Preparation

By the time Joshua left the theater, it was already nearing dusk.

Before he departed, Ma Linna gave Joshua a hand-drawn map. Following it, he spent over half an hour making his way along Nolan's Commercial Street before finding Ma Linna's temporary residence.

Coincidentally, Ma Linna's residence was only two streets away from the Nolan National Theater. Standing here, Joshua could see the glow radiating from Nolan's nominally foremost theater.

The Black Swan Troupe was performing at the Nolan National Theater tonight. Just like the troupe's name, the Nolan National Theater was bound to become the most eye-catching black swan upon the lake that was Nolan tonight.

"Helan... I've got the tickets..."

Sansa held two Premium Seats tickets for the Black Swan Troupe's newest production, "World of Laughter."

She had extorted those two tickets from a male classmate named Li Kaer, using the promise, "I'll definitely drag Helan along."

With the performance about to begin, those Premium Seats tickets, which had originally cost just over five hundred gold coins, had likely soared to over a thousand gold coins apiece.

Logically, Sansa should have been thrilled at the prospect of seeing the legendary "Flower of Falosi," but after watching "Beauty and the Demon," she could finally understand how Helan felt about having completely lost interest in stage plays.

"You don't need to worry about Ciri and me. After all, you'll only have this one chance to see the legendary Flower of Falosi, won't you?" Joshua said.

"Mm... Helan only has a little over an hour anyway. Let's go watch it together."

Sansa did not want to waste the two tickets in her hands, worth more than two thousand gold coins. She could just consider it the price of seeing the girl hailed as the most beautiful in the world—and besides, she had not paid for them.

With three votes in favor, Helan ultimately agreed to Sansa's suggestion and went with her to the Nolan National Theater.

"You don't want to go see that Flower of Falosi or whatever?"

Ciri had bought bread from a roadside shop for dinner. As she gnawed on it, she asked Joshua the question.

"Different people have different tastes. Compared to girls with heavy makeup, all dolled up like flowering branches, I prefer someone who can cook."

Liking pretty girls was a shared hobby among all men, but if he had to choose between beauty and someone who could keep a home, Joshua would rather choose the latter. Of course, a full-time wife who had both would be even better.

But Joshua currently had neither the energy to deal with matters of the heart nor any such matters that needed dealing with.

"True enough. Those noblewomen are all bitches."

Ciri was full of hostility toward noblewomen who lived in greenhouses and drifted through social balls every day. She herself had once been one of them. While Ciri's Mother was still alive, she too had enjoyed the treatment of a noble, but Ciri had never liked that life, bound hand and foot by countless rules.

So compared to being a flower in a greenhouse as she had before, Ciri was much more satisfied with her life now. Though it would have been even better if Mother were still alive.

"..."

Joshua did not respond. This Female Mage who dared to brawl face-to-face with a Brown Bear truly was not suited to fluttering through a ballroom in a dancing dress. It would have been such a waste of talent.

Joshua looked down at the hand-drawn map Ma Linna had given him. It had led him to the most inconspicuous spot on Commercial Street, and to the only building on the entire street that had no glowing Runes to mark it.

From the outside, the building still looked fairly spacious. It had three full floors. Joshua had just raised his hand and had not yet knocked when someone opened the door for him first.

"Y-Your Highness."

The instant Joshua drew close, I Nuo sensed his presence. Filled with reverence and unease, the succubus hurried over and opened the door.

"Where is your Mother?"

Joshua did not call her "the merchant, Miss Ma Linna." After Ma Linna accepted I Nuo as one of her own, I Nuo had also been willing to follow this human woman.

"This way, Mr. Joshua. I thought it would be some time before you came looking for me again."

Ma Linna hurried down from the Second Layer. Joshua entered the building as well. The first floor was remarkably empty, with only a few display cases scattered about. Unfortunately, the goods inside them had long since turned to ashes.

"You're the only merchant I know in this city, Miss Ma Linna. When it comes to business, I'm just a layman, so naturally I came to consult you first."

Joshua found a table in the first-floor hall and sat down. Ciri unceremoniously sat directly beside him, while I Nuo, at Joshua's gesture, nervously took a seat across from him.

"Then what sort of business does Mr. Joshua intend to pursue? If it is within my abilities, I will certainly help."

Ma Linna took a teapot from a cabinet in the hall, then brought out something resembling an alcohol lamp—except its fuel was not alcohol, but magic. In this age where everyone was a mage, even a merchant like Ma Linna knew this little trick for starting a fire.

"I plan to turn the first floor into a tavern."

Joshua surveyed the first floor's space again. Converting it into a tavern would leave more than enough room.

"A tavern? But, Mr. Joshua... there are no shortage of taverns in Nolan."

As a qualified merchant, a keen Sense of Smell for business was the most basic requirement. Strictly speaking, Nolan was a city where humans and Dwarves lived together. After finishing their underground work during the day, the Dwarves loved nothing more than coming up to the surface taverns and drinking to their hearts' content.

This had drawn quite a few merchants eager to empty the wallets of these foolishly wealthy Dwarves with human-brewed liquor and Roast Meat. But the Dwarves were not truly foolish. Their stubborn natures meant they generally only frequented a few taverns they had already taken a liking to.

Most human mages, meanwhile, kept well away from alcohol, something that muddled the mind.

As a result, tavern businesses in Nolan could indeed be highly profitable, but they were also among the businesses most likely to lose money.

"The tavern I want to build will be a special one. Its unique features will be enough to draw in our friends from underground, and even the mages of this city will be interested. As for its construction, I'll provide the funding. All you need to do, Miss Ma Linna, is contact a few merchants who can supply liquor and handle the tavern's interior renovation and construction. I expect it will take around half a year."

Joshua intended to make the construction of the Hearthstone tavern a long-term project. The money earned from "Beauty and the Demon" finally had a use, after all. The funds Joshua needed to make his next film would be very, very little.

"Then... Mr. Joshua, what do you plan to invest in on the Second Layer and third floor?"

Ma Linna was now only a poor merchant. Joshua's investment was extremely important to her.