FFM 2024 18: Lowering the standards

Challenge: The story’s protagonist must be gullible and there must be an antagonist who tries to exploit their gullibility. Flip a coin to determine which character’s point of view to write the story from – if heads, the protagonist; if tails, the antagonist. Optionally, give the protagonist, the antagonist or both sidekicks.

I got tails, so my POV is the antagonist’s.

---

I stared at my nemesis through the one-way mirror, growling as some pathetic hawker managed to cheat him out of a pouch of gold.
“Have you ever considered that you may be aiming too high?” Diginn asked as he sharpened his axe. “You know there’s something akin to divine intervention keeping him safe from your schemes. At this point, why not lower your standards and show your superiority by conning him just somehow, in some minor way that won’t get filtered by whatever protects him?”
“And lower myself to level of petty con artists?!” I snarled, turning to him.
Diginn just shrugged as he kept his eyes on his work. “What works, works. It’s gotten to the point where you’d be satisfied with just conning him anyway. So, show that you are superior by any means necessary, even doing something simpler than your usual schtick. Maybe you’ll even finally catch a glimpse of whatever is keeping him safe from your magicks.”
I paused to think about that. Diginn was, as much as I loathed to admit it in this case, right. At this point, I was desperate to just pull the wool over Leo’s eyes just once in some way. “I suppose I’ll have to consider it.”
Diginn just smirked, probably already certain I would follow his idea.

~~~

“Oakenshield Mail delivers the day’s news!” I called out. “Buy today’s paper now!”
“Oh, look,” Leo said to someone I could not see, “the day’s paper.” He walked up to me, his stupid eyes full of naive joy. “I’ll take one, please.”
I smiled as I tried to locate the life signature of whoever my nemesis had talked to. “Thank you, kind sir. It costs two gold.”
“Ouch, that’s expensive,” Leo commented as he shelled out the money.
“Only the best journalism in the entire county, sir,” I said in a chipper voice as I handed the paper over and took the money. “Thank you for your patronage!”
Leo walked away, already reading the paper as he did and talking to someone. For the life of me, I could not find a life signature in his vicinity even though he certainly was talking to someone. It was almost as if he was talking to himself or an imaginary friend.
As soon as Leo and his mystery sidekick were out of the earshot, Diginn burst into laughter at the terrace next to me. “You seriously conned him for one gold and some change!”
I allowed myself to flash my teeth at him with a fake smile. “You told me I was aiming too high before.”
“And you seriously overcorrected!” Diginn howled.
“A victory is a victory,” I announced and turned to the street, putting on my chipper look again. “Oakenshield Mail delivers the day’s news! Buy today’s paper now!”
Diginn just kept howling in laughter and pounding the table so hard his ale sloshed in the stein. Had I been as petty as I was ten years ago, I would have had the stein fall over and spill its contents on my sidekick.

Alas, such behavior had long since stopped being acceptable for someone of my caliber. I would just have to put up with Diginn finding humor in the fact that I had not bested my nemesis with my superior magick but some traditional con techniques of those far beneath me.

As if reading my mind, Diginn called out, “Maybe you should learn more from the common folk! It might actually help!”

Diginn was, as much as I loathed to admit it in this case, right. At this point, I might as well pay some con artist to teach me their tricks of the trade.