Having decided to squeeze something out of her, Punk looked Rotolan straight in the eyes and slowly said:
"Then... what is the price?"
"What..."
Rotolan seemed not to have expected Punk to ask such a question.
Punk shook his head inwardly, somewhat disappointed. It seemed Rotolan was still just a little girl. Even with a strong heart, she was still lacking a bit when it came to thinking!
But how did that saying go? "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Since he wanted subordinates who were easy to control, he had to accept the fact that they lacked intelligence. At least for the current Punk, there was no avoiding that!
With a soft sigh, Punk decided it would be better to educate this inexperienced little girl. She would count as his spokesperson in the future, after all. She couldn't be too embarrassing!
"Listen up, little girl!"
Ignoring her muttered, "I'm not a little girl," Punk said to Rotolan with a stern expression:
"If you want to achieve anything in business, if you want to revive the Minohorn Family through commerce, then learn to judge the value of the goods in your hands and the goods in others' hands as accurately as a merchant would. The goods and merchandise I mean here do not refer only to tangible things! Favors, connections, even a word of praise—these are all resources that can be used!"
Rotolan stared blankly as Punk lectured her. Though she was unwilling to let a boy about her age speak to her in such a didactic tone, and even more unwilling to admit that the Countess of the Minohorn Family knew less about business than a young mage, she had to admit that what he said made sense. She truly was lacking in this regard!
Completely