Chapter 2105: Stocking Up
As we approached the cruise ship, Fuldamantha coincidentally returned with a few of his subordinates. He looked at us in surprise, carrying a large box, and asked, “Huh? Boss, what are you doing?”
“Ah, I went to stock up and brought back some goods,” Older Brother Jayad said, patting the large box behind him.
“Stock up? What kind of stock is this? Uh, next time you stock up, you can tell us, and we can help with inventory and carrying it,” Fuldamantha almost blurted out why he wasn’t informed, but then realized that wasn’t the proper attitude to have towards the boss.
In the past, when Fuldamantha worked independently, he always liked to have all aspects of his subordinates’ work under his control. For example, regarding stocking up, how much to buy, what to buy, the budget, and expected income, he would have his subordinates meticulously research everything. He was an expert in statistics and data analysis.
Now, with the boss suddenly saying he went to stock up and not knowing what he bought or what his market targets were, Fuldamantha felt a strong sense of discomfort and unfamiliarity; he almost blurted out a question.
It was only then that he remembered who the boss was. Jayad had no obligation to report to him or consult him. He could buy whatever he wanted without Fuldamantha’s agreement.
Even so, Fuldamantha found it very unsettling. He was now Jayad’s employee, yet he had no idea what business the boss intended to conduct on the Apennine Peninsula, how much assets he currently had, or how much inventory he possessed. He was completely out of the loop.
If he were a butler or a professional manager, being this uninformed about the master’s plans and intelligence would be considered a severe dereliction of duty. However, Jayad had made no proactive explanation and had not organized any staff meetings.
Fuldamantha had tried to understand his employer himself and had encouraged his subordinates to get closer to the employer and get to know him after some familiarization, but he had gained very little information.
During the past few days on the cruise ship, Jayad had been entirely focused on leisure. While other merchants were also enjoying themselves, they at least checked their daily market reports sent by carrier pigeons, took inventory of their goods, and seized opportunities to discuss collaborations with other merchants.
Jayad, however, had done none of that work. Fuldamantha knew that Jayad had spoken with workers in the cabins, learned about the ship’s structure, fished, and chatted with Sea God priests whom he somehow connected with. If employees approached him, he would have them play poker or billiards with him.
Apart from that, he spent his days in the luxurious guest rooms, carousing with those beautiful girls and spending the night with them. In Fuldamantha’s view, it was all unproductive activity.
Based on this, Fuldamantha could only conclude that this new boss was indeed a noble young master ignorant of business, who liked to pursue pleasure and acted entirely on impulse. His previous luck in gambling was purely due to good fortune and the powerful magic apparatus he possessed.
The reason he could act so extravagantly was entirely because he had diamond mines; he had a substantial fortune at home and didn’t need to worry about short-term profits or losses. Anyway, with the capital to be extravagant, he could do as he pleased.
Such people were not merchants in the conventional sense but raw material providers from the source of production. Merchants held a strange and contradictory attitude towards them.
On one hand, there was disdain and contempt. After all, it was a trade requiring no skill, something anyone could do. They could use all sorts of tactics to pressure prices, exploit them, and take advantage, making them seem like simpletons, easily described as fools with too much money.
On the other hand, there was envy, jealousy, and resentment. No matter how much these merchants looked down on them or how much they cheated and defrauded them to make a profit margin, these individuals were still wealthy.
With a fortune at home, they could be as extravagant as they pleased without any risk. Unlike them, who engaged in business operations with trepidation, where unfavorable outcomes could lead to complete ruin, and Fuldamantha himself had gone from rich to destitute, there were many such examples. Some even committed suicide after going bankrupt.
Their continuous efforts to squeeze profits by pressing down on raw material prices sometimes felt like they were racking their brains to snatch trivial amounts of money that the owners of these resources didn’t even care about, which felt particularly humiliating.
Fortunately, merchants generally lacked shame. Money was everything, so groveling to appease mineral bosses they looked down upon was not a big deal.
Precisely because of this, many merchants, after making money, would buy real estate, and with more money, they would buy mines and oil fields. Everyone despised coal bosses or oil tycoons, yet everyone wanted to be a coal boss or an oil tycoon because they were always guaranteed to profit.
After confirming that his employer was this type of person, Fuldamantha sighed inwardly. He had initially hoped to achieve great things and prove himself again, but now it seemed his role would be more of an accountant, responsible for safeguarding the employer’s finances and conducting normal diamond transactions.
However, Fuldamantha reconsidered. This choice seemed to be the most fitting for his current situation. He had already gone bankrupt once. If he caused his new boss to go bankrupt again, not only would there be no one left to save him, but he would also feel immense guilt towards the boss who had rescued him from ruin.
Moreover, thinking of his family and the loyal subordinates who were still following him, having a boss who, while not ambitious, could ensure the business’s stability was the best option for them. At least they could live a relatively stable life.
Just as Fuldamantha had adjusted his mindset, the boss suddenly returned with a large box, claiming he had gone stocking up. It was no wonder he was surprised; this was the first time he had seen the boss act like a merchant since he started working for him.
Jayad did not perceive Fuldamantha’s words as offensive, nor did he intend to hide anything. He generously invited Fuldamantha and the employees, “You’ve come at the right time. Come and take a look. They’re scrolls.”
“Scrolls?” The employees looked at Jayad in confusion as he opened the strange box, which seemed to be made of material similar to coral or tortoiseshell. A surge of pure oceanic magic gushed out, and they couldn’t help but exclaim, “Magic scrolls! And so many?!”
Inside were neatly stacked magic scrolls. At a rough glance, there were over ten thousand of them, mostly ordinary scrolls, along with aptitude-level and low-level divine spells.
“Boss, where did you get so many scrolls? Could it be from the Sea God’s Retreat?” Fuldamantha immediately guessed the origin of the scrolls, impressed by his knowledge of Mallorca.
“Yes, I got them at a low price from the Sea God Church through Miss Illyret’s connections, paid for with diamonds. I plan to sell these scrolls on the Apennine Peninsula,” Jayad said with a smile.
Actually, the bulk of the cost wasn’t here; the real expense was for the high-tier and even forbidden-tier divine spells, which I took. I also bought so many low-tier scrolls.
