‘Those hyenas are going to pounce.’

-And are you someone to flinch at that?

‘Of course not.’

“We’re going to be very busy with customers, now that the news has spread,” Davey said. He could predict that much, since he was the one who had spread the news.

“Pardon?” Amy asked.

“However, I can’t really greet them… Tell them I’m in bed from overworking.”

-Yawn, You…are a money-grubber…

Amy didn’t quite understand Davey and tilted her head in confusion. However, Perserque understood what he meant and giggled while half-asleep on the old desk in the office.

* * *

Davey had seen many instances where the price of items in high demand drastically decreased as the supply increased. If he were to release the moon grass into the market without any restrictions, the price would surely go down.

‘And what good would that be?’ Davey had absolutely no intention of sacrificing himself to contribute to this world. His comfort and his future were the most important things, and everything else ranked below that.

Everything changed just a few days after word had spread about the moon grass; perhaps it was inevitable. The deserted territory became crowded with merchants and people who wanted to see the moon grass leaves in person. Excluding the living space for about 200 residents, the rest of the Heins Territory was all abandoned land that could not be used. And since hundreds of people came into a space meant for 200, it became jam-packed.

“Y—Your Highness! There are people waiting to meet you outside…!”

Even as Amy hurried over and reported to Davey, he didn’t take his eyes off his book. He muttered, “Man, they’re fast.”

“Wh… What should we do?”

“What do you mean? I’m still sick. Tell them I can’t come down and meet them since I haven’t recovered yet.”

“That… That is… I already told them, but they are asking if there’s any way for them to see it…”

The demand for moon grass was much higher than Davey expected. As soon as word had spread, people from all over had gathered here: merchant companies of nearby kingdoms, wizard towers, and the school of alchemy. Since Davey also saw some people from the temple, he could see just how popular moon grass was.

‘Let’s tantalize them even more.’

Moon grass was usually imported into the eastern continent from the western region in small batches. If it became certain that it was successfully harvested here in the east, it would drive these people wild; they were people who would try buying and obtaining moon grass, which was already expensive, for twice the price.

Of course, Davey hadn’t hidden the moon grass away completely; if he did, it could raise suspicion that he was lying, and that wouldn’t be good.

“Amy, get me Monmider and Royal Attendant Bernile.” At Davey’s command, Amy went right away. Both Monmider, who was promoted from the Militia Leader to the Captain of the Royal Guards, and Royal Attendant Bernile looked exhausted from the sudden influx of people. He thanked them. “Thank you all for your hard work. Keep it up for just a little longer.”

“It’s fine. This is what we ought to do.”

“That’s right. It’s been such a long time since the territory was filled with people; it reminds me of the past.”

Davey smiled at them. “Let’s take care of things one by one. The militia members—no, they are the royal guardsman now. How are they doing, keeping public safety?”

“They are working hard, but honestly, they are very short of people. It’s difficult maintaining public safety due to the sudden high volume of people,” Monmider reported to Davey.

“It’s the same for the documents as well. There are times when we don’t know what to do, because there isn’t a proper manual,” Bernile added.

“Get rid of anyone that seems even a little bit suspicious,” Davey replied.

“Really?”

“It’s safer than something happening because of some bad people.”

Unless moon grass was an item that was only enjoyed by a small group of people, Davey would always have the upper hand. Honestly, he had no reason to cut these people any slack. He would have to courteously abuse his power rather than act petty to win their favor; that way, he could still be on their good side.

“What about the lodging problem?”

“We are using the cleaned and renovated buildings that the past residents abandoned as lodging, but it’s not enough,” Bernile replied.

“What about the tents that I gave you money for? Just put those up and sell those as temporary lodgings. It’s okay if you sell them really cheap,” Davey suggested.

“Oh… We’ll set those up right away,” Bernile responded and left immediately.

“Monmider,” Davey called.

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s likely that a lot of people will try to reach out to you.”

“Pardon?”

“Just take the bribes. Since they will be from the wizard towers or the school of alchemy, they will be rich. It’ll add up to be quite a lot if you take them all.”

“Pardon?”

Davey had to jump at the opportunity to get rich. He said, “But act like you can’t help yourself while showing them this. You can do that, right?”

Davey then showed Monmider a luxuriously packaged glass case. Inside, there were moon grass leaves that Davey had selected himself. The moon grass leaves glowed with a faint light that was enough to shine in a dark room. “They’ve all been treated with magic. One case has four leaves.”

Monmider gulped as Davey explained, “It’s 100 gold each.”

It was tempting for Monmider, who knew how valuable that amount of money was, but he quickly got rid of the greediness from his gaze. He was very careful, and was as smart as he was cautious.

