Defiance of the Fall Chapter 72: Thayer Consortia

Chapter 72: Thayer Consortia

Calrin despondently surveyed the various reports strewn about his table. Twenty thousand years of heritage teetered on the brink of destruction, all under his watch. He knew that he was partly to bla for the situation, but others were far more culpable.

Greed is the fuel which push us forward. Honor is the compass which keeps the course.

That was the creed inlaid under the painting of his ancestor, hung behind him in an ornate fra. He didnt need to turn around to know the words, or to rember every single detail of their ancestors face. The slight upward tug of his mouth, the ever-present Ancient Empire coin in his hand, ceaselessly whirling between his fingers. The mischievous light in his eyes that seed to see through all lies and posturing.

Almarillo Thayer was born a beggar in a lowly E-graded word on decline. He had no family, no education, and no prospects, but through his intellect and drive he managed to beco an assistant to a shop-clerk. From there he gained the Assistant class, the first step which ended with him founding the [Thayer Consortia], a System-sanctioned rcantile corporation with branches in hundreds of worlds, and its headquarters located on a bustling C-Ranked continent.

Those awe-inspiring offices were long pawned off, even before Calrin Thayer was born. For the last five hundred years, the company had been in a steady decline. Calrin, with his quick wits and solid business acun, was chosen to steer the company back on course and was given the chairman position at the young age of 80. But all he accomplished was the reduction of branches from 26 to one last struggling location.

He knew the cause wasnt only himself. His family rembered the first half of their founders creed perfectly well, but the second half had gotten blurred over the years. Shady and short-sighted business practices made them lose a few branches and simultaneously made them quite a few enemies. A few family mbers even betrayed the Thayer na for personal wealth, and even if they were eventually found out the damage was already done.

But the downfall started for real roughly 25 years ago. The great Tsarun Clan had turned their avaricious gazes toward the Thayer Consortia. Or rather, at the rcantile License their founder gained all those years ago. The license was sothing awarded by the system, and not sothing that could be forced away or stolen. Even eradicating the whole Thayer family wouldnt do any good, and would even result in a punishnt by the System.

But a business license could be seized through business. Normally it should be almost impossible to snatch a license from a sanctioned corporation, and it would be far easier to try to gain one through normal ans. But between the Thayer Consortia being in tatters and the Tsarun Clans vast connections and wealth, they actually managed to increntally bring down their corporation, one world at a ti.

If they lost their last branch as well the System would void the Thayer Consortias license, and revoke access to the multi-verse rcantile System, rendering them completely and utterly powerless. The rchants protection they currently enjoyed would disappear as well, and Tsarun clan would begin a wholesale slaughter of the remaining family mbers. No need to risk a co-back, after all.

Calrin desperately tried to open up new branches to keep the situation afloat. He had tried every ans, such as lowering the requirents or offering great rates on various common resources. He even tried bribing various fledgling city lords, but nothing worked. Between the machinations of the Tsaruns elders and the awful reputation his consortia had amassed due to multiple scandals no one would place their branches in their cities. And if they did it would soon be closed after a visit from a Tsarun clan emissary.

His intellect strained to find so way out, but the numbers in the reports were clear. In 3 days their last branch would be declared defunct, and he would have to flee for his life.

It was ti for one last desperate gambit.

Zac skipped sleep that night in favor of watching his pile of wealth grow. He unceasingly kept throwing sack after sack of crystals into the chute, and then ran over to the other side to gleefully gather the refined crystals. A completely filled bag had taken roughly 10 minutes to completely process, and it resulted in around 200 finished crystals.

That ant that the machine could refine almost 30 000 crystals every single day, which should be enough for the mining operations for now. Instead of the nurous sacks he now carried exactly 11 328 crystals, including the first ones he had stolen.

In the downti he kept training his axe-work. He only dared to use half of his cosmic energy to activate the [Axe Mastery] guidance system, leaving the rest as a backup. Then he let his body slowly recharge the energy, instead of using any aids.

The beast hordes were coming, and it was a real possibility he might have to face the sea of monsters without the aid of his skills. He needed to get faster, stronger, and better at using his axe. He rembered how all his moves were in vain against the demon leader. The difference between them hadnt been skills or attribute points, it was the huge difference in technique.

