Lucian smiled and picked up a tangerine from the basket once the girl was out of earshot.
He peeled the skin off and popped a segnt into his mouth. "Hmmm...it’s good."
Jax stared at him in disbelief.
"What?" Lucian asked, "It’s free. Why are you looking at like that?"
The trio stared at him, then at each other.
Jax was the first to speak, "Boss, are you... blind?"
"Huh?" Lucian raised an eyebrow, "What do you an?"
"She was flirting with you!" Jax said.
"I know," Lucian said, popping another piece of tangerine into his mouth, "That’s her job, isn’t it? To attract custors for their business."
"Well, I think..." Jax began, "She was more serious about you than about the business."
"I know," Lucian repeated, his tone flatter. "I know how she feels about . If I accepted every girl who gave the look, I would have a whole town of wives."
"..." They were speechless, their mouths hanging open in disbelief. Too cocky! Too arrogant!
Lucian threw the rest of the tangerines in their direction. "If you get rich enough, you’ll have your own ladies fawning over you," he said, popping another piece of tangerine into his mouth.
The boys’ eyes lit up at the prospect of being rich enough to have girls throw themselves at them. "Yes, boss!"
It was the type of motivation they needed to hear.
──────────────────────────
They soon arrived at the valley where Roland and his bandits were waiting for them. It was the sa spot as before, nestled between two cliffs.
Roland was a man in his late thirties. A scarf covered his head and the bottom half of his face, leaving only his grey eyes visible. His clothes were worn and patched, but he still managed to look intimidating.
"I see you’ve co back," Roland said. "And you brought a bigger cargo, just like you said."
"I’m a man of my word," Lucian replied, getting out of the wagon, "I told you I would, and I did."
"So? Why did you choose us, bandits? Why not honest n from the towns?" Roland asked. He thought it through again and found it suspicious. There were better people to hire.
"When I first arrived in the south, the honest n were the first to spit in my face," Lucian started explaining as he leaned on the wagon, "Whereas the beggars were the ones to share the food they found in the trash with . So I would rather hire beggars turned bandits than honest n."
"..." Roland was silent for a mont, his eyes squinting. The boy had refused to join his path back then, saying that he wanted to try another option, to see which worked out better.
The one who sat and waited for luck, or the one who chased after it.
"What will be our jobs then?" Roland asked, expecting him to say guards or fighters, as Lucian didn’t have enough people to protect his business.
"Debt collectors," Lucian said, "I can’t have so people forgetting to pay . So of them might need so reminding."
Lucian had no way to protect his money during his travels. He hid so and loaned the rest, making sure that he never had too much with him at once, and also to always have so to co back to in case he got robbed on his way.
He pulled out a notebook with nas of people, the money they owed, and the due dates.
"You don’t have to kill them. Just pressure them until they pay what they owe. For every successful collection, you will get five small silver coins on top of your salary, which will be 100 small silver coins a day."
The debtors didn’t have to pay everything at once. They could do it in installnts. There was a small fee for borrowing money from him, and there were late fees, which increased as ti passed.
From the money collected, 330 large silver coins would go to Roland’s group each month, and the rest would be re-lended per Lucian’s instructions until they got the hang of the process.
Lucian explained it to them in detail, turning the whole thing into a business, complete with proper bookkeeping, which he taught Roland how to do as his group joined him on the journey.
──────────────────────────
Two days later...
The group huddled outside another town to set up a camp.
"Bind with Jack, Roland," Lucian ordered, taking a seat on the heated boulder, "He will keep a copy of the book in case sothing happens to you. I expect you to follow his orders like I’m here myself."
He didn’t ntion what would happen if Roland betrayed his trust. He kept a check on the numbers, so lying about soone not paying and keeping the money for himself wouldn’t pass as easily as lying about a wagon getting robbed.
He planned to pass down the trade in the south to Fishbone to manage, and the plot of land near the southern forest to Leaf.
Jax was the worst at human interaction, so he would stay close to Lucian, serving as a link between Goblin’s greenhouse, Leaf’s plantation, Fishbone’s south trade, and Roland’s treasury.
People would be more likely to avoid Roland’s group than try to ambush them.
"It’s a big plan," Lucian said, "And you, my friends, have been chosen to be the key players. Don’t chase small gains when the big ones are within your reach."
As the fire licked the logs in the middle of the circle, he could see their irises changing into imaginary gold coins under the light.
They were hooked. No, more than hooked. They were ready to kiss the ground he walked on and worship his feet if he succeeded in delivering on his vision.
Roland lifted his imaginary crown and placed it over Lucian’s head, "From today on, you are the Boss, and I’ll be your right-hand man, and we will conquer the south’s market. What do you say?"
"I say...that you are drunk already," Lucian said, taking away his bottle and replacing it with a candy, "Cut on booze, and start chewing on mint leaves. Your breath is terrible."
The group laughed and tasted the spicy sweets Lucian handed out.
"I’m short on employees, so you will produce these on top of your other debt duties."
"..."
"..."
Their laughter died down, feeling like their bodies were going to be squeezed like lemons by this boy half their size.
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