"Governor, you have a visitor waiting upstairs."
"Got it," Caleb said, then glanced at the attendant's face and added, "Thank you, Polly."
"You're welcome."
Polly usually handled the final cleaning of the room and received visiting guests.
Now that the Governor had remembered her name, her heart started pounding so hard she could barely contain it.
But after Caleb's footsteps faded away, she let out a long sigh.
Not to mention the breathtakingly beautiful woman Caleb had brought back this time.
Even Jinx, who spent every day lingering around the office in bored impatience while waiting for Caleb to return, was far beyond Polly's reach.
Real life was not some billionaire romance novel. The Governor was never going to fall for an ordinary girl like her.
And yet...
Thinking of some fairy-tale kind of happy ending, Polly's eyes still filled with a bit of longing.
...
"Governor!"
It was that tall girl. The moment she saw Caleb push the door open, she hurried to her feet.
"Sit." Caleb pointed to the chair across from his desk.
"...Okay." The girl still looked nervous.
"Tea or coffee?" Caleb asked helplessly.
He normally did not even offer that choice here, since most people who came by were here to talk business.
And he usually did not have the patience to entertain them.
"Coffee, thank you."
Seeing that Caleb did not seem nearly as frightening as the rumors made him out to be, the girl visibly relaxed.
"You heard that?" Caleb raised his chin slightly, speaking to someone unseen.
A figure with two long braids dropped down and bolted out the door.
"Feeling less nervous now?"
Seeing that the girl seemed much more at ease, Caleb gave her a friendly smile.
"You've got plenty of time. Take it slow."
"Start by introducing yourself," Caleb added just as the girl was about to speak.
"My name is Renata. I'm from Zaun."
The tall girl was clearly less tense now and spoke slowly.
"My parents are both alchemists. We usually help treat sick people in Zaun."
When she saw that Caleb's expression had not changed at all, Renata gathered her courage and continued.
"A lot of the time, when people can't afford to pay, we let them put it on credit."
"With no interest," Renata quickly added.
"Mm-hmm." Caleb set down the document in his hand and listened seriously to the girl in front of him.
He had a feeling this girl was not simple at all.
"We want to open a pharmaceutical factory, not just in Zaun, but one that could sell throughout the whole world!"
Now fully at ease, Renata pulled out the proposal she had prepared and began explaining at length.
Ten minutes later.
Caleb stared hard at the girl in front of him, brows furrowed.
This level of business talent was genius-tier.
So this was Zaun? Lotuses blooming from the mud one after another?
Caleb truly could not understand it. Based on the plan Renata had just laid out, Zaun's wealth could grow by at least double within a year.
Even if you pulled any businessman from Piltover over here, there was no guarantee they would have this kind of insight.
Stevan, that bald old man, was excellent with numbers.
One glance at an itemized sheet and he could tell exactly how much profit had been made, down to the last fraction.
But his business instincts, and even his heart, were far inferior to this young girl's.
"I've heard your proposal."
After thinking it over, Caleb finally spoke.
"It's very compelling."
That single note of approval made Renata beam with joy.
Sure enough, this Governor really was a good man.
Just like her parents had said.
Renata had once considered negotiating with the nobles of Piltover to achieve her goal.
But the profits involved were too staggering. Piltover people would never loosen their grip. At most, they would toss the Undercity a few scraps from between their teeth.
Renata had no intention of handing over such enormous benefits to someone else.
Over the past few days, her parents had also saved up enough money to set up a factory.
And her entire strategy was built around the medicines that factory would produce.
"But I'm afraid I can't accept your proposed distribution of profits." Caleb shook his head slightly. "Even if it means losing a little profit, Zaun has already benefited from your family's work."
When Renata first heard Caleb say he could not accept it, her heart sank halfway into an icy void.
Then she took a sip of the coffee Jinx had just brought over, and the spicy burn instantly flooded her taste buds.
Renata coughed so hard she nearly choked up tears.
But when she heard Caleb say he intended to give her parents a larger share, she looked up in disbelief.
This was indeed the arrangement Caleb found easiest to accept, though not necessarily the easiest one for him to carry out.
"Lesson one, never take food, drinks, or random objects from that little psycho."
Renata had already prepared herself. If Caleb pushed too hard, she was ready to fight for everything.
"How about this, go report to the Firelights first and help me deliver the multi-function bow to Ekko."
Caleb raised his left hand, and the long bow snapped out instantly.
For Caleb, this sort of long-range weapon was going to become outdated soon enough.
"I'll have an answer for you by tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Caleb's reaction was far outside Renata's expectations.
Since her parents were alchemists, they naturally had a lot of dealings with peers like the Chem-Barons.
So Renata had prepared for the worst, even if it meant handing all of the profits over to Caleb.
As long as it benefited Zaun, she was willing to sacrifice that much.
"How long have you been listening?"
After Renata grabbed the compound bow and ran out the door in high spirits, Caleb suddenly spoke.
"Not that long."
The cool voice answered from outside the wall.
Caleb opened the window, and a gray-white figure flipped lightly into the room.
"Do you like this outfit today?"
Camille's leg blades were as sharp as ever, reflecting a faint gleam.
"If you've got something to say, say it." Caleb did not bother with formality and simply went back to reading the documents.
The only reason he had not looked at them while talking to Renata was to preserve her self-respect and make her feel heard.
For Caleb, doing two things at once was no problem at all.
"The Ferros family wants to invest fifty percent," Camille said calmly.
Renata's idea was definitely novel enough, and Camille could already tell that if it worked the way Renata claimed, it would dramatically increase Zaun's wealth.
"Thirty percent." Caleb did not look up.
It was naturally a good thing that the Ferros family was willing to invest, and with a major house taking charge, an outsider like Caleb would not need to interfere.
"I'll have a full profit allocation plan ready for you before tomorrow." As Camille spoke, the hooked claw on her leg had already caught the wall across from her.
"Mhm." Caleb still did not raise his head.
"You could have driven the price down to a quarter," Camille said with a slight smile before leaving.
"You could have put in forty percent," Caleb replied without looking up.
"So how did that coffee work out?"
Only after Camille left did Jinx poke her head out from beside the door.
"Drink the rest of it yourself." Caleb pointed at the cup, which was still more than half full.
Jinx took a sip at the doorway, and her little face instantly flushed bright red.
She looked left, then right, as if checking whether anyone was around.
Then she dumped the rest straight onto the floor.
Remembering Caleb's blank expression, Jinx huffed and ran off to her secret base.
She needed more explosions to vent her frustration.
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