Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Earl of Black Gold Yew Castle possessed vast tracts of land, but due to its location in the Kamkuo region and its proximity to the Black Forest, the economic development within his territory was poor.

After Lancelot’s father, the old earl, went to guard the Lopulo Mountains, the economic situation in the earldom plummeted even further. It wasn't until this year, when Lancelot returned from the Lopulo Mountains and officially took over the title of earl, that he began to clear out the thieves, bandits, and vagrants within his territory.

Having finally managed to address the security issues, Lancelot realized that his family's economic situation had hit rock bottom.

While saying the people were living in dire poverty might be an exaggeration, the populace certainly wasn’t faring well; they could barely make ends meet.

To improve the lives of his subjects, Lancelot tried many methods, but with little success.

It seemed he lacked talent in business.

So far, the number of arable lands and exotic beast farms in the Black Gold Yew territory wasn't small, but their output barely met the needs of the local population.

Though there was still vacant land available to expand both farms and fields, Lancelot lacked additional sales channels.

Apart from the common folk, the Earl's Castle also housed a large number of servants.

Unlike ordinary citizens, these servants were loyal to the Cavendish family. They handled everything from close proximity to the earl's family, castle guards, to food supplies for the castle.

Maintaining such a large group of servants, preserving the dignity of the Earl's Castle, and maintaining relations with other nobles required substantial funds.

This was why Lancelot desperately sought money from various sources.

A good income was crucial for covering the daily expenses of the Earl's Castle.

"I currently need fire and ice attribute exotic beast meat, not too high-level, second or third grade will do," Lorant said. "I’ll take as much as you can provide. Oh, but not too much—how about starting with thirty thousand gold coins worth?"

"I can pay five thousand gold coins upfront, and then pay the market price once the meat arrives."

Peter stood up, excitedly pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing at Lorant. "Lorant, really? Thirty thousand! If you're serious, I can give you a twenty percent discount on the market price!"

"I might not be able to gather a lot of meat right away, but by tomorrow, I can send one thousand gold coins worth of fire and ice attribute exotic beast meat to your store. After that, I can supply at least five hundred gold coins worth of meat every day."

Peter was frantically calculating. This deal would be directly with the Black Gold Yew Castle, and all the proceeds would go into the earl's private treasury.

That is, it would be used to support the servants of the Earl's Castle.

Thirty thousand gold coins would cover the expenses of the Earl's Castle for more than a year.

And what they needed to provide was merely exotic beast meat. While there were no specialized farms for the types of meat Lorant requested within the territory, the Black Gold Yew Castle had its own guards.

These guards usually only trained and patrolled, but now, it was time for them to get some action.

The expenses for professionals were significant; even a first-grade professional required ten to twenty commoners to support them.

However, not all professionals had the resources to sustain themselves. The Knights Academy and the Congress of Magic could only provide resources to the top-tier individuals.

Many professionals struggled to advance not because of lack of talent, but because of insufficient resources.

The guards of the Black Gold Yew Castle were supported by the Black Gold Yew family, and they were highly promising professionals who consumed massive amounts of resources each month.

Now, Peter planned to send all the idle guards into the Black Forest to contribute to the Black Gold Yew Castle.

"Also, I want to ask if the Black Gold Yew Castle has any channels to obtain Slimes."

Peter looked puzzled. "Slimes? Live ones?"

"Yes, live Slimes. If possible, I’d like one of each variety," Lorant nodded.

He needed Slimes to complete the final steps of two D-grade breeding lines, but Slimes were a rather special type of exotic beast.

They were not rare and only of the first grade, resembling large, living jellies about half a meter in size.

They were among the least aggressive exotic beasts, yet they had a strong offensive instinct, often attempting to crush or suffocate humans with their soft bodies.

Unfortunately, apart from the Lopulo Mountains where all kinds of exotic beasts gathered, Slimes only existed in the distant Homilia Plains, making them unfindable in the Black Forest.

This was why Lorant hadn't been able to obtain them so far.

"That might be difficult, although capturing live Slimes isn’t hard, the distance is quite far," Peter thought for a moment. "If you want them, I can have someone use a long-distance teleportation array to capture some from the Homilia Plains."

