Stroe, Stere – Nose in the Wind and Three-Fingered Tristan met on a weekend day for a picnic in the spinney, north of the factory’s grounds.
It was a beautiful summer day. The three were meeting to discuss their plans in private, away from the ears of everyone else in the factory.
After a lot of small talk and gossip, they all admitted their anger and frustration against Patronel. He had asked their opinion regarding an important growth strategy for the factory, but he had not followed their advice.
“What’s the point of us being his counselors if he doesn’t listen to us?” Stroe said.
“Maybe he just wants to make us feel good…” Three-Fingered Tristan added.
“How could I feel good? I feel he’s mocking us,” continued Stroe.
“Of course, he’s mocking us. Didn’t you see his malicious look when you suggested a cut in people’s benefits?”
“How else could he get more money for the factory?”
“He just doesn’t get it. You can’t do business and profit if you pay high salaries and benefits to every single employee. Some greed is healthy. We need more money for investments”, said Stere – Nose in the Wind.
In his mind, he had already planned to steal some investment money. He would take the money and then increase numbers on reports saying the expenses were higher than expected. He even knew people who could help with this strategy of stealing from Patronel. He wanted to teach Patronel a lesson, so next time he won’t be so arrogant and overpowering.
“Patronel thinks luck is on his side and nothing bad could ever happen to him,” Stere – Nose in the Wind added.
“It’s true. What could we do to show him he’s wrong?” Three-Fingered Tristan asked.
“This isn’t a bad idea…” Stroe said.
“What do you mean?”
“We must teach him not to take his luck for granted. Bad things can happen to anyone.”
“He actually seems to be successful in everything he does.”
“How about us? We’re part of the factory too. How about our success?”
“We are. But what can we do if he doesn’t listen to us? The truth is – you can’t always make everyone happy,” Three-Fingered-Tristan added.
“If we leave Patronel in charge, we can’t. But the three of us can teach him a lesson,” Stere – Nose in the Wind insisted.
“What do you mean?” Three-Fingered Tristan asked.
“Did you hear about The Wizard?”
“Of course. Who hasn’t? Everyone’s afraid of him. I get chills down my spine only by thinking about him and what he’s capable of.”
“I know. He makes one’s blood run cold. But the three of us, we can work with him, so Patronel gets scared to death. Let fear torture his guts, not ours.”
“You want to work with The Wizard to teach Patronel a lesson?” Three-Fingered Tristan asked.
“Don’t you? Didn’t you suffer enough from the decisions he makes?”
“For sure, I suffered, and it hurts seeing our advice ignored by him. But to work with The Wizard… I think it’s pretty brutal and even…”
Three-Fingered Tristan couldn’t finish his sentence.
He saw the hate in his friends’ eyes, and he was afraid he would become their new target. He was better off being on their side, he could see, rather than against them. They terrified him. And the Wizard – Tristan was so frightened he didn’t even dare to think about The Wizard. He told himself then it was better to make Patronel suffer than to put himself through such a terror.
After all, his friends were right. Why did Patronel name them counselors if he would not follow their advice? It was time for Patronel to pay for all the injustice and frustration he had created.
Therefore, they worked with the Wizard to steal Patronel’s business.
With this decision in mind, the three friends left the spinney. The Wizard would curse Patronel so he couldn’t run his business anymore, would lose everything and might even disappear from this world, leaving the three of them in charge of the factory.
