Any rational man in an ordinary situation would see the lacuna in this wager. It was purely material asymtry, as Euri would stand to lose only 4102 credits, whereas Vernon could very well lose over 40,000 credits alongside incurring the wrath of a loan shark.
But on his way back, Euri had carefully picked out the most evident characteristics in Vernon’s behavior.
The instinct to make gambles, to take unwarranted risks while blinded by montary impulses, and the quickness with which he resorted to desperate behaviour—all of this had conford to the plan Euri was offering him.
He’d not refuse. He could not, in fact, refuse.
He could see Vernon weigh the pros and cons in his mind, unwillingness flashing in his eyes as he comprehended his disadvantage. But there was no better position he could create for himself with his own hands.
"I have a condition," he said in the end. Euri expected as much, of course. Vernon was impulsive, superstitious, and desperate, but not stupid. He wouldn’t accept this deal without a compromise.
"You have too many demands for a guy with no cards to play. But I’m not going to bully your sorry ass. Let’s hear it." Euri spoke amicably enough, just to let Vernon gauge the depth of confidence in his stance.
"You need to demonstrate your capability to keep your promise. At least show how you’re going to convince those two big brothers of yours."
Vernon seed adamant about this demand. And it was not an unreasonable one either.
Euri shrugged. "Sure, I’ll show you how. Let’s go inside and talk."
Without a hint of fear, Euri walked closer to Vernon and entered a close enough distance for the man to easily hamr Euri into the concrete sidewalk.
This was a gamble on Euri’s part. He wanted to convince Vernon how confident he was, and inspire the gambler inside the man to succumb further to his offered wager; a gamble to inspire a gamble.
Just as Euri was about to pass by him, Vernon lunged at the bulge in Euri’s right pocket. Euri didn’t even try to stop the man as he snatched away a piece of scrap tal from inside, ripping the pocket off in the attempt.
The look on Vernon’s face was priceless, as he realized that he hadn’t found his watch in Euri’s pocket.
"Did you really think I’d be foolish enough to co this close to you with that watch on ? I knew you’d try sothing like this." Euri shook his head like a disappointed father.
"Where is it?" Vernon asked, voice growing ek.
"I’d have given it away for free if our deal worked out. But you’ve ruined my pants. So I get an extra thousand credits for answering this question. Any objections?"
Sneering rather maliciously, he crossed the big guy and walked towards the house, posture relaxed.
The aggressive tension slowly leaking out of Vernon’s intimidating figure was an interesting spectacle. The impulsive man didn’t make another wrong move. Euri’s first bet beca successful. The start of the venture was positive!
With Euri leading the way back into Vernon’s house, the two ca in front of the spare bedroom where Vernon had dumped the unconscious bodies of Aemon and Jason.
"How long is it going to take for them to wake up?" Euri asked.
"It’s already ti. I didn’t give them anything strong," Vernon said guiltily.
Euri whispered a rather flexible plan in the man’s ears before entering the bedroom and shutting the door on his face.
Both Aemon and Jason were clearly out of it, because they hadn’t moved an inch from the last ti Euri had spied on their location through the window.
Grabbing the water bottle from a corner-table, he sprayed both of their faces a few tis, but to no effect. It took more than ten minutes of gradually snowballing asures before they showed signs of waking up. Another five minutes passed before they were ready for the conversation.
"You didn’t get beaten up?"
This was Jason’s first question as he eyed himself in the mirror. His bruised face and bent nose were the worst outcos of their brief fight.
"I had his precious watch with . It was a good tool for negotiation," Euri answered calmly.
"What kind of negotiation gets you locked up in soone’s bedroom with two other guys?" Aemon said snidely.
"Locked up?" Euri gave Aemon a supercilious look.
"Technically, you two are the ones locked up here. I’m free to leave as long as I tell him the location I’ve hidden his watch in. The only reason you’re seeing here is because I didn’t want to leave you behind."
Aemon and Jason exchanged a dubious look upon hearing Euri’s vague retort.
"What do you an, exactly? And where is that fat fucker? How did you—"
Euri put up a palm to stop the questions.
"Let’s just say Vernon is not quite willing to let you two leave with things as they are. So I offered him a solution, and he wants you two to agree to my solution before leaving."
Jason was about to fly off in a fit of rage, but Aemon forced him to lie back on the bed and faced Euri with an expression of interest.
"Let’s hear it, then."
"How much commission were the three of us supposed to get if 50,000 credits were collected successfully?" Euri said.
"Jason and I would get a thousand to divide between us," Aemon answered quickly.
"I would have given you 200 from my share."
Euri didn’t think the amount was necessarily the truth, but he had to accept that Aemon was being pretty generous. 200 credits were nearly twice the money a regular factory worker earned after a twelve-hour shift.
"Without in the equation, that would leave 500 credits to each of you. It may seem impressive for a two-hour task, but what if I said that you could earn ten tis that amount today?"
He pointed at Jason and Aemon as he concluded, "5000 credits for you, 5000 more for you."
Jason forgot about his injuries and jumped to his feet. Aemon looked excited too, but Euri could see a hint of caution rise under his gleaming eyes.
He was suspecting Euri’s honesty in this offer, but that was to be expected. The leap in benefits was really too large.
"You’re not hatching any plans to swindle Boss Chen out of his money, are you?" Aemon muttered in a hushed tone.
"Because if you are, I don’t want anything to do with your plan. I know what happens to uppity lackeys who have tried these things in the past. I see their graves every day..."
"Hardly." Euri shook his head. "The 5000 credits you’re going to earn would co in cash, and Boss Chen wouldn’t see a single credit missing out of his money either. All you need to do to earn that cash is to make a promise and follow through with it."
Aemon and Jason leaned close, faces glowing with greedy light.
"We just have to tell Boss Chen that no fights took place here. Jason’s face looks like that because he got into a random street brawl. He will hold no grudge against Vernon, and neither will you."
Both of them looked tempted to decline the offer, but Euri pressed on.
"We’ll then say that Vernon was very cooperative and didn’t try to haggle with us. But despite trying our best, we could only make Vernon spit out 40,000 credits. There was nothing small and valuable enough in his house to take it to 50,000."
Seeing them still looking unsure, Euri hamred the last two nails in.
"As long as we can convince Boss Chen, Vernon has agreed to privately pay 10,000 credits in cash by next week. But if you don’t agree to the deal, or break your promise, Vernon is going to get the law enforcers involved and blow this matter up. He knows he has no way out, so he’s determined to bet everything on this plan."
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