Chapter 65: The Scam with a Noble Name.

“This is an opportunity. We don’t take investment from just anyone, you see. Actually, if we had sufficient capital, we would have proceeded with this business ourselves. That’s how confident we are. Actual results are showing too. And you know.”

Mustache beckoned to me. Showing an intrigued expression, I leaned closer to him.

“We are giving an opportunity to you, who are gaining fame these days. An opportunity for investment with guaranteed returns.”

It was a very condescending attitude. As if they wouldn’t have let me into their business if I hadn’t gained even a little fame.

“I can’t handle such a big deal on my own…”

When I waved my hand saying it’s difficult, Mustache literally snorted.

“Didn’t I tell you? We are talking to you.”

If someone doesn’t know how to purify contaminated gems and hasn’t studied diamond synthesis, meaning most people, even nobles, would be tempted by their so-called technology. The man with the impression of a professor really exuded the smell of having much teaching experience. Moreover, they targeted me precisely.

“You must have heard how much money those who invested in the development of short message transmitters made. It was big news in the papers. Our business is incomparable to that. Are there any magic items in the world that don’t contain gems?”

Since the short message transmitter became a big hit, people claiming to develop new magic technologies were appearing one after another. Most were spouting clouds, but a few exceptional ones showed truly outstanding technologies. Spatial movement magic also popped up in that context. These days, the word ‘new technology’ was enchanting people truly like magic. Our diamond synthesis technology would also belong to this new technology.

“As you said, it’s such a big deal…”

“You can calculate how many times the investment will return when our business gets on track, right? You should know well since you have already purchased a contaminated gem.”

Above all, these scammers did their background checks quite diligently. Mentioning Baron Belus going around jewelry shops with the yellow diamond, Mustache gave a meaningful smile.

“We already know your name isn’t Palmer. But few know that fact precisely. Isn’t it a pity that a jeweler as reputable as you can’t make his name known properly?”

Mustache urged me to quit being a straw boss and open a shop under my name after increasing my money properly.

They wouldn’t have targeted only me for this scam. Scammers originally act like ‘I’m only telling you this,’ approaching as if the target is special.

It was clear they wrote scenarios tailored to each individual jeweler on this street. They were much more proper scammers than I thought.

****

“I still can’t do it.”

After listening to all their long explanations, I shook my head once again.

“What do you mean?”

Mustache opened his eyes wide and got angry.

“I really don’t have the capacity. Besides, it’s time to visit a customer soon…”

Looking at my watch as I spoke, Mustache looked at me with extremely pitying eyes.

“I apologize.”

When I stood up first, Mustache’s cheek twitched. It was a sign that I did something against etiquette. As I stood there waiting for them to stand up, Mustache let out a long sigh and barely lifted his butt.

“We were also planning to sell purified gems through your jewelry shop.”

“That’s a shame.”

Only after several refusals did Mustache go down the stairs. Letting him go first, the man like a professor gave me a meaningful look.

“It truly is a shame.”

Mustache, crossing the store with quick steps, grabbed the doorknob as if leaving immediately. But discovering a figure beyond the glass, he turned back to me and spoke in a pitying tone.

The clerk from the opposite shop, who sometimes chatted with Nathan, was lingering in front of our shop. Meeting my eyes, he sent an awkward eye greeting. I returned a roughly similar expression and turned my gaze to Mustache.

“Actually, we thought you were the best partner. Since there is no jeweler as skilled as you at such a young age. But Count Umbra showed interest in us. Count Umbra, the biological father of Her Highness the Queen Consort. Indeed, an investor we absolutely cannot miss, right? Still, we wanted to give you a chance, but if you say you don’t have the capacity…”

Mentioning the Queen Consort, Mustache handed me a paper with one corner folded. It was a visiting card with a name, address, and contact information capable of receiving short messages.

“We don’t intend to accept many investors either. No matter how much we need investors due to lack of capital, if we receive investment beyond measure, we have to share that much fruit.”

Leaving a visiting card with one corner folded was a sign that they returned without meeting the person they needed to meet.

“It’s just because your talent is truly wasted.”

Mustache patted my shoulder friendly and opened the door to leave. The clerk from the opposite shop practically dragged him by the arm into his shop.

“See you again.”

The man like a professor, still remaining in our shop, smiled at me brightly and then moved his steps slowly outside.

After even his back disappeared as if sucked into the opposite shop, I frowned. The smile shown by the man like a professor left a much worse aftertaste than Mustache’s hand patting my shoulder carelessly.

Vibration rang on my left wrist. Even though the scammers had left. Unpleasant with the pheromones they would have left, I furrowed my brow.

“How close are you with the employee at Rubrum?”

“Not close enough to say we’re close. He’s a meddler who always comes and talks about glass prices or how work increased whenever I’m wiping glass outside.”

When asked about his acquaintance with the employee at the opposite shop, Nathan waved his hand.

“I thought you were close because you talked sometimes. Like Theo from Enid.”

“It’s completely different from Theo next door. I’m definitely close with him, but with Johnny…”

Nathan frowned. I thought friendships between employees were separate regardless of the relationship between managers, but it seems that wasn’t exactly the case.

