Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 30 Mar 2321

Time- 13:33

Location- Sky Blossom City, Association Guild Mall, Warehouse no.234

"Diana, what do you think we can do about this?" I seek Diana's opinion regarding how to prevent the local authorities and families from meddling during our siege on the Circle.

"That… " Diana, too, was not clear on this matter.

"We bribe them to stay out of the war." Said Jaya, attracting all the gazes in the room. Having taken the spotlight, she went ahead and explained herself, "They are corrupt officials and families. Accepting bribes is their thing. So that's what you do. You bribe them enough so that they turn a blind eye towards activities in the Sun Blossom city."

"Spoken like a truly spoiled rich princess. Your sister failed to raise you properly." Cindy jeered at Jaya's idea.

"That's it. I can tolerate you bad-mouthing me but crossed the line by dragging my sister in this." Jaya pounced on Cindy only to be stopped by her sister.

"..." Diana could feel that her secretary Cindy had gotten ballsy in the presence of the new boss. Diana knew this was bound to happen, but she was not worried, nor did she plan to suppress her later. Because she knew as long as she was more capable and more intelligent than Cindy, then she had nothing to worry about. Suppression is not her style, as she controlled every one of her subordinates by being better than each one of them and everything that counts.

"Jaya, how many times have I told you to know who you are dealing with? Do you think the authorities from Sun Blossom city will be willing to watch as we cut their golden goose just because we gave them an extra golden egg? As long as the circle occupies Sun blossom city, the authorities will routinely get paid. Now, why would they give up on such a sweet deal just because you bribed them better once?

Do you understand how much capital we will require to bribe an entire city? Even if the whole Fine Gold was sold, we still could not satisfy the appetite of the Sun Blossom city authorities and families. The circle can afford it because they are an enormous organization and have amassed an enormous amount of stolen wealth from the Sky blossom city during their tyranny here.

Even if you are willing to bribe them and they're greedy enough to take it. It is not certain that they are willing to double-cross the circle. They might turn on us after taking our money. In the end, bribing is not a solution to our problem." Diana explained the flaw in her plan to Jaya.

"I did not think of that!" Replied Jaya embarrassedly.

"That is because—" Cindy was about to mock Jaya again but was interrupted by me.

"I hope you only open your mouth when you guys have something related to the topic," I announced, eyeing Cindy. This woman has not added anything worth to the conversation. Honestly, I did not understand why Daina brought her along. I did hate Jaya, but now she is one of my subordinates and is trying to contribute. I preferred positive reinforcement rather than suppressing the voices of my staff, no matter how stupid they sounded.

"Yes, boss. And if I may," Cindy took my warning way too positively and asked permission to speak her mind.

"This is not a classroom. Just speak when you get the chance to." The Cindy I am seeing right now and the one that came to me to create Debra's origin card were two different people. The previous one barely showed any emotion, and this one was just too giddy. She was kind of getting on my nerves. I considered whether I should sow her with one of my calamity daughter gems. It would become so easy for me to monitor Diana with one of her trusted aides, a calamity daughter core.

"How about we coerce the authorities and families by kidnapping the people they cherish? I know this makes us no different than the circle, but this is better than the alternative." Cindy spoke her mind alright, but she was right. The alternative was an incident that would trigger a war between the two cities.

"That is too much work to pull off. It will get complex. Kidnapping people, monitoring their families, and watching our backs as we fight the circle… all this was too hectic, and there are chances of information leakage to the Circle." Cindy's plan involves too many steps, leaving a lot of room for risk. During this process, anything could go wrong. Not to mention the Circle would come to know who their enemy in the dark is.

"I agree with you, boss. It is indeed too hectic. But I think the circle is pretty much aware that somebody out there is out to get them." Cindy took my rejection positively again. It made me wonder if she was being serious when she gave me her idea to control the authorities and families of Sun Blossom city.

"Keep the enemy guessing. Do you understand what I am saying, Cindy?" I asked Cindy. After all, she appeared to have a good head on her shoulder. I think she understood what I was implying.

"Yes, Boss. As expected of you, you are wise." Cindy nodded and did not miss the chance to butter me.

"Explain it?" Said Jaya. She thought Cindy was nodding her head to impress their new boss despite not understanding a thing.

"What the boss is trying to say is, if the Circle doesn't know who they are facing, they won't know what to expect? If they don't know what to expect, they cannot prepare against their enemy in the dark prematurely. With no prior information on their enemy, they will have no option but to cover all their bases, spreading their workforce thin.

So basically, 'You can dodge an arrow but not an arrow with your name on it.' " Cindy flawlessly explained what I meant by the words, 'Keep your enemy guessing.' Changing my evaluation of her. A wise girl who acts stupid so that her boss doesn't feel threatened by her.

…

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