Revenge is a dish best served cold. But in economics, revenge is best served by manipulating supply and demand until your enemy begs you to buy his assets.
The New Warehouse - Industrial Sector 3
It was beautiful. Compared to the sewer, this was a palace. The warehouse was disguised as a "Textile Storage" facility. Inside, however, it was a state-of-the-art alchemy lab. The floor was polished concrete. The ventilation system hummed silently, scrubbing the toxic fumes from the air. And in the center, not one, but three Centrifuges were spinning.
Cian Aurelius walked down the line of production like a general inspecting his troops. "Production efficiency is up 40%," Cian noted, checking a clipboard. "The new stabilization formula works. The 'Aether Tonic' is shelf-stable for six months."
He picked up a finished bottle. It wasn't a jagged glass vial anymore. It was a hexagonal, crystal-clear bottle with a silver stopper. The blue liquid inside swirled lazily, looking thick and expensive. A gold label read: Aether Tonic - Premium Mana Supplement.
"It looks legitimate," I said, putting on a clean lab coat. "Rich people love shiny things."
"They do," Cian agreed. He frowned. "But we have a bottleneck." He tapped the glass bottle. "The packaging. These crystal bottles. They are Starlight Glass. Resistant to mana corrosion. Essential for the high-grade tonic."
"And?"
"And the price just went up," Cian sighed. "House Valerius holds the monopoly on Starlight Glass imports. Torian Valerius raised the wholesale price by 50% this morning. He claims 'transportation difficulties'."
I froze. Torian. The guy who threw my apple on the floor. "He didn't raise it because of us," I realized. "He raised it because he's greedy. He's squeezing the entire potion market."
"It cuts our profit margin significantly," Cian calculated. "We are paying House Valerius 15 Gold for every empty bottle. We are literally funding my rival."
"Zane," I called out. Zane was in the corner, testing the weight of a crate. "Yeah?"
"How much do we know about House Valerius's supply chain?"
The War Room (Formerly the Break Room)
I spread a map of the Northern Territories on the table. This was where my knowledge as a "Reader" paid off. Most people knew House Valerius sold glass. I knew how they got it.
"Starlight Glass isn't made," I explained, tracing a route through the Frozen Wastes. "It's mined. From the Crystal Glaciers in the North. It's incredibly heavy."
"So?" Cian asked, leaning over the map.
"So, they can't use airships. The mana interference in the North crashes them. They use Frost-Wyrms." I pointed to a mountain pass. The Weeping Pass. "Once a month, a caravan of tamed Frost-Wyrms carries tons of raw glass through this pass to the nearest teleportation gate. It's the only way."
Cian looked at me. "You know their logistics better than they do."
"I read a lot," I said dismissively. "Now, here is the interesting part. Frost-Wyrms are cold-blooded magical beasts. They are docile in freezing temperatures. But if the temperature rises above 0 degrees Celsius..."
"...they go into a heat-frenzy," Zane finished. "I fought one in a simulation. It tried to eat the scenery."
I smiled. "Exactly. House Valerius relies on the natural cold of the Weeping Pass to keep the beasts calm. They don't use handlers; they just guide them."
"What are you suggesting?" Cian asked, his eyes narrowing. "We can't change the weather, Aren. We aren't gods."
"No. But we are alchemists." I pulled out a small red vial. "Thermal Dust. A byproduct of our Fire Moss processing. We usually throw it away. But if we mix it with a timed delay agent... and plant it along the pass..."
Cian understood instantly. "You want to create a localized heatwave in the pass. Just as the caravan is moving through."
"The temperature rises," I mimed an explosion with my hand. "The Frost-Wyrms panic. They dump the cargo to fight each other. The glass shatters. The shipment is lost."
"That's..." Cian paused. He looked at the map. He calculated the damages. "That would destroy their quarterly supply. Their stock price would plummet. The Alchemy Guild would panic."
"And who has a stockpile of generic glass bottles that they can sell as a temporary substitute?" I asked.
Cian smiled. It was a wicked, merchant smile. "House Aurelius does. I have a warehouse full of cheap glass I couldn't sell."
"We break their supply," I said. "You sell your cheap stock at a premium to cover the shortage. House Valerius's stock crashes. And then..."
"...we buy their shares while they are panicking," Cian finished. "We buy the monopoly for pennies."
"Economic hitman," Zane muttered. "You two are terrifying."
"It's just business, Zane," I said, rolling up the map. "Cian, can you get a team to the North?"
"My personal guard has a Ranger unit," Cian nodded. "They can plant the charges. No witnesses." He looked at me with a new expression. It wasn't just respect. It was fear. "You planned this in five minutes."
