Nightmare Mythos

Chapter 20: Scamming The Scammer

The bell from the door jiggled which produced a welcoming and soothing sound. It also gave a signal to the owner of the store that customers who enter her establishment was merely there to trade.

'What type of person should I scam for today...' The owner mused inwardly before giggling inwardly, 'Well, didn't matter. I will always be the one with the upper hand,'

The businesswoman stood up from her chair and looked at the unfamiliar customers. Her acquisitive eyes gaze upon their uniforms up to their hats, quickly recognizing them to be students of the Resisting Academy.

She instantly knew what they came here for.

"Welcome~"

The woman went to greet them personally and couldn't help but admire four of the students who were excluding a leakage of their power. As a knowledgeable businesswoman herself, she understood what it meant.

'A group of Shaded... But for me to be unable to sense the two of them to have Facet as well... is it some sort of Technique?'

The woman immediately came to the conclusion after remembering and combining the set of information she had gathered regarding the students of the academy.

They might appear docile on the outside but most of them are arrogant and proud with their egos inflated that had been carved throughout the years they've been through that prestigious school.

The merchant understands it.

Finally, she introduced herself with an amiable smile, "Welcome to Moren Shop, one of the best trading companies in the world. I'm the branch owner of this place. By the way, the name's Melinda."

Quentin stepped forward and replied, "Hello ma'am Melinda, we're here to do some exchange regarding contribution points. I hope you can help us,"

Melinda answered, "If it's just contribution points, then there should be no problem. Judging your clothes, you must be from the academy on deployment, right? If I remember, fourth-year students usually do it. You can't be graduates since you'll be sent to sites right after,"

Quentin cast a glance to Cesar to see if he had any reply but seeing him appearing silent, he answered on his behalf.

"You are very right and smart, ma'am. No wonder this place is... thriving. It might be lacking visitors but I heard Moren Shop is the best shop one can encounter when trading and exchanging goods,"

Melinda chuckled, "Don't worry. If you're worried about the lack of customers for our famous brand, it's only because we're almost at our closing time. If you look around, there are only a few items left here to be exchanged. But I don't mind if young heroes like you come. So let's get right in business!"

Melinda led the group at the counter, turned towards one cabinet, and grabbed a heavy metal case placed on a false bottom which she struggled to put on the desk. After entering its password, she opened the case and revealed it to the cohort.

"This is newly printed and inked twenty-five thousand Vennon cash. I'm willing to exchange it for fifty contribution points."

Melinda didn't waste a single second as she immediately went straight to her goal. Her atmosphere still excludes amiability but her face was nothing but serious. Under her reserved façade was just the face of a scammer after all.

'Contribution is treated as gold mines for rich families who had their children accepted or admitted from the academy. With these points as their starting point, they'll be able to enhance themselves among their peers and fill a huge gap. The return when I managed to pull this deal will be astronomical,'

Cesar appeared as calm as ever even after being pressured by a woman who was good at her job. Melinda let out a soft smirk after seeing him unresponsive until she saw him smiling the same thing, revealing his canine fangs that were slightly larger than before.

"Okay,"

Cesar turned around and gave a warning, "But remember this. If I pulled off a deal with other shops, I'm going to say you're a scam. Oh, and you'll never get to communicate with the Schmitz bank company again. After all, its heiress is witnessing a dog company like yours undermining people. Thankfully, we're not inexperienced,"

Melinda appeared to almost let out a chuckle when she realized that his words weren't entirely wrong. She realized that the points she was willing to sell were going to the rich families, and an example of this family is The Schmitz.

That's where the oddity comes from.

'Heiress of Schmitz Bank Company? She's witnessing this deal?'

Melinda gazed at the backs of the academy's young students slowly walked away from the front desk and immediately went to refresh her memories if she missed something.

'Oh...'

Finally, she remembered there was indeed news of the heiress of the company attending the Resisting Academy, over three years ago. This news brought a shocking development to the bank but not entirely in a bad way. It only raised the value of stocks involving them.

The Moren Shop had close ties with The Schmitz, this is not wrong. Yet Cesar's warning continued echoing through Melinda's head.

In a span of a few seconds, the image of one student in the group resurfaced in her head and had a clear similarity to the picture shown in the news when the involvement of Schmitz happened.

Her gaze fell onto Reyna's back, who was currently whispering to Cesar about something.

'Not good!'

Melinda immediately chased the group down and shouted.

"Wait!"

Cesar halted his steps, resulting in the group to stop as well. The tip of his lips moved sideways before turning around.

"Yes, Melinda?"

Melinda let out a ragged breath, curiously looked at Reyna to confirm her suspicions, and almost fainted on the spot when she realized it was the real deal.

Still, she managed to choke out the words she strongly struggled to let out. With an awkward smile, she chuckled nervously.

"How about we do another deal?"