The Shameless Scammer (2)
Let's weigh the lies.
With those words, I looked down at the scammer's face.
"Ha! Fine then, milord — let's see who's really the one lying here!"
The scammer wasn't intimidated in the slightest. If anything, he raised his voice.
As the saying goes, the one who farted is the first to get angry.
He was lashing out precisely because he had something to hide.
What am I supposed to do with this guy?
There was an easy, simple way to settle this. Flinging a spirit blade or laying a curse through shamanic arts — harming a single person was nothing difficult. I could have punished this scammer the same way.
But then he'd die too easily.
I couldn't stand watching criminals go out comfortably. They needed to realize their wrongs could never be undone — to regret, to despair. Villains had to collapse in utter, wretched ruin.
"Jones. Where's the magic stone you bought from him?"
"My mother should have it. It'll be at my house!"
"Then we'll go to your house and check."
"I'll take you there right away!"
Jones stepped out at once and took the lead. Just as we were about to leave, I whipped my head around and fixed the scammer with a look.
"You're coming too."
Wearing a face full of resentment, the scammer reluctantly fell in behind us.
He's got sharp instincts, I'll give him that.
I'd been ready to drag him by force if he refused. At least that saved me the trouble of using my strength.
The scammer, Jones, Sylvia, and me. The four of us walked together toward Jones's house. Jones and I flanked the scammer on either side so he couldn't run. Sylvia trailed a few paces behind, her expression bright with interest, as though she'd stumbled onto a fine bit of entertainment.
Thud. Thud.
In that tense silence, as everyone moved without a word, the scammer carefully opened his mouth.
"Come to think of it… isn't this arrangement a little unfair to me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"If my words turn out to be false, I'm the only one who gets punished. But even if my words prove true, I don't gain a thing!"
Sophistry. The scammer had suddenly latched onto a completely baseless complaint.
"Is this how a noble treats a commoner? Bullying him like this?"
"Shut your mouth and just say what you want."
Men like him were transparent. He was circling around the point because he wanted something.
"If my words are proven true, shouldn't I get something out of it as well?"
"You want money?"
"I wouldn't put it quite that way… but I wouldn't say no, either. It's a universal truth that nobody hates a little sparkle, isn't it?"
Haa.
He'd taken the long way around, but in the end he was just demanding cash.
"Fine. If your words prove true, I'll give you ten gold coins."
"H-hm. That seems reasonable enough. I accept."
Of course, there was no chance his words would ever be proven true. I could see plain as day that he was lying.
There's just one problem…
I had no idea what he was basing all that confidence on. His absurd self-assurance was almost enough to throw me off.
Well, the truth will come out soon enough. Not a real problem.
This was a gamble with a hundred-percent win rate. Even if I'd wagered a thousand gold coins instead of ten, I wouldn't have lost a single one.
"Since milord has shown such sincerity, I won't go reporting this to the merchant guild. I do have my principles, after all."
The scammer puffed himself up, acting as though he were doing me a favor.
At this point he's less a scammer and more a full-blown actor. To lie so shamelessly even in a situation like this…
He kept name-dropping the merchant guild, but that was a lie from the start. The man wasn't affiliated with any guild at all — he was a rootless wanderer.
As if any guild would take on a scammer like him in the first place.
He was invoking a guild that didn't even exist, pretending to cut me some slack. I didn't feel it was worth a response. I simply ignored him.
A short while later, we arrived at our destination — Jones's house.
"Mother! I'm home!"
Jones called out as he opened the door. My eyes met those of a middle-aged woman who looked thoroughly guileless at a glance. She blinked in surprise, then grabbed hold of her son.
"Jones! Who on earth are all these people? Who did you bring home?"
"Mother, you don't know Teacher Rix? He's the most popular person in the village right now!"
"I-I don't know him… Who is that?"
The middle-aged woman wore a thoroughly bewildered look, as though she'd never heard the name in her life.
Hmm. So this was how a famous celebrity felt when they ran into someone who didn't recognize them. I needed to work harder from now on.
The woman stepped away from her son and carefully looked me over.
"Um… Teacher Rix? Might I ask what brings you here?"
Her manner was extremely polite. Even after saying she didn't know me, she still treated me with kindness. She seemed like a genuinely good-hearted person.
"I came at Jones's request. He said you'd been scammed."
"S-scammed?"
Her eyes went wide.
"What kind of scam am I supposed to have fallen for?"
"Mother! I've told you over and over that that rock is completely useless!"
Jones cut in before I could answer. He must have been thoroughly fed up.
"Dear, that isn't a rock — it's a magic stone! It's not useless at all!"
"No. We're not mages. What would people like us even do with a magic stone?"
"What would we do with it? Don't you know that just holding a magic stone warms the body, improves your health, and drives away every kind of illness?"
Where on earth did she hear that nonsense?
