Wasn’t This a Night Game

I’ll Make You Regret Being Born

“What?!”

“T-the blast furnace, it’s cooled! The skilled workers who were keeping it running, they’ve all stopped working and vanished, so it’s cooled down completely!”

“Are you mad?! How… how could this… Is, is it just you? Please, tell me it’s just your factory…”

“It’s the same with the other factories!! All the skilled workers who were guarding the factories until the very end have suddenly deserted!! All the blast furnaces in the Scrap Yard are cold!! There’s no one working in the mines either! What are we going to do!!”

Bias dropped the expensive whiskey bottle he was holding.

The bottle shattered, and whiskey the color of fresh blood soaked the floor, but Mayor Bias didn’t even notice.

“These, these sons of b*tches…! Are these insects crazy?!”

“Mayor, it’s not just the skilled workers. All the laborers in the city are flocking towards the city’s edge!! The entire Scrap Yard is emptying out!!”

“Do they have a death wish to starve? What’s out there?!”

“Free soup kitchens and field hospitals!!”

“What?”

“The Grace Order and Karma Company are providing large-scale food supplies outside the city! A whole trainload of food has arrived and is being distributed evenly! Mayor!!”

If the shock of being rejected by Duke Rima and High Priest Rufus had been like a solid punch to the solar plexus, then this felt like a full-swing blow to the back of the head with a construction hammer.

Mayor Bias’s face turned whiter than a corpse.

“Where, where is it?! Where is it happening?!”

“Near the east gate where the train tracks connect!!”

“Bring the car!! I have to go there immediately!!”

It wasn’t just Mayor Bias who was in a panic.

Heading towards the east gate, they saw a line of cars belonging to various factory owners.

Escorted by the Scrap Yard police, the factory owners and Mayor Bias rushed out, only to witness a horrific sight in the next moment.

“There’s plenty to eat, everyone!! This is vegetable soup made with fresh vegetables brought straight from the south!!”

The High Priest Yodel and the priests of the Grace Order were doling out food to the impoverished with an all-too-familiar ease.

On one side, priests frantically tended to the sick.

“Roasted turkey, anyone?!! Turkeys flown in directly by Chairman Jonathan Karma himself!! Prefer pork? Head that way!! Plenty of pork to go around!!”

And from everywhere, the sizzling of roasting meat echoed.

Hungry laborers devoured the soup and meat, while employees clad in uniforms bearing the Karma Company crest tirelessly churned out more dishes.

Mayor Byers and the factory owners felt a dizzying dread creep in. If things continued like this, what reason would the laborers have to return to the factories at all?

“Th-this… this… this…”

As Mayor Byers stammered,

a middle-aged gentleman approached them with a female secretary in tow.

“Mayor Byers, is it? I had a feeling you’d be along. I’m Jonathan Karma. And this is my secretary and wife, Oliviera.”

Normally, Mayor Byers would have donned a suitable mask and offered a practiced smile.

But he had no room for pretenses now.

“What… what is the meaning of this, Mr. Karma?”

“Why, providing for the needy, as you can see? My wife and I are adherents of the Lily faith, you see. We simply can’t stand idly by while the poor and sick suffer. Ha ha!”

At Jonathan’s glib words, Mayor Byers’ eyes darted about.

He desperately suppressed his emotions, forcing a strained smile.

“Perhaps… perhaps we should discuss this inside. What do you say?”

“Delightful. I was starting to tire of standing.”

Mayor Byers and the factory owners led Jonathan Karma and his wife Oliviera into the city.

They headed towards the Town Hall at the heart of the Scrap Yard and soon found themselves in a grandiose reception room.

Before Jonathan and Oliviera could even settle on the sofa, Mayor Byers blurted out,

“Mr. Karma, let’s be frank.”

“Oh my. And here I thought you might offer us a cup of tea? My wife and I have simple tastes. We can appreciate a fine brew, even if it doesn’t require an elaborate preparation.”

Looking at Jonathan, who was flashing a disarmingly friendly smile, Mayor Byers felt his anger flare within, but he desperately subdued it.

Now was the time to persuade Jonathan.

Not to antagonize him.

“Mr. Karma, why are you doing this? Do you know how many people live in this city?”

“I believe the population is a little over one million.”

“Do you have any idea how much it costs to feed that many people for a single day?”

“The food I purchased today alone cost roughly one hundred thousand Salreds. The numbers are rather large. So the food bill comes with quite an expense.”

“Indeed. A hundred thousand saleds. A monumental sum. One must expend such a fortune, day after day. Surely, you, being no fool with numbers, comprehend the scale of the losses incurred? And it is not merely the cost of food, is it? The free soup kitchen, the operation of the infirmary… consider the further sums swallowed up, and the losses only multiply.”

“The workers’ wages, the expense of transporting the provisions here… it is not a trifling amount, not at all. And we’ve hired cooks, skilled ones. Expensive, those of true talent.”

Jonathan Karma’s unwavering smile pushed Mayor Byers to the ragged edge of his control.

