Chapter 42: Post-War Summary

  After the king declared me victorious, I rode a qiankun cover and flew up to the watchtower.

  Mom walked over and asked: "How did you suddenly become so kind? I've never seen you be merciful before?"

  "Haha! No choice, I'm in a hurry!"

  "What's wrong with you?" Mom asked in surprise: "You just hold on a little longer and you'll win!"

  "The time for 'Flight Technique' is almost here, and the thick fog will soon disperse. I won't have a second chance to use this magic!" The poor Taoist said with a smile.

  "What do you mean?" Mom asked with a smile

  "As long as that idiot holds on for a few more minutes, I'll be landing soon. He can only last a few seconds before he's torn to pieces!" The poor monk continued to strike at the hearts of the crowd, "At that time, it won't be too late to save Shiina Nīta either! So we really should thank Shiina Kuma Nita for yielding after all!"

  After hearing what I said, Ishihara Kuma II, who was already vomiting blood due to his injuries, vomited an even larger amount of blood and then fell to the ground, fainting.

  The king sighed and said: "You little brat, can't you talk behind his back? You have to call him out loud, aren't you intentionally provoking him?"

  "Hehe! Sorry! I'm just being intentional!" The poor Taoist said with a smile: "Who asked them to look for trouble first?"

  We ignored the king's complaints and went home to celebrate! Grandfather, as usual, announced a reward for everyone, then called me and my parents into the inner hall to talk.

  "Haha! So cool, I was able to make Ishihara Kōji that old fox spit blood! You're not ordinary, you little brat! Haha!" Grandpa was so delighted he couldn't close his mouth.

  "Ah!" Mother laughed: "Not only did he spit blood, but also fainted! I'm relieved just by looking at it. It's best to suffocate him to death and avoid causing more trouble for the kingdom!"

  "Haha, anyone who encountered this would be furious! Not only did he admit defeat in a duel that was sure to win, but also got a result worth 200,000 gold coins! Haha, I reckon Ishihara Kuma is being scolded by his family now!" The poor Taoist laughed and said.

  "This time we won 6 million! Half a year's income for our family!" Mom exclaimed.

  "Didn't you bet 1000 yuan? The odds have changed to 1:6?" Grandpa said.

  "Your grandson also took out 1 million yuan!" Mom smiled and said, "Didn't you see? This kid has more cash than me! I had to use the 500,000 yuan military allowance that I finally got this year to make up for the 1 million yuan. He's fine, he just happened to have that much cash in his magic crystal card. It looks like I didn't give him enough money before!" After finishing, my mother glared at me fiercely!

  "Your mole in the Ishihara family is quite formidable, isn't he?" The poor Taoist smiled wryly: "He's able to find out such important secrets!"

  "Hum! That's right, you think an eight-year-old kid dressed as a guard can deceive people? The person who made the bet would recognize you at once!"

  "Alright! You little stinker!" His father also spoke up: "You still dared to cry poor last time! This time you must give me 2000!"

  "What? Mom, isn't this too dark?"

  "Yes! We should also leave some pocket money for the kids, you take 1,000 yuan!" Mom said.

  "Let's go!" his father said readily

  "How come I think you two are in cahoots with each other?" Poor Way asked

  Father's face suddenly turned red, hehe smiled and didn't speak. Mother glared at him and said: "Less nonsense, the money in your hand also has to be given to me, huh! Just give me 1.5 billion won, you can keep 500 million won!"

  "What's wrong with you?" Poor Tao asked strangely

  "Our family business has always been in the kingdom, I want to expand into foreign markets, of course it takes money! I originally thought that at least I need to work hard for several decades, but with you as a lucky star, mom's earnings in these four or five years are more than the previous few decades combined. Adding the 1500W in your hands, mom can simultaneously open up three huge markets in different countries, and our Long Family Chamber of Commerce will become one of the largest on the continent!"

  "One of them? Just because you have a net worth of tens of millions now and there are still people who can rival you?" the poor Taoist asked strangely.

