Who Got Played?

"What did you do?"

"I dunno."

"Then why does he look like he wants to eat you?"

"I dunno."

"..."

"I really don't know." Linton looked at the blacksmith in confusion. "Mr. Frel, can you tell me what terrible thing I did to make you so angry?"

Frel's face flushed red with rage at his innocent tone. "Shameless scoundrel! It would have been one thing for you to use the True Lord's revelation to profit from travelers, but you should never have tried to obscure the True Lord's glory, much less brand your name upon something that does not belong to you! You are unworthy!!"

"Iris, did you understand that? Translate it for me."

"I'm not one of your Tru—cough cough, I didn't understand either."

Their seamless double act made Frel want to burn them both to ashes, but considering the gap in strength, he could only do so in his mind.

"You two..."

"Calm down, Mr. Frel. Let me think about what exactly I did."

Linton frowned and thought for a long while.

True Lord's revelation, travelers, something that did not belong to him, branding a name.

What could those keywords mean together?

The True Lord's revelation could be ruled out first, since Linton had never even seen it. As for the rest...

Linton finally sorted out his thoughts and chuckled. "Mr. Frel, I understand now."

"Hmph. Good that you understand. I advise you to immediately kneel before the True Lord and atone for your sins."

"You mean how I bought a large amount of equipment from you, then resold it to other people?"

"Of course—" Frel paused and stared blankly. "That matter does make me angry, but it is nowhere near as bad as..."

"If it's about that, then I really should apologize to you. If you are still angry, I can give you part of the money I earned."

Linton's sincerity completely threw Frel's carefully prepared accusations into disarray. He said somewhat flusteredly, "No need. Well, if you insist. Wait, that's not what I meant!"

"You're dissatisfied?" Linton's brows furrowed slightly. "I had originally wanted to establish a long-term partnership with you."

"I was talking about... a partnership? Partnership for what?"

"Providing weapons and equipment to travelers from afar," Linton said. "I believe you have seen it too. Most of these travelers from distant lands spend generously, and because they adventure outside for long periods, their equipment wears out extremely quickly. As their strength improves, they also need to upgrade their weapons. Don't you think this is a highly valuable business opportunity?"

"You provide the weapons and equipment, and I provide the market."

Frel was deeply skeptical. "How can you be sure they will buy your goods?"

Linton pinched a tiny distance between his thumb and forefinger. "To be honest, I have a little bit of fame among the travelers. In business competition where the quality is nearly the same, people usually choose the more famous option. This is called the celebrity effect. Besides, the quality of your weapons far surpasses everyone else's."

"That is true." Frel's anger had long since vanished, and Linton's flattery even made him feel a little lightheaded. "All right, I believe you. Then if we cooperate, how will the profits be divided?"

"Thirty-seventy."

"Seventy percent?" Frel stroked the stubble on his chin and nodded. "That sounds about right."

Listening to the blacksmith mutter to himself, Iris, who thought she understood Linton a little by now, immediately wore a strange expression.

She kindly reminded him, "Seventy percent is ours."

"What?!" Frel flew into a rage. "Are you playing me? Do you know how much physical and mental effort it takes to forge a piece of quality equipment? You do nothing and still want seventy percent? Do you want me to pass off shoddy goods as quality products? Sorry, but I cannot do something that would ruin my own reputation!"

"No, no, no, you misunderstand. How could we possibly ask a blacksmith as reputable and principled as you to make inferior products?" Linton waved his hand and smiled. "What I mean is, why do you have to do it personally?"

"Huh?" Frel felt as though Linton were flipping his intelligence around like a cat's cradle. He asked blankly, "If I don't do it, who will? My apprentices don't have my skill."

"I mean, you can invite other blacksmiths to join in. The amount of equipment needed will definitely be enormous, and you alone will never be able to finish it all. But you can take part of your earnings and hire other blacksmiths to do the work. Their quality will certainly be far below yours, but I trust your judgment. Anyone you hire will surely meet the required standard."

"Of course, my judgment can't be bad." The blacksmith proudly patted his thick chest muscles, then said coldly, "But why should I let other people take a share of my money?"

"The bigger picture, the bigger picture." Linton continued persuading him. "You cannot possibly imagine how enormous our profits will be. By then, you won't care at all about that little bit of money slipping through your fingers. It's like cats. They shed fur every day, but do they care about how many hairs they lose? It always grows back."

"That's true."

Frel was deeply captivated by the scene Linton described, as if he had already moved into a strange eight-story house with no first floor.

He took a deep breath. "All right, I agree."

Linton extended his hand with a smile. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Iris watched Frel leave with a puzzled expression that said, "I feel like I forgot something," then turned to Linton with a strange look in her eyes.

Linton asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing." Iris shook her head. "I just think it's a waste of talent that you didn't become the leader of this strange cult."

"He clearly came to call you to account, yet you threw his thoughts into disarray with just a few words. After one conversation, he became the most classic example of someone being sold off and still helping count the money."

She looked deeply at Linton. "It would be such a pity if you didn't go preach."

"I don't have such noble dedication to the Truth Society." Linton shrugged. "As for you saying I sold Frel out, he will make a profit and won't have to work too hard. No matter how you look at it, he's the one benefiting, right? Instead of praising me for helping a blacksmith escape poverty, you're accusing me. Iris, I'm very hurt."

Because he wore a hood, Iris could not see Linton's expression. Hearing how dejected he sounded, she hurriedly waved her hands in panic.

"Sorry, sorry, that's not what I meant."

"It's fine." Linton smiled and rubbed the girl's head. "Let's go inside."

"Okay."

Iris nodded obediently, a rare sight.

As she stepped over the threshold, she suddenly felt that something was off.

They had a market, and they had a workshop, but where would the raw materials for forging weapons come from?

Perhaps the one getting played really was not the blacksmith, but someone else?

Meanwhile, on the Kingdom of Heavenly Principles player forum.

"When will the official open beta finally start?! I'm going to die if I can't see Little Black, aaahhh!!!"

Starting tomorrow, the update schedule will be changed to noon and afternoon.