My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 181

§ 181 – Truth Behind the Curtain (3)

Cyan stopped, his gaze fixed on the scene before him.

Amelia and Elena.

Amelia being in the commercial district was hardly unusual.

And Elena, as Ruben’s guest, had every reason to explore the commercial district while looking for Ruben.

So, their meeting wasn’t inherently strange.

But something about their pairing felt… unexpected.

Amelia and Elena.

It was hard to picture them together.

More than that, seeing them chatting so harmoniously…

It didn’t seem like they had just met.

Cyan slowly approached them.

“This is where Ruben’s various supplies are stored and distributed. And over there is where they bring in goods made in the production facilities to assess their marketability.”

“All of this originates from Ruben?”

“I manage this area, and honestly, I’m surprised every day.”

As he drew closer, he could hear their conversation.

Amelia was giving Elena a tour of the commercial district.

“For the Brahe heiress to oversee all of this… it’s truly impressive.”

“Well, it’s what I used to do. More than anything, I’m just managing what the Lord [Cyan] has already established.”

“Did Cyan create all of this?”

“Yes. If you visit the production district, not just this commercial district… Oh? Lord?”

Amelia called out, spotting Cyan.

At the same time, Elena turned to look at him.

And her expression…

For some reason, Elena’s eyes widened in surprise.

Cyan looked back and forth between them and asked,

“What are you two doing?”

“The Princess wanted to see the commercial district, so I was giving her a tour,” Amelia replied.

As he had suspected from their conversation.

“Thanks to the Brahe heiress, I was able to see every nook and cranny in detail,” Elena added.

Cyan seemed slightly surprised by Elena’s words.

She had called Amelia ‘Brahe heiress’.

Brahe was Amelia’s family name, a family that had since fallen from grace.

In the past, the Brahe Merchant Guild was known as the great merchant guild of the West, dominating the region.

But it had collapsed a few years ago and faded into history.

That’s why Amelia didn’t reveal the Brahe name when introducing herself, only using Amelia.

But Elena knew Amelia’s family name.

Cyan tilted his head, a silent question.

Perhaps sensing his confusion, Elena explained, “The heiress’s ability to oversee the entire commercial district was extraordinary. And actually… I met Baron Brahe [Amelia’s father] when I was young. The Baron Brahe I met then and the heiress look quite alike, so I mustered the courage to ask her.”

“Ah.”

Cyan slowly nodded.

The Baron Brahe that Elena mentioned was the head of the Brahe family.

Of course, even if Elena was a princess, she couldn’t be expected to memorize the faces of all the nobles.

It wasn’t easy to remember specific nobles when there were so many in the empire.

Even under the guise of a princess’s duty, memorizing every noble’s face was impractical.

But if that noble was particularly influential, it was a different story.

If they were a well-known figure in the empire, she couldn’t help but know their face.

Therefore, the fact that Elena, as a princess, remembered Baron Brahe’s face, spoke volumes about the Brahe Merchant Guild’s former status in the empire.

“More than that, what brings you here, Lord…?”

Elena then inquired.

Cyan shook off his thoughts and said, “It’s nothing like that, I just have something to discuss with Amelia.”

“Me?” Amelia asked, slightly surprised.

Cyan nodded. “Yes. Have you finished moving?”

“Ah, yes. I was a little delayed because I was watching the sparring match, but… I’ve moved everything I need. But…”

Amelia glanced at Elena.

She was currently giving Elena a tour of the commercial district, making it difficult to talk to Cyan right now.

Cyan understood and was about to return later.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve already seen the commercial district,” Elena said quickly.

With those words, she lightly stepped away.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

Before anyone could respond, Elena disappeared.

Elena quickly moved away.

“Is this alright…?”

“Hmm…”

Cyan was lost in thought for a moment at Amelia’s question.

The sight of Elena’s retreating back seemed a little… lonely.

Of course, the atmosphere itself didn’t necessarily convey that.

A bright and dignified back view.

A figure with the poise of a princess.

But even within that dignity, a somewhat lonely atmosphere lingered.

Elena was currently alone.

There were no Royal Knights guarding her.

Because of the sparring match, they were all at the sparring grounds, training grounds, and knight training centers.

It would have been good if Leia was there…

Leia was currently teaching Conrad Charlotte’s swordsmanship at the training grounds of the Lord’s castle.

So Elena was exploring Ruben alone.

Of course, her safety in Ruben wasn’t a concern.

No one could breach Ruben’s ironclad defenses.

But still, leaving the princess alone seemed a bit problematic.

But there was no one available to look after her right now.

If he had to choose someone, it would be Cyan.

‘Did I not pay enough attention?’

She was a guest he had personally invited.

It seemed he had been too indifferent.

“I’ll come find you a little later.”

“Yes.”

Cyan took Amelia to ‘Sweep It All Up Merchant Guild Lv.1’.

‘Sweep It All Up Merchant Guild Lv.1’ was located in the center of the commercial district.

Certainly, unlike before, the inside of the building was now properly furnished.

It had the appearance of a legitimate merchant guild.

“What’s going on? Is it because of the slush fund you mentioned?”

Perhaps because of that, Amelia asked Cyan with sparkling eyes.

Her hopeful expression was endearing, and Cyan chuckled.

“That’s part of it… but before that, Amelia. Can you earn about 1.5 million gold in the near future?”

“1. 5 million gold?”

Cyan nodded.

It was the amount needed to pay for the Beginner Growth Special Package.

Of course, Cyan currently had 870,000 gold, so he actually needed about 700,000 gold.

But he had to have some spare funds.

Ruben had been transformed through tremendous cash injections.

Now that almost all infrastructure was upgraded to Lv.7, the maintenance and repair costs were truly insane.