  "Of course! There are three major merchant guilds on the mainland. The Simmons Guild, headquartered in the Holy City of Light, is privately owned by the Pope's family and is considered the largest, with branches almost all over the continent! It's the largest merchant guild on the continent. The Kamaniti Guild, headquartered in the Hofu Empire, seems to be owned by the royal family and ranks second. The Staff Guild is the most mysterious guild, with an unknown headquarters and owner, but its scale is particularly large, ranking third! There are also seven other major guilds, known as the top ten merchant guilds on the continent."

  "Do we have a ranking?" I asked

  "We didn't have it before, last year's ranking, we were tenth!" Mom said proudly.

  "Grandpa also said: 'This is all your mother's credit! Without her, this family would be in a mess!"

  "Haha! Mom is so awesome!"

  "You're so sweet!" Mom smiled and said: "Remember to give me the money, okay?"

  "Got it! But can the Ishihara family really bring it out?" I asked worriedly

  "Hmph! Don't worry about it! It's time for him to spit out all the military expenses he's embezzled too. I calculate that he can come up with 5 million, 2 million of which is our betting money, 2 million of other people's lost bets, and 1 million they scraped together themselves. The rest, I'm afraid he'll have to embezzle from the public funds!" Mom clearly stated the financial situation of the Ishihara family, as if she had handled it herself.

  "Can't we expose him?" Father said. In the past few years, in order to get military expenses from the Ishihara family, Father had been angry many times, or rather 'suffered'!

  "There's no evidence!" Mother said anxiously

  "With such a large amount, he can't hide for long!" Grandpa said: "At most 2 months, if he doesn't pay back, his scheme will be exposed. We just need to freeze his source of funds within these two months and we'll be able to expose him!"

  "Right! Father is still the most powerful! I'll instruct them tomorrow to delay the auction of their belongings, and contact a few big merchants, not lending him cash, let's see if he won't die!" Mother said viciously.

  (By the way, in this world, banks don't lend money. They use crystal cards with different levels to deduct money. Like my card, it can store up to 100 million, and I have to pay the Holy Light Bank 10,000 gold coins every year. Higher-level ones are unlimited, but they charge an annual fee of 100,000 gold coins!)

  "Can you control those big businessmen?" I asked

  "Hmph! Of course, their business mostly relies on my support, no one dares to offend me!" Mother said.

  "That's good, but don't push him too hard, just give him a lesson." Grandfather said: "We can't let the national situation become unstable! The Ishihara family is after all a big family that has been passed down for hundreds of years! If they know what's good for them, they'll come back and find this old man!"

  "Will you meet him? Still want to make amends?" The poor monk knows that politics is cruel, but didn't know there's still a move of benevolence.

  "If he comes, it's an invitation for Your Majesty to show up. Moreover, it also means that he is apologizing to the Long family on his behalf! I cannot refuse this! This is our ancestral teachings!" Grandfather said solemnly: "The five big families must unite! Otherwise, we would have been destroyed by the several powerful countries around us long ago! Do you understand?"

  "Alright, Grandpa. You're right, the current situation around us isn't good, unity is necessary." I nodded in agreement: "But what if they don't come?"

  "Haha, it's also possible. A big family that has been passed down for hundreds of years would be strange if they were held back by 1000W gold coins. If you hadn't messed with them twice before, I wouldn't believe they'd surrender so easily. Now if they don't come, it means they still have tricks up their sleeve and want to continue fighting us. Haha!" Grandfather laughed loudly: "I also want to see what tricks they have! However, you must remember that no matter what, we can't use assassination to deal with them, or I won't forgive you!"

  "Yes! Grandfather! I would have taken them in without resorting to such tactics, but they might not have!"

  "We five families have an agreement, whoever uses assassination to deal with other families will be hunted down by the other four! I think the Ishihara family won't dare do such a thing, but still, bring a few more guards just in case!" Grandfather said: "It's always better to be safe than sorry! Alright, that's all for today, let's go back and rest. We'll wait for the Ishihara family's response!"