Chapter 1020: Release Day
Victor sat in the private room above the tavern’s noise and read through the last page of his trade bills.
The room was worth the cost. Woolen carpet on the floor, a heated brick bed beneath the soft couch, the warmth radiating up through his feet in a way that made the Months of Demons feel like an inconvenience rather than a siege. The tavern had installed a movable wooden table at his request—low enough to work from the couch, solid enough to hold the papers flat. A plate of roasted chicken breast slices sat at his left hand. A cup of dark purple Chaos Drinks on the right: ten gold royals for the combination, not counting the taste. He spent that sum without thinking about it. Physical comfort was the oldest habit a Lothar son developed, and it was not something he had ever examined closely enough to question.
He closed the sheepskin notebook and lifted the drink. In the candlelight the liquid was the dark red of a fine garnet.
The bills were troubled. They had been troubled for a while.
The Western Region gemstone supply had dried up. The war for the throne had reshaped the entire market—cities damaged, noble domains dissolved, the demand for luxury goods dropping as the people who had bought luxury goods ceased to be the people they had been. To maintain his old profit margins he would have to increase volume. But without gemstones, his craftsmen had no material to work with, and the gemstones had all gone somewhere he couldn’t follow.
He had been to the Longsong Area several times. Every mine occupied. All of them by Roland Wimbledon, who had decided to consolidate the region’s mineral wealth the moment he announced the construction of Neverwinter. That was simply how lords behaved—Victor had no complaint about the principle of it. What frustrated him was the destination. The gemstones moved out of the Border Area and then vanished. There was not a single jewelry shop in Neverwinter. He had looked.
The king was apparently not interested in selling gemstones. He was apparently not interested in the jewelry trade at all. He was not using the resource to generate income in any way that Victor could identify, which was unusual enough in a lord that it had begun to feel like a signal rather than an oversight.
He had also tried selling jewelry here directly, with equally poor results. Jewelry moved to noble families who needed to demonstrate wealth at banquets. There were no noble families in Neverwinter. It was, genuinely, the only major city he had visited in which he could not find a single person interested in purchasing something that cost dozens of gold royals.
He had been coming here for months and the trade balance on his sheepskin notebook showed a consistent deficit.
The train had changed his thinking. Watching that first demonstration two months ago—the scale of the machinery, the speed, the obvious implication of what it meant for freight and travel—he had understood immediately that something permanent had shifted. Not a trend. A threshold. The future had arrived in Neverwinter before it had arrived anywhere else, and if he wanted to be ahead of the next thing rather than catching up to it, Neverwinter was where he needed to be.
The question was what he was supposed to do here, given that the industry the future had produced appeared to have no use for anything he offered.
He was not short of money. He could live without working and die comfortable. But he could not let those who coveted the Lothar family and Black Money see him idle. His father had built something. Victor needed to show he could build something too.
He was still turning the problem over when the floor shifted.
The noise from downstairs had erupted into something beyond the normal volume of an evening crowd—not a fight, not a disturbance, but a kind of concentrated excitement that came with collective discovery. Too early for the after-dinner rush. Something had happened.
He pulled the bell cord.
The maid appeared quickly, slightly flushed from climbing stairs. The moment the door opened the noise below became fully audible: someone reading aloud, and a crowd responding.
“What’s going on down there?”
“I’m sorry, Sir—have they been bothering you?” She pressed her hands together with the apologetic grace of a well-trained hospitality worker. “Please forgive the noise. It’s release day for the newspaper. They’re crowding to buy copies.”
“News—paper?”
“His Majesty announced it a week ago. It replaces the bulletin boards in the square. Everyone has been anticipating it.” She smiled with genuine excitement. “We’ve all been waiting to see what it would actually be.”
Victor set down the Chaos Drinks. “How much does one copy cost?”
“Ten bronze royals, I was told.”
“Buy one for me—no, buy ten.”
“Yes, Sir.” She turned and went downstairs. She came back quickly, breathing harder than the stairs alone accounted for.