Around midnight the sounds of activity from the shipyard ebbed out, and Zac guessed the transformations were done. He kept going for about another five hours until all the refinent was done. Luckily the Furnace seed to need neither rest nor maintenance, and unceasingly spit out crystals as long as it had sothing to process.

The next step was to get a shop to sell the crystals in order to start shoring up the defenses of the town. Since the transformation was complete for the shipyard he didnt really need to worry about gossipy shop clerks leaking the secret, but as he opened the Town Shop he paused after a few seconds.

Initially his idea had been to buy the only store that he was able to purchase at the mont, which was the System-run one.

He was, of course, loath to buy it after hearing about the ridiculous prices since he believed that the System would give equally abysmal rates on crystals as well. Unfortunately, none of the privately-run businesses in the multi-verse deed his island good enough to open up a branch at the mont. However, that had changed since he last checked the store.

In a sea of red, a green-marked shop had silently appeared, called [Thayer Consortia, Headquarters]. For so reason this shop was not only ready to open a branch at his island, but it actually wanted to move its headquarters here. When he opened the store he realized that it wasnt luck that he sohow managed to fill all its criteria. The Thayer Consortia had removed every single normal restriction such as population and security and only demanded two things. First, they required a far larger space compared to the other shops. Secondly, they required the world to be within three years of integration to the multi-verse.

At first glance it looked like a God-given gift, but he wanted to wait for Ogras before he did anything. If sothing seed too great to be true, it usually was. Zac felt that it was fishy that a large corporation would move their headquarters to a place like earth. Any newly integrated planet should be quite chaotic and poor, and should be a bad place to move your business to.

Perhaps they werent actually traders, but rather bandits who wanted to gain access to a new world through the outpost, and then start a massacre when they arrived. Even if it was an opportunity hed forgo it rather than potentially making a fatal mistake. As it was still quite early Zac decided to get a few hours of sleep while he waited for Ogras. He simply sat down with his back to the furnace, and went asleep with his axe in hand.

After who knows how long Zac was awakened by a loud sound. Imdiately alert he jumped to his feet, axe at the ready. Soon he relaxed though as he saw the now familiar face of the demon outside his array. Ogras seed content to just stand there and idle about, so Zac ventured outside to et up with him.

What are you doing?

Basic etiquette not to enter soones array without permission. Its an easy way to get your head cut off, the demon answered off-handedly. By the way, impressive work with the little demoness. Shes growing a third horn now in her forehead, he added with a snicker.

Well, tell her Im sorry about that. Couldnt have her scream after I left. Anyways, I need to ask you sothing, Zac answered with a shrug, and proceeded to share the window of the Thayer Consortia while explaining his concerns.

Hmm Very interesting. You dont have to worry about them being raiders, as The Ruthless Heavens place extrely strict restrictions on those who use the rcantile System. Even if a shop-clerk turned out to be an A-Ranker Hegemon in disguise he wouldnt be able to do anything to you. Ogras explained.

So, isnt this a great opportunity then? They demand quite a bit of space, but that shouldnt be a problem. Zac eagerly asked.

Well, they are rchants for certain, but there is sothing wrong with them wanting to co here. They likely are escaping sothing. Its almost impossible to find a baby world except by going through an incursion, so they are excellent places to hide out in. So if you accept them youll likely have a bunch of refugees rather than well-stocked rchants. Ogras explained.

So kind of like you demons then? Zac retorted gruffly, annoyed that the golden opportunity didnt turn out so golden after all.

Cough... well, sothing like that. The thing is that if they are forced to flee here, they will likely be barely stocked at all with items and crystals, and will have an abysmal support system for acquiring treasures in the multi-verse. Only moving their headquarters here might completely clean them out. So even if you wanted to task them with finding so specific item theyd probably not be able to help you out.

So which should I buy? The system-run store or this Thayer Corporation? Zac didnt understand how the so-called rcantile System worked, and could only ask for directions for now.

You should get the headquarters. They are likely desperate for sanctuary, and will be extrely weak in negotiations, Ogras said with a ruthless grin. After all, since you will pretty much be their only custor for a while you can single-handedly run them out of business if they dont comply.

Zac felt a bit of sympathy for this Thayer company that was forced to escape so unknown hardship, only to be exploited here on Demon Island. Well, he didnt really have a good ti being stuck here, so why should anyone else?