"I've been planning it since lunch," I corrected. "Torian owes me an apple."
The Library - Two Days Later
The Academy Library was a cathedral of silence. I sat at a secluded table in the back, surrounded by stacks of books on Macroeconomics and Advanced Thermodynamics.
Cian slid into the seat across from me. He didn't say hello. He slid a newspaper across the table. The Babylon Gazette. Headline: DISASTER IN THE NORTH! WYRMS GO BERSERK! Tons of Starlight Glass lost in freak thermal anomaly. House Valerius stock drops 40% overnight.
"It worked," Cian whispered, pretending to read a history book. "It was chaos. Torian's father is furious. They are liquidating assets to cover the losses."
"Did you buy?"
"I bought 5% of their mining operation this morning," Cian smirked. "Through a shell company, of course. We now own a piece of our supplier."
"Good."
Cian hesitated. He reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook. It was my notebook. I had left it in the lab. "I took the liberty of reviewing your notes on the Aether Tonic refinement," Cian said, his voice lowering.
I tensed. "That's private property."
"I saw the formulas, Aren," Cian said, staring at me intensely. "I'm an S-Rank student. I know alchemy. But what you wrote... it's not standard alchemy." He opened the page. He pointed to a drawing. It wasn't a magic circle. It was a Chemical Structure. A hexagonal ring of carbon atoms. "You drew the... shape of the mana?" Cian asked, struggling to find the words. "You calculated the bond angles. You used math to predict the reaction, not intuition."
He looked at me as if I were an alien. "Who taught you this? This isn't in the curriculum. This isn't in the Royal Archives. This is... alien."
I calmly took the notebook back. I couldn't tell him I was from Earth. I couldn't tell him about Chemistry. "I see the world differently, Cian," I said enigmatically. "Where you see magic, I see mechanics. Where you see mystery, I see math."
"It scares me," Cian admitted. "The way your mind works. It's cold."
"Cold is efficient," I said, standing up. "And right now, cold is making us rich."
As I walked away, I felt Cian's eyes burning into my back. He knew I was hiding something massive. But he couldn't push me. Not while the gold was flowing.
The Courtyard
I walked out into the sunlight. Zane was waiting for me by the fountain. "Torian is looking for you," Zane said.
"Is he?"
"Yeah. He's over there."
I looked. Torian Valerius was sitting on a bench, looking like a ghost. His uniform was rumpled. He looked like he hadn't slept. The crash had hit his family hard. His allowance was probably cut to zero. His status was shaking.
He saw me. Hatred flared in his eyes. He stood up and stormed over. "You!" Torian shouted.
Students stopped to watch. "You're smiling!" Torian accused, pointing a shaking finger at me. "My family loses millions, and you're smiling!"
"I smile because it's a sunny day, Torian," I said calmly. "Is something wrong?"
"I know it was you," Torian hissed. "I don't know how. But you're connected to Aurelius. You're his pet."
"Careful," I whispered, leaning in so only he could hear. "Pets bite."
Torian drew his wand. "I challenge you!" he screamed. "Duel! Right now! No shields. Just magic!"
A duel challenge. In the middle of the courtyard. If I refused, I looked weak. If I accepted, I revealed my strength. But I was F-Rank. Everyone knew that.
"Torian, don't," a voice cut in. Cian stepped out of the crowd. He looked impeccable as always. "You are distraught. Fighting a Commoner won't bring your glass back."
"Shut up, Cian!" Torian yelled. "I'll break him! I'll break your little toy!"
Professor Silas ran into the courtyard. "Mr. Valerius! Put that wand away! Unsanctioned dueling is grounds for expulsion!"
Torian lowered his wand, breathing heavily. He glared at me with pure venom. "This isn't over, Rat. The Midterm Exams are next week. The Dungeon Run. Accidents happen in the dungeon." He turned and stormed off.
Cian stood beside me. "He just threatened to kill you during the exams," Cian noted.
"He can try," I said.
"The Dungeon Run is a team event," Cian said, looking straight ahead. "Valerius has a strong team. Two B-Ranks and an A-Rank."
"And I have Zane," I said.
"You need more than Zane," Cian said. "You need gear. Come to the warehouse tonight. I have something for you."
"A gift?"
"An investment," Cian corrected. "I can't have my COO dying in a dungeon because he lacks mana."
I watched Torian's retreating back. The economic war was won. Now, the physical war was coming. And for the first time, I wasn't worried about surviving. I was worried about how much of the dungeon I would destroy.