Who Got Tricked?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Who Got Tricked?

"What did you do?"

"I don't know."

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

"Don't know."

"."

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

Frel's face turned red from his innocent words. "Shameless wretch! It's one thing that you used the True Lord's revelations to profit from travelers, but you should never have tried to obscure the True Lord's brilliance, nor should you have put your name on something that doesn't belong to you! You are unworthy!!"

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

"I'm not... cough cough, I didn't understand."

The tacit understanding between the two made Frel want to burn them both with fire, but considering the difference in strength, he could only do so in his mind.

"You guys..."

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

Linton frowned and thought for a long time.

True Lord's revelations, travelers, things that don't belong to him, putting his name on it...

What could these keywords form?

True Lord's revelations were ruled out first, because Linton had never seen them. As for the others...

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

"Hmph, it's good that you understand. I advise you to go kneel before the True Lord immediately and atone for your sins."

"Are you referring to the fact that I bought a large quantity of equipment from you and then resold it to others?"

"Otherwise..." Frel paused, then said blankly, "This matter does make me very angry, but not nearly as much as..."

"If it's about this, then I do need to apologize to you. If you're still angry, I can give you a portion of the money I earned."

Linton's sincerity disrupted all the accusations Frel had prepared in his mind. He said somewhat flusteredly, "No need... Alright, if you're willing... Wait a minute, that's not what I meant!"

"Aren't you satisfied?" Linton frowned slightly. "I was actually hoping to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with you."

"I was talking about... a cooperative relationship? Cooperate on what?"

"Providing weapons and equipment for travelers from afar," Linton said. "As you've probably seen, most of these travelers from afar are generous spenders. And because they've been adventuring outside for a long time, their equipment gets damaged very quickly. Plus, as their strength increases, they need to upgrade their weapons. So, don't you think this is a very valuable business opportunity?"

"You provide the weapons and equipment, and I'll provide the sales channels."

Frel was full of suspicion. "How can you be sure they'll buy your goods?"

Linton pinched the distance between his thumb and index finger. "To be honest, I have a little bit of fame among the travelers. And in commercial competition where the quality is almost the same, people usually choose the one with greater fame. This is called the celebrity effect. Moreover, the quality of your weapons far surpasses others."

"While that's true," Frel's anger had long since disappeared, and he was even a little flattered by Linton's praise. "Alright, I believe you. So, if we cooperate, how should the profits be distributed?"

"Three-seven."

"Seventy percent?" Frel stroked his chin stubble and nodded. "That's about right."

Listening to the blacksmith's mumbling, Iris, who thought she had a good understanding of Linton, suddenly had a strange look on her face.

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

"What!!" Frel roared. "Are you playing me? Do you know how much physical and mental effort goes into crafting a piece of quality equipment? You guys do nothing and want seventy percent? Do you want me to pass off inferior goods as high quality? Sorry, I can't do anything that would ruin my own reputation!"

"No, no, no, you misunderstand. How could we possibly let a reputable and principled blacksmith like you make shoddy products?" Linton waved his hand and smiled. "I mean, why do you have to do it yourself?"

"Ah?" Frel felt his intelligence being twisted and turned by Linton like a jump rope, and asked blankly, "If I don't do it, who will? My apprentices don't have my skills."

"What I mean is, you can hire other blacksmiths to help. The quantity of equipment needed will definitely be enormous, and you can't possibly complete it all by yourself. But you can take a portion of your earnings to hire other blacksmiths for subcontracting. Although the quality will definitely be much worse than your craftsmanship, I believe in your discerning eye, and the people you hire will definitely be above the acceptable standard."

"That's right, my eye for quality is definitely not bad." The blacksmith proudly patted his thick chest muscles, then said coldly, "But why should I let others share my money!"

"Vision, vision." Linton continued to persuade him, "You absolutely cannot imagine how huge our profits will be, and at that time, you won't even care about the small amount of money that slips through your fingers. It's like cats; they shed hair every day, but do they care how many strands they've lost? It'll grow back anyway."

"That's true."

Frel was deeply captivated by the scene Linton painted, as if he were already living in a strange house that was eight stories high but had no first floor.

He took a deep breath. "Alright, I agree."

Linton smiled and extended his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Iris watched Frel leave with a confused expression, as if he had forgotten something. She then looked at Linton with a strange gaze.

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

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

"They came to accuse you, but you managed to disrupt their train of thought in just a few words. After a conversation, they became the most typical example of 'being tricked into helping count the money'."

She looked deeply at Linton. "It's a shame you're not out there proselytizing."

"I didn't dedicate such noble spirit to the Truth Society," Linton shrugged. "As for you saying I sold out Frel, he'll gain benefits and won't have to work too hard. How can you not see that as a win-win? Instead of praising me for helping a blacksmith escape poverty, you're accusing me. Iris, you've really hurt my feelings."

Because her hood was up, Iris couldn't see Linton's expression. Hearing the dejected tone in his voice, she hastily waved her hands.

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

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

"Okay."

Iris, uncharacteristically obedient, nodded.

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

They had sales channels and a workshop, but where would the raw materials for crafting weapons come from?

Perhaps the one who was truly tricked wasn't the blacksmith, but someone else?

Meanwhile, on the Kingdom of Heavenly Principles player forums.

"When will the official open beta start! I'm dying without seeing Little Black!!!"

Starting tomorrow, I'll be changing the update schedule to midday and afternoon.