Night fell, and the day's hustle and bustle slowly faded into the darkness.
In the castle study, Lucas was handling official business. With so many refugees arriving today, he needed to personally review the resettlement plans.
"Master, have some tea to refresh yourself." Nicole came in carrying tea, placing it gently on the desk. Her hair was still a bit damp; she had clearly just finished bathing.
"Mm." Lucas set down his notebook. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand and picked up the tea with the other. He blew on it a few times and took a sip. The black tea tasted quite good, with a slight sweetness.
"Master, the teahouse sold fifteen tea sets and twenty-five pounds of tea leaves today, for a total profit of seventy-three gold coins," Nicole reported softly. This was from the accounts the teahouse manager had just submitted.
"Oh?" Lucas raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I didn't expect the purchasing power of these nobles and merchants to be so strong."
This truly exceeded his expectations. He originally thought selling twenty or thirty gold coins' worth would be good; he hadn't realized the allure of tea was so great.
"Heehee... Master, they also bought a lot of pastries." Nicole giggled, covering her mouth and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "The pastries sold for eleven gold coins."
When she first saw the report, she could hardly believe the nobles and merchants had bought so many pastries.
"That really is... something," Lucas said, his expression a bit strange. Buying pastries with tea... The pastries were only meant to be an accompaniment, which was why they were sold at a high price with small portions, just to make the tea experience less monotonous. Yet they were this popular.
"And this is just the first day. Those merchants and nobles haven't even really started exploring the city. Once word of the tea spreads in a few days, even more people will come to buy tea sets and utensils," Nicole analyzed, pushing a plate of egg tarts toward Lucas.
"Mm." Lucas picked up an egg tart and bit off half. After chewing a few times, he held up the other half to Nicole's mouth.
Nicole stared blankly at the tart in front of her, her cheeks flushing red. She gently parted her pink lips and bit it. Such an intimate gesture made her shy. Fortunately, only the two of them were in the study; everyone else had gone to the hot springs.
"Give the teahouse staff a bonus—three months' salary. Tell them to keep a sharp eye out for intelligence," Lucas said, taking another sip of tea.
"Understood." Nicole nodded. She had already taken over the finances, and she was now responsible for auditing all the shops in Sedona City.
"Tell the research department to craft more tea sets, and have the kiln fire more high-quality ceramic cups," Lucas ordered calmly. The promotion of tea culture was off to a good start. In the future, the revenue from tea leaves alone would be a huge sum.
"Understood," Nicole nodded seriously.
"Right, how much did the goods from the capital sell for?" Lucas put down his cup. Sedona City needed a large amount of capital right now. Tomorrow's auction, for instance, was intended to raise funds, and he had already ordered his intelligence network to start building hype for it.
"Eleven thousand, two hundred and thirty-two gold coins, sixty-seven silver coins, and four hundred and twenty-one copper coins," Nicole recited formally.
"Over eleven thousand?" Lucas's eyes narrowed. "It seems Dahlia raised the prices to sell." The goods from the capital had an estimated value; this price was twenty percent higher than the estimate.
"Dahlia said it was because the stock was too low. The nobles were bidding against each other, which inflated the price significantly." Nicole's eyes stared at a crumb of egg tart at the corner of Lucas's mouth, and her heart, for some reason, began to beat faster.
"Divide the profits with Dahlia according to the contract. And give her an extra one hundred gold coins as a performance bonus." Lucas smiled gently. "Tell her it's a personal reward from me, not to be included in her family's accounts."
"Okay." Nicole pursed her lips. Compared to the amount of money Dahlia had earned for the Master, one hundred gold coins was nothing.
"Mm, these egg tarts are delicious tonight." Lucas picked up another one and finished it in two bites.
When it came to cooking, he had nothing left to teach Nicole. Limited only by ingredients, she now knew even more than he did. He had compiled menus from both his past world and this one, translating them for her to practice with when he had time.
"Master, don't move." Nicole's cheeks reddened. She reached out, plucked the tart crumb from the corner of Lucas's mouth, and then put it into her own.
"..." Lucas stared at Nicole, stunned. A small smile played on his lips. That... was actually a little enticing.
Creeaak...
The next second, the study door opened, and the strange new feeling that had just surfaced in Lucas was instantly dispelled.
"Master, I'm here!" Annie's bright voice rang out as she bounced into the room, her fox ears twitching.
"Finished bathing? Where's Mina?" Lucas turned his head as Helen, Freya, and Ayesha filed in, but he didn't see the cat-eared girl.
"She said she was going to collect today's intelligence reports," Annie said, twitching her cute nose. She immediately spotted the egg tarts on the desk and licked her lips.
"Go ahead, one for each of you." Lucas looked at the fox-eared girl's sneaky expression with amusement and pushed the plate over.
"But Master, have you eaten?" Annie asked. She knew Nicole had prepared these for him; Nicole had even cut her time in the hot spring short for it.
"I have." Lucas waved Ayesha and the others over.
"Then we'll dig in!" Annie immediately went over, grabbed the plate, and started sharing the tarts with other girls.
"Ayesha, how were things in Sedona City today?" Lucas asked, watching the horned girl swallow her tart in one go. He handed his teacup to her.
"Mmph..." Ayesha chewed, quickly taking the cup and gulping down some tea. After swallowing, she put on a serious face. "Those merchants and nobles are too good at causing trouble. We arrested a lot of people today."
"What kinds of trouble?" Lucas frowned. This was inevitable; with so many new people, it was impossible for nothing to happen.
"Fistfights, fighting over perfume, and..." Ayesha's voice trailed off, and she slowly lowered her head, sounding disheartened. "And... complaining about beastkin being in their way, things like that."
"Oh?" Lucas's eyes narrowed, and his entire demeanor instantly turned sharp. "Are they all arrested?" He asked coldly.
"Arrested. They're all locked up in the Guard's station," Ayesha said, looking up. Seeing the Master's cold expression, her heart felt warm.
"Throw them in the 'dark room.' Lock them up for three days." Lucas had known this would happen. These people from the capital were used to treating beastkin as slaves.
It seemed it was time to show those people who is the head of Sedona City. Either they follow the rules, or they get out.
"Yes, master!" Ayesha replied, a smile touching her lips.
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