Rubrum, as the shop name meaning Red Mine implies, is the jewelry shop opposite ours owned by Count Umbra. Originally located a block away, it moved and opened first while Palmer Jewelry was temporarily closed for interior construction.

It was a trick with obvious intentions, but I didn’t react much. When our shop reopened a step later, the crumpled face of Rubrum’s manager seeing our front glass was sufficient compensation.

『It might all break if a strong wind blows; can you handle it?』

When I turned on the barrier in front of him picking a fight for no reason, his face crumpled even more. Palmer Jewelry’s show window was a more powerful promotional tool than anything else.

“He’s not a parrot, but every time he sees me, he asks if wiping glass isn’t burdensome. Honestly, he’s an annoying guy.”

“If Theo asks about investment, tell him I have absolutely no interest. To Johnny too.”

“To Johnny too?”

“Because I don’t want to create a situation where we grab each other by the hair later.”

“Ah, understood.”

I haven’t judged yet what role Rubrum plays in this scam. Whether an active helper or a victim bewitched by scammers.

Still, I had to build a barrier in advance. Palmer Jewelry’s name shouldn’t be mentioned in those scammers’ acts.

“Throw this away too when clearing the trash.”

Finding a blank paper, I transcribed what was written on the card with my left hand. Although I can write with my left hand, the handwriting was different from my right hand. Handing the transcribed paper to Nathan, the guy grinned saying it would be fun.

“I’ll put it on top so it’s clearly visible. Matching the time Johnny throws away trash. He won’t be able to resist meddling if he sees this.”

Since Theo also throws away trash at a similar time, I can handle it at once. Of course, I’ll collect this note well, tear it into small pieces, and throw it away again. Even if I collect this right in front of their eyes, they won’t notice at all. You know my former job. Nathan spoke as if even excited, and then whispered to me in a small voice.

“Those people earlier, honestly seemed a bit like scammers.”

Since the bet with me staking 1 Heni, Nathan was becoming a sound young man who hated betting or investment, unlike his pickpocket background.

“Though saying Alphas are scammers is nonsense.”

Nathan’s words, approaching the answer then denying it again, would represent the opinion of everyone working on this street.

Alphas and Omegas superior to Betas in everything. Property, knowledge, physical ability. So they believe it’s impossible for an Alpha to cajole a Beta with empty promises and commit fraud. Although forcibly taking away is quite plausible.

But the era was already changing. The change already started before was accelerated by meeting the amplifier called war.

During the time gem prices fluctuated, not a few nobles suffered losses by investing recklessly. Among them were those who blew all their family fortunes into thin air.

On the other hand, some Betas were quietly accumulating wealth. The artisans of the workshops that produced our watches so far, the mages researching synthetic diamonds, and I, too, had already secured enough economic power to buy a bankrupt noble’s mansion. Just not daring to think of stepping in there.

Although it looks calm on the surface, what might pop out from under the water surface already ready to overflow was unpredictable. A reckless revolutionary or a brave pioneer might appear, or a fallen noble might appear as a criminal.

I had a thought that someone would definitely be swept away by this scam just because they are Alphas.

The police would also be on their side until a noble becomes a victim. Because they are Alphas.

It was different from when Baron Belus tried to break the display case. If the display case broke, the person suffering property loss was the King’s Brother, and this became a problem between nobles. But now, the difference is that those scammers target shop managers, not shops. Naturally, managers are all Betas.

Even on Earth, scams using expensive gems or new technologies as a pretext were too common. During the Dot-com bubble period, which literally burst like a bubble, many companies received huge investments while being empty shells, and regarding gem scams, the Affair of the Diamond Necklace would be the most famous.

The incident where Jeanne, a descendant of Henri II’s illegitimate child, pretended to be a duchess, scammed claiming intimacy with Marie Antoinette, and stole a necklace worth about 17 billion won to run away.

Due to that incident, Boehmer, the French royal jeweler, went bankrupt, and the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, received anger and hatred from the people.

Lux and Purgatio. Their names written on the visiting card Mustache left, meaning Light and Joy. Obviously not real names but aliases, yet they were also common names among actual nobles. Unlike Betas using Henian-style names, it followed the custom of nobles naming in the language of the Old Empire era.

Is it a coincidence that scammers mentioning Count Umbra and the Queen Consort found me? Not at all.

Just as the scam eventually succeeded because there was Cardinal Rohan who paid in advance to win Marie Antoinette’s favor being deceived by Jeanne, they tried to drag me, sponsored by the King’s Brother, into being a victim and helper of the scam.

It seems the relationship between the King’s Brother and me looked easy to break in their eyes.

Understandable. Since the person who was an exclusive servant, who would have risen to the position of butler and become the King’s Brother’s right arm someday, looks like he became half independent.

They had reason to think I was going through the procedure of being cast out by the master. The small fame I gained as a jeweler must have been nothing to those scammer Alphas.

I needed to find out.

Just as Jeanne actually had no contact with Marie Antoinette, whether those scammers just sold the names of Count Umbra and the Queen Consort, or if they really have some relationship with them.

“Please sleep a little today.”

After sending home Nathan who told me to sleep well from early evening, I went down to the workshop, and the King’s Brother was already seated at the tea table.