Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 16 April 2321

Time- –:–

Location- Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters, Blood Rock Cave, Seed World, Inter-Realm City, Sector DS0909, Infinity Library, Exec. VVIP Members Lounge

Thirteen devil merchant recommendation tokens from thirty was a huge step down but Ezra knew that he could not push a miser like Belphegor too far and he too preferred to settle as soon as possible. The longer this charade continued the chances of his cover getting blown increased and he would be at risk of losing all he worked for so far. At times like these one had to remember their priority and not let greed blind them. Being greedy in this situation would not be helpful, greed has been labeled as one of the seven greatest sins for a reason.

Belphegor gave the dwarf a hard glance trying to figure out if the dwarf was bluffing but then thinking that the devil merchant recommendation tokens would be repaid to the faction by Mutt Diya and Handsome Fox over a century, Belphegor shook his head saying, "Thirteen devil recommendation tokens and true name of the foreign devil merchant, you have a deal." 

"Good, JiJi draw up the contract," Ezra ordered JiJi. Using the Infinity Library as the third party to draw up the contract would be more assuring for both Ezra and Belphegor. 

Belphegor sat down and reached for his half-empty glass of the spirit mushroom dew. By the time JiJi drew up the contract he had reached the bottom. Thanking these lucky stars that he was able to get the dwarf to settle for next to nothing. After all, the 13 devil merchant recommendation tokens will be repaid to the faction by Muth Diya and Handsome Fox with interest. As for Handsome Fox's true name, the dwarf will be furious when he learns that they had blocked the inter-realm transfer to card world. Just thinking of this an unconscious smile formed on Belphegor's face. 

Noticing the unconscious smile flashing on Belphegor's face time and gain despite him trying to act indifferent, Ezra sneered in his mind. Still, it took a lot out of him to get what he wanted while leaving Belphegor satisfied and clueless about what was going on.

Every action of Ezra was a carefully calculated move with a predetermined goal crafted while keeping Belphegor's mindset in mind. Ezra played Belphegor like a fiddle. He was so smooth with his manipulation that Belphegor did not even realize that he was dancing to Ezra's tune. But this was not an easy task. 

First Ezra got Belphegor to believe that he was who claimed to be, a chaos dwarf backed by an Exec VVIP Elder chaos dwarf. Maintaining a deterrence on Belphegor and his faction such that they do not have any funny thoughts. 

Second Ezra got Belphegor to believe that he was drunk causing him to babble key information. Giving Belphegor the confidence that he could easily trick intoxicated Ezra and get him to settle for nothing. Getting Belphegor to underestimate Ezra. 

Third Ezra got Belphegor to believe that the reason Ezra considered a settlement over a trial was because he wanted something that the trial could not give him. Mostly like revenge against Muth Diya and Handsome Fox or even something more serious. Giving Belpheor the feeling that Ezra was emotionally motivated. Something Belphegor could take advantage of in the negotiation. 

By now Belphegor Knew that Ezra's visit to the Blight Brood Club was no coincidence but rather a calculated move on Ezra's part. Doing this he gave Belphegor a sense of certainty and confidence. With this, Belhepgor felt secure. He no longer second-guessed what he saw or heard but just swallowed it feeling that he had a clear sense of what and how Ezra planned to do. 

Giving Belphegor a sense of certainty and clarity, Ezra has dulled his senses and almost blinded him to other possibilities. Rather making comfortable in his assumptions and speculations of Ezra and his plans. 

Fourth Ezra gave Belhepgor a scare by revealing that he was not after Mutt Diya or Handsome Fox or something else but the most priced possession of the 'Seven Princes of Hell' faction the lease to the Blight Brood Club house land. 

The lease of the clubhouse land was like a big diamond, it shone so brightly that it completely blinded Belphegor. He could no longer see anything else but what Ezra was showing him. Forcing Belphegor to genuinely talk about compensation and reach a settlement. 

Now that Belphegor was convinced that Ezra was after the lease, anything Ezra asked in compensation other than the clubhouse land lease Belphegor would willing to give a genuine thought. After all, now in Belphegor's mind, the price tag of getting the dwarf to settle was the lease of the clubhouse land. So anything less than that would be a steal and a big win. 

However, this was just a temporary blindness, if Ezra were to ask something else outrageous like the rights to the card world as compensation then Belphegor would awaken from his blindness trying to figure out what Ezra was after the lease of the clubhouse land or the rights to the card world. 

Once Belphegor was unable to decide what Ezra was after, the lease of the clubhouse land or the rights to the card world, Belphegor would start to reconsider all of his assumptions so far slowly undoing the blindness Ezra had put him under. 

With Belphegor's vision no longer limited to what Ezra was showing him, Belphegor would immediately understand that he was being manipulated by Ezra. As a result, Belphegor would be scared of the dwarf. To regain control of the situation, he would do everything in his power to extend the settlement discussion while asking his friends to do everything to find anything and everything there was to about the dwarf Ezra Foolhar. 

Therefore Ezra did not ask Belphegor about the rights to the card world. He did not want Belphegor to think that he had the slightest interest in the card world. 

If Belphegor knew Ezra was interested in the card world considering the timing of Ezra appearing in Belphegor's life right after he bought the rights to the card world, he would easily determine that Ezra was truly after the rights of the card world. Then they would try to figure out why a chaos dwarf was interested in the rights of the card world. And Belphegor would never dare to give Ezra Handsome Fox's true name.