Chapter 296 - 227: First Battle: Kalia Town

"I’m single-handedly supporting a whole group of people. My nest egg is almost gone."

The moment this came up, the Lord instantly grew animated, nearly blurting out his plan to use his ’special talents’ to find a sugar mama.

"Is it that serious?" Andao asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

In truth, ever since acquiring the iron mine and gaining spoils from several wars, the Lord wasn’t actually that poor. You could tell from the luxury of him adding two eggs to his three daily meals.

But that didn’t stop him from complaining about being poor. After all, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

"Would I lie to you? Just look at this guy here. He eats enough for four or five people every day! I’m about to sell the Treasure Sword that’s been with me for years just to make ends meet. If the title ’Lion Hunter Knight’ could be exchanged for cash, I’d trade it for Gold Coins in a heartbeat." Levi pointed at Zat, who was gnawing on a deer leg nearby, his face a mask of disappointment.

"Heh heh." Zat gave a foolish grin before quickly recommitting himself to the grand undertaking of his meal.

For him, nothing was more satisfying than eating and fighting.

"That’s fair." Andao nodded as he looked at the burly Beastman. He then offered, "How about I lend you some? I’m poor myself, but I can still squeeze a little out."

Levi looked surprised. He hadn’t expected Count Andao to be so genuinely kind. After a moment’s thought, he waved his hand dismissively. "There’s no need to borrow money. It’s not a long-term solution, after all."

"I’ll be honest with you, Lord. I have a great business opportunity. Want a piece of the action?" the Lord said, revealing his true intentions as he sidled up conspiratorially.

"What kind of business? It’s not about promoting those... chili peppers, is it?" Andao was instantly wary.

As a staunch member of the Duke Faction, he was naturally on good terms with Si Kai, the Great Knight of the Guard Team. Consequently, he had heard his fair share of stories about this Lion Hunter Knight.

The minor affair of promoting chili peppers had been told as a joke, and at the time, he’d found the Knight to be overly fanciful, which was why it had left such a deep impression.

In his opinion, while this Knight might possess outstanding military talent, he had absolutely no gift for business. Promoting chili peppers was a slower way to make money than capturing a few Half-Beastmen and opening a brothel.

Therefore, he was exceptionally wary of this so-called "business."

’Damn, it’s that guy Si Kai again! He can’t keep his mouth shut about anything. Didn’t I just mention promoting chili peppers in passing?’ The Lord was livid; Si Kai had almost cost him a huge business deal.

"I’m planning to open a card hall," Levi said, telling the truth.

In Debei, entertainment options were few and far between. The playing cards he’d brought over from his past life could definitely carve out a niche for themselves.

However, his own power base was in the Wilderness, making it difficult to manage the sundry affairs within Debei from so far away. That was why he wanted to pull in a local strongman like Andao.

The two of them were of comparable status, so even if disputes arose, they could be settled through negotiation.

Andao’s brow furrowed.

He had played with this novel type of card over the past few days. Honestly, it was quite addictive, but he knew that after playing for a long time, one would inevitably lose interest.

"Levi, let me be honest with you. This card game you invented is certainly fun and novel enough, but getting people to pay money just to play is likely impossible."

"Besides, once other people learn how, they’ll immediately copy your cards and open their own shops. They might even implement it directly in the brothels."

"Your card hall would have no advantage. It probably wouldn’t last long before going bankrupt."

"Unless..."

Andao said, deliberately leaving him in suspense.

Levi immediately asked for his guidance with an open mind. "Please, go on."

"Unless you turn your card hall into a casino and use these cards you’ve invented for gambling." Andao took the toasted bread, unhurriedly tearing it piece by piece and placing them in his mouth.

After he finished eating, he concluded in a sincere and heartfelt tone, "Levi, the life of a merchant isn’t an easy way to make money. We are nobles. There’s absolutely no need for us to be opening some kind of shop. It’s a completely thankless endeavor."

"We only need to collect commercial taxes from the shops on our territory to make a fortune. That, and road tolls, and so on."

Finally, the Count gave a meaningful smile. "We shouldn’t be thinking about opening shops like merchants—one misstep and you could lose your entire fortune. What we should be thinking about is how to attract more merchants into our territory and collect ’legal and compliant’ commercial taxes."

"Holy shit, Lord, you are truly my guiding light! I’m enlightened."

The Lord was utterly stunned, as if a great hand had swept aside the chaos in his mind.

Frankly, his earlier idea about opening a shop was entirely his ’commoner’ mindset from his past life acting up; he hadn’t fully transitioned his way of thinking.

’What am I now? I’m a noble!’

To put it more grandly, his domain was practically a state within a state, an autonomous territory. The only price was paying some taxes to his Feudal Lord every year—or, to put it less delicately, protection money.

And he, in turn, could collect fees from those of lower status.

To give a practical example, when the Secret Silver Commerce Association opened a shop in High Cliff Castle, he was fully entitled to collect taxes from them.

’But for Andao to speak so logically,’ the Lord mused, ’he must have suffered losses in this area before. Maybe he even lost his shirt on a deal. How else could he have gained such profound insight?’

Levi mentally compared this to the systems in his motherland from his past life and confirmed it: as a noble, he truly had no need to open a shop.

If he focused on developing his territory, building gates, and setting up checkpoints, he could earn far, far more than by opening some shop.

His plan to generate side income was now officially bust, but Levi wasn’t too concerned. With the iron mine trade in his hands, he didn’t need to rely on this to make a living.

With the idle chatter concluded, the conversation turned to true military matters.

"Should we leave some soldiers here to stand guard?"