“Sir—all the copies have sold out.”
He looked at her. “Already?”
“Yes, Sir.”
That’s a remarkable rate of sale for a product that costs ten bronze royals. “Find someone who bought one. I don’t care what they want for it.”
He flipped a gold royal at her. “Keep whatever’s left if you can get it.”
Seven minutes later she returned with six folded papers in a grey-white color—and a hesitant expression that told the rest of the story before she spoke.
“The price had risen to twenty silver royals each. I’m sorry, Sir. I did my best…”
She had also kept most of the gold royal, which her face acknowledged without her saying anything directly about it. He didn’t care. He turned the papers over in his hands, running his thumb along the fold.
“What’s your name?”
“Tinkle, Sir.”
“Keep the change.” He spread one copy open on the low table. “And if you have some time—would you like to read this with me?”
She was young. Slightly flushed from the running, small beads of sweat at her nose tip, the particular vitality of someone who lived in the city they worked in and actually wanted to know what was in the newspaper before the customer asked about it. He had met too many aristocratic women who had been taught to modulate every expression into something appropriate. This girl hadn’t been taught any of that yet.
“Sir…” She dropped her gaze. A faint color crept into her cheeks. After a moment she bit her lip—deciding—then nodded, barely above a whisper. “I’d like to.”
“Then thank you for the company.” He patted the cushion beside him and reached for the paper.
Chapter 1020: Release Day
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Victor sat in a private room of a tavern in Neverwinter, reading through the latest trade bills.
Unlike the noisy hall downstairs, this was undoubtedly a room of superior quality. With a woolen carpet on the floor and a heated brick bed underneath the soft couch, he would not feel a bit of coldness on his feet.
At his request, the tavern also installed a movable wooden table next to the soft couch, which could serve as a low table when needed. Especially in the winter with chilling wind and snow, leaning on the couch to work could be considered a kind of enjoyment.
At the moment, a plate of roasted chicken breast slices was placed next to his left hand, and a cup of dark purple Chaos Drinks on the right side. This meal was worth 10 gold royals, not to mention its taste.
As a jewelry trader on the surface, he was, in fact, the fourth son of the Lothar family. These expenses, which were a huge amount of money in the eyes of common people, were nothing to him. It has been his unconscious habit to spend gold royals on physical comforts. Whether it was worthwhile or not, it was not within his consideration.
After watching the debut of the giant machinery named “train” two months ago, he bought a room on the third floor of the tavern to serve as his business residence.
Of course, with his wealth, it was not difficult for him to buy one or two houses. Nevertheless, Victor preferred this sense of detachment—he could stay in a quiet state while feeling the noise and excitement downstairs at the
same time. Compared with the huge mansions favored by traditional nobles, he has always been full of longing for places like taverns.
It was convenient for him to negotiate with various caravans in the tavern. However, there was another reason.
Nothing else could reflect the vigor and prosperity of a city more directly than a downtown tavern.
After reading the last page, Victor closed the sheepskin notebook in his hand and lifted the crystal clear drink. In the candlelight, the purple-red liquid was like a beautiful gemstone.
There was some trouble with the recent bills.
He has failed to purchase any gemstones in the Western Region for a long time.
The battle for the throne had caused great changes in Graycastle. The cities were destroyed in the war and the nobles no longer owned domains. These changes caused the price of luxury goods to keep falling. To maintain the original profit, he had to increase sales. Be that as it may, without gemstones, his jewelry craftsmen could not make any jewelry.
The Longsong Stronghold was originally one of his main gemstone sources. However, since Roland Wimbledon announced to build Neverwinter, the gemstones became increasingly scarce. Victor had gone to Longsong Area several times but found that all mining areas had been occupied by the young king. It was not strange, as the occupation of wealth was the common nature of lords. Nevertheless, all gemstones disappeared since they were transported out of the Border Area.
That is right. He has failed to find any jewelry shop in Neverwinter so far.
