Once Wren was finally on board with the plan, it was only a matter of finding the right venue and handing out the invitations. Both were accomplished easily enough given how many individuals wanted nothing more than to latch on to Mammon’s coattails, and once the date of the ceremony was set, the demon went all out on spending. He bought the best catering available, had custom artworks commissioned, entertainers from out of town were quickly contacted and signed, and enough musicians to fill an entire orchestra were brought for this one key event.
Mammon might be the King of Greed, but Greed was worthless if he didn’t have the opportunity to flaunt his wealth and power. That was why he never understood the thinking of his Gluttony kin; many of them had as much, if not more physical wealth than Mammon did, but why hoard so much money and gold if they were never going to spend it? Seemed like an idiotic mindset to the demon, but he supposed that was why Greed was the best Sin to indulge in.
And the lavish spending of the CEO of Hell did not go unnoticed. Those with the means and influence tried to keep up with the demon, while many less-well-to-do others had taken out substantial loans - oftentimes with Mammon’s people - so that they would not become social pariahs. They wanted to show the world that they were just as influential and rich as everyone else, even when the truth was so woefully different. It’s funny how entire families would ruin themselves just for a chance to show off.
Thankfully, the major governors and ministers were among those who wanted to show off. Given the fact that these old men and women had total control of the town, it didn’t come as a surprise that they would want to flaunt their new power, and making a good impression on the foreign noble was a good excuse to do so.
Speaking of Amon’s identity, the demon’s propaganda and disinformation campaigns were going so smoothly, that someone would be called a liar if they said that Amon wasn’t some kind of foreign nobility. He’d had snippets of fake documentation made and had those “accidentally” leaked to the noisiest and most loose-lipped individuals, while the rumor mills went from speculations about if the man was of high birth to which country he belonged, and why he chose to come to such a remote town. Eventually, the idea that Amon was anyone other than someone important was seen as an impossibility. Speculation was running wild, and all of it went to benefit the demon’s schemes.
All of his hard work culminated in a single moment, and on the eve of the main event itself, Mammon received a visit from Dust. The girl had somehow sneaked into the demon’s residence undetected and was waiting for him to come back from an evening of socializing.
“Dust,” Mammon said, trying to keep the surprise off his voice, “To what do I owe the pleasure? Please, have a seat.”
He had to admit, diminished or not, to be able to hide from the CEO of Hell’s gaze was an impressive feat, which meant that this girl was a lot more skilled than he initially thought. Which begged the question: where did she come from? It was strange that someone so young and so capable would be stuck in a tiny northern town working for an equally tiny street gang prior to Mammon’s takeover. Ah, there were so many mysteries for Mammon to uncover, it was certainly never dull since his summonings.
The girl sat down on the chair adjacent to Mammon’s own. The demon procured some refreshments for the two of them before joining her at his desk.
“My team and I are ready,” she said in her normal, quiet voice, “but there’s movement in the mansion.”
That piqued Mammon’s interest. “Do you think it’s the Rogue mage?”
“Could be.” She nodded. “Hints of Spirit magic everywhere. Be prepared for unknowns tomorrow.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mammon replied, “Would this new revelation impact your work?”
She shook her head. “No, makes it easier. Work’s rushed, more traces to follow.”
“That’s good. Use your discretion if any other unknowns pop up. Your main goal is still to get as much information as possible about the nature of the curse and who’s behind it all. Anything else you get is just a bonus. Good work so far.”
She nodded.
“You’re dismissed for now, thank you.”
As always, Dust left just as silently as she came, but this time, Mammon was able to see just the normal-looking girl was able to escape detection. She seemed to wrap herself in a cloak of pure nothing, disappearing from not just Mammon’s sight, but all of his senses. The only indication that she was there at all was the empty cup of tea. Mammon had seen other Shadow mages in his time acting as the criminal linchpin of this town, not many, but enough to get a good idea of their general skills, and they were nowhere near as skilled as Dust was. Then again, it wasn’t like the demon had a good grasp of how this new world was structured, maybe there were anomalies everywhere.
Mammon sighed as he put away the cups and exited his office. He had other things to worry about than the state of this strange new world. For now, the demon had an event to finalize, and he couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong.
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* * *
The day of Wren’s coming-of-age ceremony started off without a hitch. Catering and entertainment had long since set up at their designated spots in the gala hall that Mammon had booked, and early guests had already started to arrive. Mammon greeted each one in turn, shaking hands and offering soulless thanks for the small gifts that they procured for the boy. The various servants quickly moved the accumulating presents over to one side so as to not clutter up the space.
