"This... this is...?!"
"This is black pepper," Suzuki said, his voice smooth and incredibly calm.
"Ohhh!"
The fat Guildmaster practically moaned, his heavy, sweaty body trembling as he leaned over the small leather pouch. The sharp, intoxicating, spicy aroma wafting from the crushed peppercorns hit his medieval senses like a physical blow.
Suzuki didn't waste time. His goal was simple: to establish a total monopoly over the kingdom's economy. And the fastest, most brutal way to a man's wallet was through his stomach.
During his brief tour of the market, Suzuki had sampled the local cuisine. The food wasn't terrible, but it was agonizingly bland. The only flavors came from the heavy, greasy fat of roasted animals or handfuls of coarse rock salt. It completely lacked the deep, addictive punch of modern culinary science. In a dark, medieval era constantly threatened by demon attacks, society poured all its resources into forging swords and armor. The culinary arts had been completely abandoned.
Introducing modern spices here wouldn't just be a splash; it would be a tidal wave.
"H-How much is it?!" the Guildmaster panted, his greedy eyes practically glowing.
"One pouch is five gold coins."
"Five?! That's highway robbery!"
"It can't be helped," Suzuki sighed, weaving a flawless, tragic lie. "It's incredibly difficult to harvest. The trade routes are swarming with demons, making logistics a nightmare. If I sell it for any less, my boss will literally have my head."
"But five gold coins is absurd!"
"Then I won't sell it to you." Suzuki smoothly reached out to pull the pouch back.
He knew exactly what he was doing. He was selling 10 grams of black pepper for 5 gold coins ($5,000 USD). Back on Earth, he had used his [Online Shopping] skill to buy a massive, 10-kilogram bulk bag of pepper for roughly 10,000 Yen ($100 USD).
It was an astronomical, borderline criminal markup. But in a medieval world? Pepper was literally worth its weight in gold.
"Wait! Three gold coins!" the Guildmaster sweat.
"Four and a half."
"Four! Not a copper more!"
"Deal," Suzuki smiled faintly.
"But I want everything you have!" The Guildmaster slammed his heavy hands on the table, his face flushed with the intoxicating thrill of greed. "I want your entire inventory!"
"Are you sure? Can your guild even manage that kind of volume?"
"Of course we can!" the fat man boasted, his chest puffing out. "My guild is the absolute best! We have deep, intimate connections with the nobility and neighboring kingdoms! I can move it all! But..."
"..." Suzuki waited.
"But, you'll have to wait a week for the full payment! Give me your entire inventory now, and in seven days, I will hand you a mountain of gold! What do you say, boy? You just have to trust me!"
"...."
Suzuki narrowed his eyes. The sheer audacity of this man was almost funny. The Guildmaster clearly thought Suzuki was a naive, easily manipulated teenager. He fully intended to take the goods, sell them to the nobles, and then have Suzuki quietly assassinated in an alleyway to avoid paying the bill.
However...
It was absolutely perfect that this man was a greedy, treacherous scammer. You can't trap an honest man.
"I don't mind waiting," Suzuki said slowly, leaning in close. "But I only have 1,000 pouches. At four gold a piece, the total bill is 4,000 gold coins. Is that acceptable?"
Suzuki had spent 10,000 Yen ($100) to buy the pepper. He was selling it for 4,000 gold coins ($4,000,000). The people of this world were such incredibly easy marks.
"Yes! Give me all of it! I swear on my guild, in one week, I'll have your money!" The Guildmaster licked his lips greedily.
"I'll hand over the goods," Suzuki murmured, his voice taking on a dark, velvety tone, "but you have to sign a formal contract. I require a 30% down payment right now. And, if you miss the one-week deadline... a 15% daily late fee."
Suzuki smoothly pulled a piece of parchment from his coat. It was generated by his [Absolute Contract] skill. Once signed, the magic bound the signers at the soul-level. If a party breached it, the penalty was absolute and inescapable.
"Er... 30% down is way too steep! How about 10%?"
"Twenty percent," Suzuki countered coldly. "Take it or leave it."
The Guildmaster ground his teeth, doing the math in his head. Twenty percent of 4,000 was 800 gold coins. That was a massive chunk of liquid cash. But when he imagined the staggering profits he could squeeze out of the spice-starved aristocrats, his ruthless merchant instincts took over.
"Fine! I agree!"
"Excellent. Here is the contract. Please read the fine print carefully."
"No need, I trust you!" The fat Guildmaster eagerly grabbed the quill and frantically scribbled his signature, desperate to get his hands on the spice.
Suzuki barely suppressed a dark, deeply satisfied smirk. This idiot hadn't read the terms.
To put it simply for a teenager: normally, a late fee is a small percentage of what you still owe. But Suzuki had deliberately written the contract so that the 15% daily penalty applied to the total original value of the goods.
