Chapter 526: Year-End and Good News

Because Baron Porcupine’s invention of ice skates had led to the formation of nearly a hundred new couples before the year’s end—portending a significant increase in the territory’s future birth rate—the chief steward, ‘the Widow’ Mr. Gelan, had written a lengthy report and delivered it to the Baron.

‘So, they finally cornered me.’

Leech looked at the middle-aged man, whose discreetly styled hair was groomed with impeccable care. The man was beaming at him, his face full of expectation.

He was the master of this castle, yet here he was, feeling utterly helpless.

‘Fine, I accept my fate.’

In the time since his return, Leech had used every excuse he could think of to avoid Gelan. But he knew that as a lord, there was no escaping reports as thick as the pad of his thumb.

He flipped open the first page, and his eyebrows shot up.

“Treasures sold through Aix: total sales of 25,500 Jinri. After our seventy percent cut, we netted 17,850 Jinri.”

“The soap business is approaching saturation but has established a very stable market. Revenue is up twelve percent compared to the previous year.”

He snapped his head up to look at Gelan. ‘You even know how to draw bar charts by hand?’

‘How did you figure out Excel? Was it Magic?’

Leech strongly suspected that Gelan had awakened an Extraordinary power called “Office Suite Mastery.” That was the only explanation for such terrifyingly impressive presentation skills.

But all teasing aside, Leech could see how dedicated Gelan was. Perhaps his past experiences had made him overly cautious, sometimes making things too complicated and wasting manpower.

But Leech would never deny his effort. Gelan was without a doubt the most meticulous person he knew. That full head of white hair, and the hairline quietly receding toward the crown, was proof of his long, overtime nights.

“I’ll read it all carefully,” Leech said, placing the report on the desk. He then looked at Gelan. “Your hair has gone completely white, Gelan.”

Gelan replied with a serious expression, “As long as you have need of me, my lord, I will continue to work for you.”

He had been a steward his whole life, and he still vividly remembered that conversation in the tavern with the young lord.

Back then, Gelan had been at a dead end. He had some savings, but he loved his former profession more. And so, he had followed the minor country Baron to the barren Porcupine Territory.

In just two or three years, he had truly witnessed a barren, dilapidated territory transformed. It was changing every day, getting better every day. Even when exhausted, his heart was filled with boundless motivation.

There was nothing more gratifying than seeing his hard work pay off.

“Of course. The year wouldn’t feel complete without your report,” Leech said, though the tradition of these reports had only started last year.

Leech didn’t pry into Gelan’s private life, not even when the young maids whispered about Gelan having another passionate affair with some elderly lady. ‘Another?’ Baron Leech had no idea what he had missed last year.

When it came to other people’s private affairs, he preferred to just watch the drama unfold rather than meddle.

They briefly discussed the future development of Porcupine Territory, with Leech revealing the broad strokes of his plans. However, according to Leech’s private estimates, the territory’s population was set to instantly increase by 500,000 next year.

‘Time to start worrying about food, housing, and jobs again.’

A happy problem to have.

“I’ll be training warhorses and Cavalry in the Desert, so the stables can slow down their breeding program a bit. No need to be too strict in controlling it, though. We will always need warhorses.”

“Of course. I’ll have the stables pay attention, and I’ll also be mindful of the fund allocation.”

“Don’t be in such a rush to cultivate the wastelands. We need to funnel more manpower into our industries: brewing, weaving, pig farming, soap manufacturing, and the like.”

Leech wanted to transform Porcupine Territory into an industrial domain. With the smooth logistics provided by the wharf, commercial trade would become much easier. In fact, Porcupine Territory was already moving in this direction.

After chatting with Gelan for a while longer, the steward took his leave. Leech, in turn, went back to flipping through the report.

And he ended up reading it for the entire night.

It listed everything, including all income and expenditures, profit comparisons, and more.

This represented a huge amount of work and required a massive number of people for verification. If a mistake was made anywhere, the final ledger wouldn’t balance.

‘The spice trade in the Desert is doing surprisingly well. The salt pans of Leon City are also under our control now. Just the Desert Area south of Leon City alone will probably bring in several hundred thousand Jinri for me over the next year.’

But this was all just theoretical profit. Leech wasn’t one to exploit the common folk. He couldn’t bring himself to make people work for him with barely enough food to eat or clothes to wear, whipping them if they refused.

He could kill his enemies without a second thought, but he couldn’t let those loyal to him starve.

Because of this, his expenditures were more than ten times that of the Water Buffalo Count.

Other nobles could exploit their people relentlessly—one meal a day, or even one meal every two days was acceptable to them. Of course, that saved them a vast amount of money.

On top of that, there was the massive cost of the Cavalry and warhorses. Every single one was a money pit. The warhorse’s rations, which were already better than what people ate, were just their standard fare; their diet had to be supplemented during wartime. After all, a heavy cavalryman on the battlefield was the armored tank of the pre-modern era. High maintenance costs were only natural.

Training a large number of Soldiers this year also required a massive supply of armor and weapons. Thankfully, Prince George had “gifted” them armor and weapons from the Desert. People were already assigned to modify the equipment, which saved a huge sum of money, though it was a bit time-consuming.

The businesses were profitable, but alchemy and Magic were money-devouring beasts. And until they produced something of real value, he couldn’t expect them to return even a single copper star.

So, after a busy year of selling furs, wine, cloth, soap, honey, and spices, as well as offloading treasures, the final balance sheet in front of Leech showed a profit of 50,000 Jinri.

A hundred times more than last year’s 50 Jinri.

But it was still very little, because too much of it—like the fur trade and the sale of treasures—didn’t fall under the category of normal, repeatable business.

‘I haven’t looked at the final report from Iron Valley yet, but given its weak commercial prospects, the most it can do is sell some Purple Clove Mushrooms. The territory’s revenue is definitely in the negative.’

He was certain that if Porcupine Territory weren’t propping it up, Iron Valley would soon find itself in deep trouble from its inability to cover expenses.

However, the fire-oil and bloodline herbs were a hidden source of income. They seemed useless, but the kerosene currently being refined from the oil was already lighting up parts of the territory at night for an extremely low cost.

As for the bloodline herbs, they had altered the innate bloodline talents of all the creatures under Leech’s command—from livestock to war beasts. That was something no amount of money could buy.

And the profits from the Desert were a given—a sure thing.

Robbing others was always faster than doing business. The Water Buffalo Count had carefully managed Leon City for so many years that the amount of treasure in his hands was terrifying. But considering the need for development in the Desert, Leech had no intention of touching that money. He wanted all his territories to develop in tandem.

Leech put down the documents and looked at the manservant standing nearby, whose head was nodding with sleep. “Pitchfork?”

“Yes, my lord!” the manservant, Pitchfork, snapped awake.

Leech said, “Thank you for keeping me company all night. You can go get something to eat, then go back and get some proper sleep.”

“No, my lord, I feel fine.”

“Follow my orders, Pitchfork.”

“Yes, sir!” Pitchfork nodded, resigned.

Leech nodded in satisfaction. Everyone’s constitution was different. The night had been a struggle for Pitchfork, but Leech felt his own spirits soaring. He didn’t seem like someone who hadn’t slept at all.

After Pitchfork left, Leech stood up and stretched. “Right,” he mused. “I remember Scholar Toma made some breakthroughs with Magic, Runes, and Magic Scrolls. I hope he has plenty of good news for me.”