The boy of the hour, Wren, was still glued to Mammon’s side, as was tradition until all the guests were to arrive. He was doing an admirable job acting like someone of high standing, saying more or less the right things at the right time, although he was still much too shy for the demon’s liking. The early guests were too busy trying to impress the demon to notice the slight flaws in Wren’s acting and speech, but he couldn’t be sure that the more important guests wouldn’t notice.
Thankfully, children were expected to be nervous and uptight during such a momentous event, and the small inaccuracies in etiquette could be excused. Mammon only hoped that Wren would improve as the day progressed because this was one of his only opportunities to try to impress the other influential families and make a name for himself. It was his social debut, and he needed to impress.
The boy seemed to notice Mammon’s silent dissatisfaction, and much to the demon’s surprise, actually tried to improve without being prompted this time. It wasn’t like Mammon couldn’t understand the boy’s reluctance to speak with these noble brats; they had grown up worlds apart, and it was just a few weeks ago that Wren would have never even imagined that they would be in the same social gatherings, but it seemed Wren’s will to better himself was stronger than initially thought. Guess he wasn’t completely hopeless, the demon thought to himself.
In fact, this was the first time that Mammon had seen the boy work by himself; he’d had many interactions with Wren, of course, but they were always in a situation where Mammon was in charge. Once again, to the demon’s pleasant surprise, the boy’s ability to adapt to the new situation was admirable, amazing even. In half an hour, the jittering and stuttering had all but disappeared, and by the time that all of the important guests had arrived, Wren’s etiquette was already at a passable level. Not perfect, of course, but good enough that no one would question it; he was supposed to be someone of foreign birth, so some inconsistencies were to be expected.
Once Mammon was sure that the boy wouldn’t make a fool out of himself, he led Wren and the other children near his age to a more secluded area of the square.
“Make sure you make lasting relationships,” Mammon told the boy, glancing at the other children just out of ear shot.
Wren nodded. “I know, I think I got the hang of how to act now.”
Mammon smiled. “Good. You and the other children have some free time until the main event starts, so use that time wisely. You have free reign of the marketplace until then, I think there’s an army of bodyguards supervising all of you so feel free to go wherever you need, just don’t be late for the testing.”
Wren nodded again.
“You know what to do during that time, right?”
“Yeah, I’m to show them that I’m wealthy and that they should follow me. So, um, spend a lot of money to make a good impression, and show off as much as I can.”
Another smile passed the demon’s lips. “Perfect! And you have enough money?”
The boy took out a rather large pouch from his pockets and checked its contents. “Yes, Mo-, um, I mean Amon.”
Mammon chuckled to himself at seeing how casual Wren was handling such a large sum of money already, why, it was only a few weeks ago that the boy was awestruck from seeing a few hundred gold coins. Now, he was spending much more in an afternoon without another thought. Progress was coming along great.
“Excellent,” the demon replied and handed the boy another bag of coins. Mammon thought for a while before shaking his head and stashing two more sacks of money into the boy’s hands; Wren could barely hold all of the money once the demon was done. “But that’s not enough. You can’t just have some money, you have to have more than all of the other children. Spend all of it.”
Wren looked at the various coins and appeared wide-eyed. “All of it…? But-”
“All of it,” Mammon affirmed, “Remember, all of the money you spend now is an investment for the future. The more you spend, the more you’ll receive when these pampered kids mature. So yes, Wren, all of it.”
“Okay…”
“Remember,” the demon continued, “You’re not giving out money for nothing. Show favoritism towards those who catch your eye and the ones who are capable. You want the others to want to do anything to gain your attention. You need to show them just what they’re missing out on if they’re not in your good graces.”
Another nod from the boy.
“Do you have some people picked out yet?”
“A couple, but you told me that I have to be careful when selecting, so I’ll have to check again later.”
Mammon smiled. “Good, you’re learning. If you remember what I say then you’ll be powerful and successful in no time. Then you can use that power to help out all of the new friends you made, and your old allies as well, of course..”
“Yeah,” the boy replied, “I almost forgot why I’m doing all this. I want to make this world a better place, and I know that I’ll need wealth and authority to do it, like you taught me. Thanks, Amon!”
“Not a problem, little lordling,” Mammon answered, “It’s why I’m here. Now go socialize with your new friends. I have things to do on my end as well.”
The boy gave the demon a bright smile before hopping back toward the awaiting horde of children, all of whom were equally eager to stand out. Mammon assumed that their parents had told them similar things to what he just told Wren, but the demon highly doubted that any of them would go as far as he was willing to for a simple child’s coming of age ceremony. Only time would tell if things will turn out like the CEO of hell imagined, but for now, he had some nobles to appease, and plots to plan. It was time for him to get to work.