"Wanna bet?" William didn't just explode and act in this way out of consideration or impulse. He simply wanted to do something here. And as he said it, that middle aged man didn't notice the weird look over William's face, not got what it meant at least like how Thomas did.
"Sure, why not?" the man laughed, "what do you want to bet on?"
"I believe you already know who I am, right?" William felt it the moment he followed this man inside, he was the owner of this place. The way other workers here looked at this man was enough to make William jump to this conclusion.
And if such a man went out of his place to welcome him, that meant one thing. What he did back at his territory must have reached this dude's ears.
It wasn't surprising at all. After all, William got used to how fast news travelled in this fort.
"Sure, you are the kid who started such a fierce bet out there," the man crossed his arms, "it's not polite to know your identity and not introduce myself. I'm Alfred, the owner of this place."
"I guessed that." William didn't act humble or hide his thoughts.
"So, what's this bet all about?" Alfred gave William a deep look, "is it like the one you just issued back there?"
"It's related to that, somehow… But it's something slightly different," William looked around before adding, "how about this… If I lived and won the bet at my place, then why won't you give me the management of this place for one year?"
"One year? Lend you the management? For what?" Alfred felt there were much deeper meanings behind William's words than what William said.
"I'll turn your place from just a single building with such a bad state into something that's on par with the Big Seven."
"..."
"But that won't be for free," William turned fully towards Alfred, before adding with a calm expression on his face, "if that happened, then we will be partners, with me having fifty-one percent in total."
"This… You are after owning and even deciding matters in my place?" Alfred's tone showed how much discontent and slightly enraged he was. To him, a kid was hinting that he led this place in a bad way, in a way that even a kid like this one was able to do much better than himself.
"That's just the right price of me putting this place on the right track," William wasn't content with his implications, and decided to speak more openly and directly with this dude, "to me, you really suck in managing this place."
"Great, just great," Alfred was fuming with rage, "and what if you failed? What will I get in return?"
"My place out there," William pointed towards the direction of his territory. And before Alfred would say anything, William added, "by then, this place won't be the cursed fox residence everyone feared. It'll be all cleared, and it'll turn into one of the most iconic places in the entire fort."
Alfred was about to mock William for giving out such a cursed place in return for losing the bet. However, when he heard William's words, he realised something.
William proposed such a deal after his success in dealing with the bet about his place. And that meant if he succeeded and survived, he'd clear that place from all traps and deadly things inside.
That meant one thing… That place would turn from being the most abandoned and feared place in the entire fort to the hottest cake in the eyes of everyone.
"We shall sign a contract now," Alfred knew more than that. He was a merchant after all, and he could tell how huge William's gains would be in case he won that bet.
What prevented him and others in his profession from rising up? It was indeed the reasons he stated before, but on top of that came the lack of wealth and money. If such a rich tycoon decided to support his place, then even if he failed, he'd give him a much better place than what it was at right now.
In Alfred's eyes, this was just a hot offer than only a damn fool would say no to. And that was precisely the crux of William's trap for him.
"I have no issue about that," William paused before pointing towards the scroll in his hands, "but bring me first the life water elixir, all the bottles you have."
"Sure," Alfred paused, "we got thirty bottles, each is sold at market price of one hundred thousand spirit crystals. But for you, as a token of my good will, you can get it for half price."
"Deal," William calculated and found out that he had to pay just two of his spirit gems, and he'd still get five hundred thousand spirit crystals, "prepare them and the contract. Let's finalise everything as soon as possible."
"Give me an hour," Alfred pointed towards a place that had a curtain covering it, "you can rest there. I'll make sure to get things done fast."
"Well…" William knew there was a chance for him to do more business in this fort, "I have other things to do. Give me an hour before I come here again."
"Ok," Alfred wanted to ask about what William wanted to do, but he refrained from asking. When he watched William vanish out of his place, a crazy thought popped up in his mind.
"Don't tell me… He is going to other places like mine…" Alfred got scared by such a thought. And so he fetched one of his workers to go and follow William, providing him with intel about his next moves.
"Master, someone from there is trailing us."
And just as the two of them walked out of the Seven Heaven place, Thomas noticed the worker Alfred sent after them.
"Let him be," William could already guess what was going on.
"But master…"
"It's harmless to let him tag along."
"I didn't mean that," Thomas knew his master got his intentions wrong, "I was asking about our next destination."
"We are going on a hunt."
