.
—-----------------------------
Boban finally felt the strength return to his legs as he saw Caesar leave his mansion. His despair and fear quickly turned into anger and rage.
How dare Caesar do this to me, Boban thought. His face swirled into one of a devil getting ready for his revenge on someone who has wronged him.
He was livid the whole time that he saw Caesar's face, but he endured it. He endured the humiliation. He only had to wait a few more days before he could finally have his revenge.
Boban opened the doors to his mansion. It had only been a day, but a lot had changed from when Caesar visited this place. Instead of the maids and butlers walking around, it was now workers walking while carrying huge boxes.
The place looked abandoned. The paintings and the expensive furniture were already gone, with only a few tables and chairs remaining.
"Move faster!" he shouted to the workers. "Don't put that near anything hot. That contains at least 1 million Parou in cash!"
That's right. Boban was moving all of his treasures out of this bomb-riddled house. This way, he wouldn't have to worry about the bomb's locations that Caesar was hiding from him.
Once everything was gone, he could finally kill Caesar without worrying about anything.