Chapter 262: Agreement
Chapter 262: Agreement
"He really thinks I'm a pushover, doesn't he?" Albert chuckled after reading the letter from Mundungus Fletcher.
Mundungus had informed him that he had found the fur of a Marsh Hopper, but it would cost him a hefty sum of 20 Galleons.
Twenty Galleons, was that expensive?
Well, if he had to say it out loud, it wasn't overly expensive, but he still found it amusing that Mundungus Fletcher thought he could get twenty Galleons just for a piece of fur.
Was the man blinded by greed, or was he simply testing Albert's intelligence?
Regardless, that fellow's greed knew no bounds! Albert did intend to develop Mundungus Fletcher into one of his raw material suppliers, as some things could only be obtained through the black market. But that didn't mean he would let people take advantage of him like a cash cow.
Albert didn't mind letting Mundungus make a small profit, as long as it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. After all, merchants were driven by money. However, if someone was foolish enough not to realize that, then there was nothing more to be said! Albert immediately penned a response to Mundungus Fletcher, bluntly telling him to reconsider his pricing, or else there would be no deal.
He had many other concerns and wasn't going to waste time on Mundungus if he didn't play along. If that guy didn't work out, he could always find another Mundungus, or perhaps a Montague.
Of course, Albert wasn't afraid of being cheated. With the Legilimens spell, he could easily discern if someone was lying to him, and that was his trump card. As long as he had strength, some things were actually quite simple.
"Sheera, you know what to do," Albert said, stroking the owl's head. "You need to get more exercise. Don't end up like Tom, so fat that you can't fly."
Albert didn't mind having another chubby owl, but he still needed owls that could deliver his letters.
Sheera grabbed the envelope and took flight, letting out an unhappy hoot as she left, seemingly protesting Albert's comment about her weight.
She was a diligent owl, after all.
Albert couldn't help but chuckle. He always had a lot of letters to send... well, perhaps he had indulged a bit too much during the Christmas break and gained some extra strength.
Closing the window, Albert placed the quill back into the pen holder. As he headed downstairs, he found Nia busy with her holiday homework. Children always seemed to leave their assignments to the last minute. Beside her, Tom lay quietly on his heated pad, lazily stretching his limbs like a little old man.
"Tom, if you keep this up, you really will get too fat to move!" Albert picked up Tom and gave him a little shake. Turning to Nia, who was sitting nearby working on her homework, he said, "No more treats for Tom besides his regular meals."
"Oh," Nia replied, her eyes still fixed on her homework. Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "How do I solve this question?"
Tom jumped onto Nia's workbook, his plump body instantly covering the entire page.
"Don't let Tom distract you," Nia said, placing Tom next to Albert and taking back her workbook.
"Leave the ones you don't know for now, and I'll help you with them later," Albert said, flipping Tom over and rubbing his soft belly. It was warm to the touch, and cats had a higher body temperature than humans.
After Albert brought drinks for himself and Nia, he glanced at the notebook and noticed that there were quite a few questions that Nia didn't know how to answer.
Was she trying to be lazy, or was she testing him?
"Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?" Albert moved Tom away from the teacup to avoid any stray cat hairs in his drink.
"No," Nia shook her head.
"If you don't have any particular aspirations, then come help me," Albert suggested.
"With what?" Nia asked curiously, looking up from where she had been playing with Tom.
"Managing money or other things," Albert replied without hesitation.
"Do you have money?" Nia poked Tom's chubby belly and said, "Or are you planning to give me your allowance? That's not a bad idea."
"I will have money in the future," Albert said confidently. How could a wizard not be able to make money if he wanted to?
"Hmm, that's fine with me," Nia said after a moment's thought, though it was unclear if she had really understood. Nonetheless, she nodded in agreement.
"But first, you need to educate yourself," Albert said, pointing to the workbook. "Set a small goal for yourself—get into a good school and learn the economic knowledge you need. Otherwise, I might end up losing money because of you." He continued, "Now, take it back and think about how to do it. Don't come asking me if you haven't tried to figure it out yourself."
"I'm not a child anymore. Do you have to coax me like this?" Nia said, grabbing Tom's tail and gently twirling it, causing it to puff up slightly as if in protest.
"I'm not tricking you. When have I ever lied to you?" Albert said.
"Do you want me to give you examples?" Nia raised an eyebrow.
"No need. The point is, I haven't lied to you," Albert asserted.
"Hmph," Nia huffed, expressing her dissatisfaction. Suddenly, she asked, "Do you plan to live in this world from now on?"
"I'll live in both worlds," Albert replied. "But there seem to be some restrictions in the wizarding world. I'll find some time to look into it and see if I can find any loopholes in the laws."
"Wizards seem so foolish," Nia muttered. "Magic is so convenient, yet their civilization is so backward. It's already the 20th century!"
"That's one of the drawbacks of magic," Albert mused. "The development of magical civilizations tends to be slower." He paused, then added, "Wizards generally live at a slower pace, just like our Tom here."
As he spoke, Albert pointed to Tom, who had climbed back onto his soft pad and resumed his lazy lounging.
"Of course, the small wizarding population is another reason," Albert continued. "If we weren't constantly progressing, I'd even wonder if wizarding civilization would still be stuck in the Middle Ages." He chuckled at his own joke, aware that while wizards were indeed progressing, their pace was much slower than that of Muggles.
"So, how do you plan to make money in the future?" Nia asked, knowing that Albert was capable of great things. Since he said there would be money for her to manage, he must have had some plans.
"Robbery?" Albert teased.
"No, that's a secret for now," Albert winked. "Magic is convenient, and if wizards have no scruples, making money is a breeze. Also, don't make random guesses—we won't do anything illegal."
"And you should focus on improving yourself first," Albert added.
In truth, Albert was just trying to give his sister some direction and motivate her to make use of her talents.
Whether or not Nia ended up helping him in the future was of little consequence.
(End of Chapter)
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