All four of us sat in the study again. A sweet aroma wafted from the plates of pheasant meat we had prepared. The sun had already gone away and the stars were twinkling up in the sky.
"So, let's begin this strategy meeting," Maria said.
"As per the Young Master's requirements, what we need first and foremost is some large and liquified capital to sustain the village."
"And a cigarette."
"I'd like to try one too." I wondered how cigarettes were in this world, as Yujin, the cigarettes I knew of had a large amount of nicotine to get the smoking hunters high.
"Excuse me? Did the young master say he wanted a cigarette?"
"Big sis Maria, I suggest we behead Keith today itself. What about poisoning him in his sleep and then going for the swing?"
"Try me anytime. I'll give you special consideration and only use a finger to fend you off."
"We'll also need to make long-term investments," I said. "I am not going to end this by getting these people through the next harvest. What we need to do is to usurp all this potential money while we still have the chance."
I wasn't one to care about money like this, but being the strongest person would require you to have more than enough to get your way wherever, isn't it? Hah, if we could be hunters, it would be easy to go into a gate and get a ton of money at once...
"Keith. How much do magic stones go for?"
"Hm?" Keith tilted his head to the side. "Depends, but to get enough you'll need around 30 C-Grade magic stones."
"30 stones just to feed the people!?" Lily exclaimed. She was twirling her head in circles, probably confused. "Just how much will the people eat?"
"Tsk, kid. Of course, we're also taking growth into consideration. What after they have food? Life doesn't end there."
C Grade was pretty tough already. Under the instructions of the adventurer's guild that was set in place by the Domham Empire, all monsters, dungeons, and labyrinths were set up on an S to F ranked grading scale. Dragons and the like went far above the grading scale, naturally.
"Where will you even find monsters, young master?" Keith said. "I doubt there'll be any around."
"We have a place, don't we? The Ediab forest."
So what if the place fell under the Margrave's territory? It won't be a crime as long as no one knows.
"Maria, Lily, I and Keith will be going to the forest and handling the monsters. Keith, I believe you must be registered with the adventurer's guild?"
"Don't worry for a second, I've got it covered."
I nodded and turned back to the two again. "Of course, we can't rely on the magic stones to keep us supplemented long enough for the people to get on their feet, but it'll handle many things for us. For a longer investment... Maria, it's time to push out that book."
"Already?"
"Now is the perfect time."
Maria nodded.
"I'll leave handling the old man to you."
"I'll take care of it, young master."
"Keith, we'll leave first thing tomorrow."
We had a long day ahead of us now.