The king could either directly sell the gemstones or invest money to sell jewelry. If the king chose the former way, Victor could make profits by reselling the gemstones at a higher price. If it was the latter, he could
cooperate with the king. Whether it was the selling channel or jewelry craftsmanship, he had the strength which the king would not refuse.
Yet, the king has not given him any chance to be involved.
It is as if Roland Wimbledon did not plan to make money by selling gemstones.
This made Victor a bit distressed.
He also tried to sell the jewelry in Neverwinter and the result was equally terrible. The jewelry, which commonly cost dozens of gold royals, were not affordable for civilians. It was always sold to wealthy noble families so that they could show off and compare them at the banquets. However, there are not any nobles in Neverwinter!
That is right; in such a huge new city, he could not find anyone who was interested in jewelry, which was something completely unforeseen by him.
He had come to Neverwinter several times, but he only purchased goods instead of selling. So the bills on the sheepskin notebook showed a huge trade deficit.
This was undoubtedly an unhealthy signal.
The emergence of the train made Victor realize that the future arrived but not everywhere. To better expand his business, he naturally had to go to the place which was nearest to the future. The shift of business focus from the old king’s city to the new one was an inevitable choice for him.
The question was what he should do if there was no such industry in the future.
He was not short of money. Even if he did nothing, he could enjoy a prosperous life. However, he must prove his ability in trade so that those businessmen who coveted his family and “Black Money” would have nothing to say.
He can not let his father down.
When Victor was thinking about how to solve this problem, the noise downstairs suddenly exploded, and even the floor shook slightly.
It is still early, so there should not be a crowd of people drinking downstairs. What happened?
He pulled the string of the brass bell to summon a maid.
“Excuse me,” a pretty woman quickly opened the door and walked in. “Can I help you, Sir?”
At the moment the door was open, the noise became louder. There appeared to be someone reading aloud.
Victor pointed outside and asked, “What’re they doing downstairs?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. Have they bothered you?” The maid smiled apologetically. “Please forgive them. After all, it’s the release day of the newspaper. They’re jostling to buy it.”
“News… paper?” he repeated awkwardly.
“Yes, His Majesty made the announcement a week ago. The newspaper is used to replace the bulletin board on the square. Everyone has been looking forward to it for a long time. We’re eager to see what the newspaper is.”
“Oh, a new product? No wonder it’s the new king’s city.” It immediately aroused Victor’s interest. He asked, “How much is it?”
“I heard that it costs ten bronze royals for each.”
“Buy one… no, 10 for me!” he said immediately.
“Yes.” The maid trod downstairs and returned quickly, panting. “Sir, sir… The newspapers delivered have all been sold out.”
“So fast?” Victor blinked in surprise. If it were a commodity, it would be too popular. However, this was also alright for him, as he could get it as long as
he paid with more money. “Then buy it from people who have bought it. No matter how expensive!”
He threw a gold royal to the maid and said, “As long as you can get it, all that’s left is yours!”
“Yes, Sir!” The girl replied with a huge grin.
About seven minutes later, six piles of newspaper in gray color were handed to him.
“The price has risen to 20 silver royals. I have done my best…” the maid said hesitatively.
So they raised the price as they found out that he was eager to buy it. The maid’s expression clearly exposed her thoughts. Though she failed the task, she was unwilling to return the remaining money. Victor did not care about it and asked, “What’s your name?”
“Tinkle, Sir.”
“Keep the change,” he said, waving the newspaper in his hand. “By the way, would you like to read this with me?”
Since he already had delicious food and wine, what was missing was naturally self-evident. Her heaving breasts and beads of sweat on her nose tip all gave off a breath of youthful vitality. Having met too many noble ladies, he felt this slightly clumsy girl had a certain, different flavor, not to mention that she was a resident of Neverwinter and could answer his questions when needed.
“Sir…” The maid lowered her head and a pale blush appeared on her cheeks. After a while, she bit her lip and nodded before she whispered, “I’d like to.”
“Hahaha,” he laughed and patted the soft couch. “Then thank you very much for your company.”