"But it will take some time. Within two days, I can deliver a large number of all the varieties of live Slimes I can find." Peter promised. "However, the price won’t just be that of a first-grade exotic beast."

"Price isn’t an issue. I can buy them at the price of third-grade exotic beasts. How about thirty gold coins per Slime?"

"Deal! I’ll bring them to you in two days." Peter grinned widely, eagerly anticipating the incoming gold coins.

With Peter’s help, Lorant teleported to the Knights Guild in Mauplan.

This was a building with extremely high ceilings, grand and ornate in appearance. Lorant appeared in the hall, looking up at the pointed ceiling, which was dozens of meters above the ground.

Countless old knight shields and greatswords hung high above.

Sunlight filtered through the dome, casting shimmering light spots.

This bustling hall drew only a few glances when Lorant emerged from the teleportation array.

He was still dressed in simple linen clothes, appearing like any common child on the street, starkly contrasting with the knights around him.

Lorant walked straight to the reception desk arranged in a circle in the middle of the hall.

"Hello, I was recommended here by Captain Jaina. I want to register on the trading platform," Lorant showed a token pendant to one of the attendants.

"Please wait a moment while I verify it." The attendant took the pendant and placed it on a crystal platform.

The crystal platform flickered for a moment, almost like a holographic projection, and elegant characters appeared above the pendant.

Lorant guessed that those were Jaina's personal symbols.

Indeed, he was right; they were the magical script version of the name 'Jaina.'

"Verification complete. Please keep your token and follow me." The attendant pulled out a thick leather-bound book, flipped through it to compare the patterns, and then returned the pendant to Lorant.

Following him, Lorant passed through the hall and arrived at a room with three tall counters.

This seemed to be the office of the Adventurers' Guild within the Knights Guild, as Lorant did not see anyone wearing the uniform of the Knight Regiment behind the counters.

After filling out several forms and paying ten gold coins, Lorant quickly received two tokens representing his identity.

It was a small seal, about the size of a pinky finger, intricately engraved with complex patterns.

Placed on the verification crystal platform, it would display symbols unique to Lorant, just like Jaina's token.

With the tokens in hand, Lorant immediately posted a task on the platform to acquire live Claw Wolves, Brain-Eating Monkeys, and other exotic beasts.

He wanted as many as he could get.

However, this time, he specified stricter requirements, including the gender of each type of beast.

For example, only female Claw Wolves were needed, and only male Wind Blade Foxes.

After posting these valuable tasks, Lorant left the Knights Guild and entered Mauplan's true upper-class district for the first time.

The streets here were much cleaner than other parts of the city, lined with charming two-story houses typical of Mauplan.

The ground floor was usually a shop or tavern, while the second floor could be used for living or business, depending on the owner's choice.

The shops here were diverse, ranging from magic potion stores, weapon shops, and armor shops to various dimly lit shops selling mysterious items.

Further down the street were jewelry stores, clothing boutiques, hat shops, shoe stores, and ceramic shops catering to the wealthy upper class.

Lorant entered a custom clothing shop called 'Blue Lavender,' one of the largest storefronts on the street.

"Welcome... uh, hello," said a young attendant, momentarily stunned upon seeing Lorant.

Lorant's attire was far from fitting for such an upscale establishment.

Judging by appearance is a human instinct.

"May I help you?" The young attendant approached, still courteous but somewhat dismissive.

He probably thought Lorant was a poor customer without purchasing power, yet had entered the store, so he felt obligated to greet him according to the manager's rules.

"I'd like to order some clothes. Do you offer an in-home measuring service?" Lorant wasn't too bothered; his appearance indeed didn't warrant special treatment.

You can't expect everyone to treat a street urchin like a millionaire.

Not being turned away outright already showed the attendant's professionalism.

"Uh, yes, we do, but our prices are quite high, matching our quality," the attendant tried to maintain a composed expression, hoping this young man would understand that this wasn't a place for rough cloth and linen.

"Don't worry about that." Lorant smiled and waved a crystal card in front of the attendant. "As long as the quality is guaranteed, price is the least of my concerns."