“Why would you deliberately engage in such self-destructive behavior? Eh? You and the Scrap Yard share no connection, do you?”

“Am I not, in fact, rescuing the city’s destitute, and from my own coffers? A mayor, I thought, would be pleased.”

Byers watched Jonathan’s benevolent smile, and his patience began to fray.

The mayor, fighting a twitch, a nervous flutter, forced a smile that felt like a grimace.

“There is truly… no need. We, the Scrap Yard, can manage our own affairs. It would be best if you ceased incurring these losses and returned from whence you came.”

“As I have stated, that is not an option.”

*Grind.*

The sound of teeth grinding emanated from Mayor Byers’ jaw.

“Why is that?”

“Did I not mention? My wife and I are faithful of the Lilia.”

“…….”

“The Graceful Goddess bade me shower this city with grace. Thus, I am spreading Her will. You saw the city’s laborers consuming turkey, yes? How heartily they devoured it! Ha ha! It brought a smile to my face, I assure you!”

“……”

“It reminded me of Cecilia when she was a child. My daughter, you see, is now quite the star in the capital’s social circles. Such a deluge of invitations, ha ha! Still, good nutrition is of paramount importance. My daughter was quite thin as a child, so I know full well….”

“Mr. Jonathan. Ha ha. This is… well, I suppose I must be more blunt.”

Finally.

Mayor Byers’ patience snapped.

And the factory owners’ patience snapped with it.

“Cease interfering and get out, we are telling you! Stop poaching our laborers from our businesses!”

“Be content in the capital, Mr. Jonathan.”

“You. Why, suddenly, are you meddling in the metal industry, a field you know nothing of?”

“Do you think we’ll stand idly by? Your own enterprises, your car production, your factories… they all require steel, and we supply it! Do you believe you can antagonize the empire’s largest steel producer with impunity??”

Despite the tirade of the factory owners and Mayor Byers, Jonathan maintained his composure.

Allowing their words to wash over him, he leisurely extracted a cigarette from his pocket.

“Jonathan Karma!! No matter how powerful you are, do you believe you can withstand the Scrap Yard as a whole and remain safe!!……..”

“Since we’re embracing candor, let me be frank as well. How long do you truly think you can hold out against me?”

A plume of smoke spiraled languidly into the air.

Jonathan still wore a smile.

But the feel of it was different now.

“Three days? A week? A month? I’ll wager you’ll be doing well to last three weeks.”

“Ha! You think we’ll only last three weeks, Jonathan Karma?”

“You’ll find you won’t last much longer. Seeing as how your biggest clients – the southern factory zone and the Mage Tower – will be refusing payments.”

“……”

“Didn’t you know that most of the people in the southern factories are Lilia’s followers? Consider this a reckoning for slighting the Saintess. And quite conveniently, factory operations have been suspended, meaning you won’t be meeting your contracted quotas, will you?”

“……. “

“As for the Mage Tower’s magic metals…well. I’ve promised to purchase the entire stock of the Mars Mage Tower branch and supply other towers at a bargain price. So they won’t be needing to call on you anytime soon.”

“You… you fiend…you…”

“And by now, the blast furnace must be cooled, wouldn’t you say? Pity. No steel production for you. You’ll have to tear it down and build it all over again. Funding cut off, production stalled. Oh, and there’s the Pantheon and the Black Fortress to contend with. An inquisition for heresy and a tax audit at the same time? You certainly draw the short straw.”

Jonathan chuckled, exhaling smoke as he watched the factory owners and the mayor of Bias squirm, speechless.

“You said earlier that feeding this city’s workers was a loss? Nonsense. I see it as an investment. An investment necessary to swallow the whole scrap yard. My investigations show that you’ve taken out quite a few loans from Martok Bank recently? For new mine development?”

The mayor’s eyes widened.

But the words that followed from Jonathan made them widen further in shock.

“Martok Bank. As of today, it belongs to Karma Company. The ink was dry before I arrived, so I can officially say I am now your creditor. Since you were all so eager to shout just a moment ago, I am curious indeed. The debt. How will you repay it?”

“……”

“Likely, soon enough. You will be handing over those factories and the entire company that you cherish so much into my hands. Willingly or not. By force.”

It was then that the factory owners and Mayor Bias realized they had bitten off more than they could chew.

The pleasant-looking middle-aged gentleman before them had not come to simply ensure the workers were fed.

He had come after careful calculation.

He had come to hunt.

“The… the money… the money…”

“I’m sorry to disappoint, but I have that kind of money. Mr. Bias. Enough to feed the nearly million people outside this door for ten years, to purchase a bank on a whim, to rebuild a damaged blast furnace entirely, and transform this whole city to my liking. Or more accurately, Karma Company’s revenue this quarter alone is sufficient.”

Jonathan ground the cigarette he was smoking into the ashtray.

“Mr. Bias.”

Jonathan and Oliviera rose from their seats.

The couple smiled.

“Do you really think you have any chance of winning against a company that has an endless supply of Elixir springing from the earth, and doesn’t have to pay taxes for the next ten years?”

It was a most unsettling smile.