I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 219: Gacha and Tulips (5)

The realization that tulips were just flowers shook the capital of the Holy Empire, Vienna.

“No matter how beautiful tulips are, they’re just flowers! They have no value beyond that!”

Much like how a pirate’s execution, with the claim that all the world’s treasures were left behind, drove other pirates to the seas, the realization that tulips were nothing more than mere flowers was the catalyst that brought people back to their senses.

But, as with most things in life, both good and bad events always seem to hit like a tsunami when they come all at once.

The man who had realized this began spreading the truth to the crowds in the plaza.

“I spent all my savings on these flowers! I’ve ruined my son’s wedding dowry, my daughter’s marriage funds, even my house and workshop! Everything! All of it, gone!”

As he spoke, he threw the tulip pot he was holding to the ground.

The tulip in the pot was nothing more than a plain, single-colored flower, but the shock it caused was enough to send those gathered around into a frenzy.

The crowd in the plaza gazed up at the sky with hollow eyes, sighing and wailing in despair, as though their parents had just passed away.

“I spent all my wealth on this and it’s just a flower?”

“Dammit, we’re all ruined! Mathilda! Maria! Joseph! I’m sorry, Dad!!”

“This can’t, it can’t be happening!”

It was as if the coin investors who had invested all their wealth in LuNa Coin only to be left with nothing when the CEO disappeared were now the same people who realized that investing everything into tulips had only left them with flower petals.

However, the former were modern people living in a world governed by laws and ethics, while the latter were native people of the medieval fantasy world of Albania, a place where the law wasn’t as strong and violence was more common.

These were people who communicated with grunts rather than words, smart yet still steeped in barbarism and violence.

“Who’s to blame for all this?”

The man had lost all his wealth by investing in tulips, but it wasn’t the fault of anyone who threatened him with a knife. Orsini hadn’t done anything like manipulating tulip prices. He had simply sold based on the market trend.

Of course, there was the minor flaw that he had controlled the supply of rare tulips and manipulated the gacha odds, but...

In terms of medieval Albania, this didn’t even come close to being considered a scam.

It wasn’t regulated by law, and the people who had their arms and legs cut off while awake wouldn’t even be able to explain why it was a scam.

But things don’t always work out according to the law or logic.

“It’s because that bastard Orsini brought the tulips and sold them! We might die, but that bastard needs to be burned to death! That’s justice!”

The crowd in the plaza was growing.

What started with just a hundred people had swelled to more than 10,000.

The rage of those who had invested their entire fortunes into tulip coins and been left with nothing was now breaking through the skies.

This situation had already been reported to the Emperor, but he chose to ignore it.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

After all, if their anger turned towards him, things could get very troublesome.

“I spent tens of thousands of gold coins and it turned out to be worthless garbage?”

He sympathized with their frustration a hundred times over, a thousand times over.

In his heart, he even felt like giving a title of nobility to the one leading this protest.

“Let them jump into the Rhine River, but first, let’s kill that bastard Orsini! Burn him and all his employees alive!”

There was no one who disagreed with that sentiment.

Because, while the hearts of Koreans might hold a spear, the hearts of people from the Albanian continent were filled with red flames.

“Let’s go kill Orsini!”

Thus, an unofficial, state-supported riot began in Vienna, with the Emperor turning a blind eye and the electors secretly backing it.

**

“Orsini, this is bad!”

Upon hearing these words, Orsini immediately gave his orders.

“The baron must have anticipated this! Close the shop immediately, grab the money, and prepare to meet me!”

“But, the sales for today—”

“Don’t worry about that! If we try to take the money too, we’ll get caught! Just take the rare tulips and the money stored elsewhere!”

Orsini quickly had the rare tulip pots handed to the staff and porters.

“If you want to turn your life around, porters, grab the rare tulips and head to the west gate within an hour! If you make it in time, you’ll get 3 gold coins each! If you also complete the task we’ll assign later, you’ll get 12 more!”

Fifteen gold coins—enough to live like a small landowner in a quiet rural area.

The porters, eager for a chance to change their lives, began running with the tulips.

“We’ll split into two teams. Matteo, you lead half of the group, pretend to be a merchant from another city, and buy the rare tulips at rock-bottom prices.”

No matter how much people say that words travel faster than feet, when someone runs desperately, they can outrun rumors.

“Buy them at 1/20 of the market price, or even lower.”

“Yes, understood.”

Matteo immediately led half of the group out.

“The other half will take the money and leave Vienna immediately. Head straight to Florence! Don’t forget, you won’t get the bonus unless you return on time!”

At that, the remaining half of the group hurriedly ran out.

Though they hadn’t received military training, right now, they moved with the discipline and speed of special forces.

“We’re going to buy all the rare tulips and sell them without leaving any behind. When Matteo buys the rare tulips in Vienna at a bargain, we’ll go to the big cities in the Holy Empire to sell them.”

Though a riot had broken out in Vienna, the news hadn’t yet spread throughout the Holy Empire.

So it was a realistic plan.

“Anyway, if we die, we’ll just go to heaven, right? If that’s the case, let’s live in style! The Rothschild baron said he’ll change our lives! We’ll live in mansions, not far from the nobles in Florence!”

Honestly, it was a very dangerous move.

But, if they successfully crossed that dangerous bridge, they could live a life that even nobles would envy.

There was no reason not to try.

“We’ll leave this place alone to be looted, and burn everything except the gold coin storage! Don’t leave a single document!”

All the documents made here were in the name of “Pierre Macaron” for safety, but if the documents were found, the worst-case scenario would reveal the connection to the Rothschild baron of Tuscany.

“If we get caught, we must kill ourselves to ensure the secret doesn’t get out! Understood? Our meeting place is where we agreed earlier, where we’ll join Matteo!”

With that, Orsini’s tulip shop was set ablaze, except for the gold coin vault.

The rioters held spears, but they couldn’t pierce the right target.

They only heard rumors that it was the work of the Kingdom of Lyon.

**

Orsini and his crew soon traveled around the major cities of the Holy Empire, selling tulips to the nobles.

“Is this really the rare tulip? The mosaic pattern is truly beautiful.”

“These are the ones His Majesty the Emperor is desperately trying to acquire.”

The nobles from the provinces were blinded by their vanity.

Why? Because if everyone else had it and they didn’t, it was a matter of life and death in their world.

“Normally, no matter how much money you offer, you couldn’t get your hands on these, but today, I’ll sell them for 250 gold coins.”

“250 gold coins? For just a flower? Isn’t that too expensive?”

Orsini’s heart was burning with impatience.

If he didn’t sell them here, he’d be at a loss of 20 gold coins.

But he pretended to be nonchalant.

“If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. But if another family buys these tulips and you’re the only one without them, think about your family’s honor.”

“I see, I’ll buy it now! I’ll pay 150 gold coins immediately, and 100 gold coins on credit.”

“You must pay the full 250 gold coins now. We’re selling them at cost price.”

There’s no merchant who sells at a loss, but plenty who sell at cost while shedding tears.

“...I’ll give it to you tonight. But don’t sell this tulip to anyone else.”

Orsini couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

“Others will be selling them anyway.”

“There’s no problem. Though I may be a humble merchant, I know how to keep my word.”

Soon, 10 rare tulips were sold in this city alone.

In the major cities of the Holy Empire, the wails of those who had been scammed by tulip coins pierced the sky.

Meanwhile, Fabio was lying on Chris’s lap, having his ears cleaned, because they were itchy.