He hadn’t checked exactly, but roughly calculated, it was over 200,000 gold per month.

In short, 870,000 gold would disappear in less than 4 months.

And if he didn’t have any gold, the facilities wouldn’t be effective.

But considering the profits earned by maintaining the infrastructure, 200,000 gold wasn’t a problem.

It was acceptable if he could earn millions of gold by investing 200,000 gold.

“Um, just a moment…”

At Cyan’s words, Amelia moved busily.

She brought documents from here and there, looked through them, and checked them.

Cyan waited.

How much time had passed?

“If we start the trade we’re preparing right away… we can prepare it in 1 week at the earliest, 2 weeks at the latest.”

“Really?”

Cyan exclaimed with delight.

As expected, the maintenance cost of 200,000 gold wasn’t a problem.

But 1.5 million gold in just one trade in 2 weeks?

What merchant guild in the world could do that?

Cyan nodded, slightly surprised.

“Anyway, you’re saying that 1.5 million gold will be prepared in 2 weeks at the latest, right?”

“Yes? No.”

But Amelia’s words had changed.

Cyan looked at her, wondering what was going on.

Amelia continued, looking like she was clarifying his misunderstanding. “I think it will be about 7.7 million gold.”

“…?”

Cyan’s mind went blank.

7. 7 million gold?

Not 770,000 gold?

7. 7 million in 2 weeks?

Not 2 months?

No, even in 2 months, it wasn’t 7.7 million gold.

That was certain.

It was impossible for any merchant guild on the continent to achieve that.

In the past, the Brahe Merchant Guild wasn’t this good!

“7. 7 million gold…?”

“Yes. We have the highest grade and high-grade magic stones that are currently prepared, special beer made by the dwarves, and this time, the dark elves have magic items that Jerry and I researched and invented.”

Amelia continued.

“In addition, there are many by-products from monsters piled up, and… there are also many food ingredients, including grains. The food prices are quite high because the empire is still suffering from a famine. Besides…”

Amelia’s words continued endlessly.

She was giving a report while flipping through dozens of documents.

“……”

Cyan was speechless.

Of course, he had some idea.

The infrastructure upgraded to Lv.7, and the blessing of the World Tree, Instiz.

He had guessed that Ruben’s productivity had increased tremendously due to these additional effects.

“… So I think it will be about 7.7 million gold. Maybe we can earn more.”

But he never imagined it would be this much.

7. 7 million gold in 2 weeks.

What merchant guild or territory on the continent could make this kind of profit?

“Okay, then. I’ll leave it to you, Amelia.”

“Yes! Just leave it to me!”

Amelia seemed eager to take on the task.

She nodded vigorously and exclaimed.

Well, anyway.

With this, the money to pay for the Beginner Growth Special Package was secured.

No, it was more than enough.

“Then that’s settled…”

But Cyan didn’t stop there.

Of course, 7.7 million gold was by no means a small amount.

And the money earned from the current trade alone was 7.7 million gold.

Considering the gold that would continue to be earned in the future…

It was fair to say that there was no need to worry about gold.

Ting!

《Kingbile Lord is not afraid of any karma!》

《Come on! Ahyup!!》

If it weren’t for this damn mobile lord.

If Ruben was an ordinary territory, 7.7 million gold would have been enough.

Even if it was just an average county, 7.7 million gold would have been more than enough.

But Ruben wasn’t.

Should I be honest?

7. 7 million gold would vanish in an instant!

If you build a few facilities along with the beginner growth package, it’s gone.

Of course, now that various infrastructures have been upgraded to Lv.7, what kind of cash injections would you make in Ruben?

But that was only related to military facilities and production-related facilities.

Other facilities were still lagging behind.

Right now, this building.

Isn’t this building ‘Sweep It All Up Merchant Guild Lv.1’?

So now it was time to develop other facilities.

And the first thing Cyan thought of was, of course, educational facilities.

‘I need to tell Ellie in advance.’

It was to educate healers.

Now that the territory war with Elan Dur was almost confirmed, many injured people were bound to need treatment.

And it wasn’t enough for Ellie to handle all those injured people alone.

In addition, not only educational facilities but also various cultural and entertainment facilities, administrative offices, transportation, waste disposal plants, etc.

There were plenty of facilities to develop and build along with the newly opened facilities this time.

To that end, it was necessary to earn more gold.

Not 7.7 million gold, but even 77 million gold was not enough.

Considering the mileage…

‘I think I need 700 million gold.’

No, would that be enough?

It was like a pot with a broken bottom.

No, it was like a pot that was so broken that it was completely destroyed.

So he couldn’t be satisfied here.

“Can you keep checking the source of the slush fund?”

“Ah, yes. Of course. Would you like to give it to me now?”

Cyan took out his smartphone and showed a picture of Elan Dur’s ledger.

Amelia looked at the picture on the smartphone and started writing things on a blank piece of paper.

“Can you show me the next one?”

Amelia asked.

Cyan swiped his finger across the screen of his smartphone to show the next ledger photo.

How many times had this process been repeated?

“But Amelia, wouldn’t it be better to transcribe the ledger than to do it this way?”

“Um… I think that would be easier for me too. When I think about it, I have to do a lot of comparisons, so I think I have to keep checking the ledgers I’ve already checked.”

Amelia nodded in agreement.

“How about I call the guild members right now?”

“Would you?”

Cyan nodded right away.

He wanted to entrust Amelia with his smartphone, but he couldn’t.

Because the smartphone didn’t respond to anyone other than Cyan.

“Just a moment.”

Just as Amelia was about to turn her gaze.

“… Huh?”

Suddenly, Amelia’s movements froze.

It was only a moment before he wondered what was going on.

Amelia’s gaze was fixed on the smartphone, and she didn’t move.