“I’m not giving it to you to sell. Just show them this so that the news can spread on its own. Our goal is to make them stay here for as long as possible while increasing the value of our product.”

‘Increase the number of residents while earning money. It’s about killing two birds with one stone.’

A division of the temple, wizard towers, the school of alchemy, or a merchant company, might be built here. Whatever it was, it would be a good outcome for Davey’s territory.

“Hehe…” Davey couldn’t help but smile. As Perserque watched him giggle, she just sighed quietly.

* * *

Monmider, who initially questioned the new seigneur Davey’s plan, frowned at the pain from the migraine caused by the sudden surge of work. The territory used to be quiet; since there were only about 200 people at best, they all knew each other, and there weren’t many incidents. There were goblin attacks, but he defended the area with the militia. However, they were all so busy now!

There were only about forty royal guardsmen, the former militia members. With this number, it was difficult to maintain public safety with the amount of people visiting the territory right now. In addition to this, Sir Bernile, who used to train royal guardsmen as Captain back in the day, continued on with his intense training. If this was all, it wouldn’t be that big of a problem…

However, Prince Davey didn’t stop there. He sent Monmider along with Amy, his former lady-in-waiting, to Royal Attendant Bernile, and made them take classes to professionally learn about administrative work. Davey, the newly appointed seigneur, was an extremely capable person, but he also gave people a lot of work. ‘I’m not going to teach you everything. Understand it and learn it yourself. I will give you advice if you need it.’

It was better than taking care of everything alone, but right now, Monmider wanted to just let go of everything and rest. He was complaining, without being thankful for what he had.

“Leader—oh, you’re Captain now, right? There’s a guest waiting for you.”

“A guest?”

“Yes, they are from the Green Tower…”

“Phew… Let’s go meet them.”

Monmider was a commoner, but he was given the title of a knight, thanks to Davey’s authority. The lowest title a knight could be given was a baronet and the highest was a viscount. He was given the baronet title, but considering that he was born a commoner, he could be seen as rather successful now.

‘Keep up the good work. I’ll promote you if I get the chance to.’ The seigneur’s words kept ringing in Monmider’s ears. Of course, his skills were a little lacking to be a knight, but his experience and wit were far superior.

Monmider stretched his body, which was freezing up from anxiety, and took a deep breath.

It was an old and run-down building, the militia’s precious home that had protected the territory. As Monmider nervously headed to the drawing room, he saw a man wearing an old-fashioned robe waiting for him. The man was quite old, and looked to be in his mid to late forties. Monmider greeted, “Thank you for waiting. I am Monmider, the newly titled knight and captain of the royal guard.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Hallas, the class-4 ‘Expert’ of the Green Tower.”

Class 4 ‘Expert’ was how 4th circle mages were referred to in the wizard towers. Mages were classified from Class 1 to Class 9, and of course, there were ‘Beginner’, ‘Expert’ and ‘Master’ in the classes as well.

A Class 4 ‘Expert’ was neither a low nor high class in the wizard towers; to be frank, his rank seemed too high for him to come to this boondock himself. This was especially since mages were probably quite a valuable being to the continent.

“I’m afraid that the many unexpected guests might have made you uncomfortable, but…”

“No problem. There were no guests other than you, Hallas.”

“Is that so!”

Perhaps Monmider’s response was to Hallas’ liking, as Hallas showed a satisfied smile. He then said, “Public safety is being maintained well, even though the sudden influx of people must be chaotic. I heard that you had taken care of the territory alone before the seigneur was appointed.”

Public safety was being maintained well because the visitors were being careful, but there was no need for Monmider to point that out.

“It’s all thanks to the seigneur’s grace.”

Monmider was quite a clever fellow. Hallas quickly understood what he was trying to say and let out a hollow laugh. “Haha… Seigneur Prince Davey must be glad that he has such a brave person as the captain of the royal guards.”

“Haha, I’m flattered, but I am just a mere knight.”

The rank of a knight would be enough for Monmider to be treated with respect anywhere else, but it probably wasn’t worth anything to someone of Class 4 ‘Expert’. Wizard towers were a separate entity to the kingdom, and the relationship between knights and mages wasn’t all that friendly, either.

“I’m worried that I have caused a nuisance by coming to meet you when you are busy.”

“No problem. I have handed over most of the work, but I am also managing the state of affairs as ordered by the seigneur. If it’s anything related to that, I should be the one taking care of it.”

“Haha. You are managing both public safety and the state of affairs! How amazing!” Hallas was buttering Monmider up without batting an eye.