Running the Numbers Even When Exhausted

My body felt fine, but my mind was exhausted, and while I sat there, more time passed than I realized.

Someone must have been wearing perfume, as a sweet scent lingered in the room.

She was a beautiful girl who would captivate any man, but for Yohane, money was far more attractive.

Because of that, I couldn't muster any real interest.

Alexia entered the room with a glass of something to drink.

"That's unusual, seeing you so tired."

"I'm not tired. Just feeling the weight of responsibility a little."

I grasped the handle of the glass and brought it to my lips.

There was a scent of lemon.

When I took a sip, I tasted sweetness and sourness.

It seemed she had squeezed lemon juice into hot water and added sugar.

"We used to drink this at my house a lot. I think it helps with fatigue."

"I see. This might indeed perk me up."

The sugar replenished my energy, and the sourness seemed to help me relax.

Alexia had been considerate.

"By the way."

"Hm, what is it?"

"How is it with imperial royalty? Are they like that too?"

I was a bit curious about how things were in the Empire.

The emperor there should also have several children with succession rights.

"I've never spoken to them directly given my position, but I've heard rumors. Their conduct wasn't supposed to be particularly bad."

Alexia said this while touching her chin as if recalling something.

At least there didn't seem to be anyone like Princess Tianis.

"I see. Well, it's not without its benefits. I'll just have to do what I can. That was delicious, thank you."

"You're welcome. Shall I give you a hand standing up?"

"You don't need to go that far."

She was joking, so I declined.

With a playful "Oh, how unfortunate," Alexia placed the guest cups on a tray and left the room.

Having someone to talk to at times like this is more of a relief than I expected.

Alexia might have achieved great things if her family had been more prominent.

I suppressed the desire to just sit there and stood up.

As I headed back to my room, I noticed Finn and Azu peeking at me from around a corner.

They seemed to be curious about Princess Tianis's sudden visit.

I wasn't in the mood to deal with them, so I shooed them away. Finn stuck her tongue out, muttered something rude, and disappeared.

Azu hurried after Finn.

Those two seemed to be getting along well.

Perhaps because they were close in age.

Elza and Alexia also seemed to be on good terms. Having someone you can talk to casually is really important for daily life.

I returned to my room, opened the safe, and took out the ledger.

The money here and what's deposited with the guild is everything I can currently mobilize.

In terms of assets, there's more, but some of it is accounts receivable or things that can't be liquidated quickly.

Those can be used as collateral for loans but can't be diverted for immediate needs.

I wasn't obsessed with debt-free management.

In fact, when I purchased Azu and the other two from the slave merchant and equipped them, I borrowed money using the shop as collateral.

Looking back, making Azu my first slave had been the right choice, though at the time it felt like quite a gamble.

That debt has since been paid off with Azu and the others' earnings.

Based on my calculations, it looks like I won't need to borrow again for now.

Kazusa declining had really helped a lot.

She was a reliable girl, and I thought I could entrust the inn to her.

I took out the gold coins I needed and put the rest back in the safe.

One hundred fifty gold coins. With this, I'd buy up all of Luido's processed goods like barley and sell them to Carnevale.

The selling price is expected to be one hundred seventy gold coins.

If you had money and a place to spend it, gold coins flowed into your pocket just by passing goods along.

Of course, that comes with corresponding responsibility, but even accounting for that, it's profitable work.

Twice a year. A profit of forty gold coins.

I hope to continue this for a long time.

That was fine, but the wheat was the problem.

The original quota was secured.

The inventory remaining in the warehouse had also been documented, and adding that should just barely cover what Princess Tianis demanded.

I intended to verify this with my own eyes just to be sure.

I'd also need to be present for the handover.

The wheat transaction was somewhat complicated.

For the quota, I'd buy wheat from the tenant farmers and then trade it with the royal family.

Since it had to be sold below market price under the pretext of securing the capital's food supply, there was no money to be made there.

Any surplus was split with the tenant farmers. Apparently, most of what they didn't eat or trade with merchants got bought up.

So normally, the more they produced, the more profit increased, but for some reason that hadn't been happening.

Fortunately, with the employment promises I'd made, they'd become cooperative, and starting next time, they'd expand their cultivated area.

Princess Tianis had only guaranteed my status, so I had to directly collect any profits from managing Luido.

That princess must have thought she'd found a convenient pawn.

I put the gold coins in a drawstring pouch and locked them in the safe.

One hundred fifty gold coins packed in tight is heavy.

Several kilos. This weight was a merchant's lifeblood.

I was already exhausted today. I'd take a bath and go to bed.

There was an unfortunate incident at the bath where I ran into Azu and Alexia.

With five people, timing is bound to overlap sometimes.

Of course Azu had grown, but Alexia seemed to have developed too.

"Please don't stare so coolly."

"This is embarrassing…"