Act Three: The Laws of Engaging with the World (Part Ten)
ten
When they were returned to their room, they found Conrad standing guard there. "Lord von Brunel asked me to prepare a hot bath for you," he said politely, bowing. "The bathroom is at the end of the corridor, and there's no one else around, so you don't need to worry."
Yakov was in a bad mood. He sent Conrad away and closed the door.
“The host is indeed hospitable.” Schumer’s face crinkled with a smile. “Yakov, he wants to do you a favor. You’ve eaten their delicious food, slept in their bed, and used their bathroom—everything has been done so thoughtfully and considerately. You didn’t want to take out a loan, finding it too troublesome, but this is a one-time deal, eliminating the risks of management and operation. What more could you ask for?”
Yakov ignored him. He pulled Yubi aside. "What do you think?"
Yubi's eyes darted around, his lips pressed together. "I..." he suddenly stammered, "I don't know, I feel like it might not be a good idea."
This left Schumacher utterly puzzled. "Why?"
“I’m not entirely sure…” Yubi said, her head bowed and her voice barely audible. “I think that piece of ambergris is fake. My mother gave me real ambergris, and I showed it to Yakov.”
They took the precious spice wrapped in cloth from their baggage. In their haste to leave the castle, this priceless treasure was now merely crumpled in a piece of velvet and stuffed into a side pocket, like a roadside stone. Yubi took out the small, yellowish-white spice. However, no sweet, exotic fragrance wafted from the room, unlike the delightful aroma that filled the lord's garden.
“Take a sniff,” Yubi said, holding the thing up to each of their noses. “It’s a little smelly.”
“How can something like this be ambergris?” Schumeer frowned as he examined it. “It has no fragrance.”
“It only smells good when it’s lit,” Yubi said. “Yakov, you try it.”
Yakov glanced at him. He had never handled spices before, and suddenly being asked to deal with such a precious substance left him feeling completely helpless. But he still took off his gloves and broke off a small piece with his fingernail. It was light and brittle, like resin. Yakov dipped it directly into the candle flame, and the spice ignited on his fingertip.
"Ouch, aren't you afraid of getting burned!" Yubi exclaimed.
Before Yakov could feel the burning pain, a delicate and blissful fragrance wafted from the flames, reminding him of a dream—a dream of golden wheat fields where he stood in front of his mill, watching his children run around in the fields.
"Stop burning it!" Schumeer suddenly rushed over anxiously and blew out the flame. "Burning this thing is like throwing gold into the ocean. In a little while, all the money will be gone!"
The lingering smoke enveloped the room, plunging them into a brief silence.
“I have an idea,” Schumeer suddenly broke the deadlock. “First of all, what Yubi has is genuine ambergris. But does that prove that what Lord von Brunel has is not? As far as I know, there are many kinds of ambergris, and perhaps some of them have a unique fragrance even when they are not lit.”
Yubi and Yakov remained silent, staring at him quietly.
“Ahem, secondly,” Schumer felt a slight sweat break out on his brow, “if Yubi is right, then it is a fake ambergris. Could it be that Lord von Brunel knew this and was trying to deceive us? After all, ambergris is extremely precious and rare. Who knows how many gold coins Lord von Brunel spent to acquire it? Even if it isn't ambergris, a stone with such a unique fragrance should be a valuable item!”
“You’re really strange!” Yubi frowned. “Why are you speaking up for outsiders?”
“I’m not finished!” Schumer wiped the sweat from his face. “Last and most importantly, Yakov, if you agree to this deal, even if it’s fake ambergris, you’ll still make a profit. There aren’t many people in the world who have used real ambergris, but there are many wealthy people who want to use it to impress others. If you break that large piece into smaller pieces, sell them to different nobles, and then add appropriate and reasonable packaging and explanations…” He swallowed hard. “I can help you sell that stone for ten thousand gold coins.”
Yubi stared in disbelief. He turned to look at Yakov, but Yakov remained silent, sitting there like a statue. "He tried to fool us with fakes, and you tried to fool others with fakes too!" he angrily crumpled the ambergris in his hand and shoved it haphazardly back into his bag. "Shumer, I really misjudged you!"
However, the person being spoken to felt no shame. "Keep your voice down, Yubi, don't let anyone hear." Schumer clearly didn't care about Yubi's attitude; he only spoke to Yakov, "The price of everything in the world is determined by people; the only question is how to find the highest bidder."
He couldn't see Yakov's face beneath his helmet, and had no way of knowing whether his words had been heeded. He stood there, frozen in place.
"I'm going to take a shower." Yakov suddenly stood up, as if he hadn't even thought about it. He took two steps to the door, opened it, and left.
"Yakov, don't listen to him!" Seeing Yakov leave, Yubi immediately chased after him out the door.
Schumeer was left alone in the room. He slumped down like a deflated balloon, leaning back and wearily covering his eyes with the back of his hand.
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