Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2698: Greedy Little Piggy

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters

As a renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist back on Earth, I understood one thing: there were no such things as good ideas. There were only ideas, a dime a dozen. They only gained value, for better or worse, when you actually managed to implement them and see them through to completion.

The First Nations once believed land could not be sold until invaders taught them otherwise. Who could have guessed that selling water would become one of the most lucrative and stable businesses in the world? That was to say, without action and the conviction to do whatever it takes, ideas were nothing more than ideas.

I don’t know why I suddenly thought of this. Maybe it was how I was going about building the holy ground to comprehend runes, or it was Corey and Cortney who seemed to understand what I was trying to do. Either way, seeing an opportunity presented itself, Corey didn’t hesitate to seize it.

"Wyatt, I want a twenty-five percent share in that holy ground, because five of those twenty rule ore veins are mine," Corey shouted in a rush, as if afraid that if she didn’t make herself clear now, she might never get another chance.

Knowing that even if she refused to sell her silence to Petra, it would be sold by her boss regardless, Corey decided she might as well claim her share instead of letting his greed go unchecked. With one move, she was hitting two birds, unfortunately neither of them was the bird she truly wanted to strike.

Even now, after understanding what her boss was trying to do, Corey still believed the way he was going about it was wrong and that he should stop immediately. She thought his goal was admirable, but the method he had chosen amounted to betraying their friend. For someone as smart as he was, surely he could have found another way, right?

Petra stared at Corey in disbelief. The same girl who had sworn she would never sell her silence and had even threatened to report her was now fighting for a cut of the deal. In her long life, Petra had dealt with many shameless and hypocritical card apprentices, yet Corey caught her off guard.

Petra’s Petruth Rune confirmed that Corey wasn’t merely posturing. She genuinely believed what she was saying. That was what shocked Petra the most, that Corey could change her stance so quickly while still being sincere. For a brief moment, Petra even wondered if her Petruth Rune had malfunctioned.

"How are five out of the twenty Rule Ore veins yours?" I scoffed, rolling my eyes at Corey as I shut her down on the spot. "You didn’t want to sell your silence, remember? Now stop being a greedy little piggy and get back to shoveling."

Maybe I would have considered cutting her in for a tiny percentage of the holy grounds if she’d played along from the start. But the nerve of her, demanding twenty-five percent when I was the one doing all the work, when all she had to do was nod along. Instead, she managed to botch something that simple.

And now, after I’d gone out of my way to salvage the deal she’d nearly torpedoed with her self-righteous attitude, she had the gall to come back asking for twenty-five percent of the shares. Such demands will not fly under my watch.

"I’m being a greedy little piggy?" Corey snapped, her face flushing as she shot back at me. "You’re the pig. Your whole family is a pig. Wyatt, I’m telling you right now, give me twenty-five percent of the holy grounds you’re planning to build, or else."

It could be more obvious that calling her a greedy little piggy had definitely struck a nerve

"Or else what?" I shot back. "Believe it or not, if you don’t get back to shoveling the blood out of here, I’ll have you shoveling shit in the city sewers instead."

I’d clearly gone too easy on her lately. The fact that she even thought she could threaten me was proof of that.

"You wouldn’t," Corey said, disbelief flashing across her face.

She had planned to go over my head and negotiate directly with Petra if I refused. But now, she reconsidered. Shoveling shit was still shoveling shit, and no deal in the world was worth that risk. In the end, she wasn’t willing to gamble on it.

"Try me," I dared her flatly.

When Corey finally turned away and went back to scraping blood off the basement floor, I shifted my attention to Petra. Before I could say anything, Cortney stepped in and asked, "How many Rule Ore veins will you pay me for my silence?"

Corey froze mid-motion and stared at Cortney in disbelief. Even though they were of different races and born to different mothers, everyone had always seen Cortney and Bloodette as sisters. Seeing Cortney so casually offer to sell her silence to Petra left a bitter taste in Corey’s mouth.

Even Dredre looked astonished, yanking on my hair in pure disbelief. Those tiny hands of hers carried the strength of a ruler class, them pulling on my hair felt like my scalp was about to be torn clean off.

"Hey, Dredre, honey, careful. You’re hurting me," I cried out in pain. I figured it would boost her confidence in her own strength. Not that she lacked it. After the way she handled Lil’ Baem, it was clear she didn’t need the reassurance. Still, a little extra confidence never hurt, especially for someone with her abilities.

She immediately let go and leaned down from above, her tiny pink eyes meeting mine as she hurried to apologize. "Sorry, Wyatt. I didn’t mean to. I was just surprised."

"You and me both," I said, my gaze shifting to Cortney.

Once Cortney understood what I was doing, she didn’t need to spell it out for her. Especially with Corey already laying everything bare.

As for Bloodette, she’d be thrilled as she would never have to worry about blood candies or any other gourmet blood delicacies anymore.