Chapter 179 (1) |
Bonus chapter! Happy New Year.
"Life, you know. It's really fleeting."
Bel and Bob, who became penniless in an instant after suffering huge losses from the beer bubble, couldn't return to their hometown and ended up staying in the Montefeltro territory.
There was nothing to go back to.
They had nothing left and had become destitute.
The only fortunate thing was that after the Gold Vein War, there was an abundance of job opportunities in the Montefeltro territory.
It was mining work.
"Yeah, you're right. Life is indeed fleeting."
Bob's grumbling was echoed by Bel, who had also suffered the same fate.
And they did it with the very cause of their downfall, the people's favorite, beer.
"I don't know why we were so crazy about it. It was just beer after all."
As Bob looked at the beer glass in his hand, Bel sighed, looking at his own glass.
"Sigh... You're right. It was just beer, like you said. We were crazy, completely crazy."
In the historic beer bubble incident.
The two were the biggest victims.
"We should have gotten out when we could have..."
"No, we should have stayed in Black Label. We shouldn't have left no matter who tried to beat us up. We left for no reason... and ended up ruined."
"Ugh. Why did we get stuck at the peak? We really should have gotten out at that unbelievable price."
"Looking back, we were really foolish."
"Sigh..."
If they had gotten out when they could have, they would be living as wealthy men with several wives in a mansion by now.
The lingering regret kept the two drinking every day.
"At least it's fortunate that there's work here. If not, we would have become beggars on the streets long ago."
"Who knew working day by day for money would be this hard? Life was so much better when we were shop owners."
Mining work was so hard that many people quit, so it was conducted on a daily wage basis.
It was like a day laborer, working one day and earning for that day.
"What a disgrace at this age. We're getting old, and we're stuck in a mine doing hard work that even young people don't do. Oh, my poor body."
"What can we do? It's our fate."
"I wonder how Sam is doing. He must be living well, right?"
"Sam?"
When they were caught in the beer bubble's peak, holding a hell party with other retail investors.
Sam had sold all his beer and effortlessly escaped the hell party.
It was art in a way.
In another way, he was the son of a god.
"Was Sam really possessed by a ghost? How did he think of selling and getting out at that point?"
"I know, right? It's as if a ghost was attached to him. How did he think of getting out at that price?"
"I really think Sam's success is amazing. It feels like just yesterday when he was shining shoes at our shop."
"You're right. I saw it a lot too. I never thought that snotty kid would become a wealthy man with nothing to envy in the world."
Perhaps because of the alcohol, Bob was becoming more honest.
"When I first heard that Sam succeeded in investing in a trade ship, I was really upset. And I was jealous. Who wouldn't be when a shoe shiner from our shop became successful?"
Bel seemed to agree with that.
"Were you the only one? I was also secretly upset when I saw Sam's success. Think about it. It's unbelievable. How could that guy..."
"Now that I think about it, I remember that saying."
"What saying? Which one?"
"Do you know that saying?"
"What is it?"
Bob hesitated for a moment and then told Bel about the saying he had heard before.
"They say when someone is living 10 times better than you, you feel jealous and envious."
"Yeah? Now that you mention it... it does seem that way."
"And when someone is living 100 times better than you, you don't feel jealous but envious."
"It sounds right. Honestly, when Sam was even more successful, I felt more envious than upset, right?"
"That's right."
Listening to it, it was their own story.
At first, when Sam succeeded in investing in a trade ship, the two felt jealous of Sam's success.
And when Sam became wealthier, they looked at Sam with envy, not jealousy.
"That's exactly our story, isn't it?"
"That's right. And there's one more thing."
"There's another one?"
"Yes, maybe my current thoughts are the same as that."
"What is it?"
"You know, when someone is living 1,000 times better than you, what do you think then?"
Bel thought about the question.
'Living 1,000 times better? 1,000 times better...'
Although they didn't know for sure, it seemed like Sam's story.
He had hit the jackpot with a trade ship investment, tried his hand at various other ventures to become even wealthier, and in the end, became a wealthy man living 1,000 times better than them by cashing in on the beer bubble.
"I'd be really envious, but that doesn't seem like the answer... I don't know. What happens when someone lives 1,000 times better than you?"