Magic stones were not some kind of cure-all. Simply owning one would never produce a miracle that healed disease.
"Ahem! The young lady is quite well informed. Magic stones are indeed substances beneficial to one's health."
The scammer cut in at the perfect moment, continuing without a single gap, as though he'd anticipated every word.
Ah. So that's how it is.
I finally understood why the scammer had been so brazenly confident.
"You damn scammer bastard! How dare you deceive my mother? Heaven itself will punish you for this!"
"Deceive? I'd thank you to watch your tongue. As a merchant, I merely explained the product's effects."
The scammer answered Jones curtly, not even sparing him a glance, and kept his eyes fixed on the middle-aged woman.
"Young lady. Hasn't your health improved since you purchased that magic stone? I heard your cold even cleared up."
"Yes, that's right. Thanks to the magic stone you sold me, I've been feeling much better. Thank you."
The moment Jones heard that exchange, he couldn't hold back.
"Mother! That's all lies, I'm telling you! You're being fooled by that guy!"
"What are you talking about? I really did get healthier — how could it be a lie?"
"It's all coincidence! Argh, this is so frustrating I could die!"
Jones's voice grew louder with anger. The more it did, the more the woman's expression hardened.
"Apologize to the merchant this instant!"
"Why should I apologize to that scammer?!"
Before he knew it, Jones had ended up in a full-blown argument with his own mother.
So that's why the scammer bastard was so overflowing with confidence.
The victim was defending the perpetrator. In a situation like this, it became extremely difficult for anyone else to help. Reach out thoughtlessly, and the victim might refuse the help entirely. Handled poorly, it could spiral into the worst possible outcome — the victim trusting the perpetrator even more.
The woman already trusted a complete stranger of a scammer more than her own son, Jones.
"Surely milord understands by now. I have not told a single lie. I am merely an honest merchant who sold a magic stone."
The scammer wore a slick, oily smile.
I let him enjoy himself as much as he liked. The higher you climb, the more it hurts when you fall.
How should I help her?
I'd run into cases like this back in Korea, too. Germanium bracelets, jade floor mats, hexagonal water — helping victims who'd fallen for pseudoscience was never easy. Far harder, in fact, than simply punishing the scammer.
First, I need to help her realize on her own that she's been scammed.
"Ma'am. Would you mind showing me the magic stone you purchased?"
"Of course. Here it is."
The woman drew a magic stone from her robes, no larger than a finger joint. It glittered with a beautiful violet light.
As expected, I can't tell much just by looking at a magic stone.
The second reason the scammer could act so boldly: unless you were an expert, magic stone quality was nearly impossible to judge. A pretty stone could hold pitiful amounts of mana, while an ugly one could be packed with tremendous power. Ordinary people simply couldn't appraise them.
This village had no expert who could evaluate magic stones, which was exactly why the scammer had been so cocky. I didn't know much about them either. Only people who'd studied magic professionally at a Magic Tower or an academy could properly appraise one.
And as it happened, there was someone right here who fit that description perfectly.
"Duchess Robbins."
"…Pardon? Were you calling me?"
Sylvia, who'd been watching the whole scene unfold with keen interest from behind, answered a beat late, flustered.
If you wanted a show, you had to pay the admission fee.
"Would you be able to assess the quality of this magic stone?"
A scholar who'd formally studied magic at the academy. Conveniently, she was standing right here. I'd take the admission fee in labor instead of coin.
"W-what?! There's someone here who can appraise magic stones?!"
The scammer cried out in panic, dropping even his polite speech.
"If it's a request from Sir Rix, then all right. I'll take a look."
Sylvia stepped forward. She took the magic stone from the woman and examined it the way one might appraise a jewel.
"It's trash. Almost no mana at all — just pretty to look at. At best, it's worth about one silver coin."
Finished with her appraisal, Sylvia returned the magic stone to the woman.
"That's not a price for the mana — it's a price for the appearance. Since it's a pretty rock, someone might pay a silver for it."
"I-if you only count the mana, how much is it worth?"
the woman asked.
"You couldn't give it away for free. Processing that magic stone would cost more than it's worth."
"Th-that's…!"
The stunned woman couldn't finish her sentence.
People who'd fallen for pseudoscience needed the authority of an expert. When an expert handed down a verdict, they tended to take it at face value. A noblewoman who looked every inch the aristocrat was naturally far more trustworthy than some wandering merchant.
"Well then…"
It was time to get the money back from the scammer.
Jones, his mother, Sylvia, and I. All four of us closed in around him.
"W-wait! Just give me one chance!"
"You were so full of confidence when you were cheating people. Now look at you — a complete coward."
"Let's talk! We can settle this through conversation!"
That wasn't for me to decide. The choice belonged to Jones.
"Conversation, my ass. Let's start with a punch first."
And Jones had no mercy.