Chapter 443 - 300: Wealth is Like Dirt (Part 2)

He was still quite curious about those Mamluk Warriors.

He remembered that the Persian Gulf Kingdom and Debei were separated by a sea, but the two often traded. This trade usually involved spices and the like; he never expected their main business was actually selling slaves.

"So what if Levi gets another ten thousand subjects?" Miriel threw up her hands and scoffed. This Half-Elf seemed to love butting heads with the Lord. "Forget seven thousand. High Cliff Castle’s current finances can’t even support three thousand."

"I have no intention of prying into High Cliff Castle’s finances, but it’s a matter of simple arithmetic."

"Currently, High Cliff Castle’s income sources are primarily commerce and the arms trade. Combined, they bring in three thousand Gold Coins a month, and that’s in the best-case scenario."

"The funds High Cliff Castle has available right now are probably no more than Ten Thousand Gold Coins. At best, that’s only enough to afford a five-hundred-man unit of Mamluk Warriors."

"Let alone maintaining a standing army of several thousand men!"

For most Barons, three thousand Gold Coins a month would be enough to make them weep with joy. But using that to maintain a standing army of seven thousand was pure fantasy.

Some famous person once said that an army is a money pit, but Miriel disagreed—because even setting fire to your money wasn’t this fast.

To be honest, Levi was stunned. As the Lord of High Cliff Castle, he was shocked to realize that this outsider, Miriel, knew more about his finances than he did.

And she was just the proprietress of a shop in High Cliff Castle.

He grew pensive. ’High Cliff Castle really is missing a financial manager.’

"Levi, you should only bite off what you can chew." Miriel, putting on the airs of a seasoned veteran, snatched the apple from in front of the Lord and took a bite. "You may be powerful, but power can’t be turned into gold."

"Hahaha, who says it can’t?!"

Contrary to the dejection Miriel had imagined, the Lord let out a great laugh, pulled a sheet of parchment from his robes, and slammed it down in front of her. "Pick it up and take a look for yourself."

Miriel picked up the parchment and read it carefully. The dismissive look on her face gradually turned to shock as she muttered to herself, "Southern Territory Auxiliary Corps... three thousand standing troops."

After finishing, the Half-Elf merchant asked in utter disbelief, "Levi, did you sell yourself to Liya?!!"

It was no wonder Miriel had lost her composure. This "Auxiliary Corps" was just a cover. In reality, it meant the Southern Territory was paying for High Cliff Castle to support three thousand soldiers, and the arrangement would last for the new Duke’s entire reign.

One could say that not even a doting father would do this for his own son.

Miriel figured the only way the Lord of High Cliff Castle could have received this kind of help was by selling himself to Liya.

"Hey! What kind of thing is that to say? Are you just jealous of my talent?" Levi said with a look of disdain. "I earned this victory with my own blood and steel."

Just then, Leiden, his expression calm, dropped another bombshell into the already turbulent waters. "We also brought back several carriages full of coins, gold and silver objects, and antiques. By a rough, conservative estimate, they’re worth over two hundred fifty thousand Gold Coins."

"How... how much?" Miriel felt like she was dreaming, as if Gold Coins were raining down all around her with a great CLATTER.

"Over two hundred fifty thousand Gold Coins. That’s just a rough estimate; we’ll probably need to find a specialist for an exact calculation. But personally, I believe it’s certainly more than that." Leiden pushed up his glasses. In truth, his own reaction upon first seeing all that gold and silver hadn’t been much better than Miriel’s.

But just as one would grow weary of even a peerless beauty after a few months, how could one not get used to a few carts of cold, lifeless gold and silver?

Once the excitement faded, all that remained was calm.

Miriel finally snapped out of it, the juicy apple falling from her lips to the floor unnoticed. She stammered, "You... you struck it rich?"

