Rasmus and Carrion returned to the carriage, and they saw a few pirates on the ground with their bruised and swollen faces. Videl was sitting so casually on the steps of the carriage with a bottle of rum in his hand.
"Good job. We are leaving," Rasmus said as he tilted his head to the side, signaling Videl to move aside.
They went back to Eddenvilla after a long journey. Carrion thought that it was done for today until Rasmus wanted to go to the harbor district. He knew what Rasmus was trying to do, so he decided to stay quiet and just follow him.
Rasmus looked at the buildings in front of the dock and he could see only two buildings that merchants and traders swarmed. The remaining buildings were almost empty and untouched by merchants and traders.
He decided to walk toward the building that was the furthest from the dock. He looked at the building and it belonged to the Dunn Trading Company. He could see a man sitting at the table with blank eyes and a tired expression, the building was covered in dust with a damp smell. The man looked desperate and depressed at the same time to the point he didn't realize someone was watching him from outside.
He walked in and the man still didn't notice him until he decided to sit across from the man. The man was surprised and in disbelief when he saw a man coming into his trading post. He immediately fixed his attire and hair.
"Welcome to the Dunn trading company! Are you interested in selling? Trading? Or buying?" The man asked with a wide smile on his face.
"I came here not for that," Rasmus shook his head. "How much?" He asked as he rested his head on his fist.
The man looked confused by the question and then looked at Carrion and Videl. The man then looked back at Rasmus with his brows furrowed.
"What do you mean how much?" The man asked as he rubbed the back of his hand nervously.
"Your company, how much are you going to sell it?" Rasmus asked, his eyes focused on the man's face and behavior, making the man even more anxious. "I'm willing to buy your company for 20 Eclers," he pulled out 20 Eclers from thin air and put them on the table.
The man's eyes were wide open when he saw 20 Eclers on the table. Those papers were worth 1,000 Gold coins, and he was tempted to take it, but he held back.
"I'm sorry, I can't..." The man frowned and looked at Rasmus. "This is my family's business. My great-great-grandfather built this company and has been passed down from generation to generation, I can't sell this..." he explained, lowering his head so he didn't see the money on the table.
"A dead business that is. You know there's no future for you in this kind of business," Rasmus slid the money toward the man. "Take it, and find a new business. A business that you can pass down to your son, something that your son can be proud of," he said in a calm and relaxed voice.
The man glanced at the money and considered Rasmus's words. He knew trading was a dead business and that he had no future in it.
"Can I..." the man paused. Give it a thought first, " he asked, looking at Rasmus.
Rasmus pulled out 5 Eclers and stacked them on top of the 20 Eclers.
"I'm not going to give you another offer. Take it or leave it," Rasmus said coldly.
The man still hesitated and Rasmus could see it in his eyes. Rasmus immediately grabbed the money from the table and got up. The man panicked when he saw Rasmus take the money. The man immediately blocked Rasmus's path before Rasmus could leave the building.
"I'll take it!" The man begged on his knees.
Rasmus pulled out 20 Eclers and offered it to the man. The man was confused because he thought it was 25 Eclers, not 20 Eclers.
"I thought you were going to buy it for 25 Eclers?" the man asked nervously, looking up at Rasmus and the money in his hand.
"You're wasting my time. Take it or not, your choice," Rasmus looked down at the man with a cold gaze.
"I'll take it..." The man nodded, his voice soft and quiet.
The man closed his eyes and slowly took the money from Rasmus's hand. He then hurriedly walked toward his office to give his consent to handing over his company and signed the paper. He returned and asked Rasmus to put his name on it and sign it. Once Rasmus signed the document, the man excused himself and left the building without bothering to take anything back with him.
"That was something," Carrion said, still shocked by how easy it was for Rasmus to buy a company and how he manipulated the whole situation to his liking.
"That's one," Rasmus sighed as he folded the document and stored it in the spatial ring. "There are still a few more dead companies that are begging to be bought. The day is still long and see how many companies I can buy today," he said and walked out of the trading post.
Carrion realized at that moment that he might lose the bet by witnessing how ruthless Rasmus was and how he could manipulate and toy with people's emotions. He didn't expect how skillful Rasmus was and how he understood human nature like reading the back of his hand.
At the end of the day, Rasmus managed to buy four trading companies and one shipping company. They returned to the mansion and Carrion was still in shock after he witnessed everything with his own eyes. Rasmus wrote everything down in his notebook and how much he spent.
Rasmus walked into the chamber that the maids and Carrion had prepared for him. He looked outside the window behind the desk, admiring the beautiful scenery of the sea in the distance.
"120 Eclers in total, that's not bad knowing you still have like..." Videl looked up to remember how many Eclers were left in Rasmus's spatial ring.
"12,780 Eclers and a few Gold coins..." Rasmus answered under his breath. "I need to write a letter..." he muttered as he grabbed a piece of paper from the drawer and sat at his desk.
"A letter? To whom?" Videl approached Rasmus and looked down at the paper.
"Who else? The person I owed and the best merchant in Hurgel Village. I need him to be the face of the new company I'm going to make," Rasmus answered as he began to write the letter. "Can you find a courier for me?"
"I'll be right back..." Videl hummed and left the room.
After Rasmus wrote the letter, he slipped 5 Eclers into the envelope as a gift and to accommodate Eduard for his travel from Hurgel to Eddenvilla. He then gave the letter to the courier that belonged to the Earnwind family.
It was a long day and Rasmus decided to call it a day. He decided to relax on the balcony, staring at the beautiful scenery of the city under the moonlight while reading a history book of the Eastern Region, the Urion family. He wanted to know what would be the best approach to monopolizing Eddenvilla.
The book revealed the Urion family was one of the families that had relations with one of the current three sultans. Tristan Ashbourne, the sultan who supported the Urion family, was a man who wanted to create a new power that could match the Ashenvale. It was said that the Urion family's growth was exceeding the Ashenvale and would replace the Ashenvale family in a decade. The Urion family slowly gained recognition from another sultan and the power struggle in the Eastern Region became visible between the Ashenvale family against the Urion who was supported by two sultans.
"Looks like I need to use some tricks to get rid of the Urion company from Eddenvilla," Rasmus muttered as he closed the book. "Let's not get ahead of myself here and focus on what's in front of me right now. I need to wake up early tomorrow to help Matthias build the ship," he sighed as he walked back inside his room.