"Leadership status?"
Mr. White was completely taken in by Ethan and was utterly confused, "I don't have such a thing. How am I supposed to take it out?"
"Pfft!"
Ethan almost spat out his water when he heard that.
So Mr. White thought that leadership status was something like a mage certification medal, something he could wear on himself and use whenever he wanted?
"That's not what I mean by leadership status," Ethan shook his head, "I mean, you have to think of yourself as the leader, or turn yourself into the leader, or even believe that you are the leader. Only then will they respect you and follow you, right?"
"Uh…"
Mr. White widened his eyes in surprise, "This thing either is or isn't. How am I supposed to make myself into it?"
"If I explain it as a concept, you probably won't understand."
Ethan thought about it and figured the concept might be too advanced for Mr. White to grasp. After thinking it over several times, he decided, "Let me tell you a little story."
"There was once a scientist named Sean. Oh, no, a biological research scholar."
"He wanted to study a creature called a 'wolf,' so he ate and slept alongside them. Later, in order to gain status within the pack, he started pretending to be the wolf king. He even drove away the wolves that tried to compete with him for food, showing the attitude of a wolf king."
"Sure enough, before long, he became the new leader of the pack, the wolf king."
"This story tells us…"
"I know this one!", Mr. White cut in, "You have to learn how to disguise yourself! Pretend to be a wolf, and then you can become the leader of the wolf pack. So what I have to do now is pretend to be a sheep, and then I can become the leader of the flock?"
"Pretend my ass!", Ethan couldn't help rolling his eyes at Mr. White, "Sheep are the ones that get treated like leeks and harvested. If you pretend to be a sheep, are you asking people to come harvest you?"
"Uh…"
Mr. White had nothing to say.
"I told you that story because I want you to understand that if you want to be the alpha wolf, you first have to turn yourself into the head wolf," Ethan continued, "Whether you actually have the qualifications doesn't matter. The important thing is to make them believe you do. When those people from the various branches of the Merchant Alliance come over, you have to make them believe that you're the head wolf, or the leader of the flock. Got it?"
"I… kind of get it!", Mr. White's face was still full of confusion.
"As long as you understand."
Just then, the two of them arrived at the final stage Ethan had prepared for Mr. White: a luxurious standalone villa.
The reason Ethan had gone to so much trouble earlier was naturally to lay the groundwork for the final, super-expensive money pit.
And as long as Mr. White took what Ethan said to heart and believed his brainwashing, he'd have no choice but to pay up.
"After you."
Ethan led Mr. White inside and pushed the door open.
The moment he entered, Mr. White's eyes lit up, "This is?"
"This is the throne I prepared for the leader of the flock, or rather, the lofty wolf king," Ethan pointed at the swimming pool not far from the entrance of the luxury villa with a beaming smile, "A private hot-spring pool, with enough space for you to swim around as much as you like."
"Whether you want to enjoy the hot spring yourself or invite your subordinates, in other words, those people from the Merchant Alliance branches, to soak with you, there'll still be plenty of room."
"Not only that, every floor of the villa has spirit-stone lamps installed. A tiny switch is all it takes to light them up, so there's no need to light anything manually."
"It's a three-story villa. The important thing isn't how big it is, but how comfortable it is."
"There are only two rooms and one hall on each floor of this villa. The first floor comes with an extra-large garden where you can stroll around, think quietly, or even put on a serious face."
"The second floor has a huge office, well, a room for handling affairs, with a huge terrace."
"You can sit inside or stand on the terrace with your back to the subordinates who come to you with matters to handle, pretending you're the Godfather. Oh, I mean, the leader of the flock."
"And the third floor is your private resting area. It has a super-large bedroom, a dressing room, a personal storage room, as well as a shower room and a small hot spring, plus a small rooftop garden."
"This way…"
"When guests come to your home, you can let them stay in the rooms on the first floor. They'll have a place to stay without disturbing your private space on the third floor."
"And every part of the third-floor design is meant to let you enjoy your time alone and have your own private space."
"And to match your status as the leader of the flock, I even specially designed two servants' rooms on the second floor. They're for the servants who attend to you, so they can come up and serve you at any time."
"This… is the residence I specially built for the leader of the flock. It is also the throne that belongs to the leader of the flock."
"Wait!"
Mr. White didn't dare listen any further because he could feel himself being tempted.
But Ethan still hadn't said how much he was going to charge for the house. Normally, he would introduce the price as soon as they entered, but after saying all this, he still hadn't named a price.
As a businessman, Mr. White could always sense a hint of danger from that.