"It was nothing special." Levi clasped his hands behind his back with an air of breezy nonchalance, looking like a Great Monk who regarded wealth as mere dirt. "I was the first to breach Kalia Town and Black Stone Castle, so naturally, I went into the castles first to collect my own ’hardship pay.’ On top of that, Liya gave me the assets belonging to Damon and Penny. With that, I barely managed to scrape together two hundred thousand Gold Coins."

"These people are so rich," Baisitina clicked her tongue in amazement.

Just looting a Baron Castle and a Marquis Castle, on top of the wealth of a Duke’s brother and daughter, yielded two hundred thousand Gold Coins. It was impossible to imagine just how obscenely wealthy the nobles lazing about in the Noble Garden truly were.

"Isn’t it always like this? The world’s wealth is always held in the hands of a select few." Levi shrugged, completely unsurprised by this fact.

’It reminds me of the Late Ming dynasty in my previous life,’ Levi thought. ’The Last Emperor used every means at his disposal and only managed to squeeze a few hundred thousand taels of silver from his officials. But when Li Zicheng arrived, he tortured them and extracted over seventy million taels of silver.’

’And at the time, the Court’s total annual tax revenue was only a little over three million taels.’

’It was obvious whose pockets all that missing wealth had fallen into.’

"Then what about the other fifty thousand? Didn’t you say at least two hundred and fifty thousand?" Miriel pressed impatiently. As a merchant, the thought of even a single missing Gold Coin pained her.

It was only natural that she wanted to know the origin of all the money.

"I paid a visit to Terror Castle." The Lord let out a cold laugh, a sound as biting as a winter gale that chilled everyone to the bone. "Someone deliberately let those Demons into White Bone Fortress, and the people from Terror Castle were the prime suspects."

"And that’s not just a wild guess. If it had been Damon’s men, the fortress would have fallen long before we arrived. The Thorn Corps was also investigated afterward and cleared of suspicion. Therefore, the only remaining suspects were the people from Terror Castle."

If not for the lack of a good pretext, the Lord would have taken the opportunity to raze Terror Castle. Instead, he had merely marched his army to their border, and they, unable to withstand the pressure, chose to pay fifty thousand Gold Coins to placate him.

Miriel and Baisitina both nodded in understanding.

The man before them was never one to suffer a loss.

If he weren’t concerned about the troublesome consequences of attacking a Count without a just cause...

...Terror Castle would probably no longer exist in Debei.

But clearly, the matter wouldn’t end here. The Lord of High Cliff Castle was not only someone who refused to suffer a loss, but he was also one to hold a grudge.

Now that he had the money and his new subjects were provided for, expanding the army by five thousand no longer seemed like a problem.

Miriel took the initiative and asked, "Levi, do you need me to contact the slave traders from the Persian Gulf Kingdom?"

"I’ve traded spices with them before, but the slave trade is their main business."

"There’s no rush. Compared to buying those Slave Warriors, I’d much rather go to Debei’s Gladiatorial Arena and purchase Fighters."

"Besides, it’s not like Debei is lacking for slaves. There’s no need for me to seek far and wide for what’s right here."

Levi waved his hand dismissively.

After the Elves from the Wind Speech Tribe joined High Cliff Castle, along with the Old People from the Kas Mountain Range, Levi’s desire to purchase Slave Warriors had weakened considerably.

He figured that these specially trained Mamluk Warriors would be like a bunch of robots.

They would probably be fine for grueling close-quarters combat, but it would likely be difficult to get them to execute surprise tactics.

The main reason was that he already had a few ideas about where to find elite warriors.

"Baron..." Just then, a Rabbit People sentinel holding a Long Spear came hopping and running inside. He had barely spoken when Zat, who had returned at some unknown point, smacked him on the back of the head. "It’s Marquis now!"

"Marquis." The Rabbit People sentinel clutched the back of his head, tears welling in his eyes. He glanced at the mountain of a man beside him and forcibly held his tears back. "There’s a very beautiful human woman outside. She says she’s looking for you."

"A very beautiful human woman?" The Lord was stunned for a moment before it dawned on him. "It’s Xi Ang!"