Chương 105: Two-And-A-Half-Years-old (5) The Butcher Shop

I don't think my mom would be a good butcher. But that's kind of my only chance here. Well... guess I could try and ask Hatomo but... nah, no matter how kind he is, he's struggling too and all, and most importantly... He doesn't owe me anything. To be honest. I owe him some. That's why, today, my eyes aren't glued to hatomo shop, but to another shop, to a big shop, a monopoly really. This shop? Is the single bigger butcher shop in the entire village. Everyone and their moms come here to buy some meat.

Whether it's rabbits, or hares, or wolf meat, or... worms meat... or... snake meat, giant snake meat. Well not really. From what I've seen he didn't take the giant snake, which is good, didn't really expect him to do it. This shop wasn't always a monopoly you know? Never knew it before. And I even passed in this street when I was younger, when I was trying to find a path toward the poor district on the day of my second birthday. And this street was desolate as fuck. Nobody cared about it. Nobody knew about it.

There were some people. Yes. One or two. And it was rare. Now? Pretty much EVERYONE enters this shop to get their meat. There's three people just casually chatting in front of the building, as if this place was so popular it's like a park now. There's a husband and a wife stepping out of the entrance, the husband carrying a good amount of meat while the wife looks thrilled about something. Probably at how cheap the meat is around here. That's how you create a monopoly after all don't you?

Take a dwindling resource, like meat in my village, establish yourself as a trustful source of meat. Then. Be better. Give more meat. Way more meat. Of a LOT of different animals, something nobody but you provide, because who would do that? Who would dare to go that far in the forest where ninjas and monsters lay. Who would dare to chase dozen and dozen of animals every day in the depth of the forest? No one. So you have more meat and a bigger variety of meat than anyone else in the village. So you make it cheaper.

Cheap. As. Fuck. So cheap pretty much every eyes bulge at the price. What do you mean it's THAT cheap? Impppposssible! And then rumors spread, left, right, up, down, until the empty desolate street gets less and less desolate. Until a group of niche people that knows the trick and good deal comes more often, until people see those people having a shit ton of meat and ask questions, until pretty much every single person of the village comes to you to get their food. This story has been taken without authorization.

Report any sightings. Until you get complete and utter monopoly over the meat market. Until all the other hunters can't fight back, until all the other hunters who are still desperately trying to diversify themselves, try to get into alliances and shit to get more food, STILL cannot catch up to you. That's how you get a monopoly. I wipe the water off my face. It falls freely on me right now, and I never hated the rain as much as today.

I forgot how annoying moving around this village without a cloak or a hood on was. It's hell. So my clothes are sticking to me now. Hugging my body with cold, my clothes are heavy, my hair is heavy, my shirt and my pants are heavy. Everything is heavy without my cloak. I'll never take my cloak for granted ever again. In any case. You may wonder why I'm lounging on a roof, without my cloak, opposite to the most popular fucking meat supplier in the entire village. Well.

The answer to that is pretty simple, really simple even. The owner is the guy I use to avoid getting the attention of my grandfather. He gathers my carcass after my whistles, and I don't worry about my grandfather finding the massacres I created while training my aiming skills. And he? Well. He gets a shit ton of ryos and influence. Damn. I feel like I'm having the short end of the stick here. Well. For the ryos, not gonna lie, I don't care. But the influence? Brrrrrrooooo!

I saw academy students, teenagers, and other adults with them buy SPECIALIZED MEAT CARGOS FROM THE GUY! Bro. That's crazy. Crazy enough for me to want to take advantage of this. Well, taking advantage is a big word. After all, this guy is enjoying my hard work, it's only natural if I take... control of his little monopoly. An evil smile spreads on my face. Evillllll and hungry for MONOPOLIES! MUAHHAHAAHHAHA! I AM JEREMY! JEREMY THE GREAT HUMAN FROM A CAPITALIST SOCIETY! I LIVED IN 2025 YOU PEASANTS!

MY SOLE PRESENCE! MY SOLE EXISTENCE! WITHOUT EVEN TRYING, I CREATED A MONOPOLY! THIS IS THE POWER OF CAPITALISM! And now... it's time for me to enjoy the fruits of my efforts. The tasty tasty forbidden fruit that's wealth. At two years old, I became filthy rich. Richer than most in this village. At two years and a half, I'm going to own a monopoly. Legaly. And anonymously. This is the real cheat from my reincarnation. CAPITALISM! And that's why I'm dying of cold right now.

Because I'm not really intimidating you know? Actually. Scratch that. I'm not 'not intimidating' I'm cute, harmless looking, and NOBODY would think I could be the leader of a monopoly until I gain... Uh... Sixteen years. Maybe. And even then I may need to have a beard or I'll still be looked down upon because of my youthful face. Taking control of this monopoly now? Hah. As if this could ever happen. Well. It could. The only problem would be to take control of the monopoly PUBLICLY.

There's something you still don't understand though. There's a word I love. A word I enjoy. It's a pretty simple word you know, but it's not usually the first thing people think of. What's the word you ask? Figurehead. Leaning on the edge of the roof, I look down at the shop, rain dropping on me, slick hair sticking on my face and small body ready to jump and pounce on this shop and meet my new figurehead. But I don't. Not yet. Because I still look harmless as fuck.

And I kinda am, don't have my crossbow, and only have kunais under my shirt. What? You don't know what I mean by that? Oh. Right. Well, remember how I talked about training constantly? Well, that's what I do to constantly train now. Started two days after I met okari for the last time. I started sticking kunais -cause they useful- on my body. Under my cloak, under my shirt and just kept them here.

It's pretty hard, but it's free weapons, and free constant training, pretty dangerous for when I fall, but nowadays I can slide them around my body to avoid them digging into me when I fall, even then, the sharp points doesn't usually dig in me. Got some scars till I figured the trick out but it wasn't that bad. In any case! Even with this, I'm pretty harmless.... well, I guess I'm not really. Since I know how good my new illusion technique works. I can just throw some water on him and put him down......

well IN ANY CASE! I still look harmless. And that's why I don't have my cloak on, or anything else that could point to my real identity. Unsticking a kunai that was stuck to my belly button, I turn it around, and as the rain fall of the blade, I use the oiled edge to look at my baby face. Pushing flows in my brain.

My eyes becomes red, a low misty red, my face becomes a blur, my entire body becomes like a shadow, a giant shadowy figure, one that lets out a red mist all around me, lighting up the roof like we're in the middle of a horror movie. I pull back on my flow and I'm normal again. It's easier to mess with people perception of my appearance when I don't wear anything. Especially nothing that makes sound, like a crossbow, or my cloak with filled pockets. In any case. Time to scare someone to death.