If the Guildmaster missed the deadline, he wouldn't just owe a little extra interest. He would owe a penalty of 600 gold coins every single day he was late. It was a compounding financial death trap.
And even if the Guildmaster miraculously tried to pay fairly? Suzuki was walking out of here today with an 800-gold down payment for something that cost him pocket change.
But Suzuki wasn't finished. He had a second act.
"By the way," Suzuki purred, his voice practically dripping with temptation. "I have one more item."
"What is it?!" The pepper had already made the man ravenous; the promise of more was intoxicating.
"You can call it... Fairy Dust."
Suzuki placed a second pouch on the table. Inside was a fine, sparkling, crystal-clear white powder.
"Fairy Dust?" The Guildmaster looked utterly confused. It didn't have the sharp, aggressive aroma of the pepper.
"Bring your plate of grilled meat over here," Suzuki ordered softly.
"Eh? What should I do with it?"
"Take a bite."
The fat man grabbed a chunk of the roasted meat and chewed. "It's okay. Tastes like normal tavern meat."
"Now... try it again."
Suzuki reached into the pouch, taking a small pinch of the sparkling white crystals, and delicately sprinkled them over the meat.
The Guildmaster was suspicious, but his gluttony won out. He shoved the meat into his mouth.
The reaction was instantaneous.
The fat man's eyes shot wide open, the pupils dilating in pure, unadulterated ecstasy. The crystals melted against his tongue, triggering a violent, overwhelming explosion of savory flavor that his medieval tastebuds had never, ever experienced. It was an umami bomb—a culinary drug that made his mouth water uncontrollably and his brain flood with dopamine.
"DELICIOUS!" the Guildmaster roared, spit flying from his lips as he shoved the rest of the meat into his mouth, practically moaning in pleasure. "SO INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS! IS THIS THE POWER OF FAIRY DUST?!"
"Exactly," Suzuki smiled, watching the man succumb to his basest desires. "The price is the same. Four gold a pouch. I have 1,000 pouches. 20% down payment right now. Take it or leave it."
The Guildmaster didn't even hesitate. He was completely addicted. "I'LL TAKE IT ALL!"
He furiously signed the second [Absolute Contract] without a second thought.
What had Suzuki just sold him? Pure Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). Back on Earth, Ajinomoto was dirt cheap. In this flavorless fantasy world, it was absolute magic.
"Okay, the gold is all here! Give me the goods!" The Guildmaster shoved two heavy leather sacks across the table—a total of 1,600 gold coins.
With a smooth wave of his hand, Suzuki deposited the massive crates of pepper and MSG from his inventory, simultaneously absorbing the 1,600 gold coins into his [Absolute Storage].
"...You have spatial magic?" the Guildmaster gasped, wiping sweat from his brow.
"I'm a Merchant, after all," Suzuki winked. "Now, I will wait exactly one week. Have the rest of my money prepared."
Suzuki turned and walked out of the room. The moment he turned the corner into a quiet hallway, he activated his [Subspace Penthouse]. He stepped through the invisible tear in reality, and to anyone in the hallway, it looked as if he had simply vanished into thin air.
Back in the office, the Guildmaster stared at the spices, his fat face twisting into a hideous, ugly sneer.
"...Guildmaster?" his terrified assistant asked.
"Find him!" the fat man hissed, his voice trembling with greed and malice. "Track that naive little brat down! And call the Marquis! Call the Earls! We are going to bleed them dry with these spices, and then we are going to dispose of that stupid kid so we never have to pay him a single copper!"
"WE ARE GOING TO BE KINGS!"
Inside the sleek, soundproof, lavishly modern living room of his Subspace Penthouse, Suzuki poured himself a glass of cold Fiji water.
He sat down on his plush leather sofa, tapping his finger against a small, black audio receiver sitting on the glass coffee table. He had used his Online Shopping skill to buy a micro-listening device, planting it under the Guildmaster's desk before he left.
Listening to the fat man excitedly plot his own assassination, Suzuki just shook his head, a dark, terrifyingly handsome smile playing on his lips.
He couldn't wait for the week to end. When the Guildmaster inevitably defaulted on the payment, the magic of the Absolute Contract would trigger.
"Now then... I have 1,600 gold coins in liquid capital," Suzuki purred to himself, swirling the water in his glass. "What kind of hostile takeover should I orchestrate next?"
---
The Predator's Trap: Understanding the Contract
Suzuki didn't just sell spices; he sold a ticking financial time bomb. Because the Guildmaster didn't read the fine print, he doesn't realize how quickly his debt is about to explode.
Total Value of Goods: 8,000 Gold
Down Payment: 1,600 Gold (20%)
Remaining Debt: 6,400 Gold
The Trap: A 15% daily penalty applied to the Total Value (8,000 Gold), not just the remaining debt. That means an extra 1,200 Gold is added to his debt every single day he is late.