Rebirth: The Shadow Of Greed

... your sense of humor is great."

"These set of clothes were actually given to me by a friend, I'm not sure of the price, but 8000 is indeed steep for me."

"My time... You have wasted my time, trying to explain the artefact to you. The shop doesn't welcome you, please leave. 8000 is already a fair price since you cannot afford it then there is no need for you to stay, I should have known you were a broke kid."

The assistant grabbed hold of Z's hand and pulled him over to Soli and Odrunn.

"You, stop touching the Artefacts, if it's damaged you'll have to pay for it you know. If you can't pay for it then you better not touch it. Leave, all of you leave the shop! It doesn't welcome you."

Z and Odrunn shrugged their shoulders and were about to leave.

"You! Can you make the decision on the company's behalf? Asking us to leave! What kind of business operates this way."

Soli stood her ground anger burning in her eyes.

"I'm sure letting a few small fries go is the least of the company's worries, he can't even afford to pay 8000 for an artefact, you don't contribute to the company's ROI so why should the company let you stay here any longer?"

The haughty shop assistant folded his arms as he got into a shouting match with Soli.

"Z, Odrunn, we're not leaving, I apologize that you have to witness this kind of discrimination. I want to speak to the manager, ask him to come out to see me."

Whilst Soli and the Assistant were arguing, some of the other assistants ran at a quick speed to fetch the manager.

Moments later, a fat man appeared from the stairs, waddling down while he made his way into the hall.

"What is it? I'm really busy!"

"Boss, these kids can't afford any Artefacts and they still treat this place as a playground, I had asked them to leave but they refused to and even wanted to ask to meet you."

Without even sparing a glance at the kids the manager just waved his hands

"Kids will be kids, as long as they don't make a mess I don't see a problem with letting them stay in the shop. The problem is settled, just let them be. I'm going back up."

"Manager Sans, it seems not meeting after awhile your vision is blurry and you can't even be bothered to solve the issues in your own establishment. Do you want me to solve it for you?"

Soli said, arms folded as she stared straight at Manager Sans. Manager Sans took a step forward and put on his glasses to get a better look at the person who was talking to him. The minute he put on his glasses he jumped up in fright, his body wobbling from the shock.

"Young mistress Soli, I'm sorry I didn't come to entertain you earlier. About the issue earlier, I'm sorry for my indiscretions, let me investigate the issue and we'll solve it now."

The manager bowed his head as he started to sweat buckets.

"You! What is the issue with you? Her family is a 30% shareholder in the shop and you're saying she can't afford to buy anything here?"

The Assistant's face turned pale as he started to panic.

"Ahh, young mistress, that was my mistake, I couldn't see too well without my glasses, of course, you're more than welcome to stay..."

"Stop s.u.c.k.i.n.g up to her, tell me what happened here!"

"The kid wanted to buy the pieces of 8 artefact, but he didn't have money to afford it so..."

"Don't worry little brother, let me gift it to you, I'll pay for it. Bring the artefact here and wrap it up for him."

Odrunn who was patiently watching in the corner suddenly stepped forward and took a good look at the artefact.

"Boss, there's no core for this artefact and other than it being hard and magnetic, there isn't much functionality to it. I'd estimate a hundred per piece?"

The manager chuckled as he replied,

"Hoho, good eye little brother, it is indeed a 100 per piece. As of now, it is more like a display artefact because no one knows how it is used."

"Wait... Didn't he say it was 8000? How did the price jump so high?"

Odrunn continued, looking genuinely confused. The boss looked at Odrunn with a bit of confusion as well, before coming to his senses.

"You have got some explaining to do!"

After Manager sans found out what was happening, he immediately sprung into action and called the guards over to detain the assistant. Needless to say, after some stringent investigations, they found out he had been inflating the prices and pocketing the interests. This led to them detaining him and forcing him to spit out all that he has embezzled and as for the remainder, the company could sell him off to the mines or the fields to become a laborer to recoup their loss.

This moment of folly had caused the assistant not only his job but his life. All he could do was cry dejectedly while waiting for the company's next course of action.

"Young miss, little brother, I'm sorry that my negligence had caused such a scoundrel to appear here. Please do forgive my indiscretions. Little brothers, please pick out something you like, this will be a gift from me, out of my own pocket as an apology."

Manager Sans said, he was not dumb at all and for him to reach his particular position, he had to have the guile and the ability to read the situation, he knew that Soli viewed these 2 kids with respect, so to appease the young mistress he would have to appease them.

Z smiled as he spoke,

"Manager Sans, it isn't your fault that you bred a snake. I'll still just settle for the pieces of 8. That will be good enough for me."