A shady merchant's self-cultivation, Wendy's dream of becoming the Gambling God

As John looked over Faoken's financial report and personnel assignment report for the day, he was in an excellent mood, even feeling the urge to burst into song. Under the ruins exploration program he had deliberately hyped up, the number of adventurers coming to Faoken was growing exponentially. And thanks to the series of scam packages he had designed, quite a few adventurers desperate to recoup their losses had already applied to the Governor's Office for financed exploration packages. But with this shady merchant of a lord pulling the strings, their fate was already plain to see.

Only after discovering that they had somehow saddled themselves with enormous loans did those adventurers belatedly come to their senses and realize they had been thoroughly conned. The promise of "one expedition, a lifetime of freedom" had all been fucking bullshit. The reality was "one expedition, a lifetime of loan repayments."

But to fund their earlier expeditions, these gamblers had already sold off their assets and poured everything in, only to find their expenses far exceeding their earnings.

Having then applied for loans by signing away their personal freedom, these adventurers, who had practically pawned even their underwear in pursuit of overnight riches, had completely lost the ability to repay their debts. They therefore had no choice but to accept the Governor's Office's "Talent Employment Debt-Repayment Scheme," becoming unpaid labor for Faoken's Department of Government Affairs and beginning their miserable lives of working off debt. Of course, quite a few had tried to slip across the border and flee after realizing how difficult repayment would be. But under the Scout Mage Soldiers' comprehensive patrols, every would-be debt dodger was caught and thrown into jail, where they enjoyed seven free days in silver bracelets. Their already unmanageable debts also successfully increased by ten percent