Frank's Task

"Of course there won't be any trouble," Josh declared directly. "Don't forget, this is my territory. If I have any plans, I get to make the decisions myself. It's not anyone else's place to come here and tell me what to do, is it?"

Well, Josh's answer was certainly simple and clear enough. This was his territory, so he had the final say over everything here. As long as it did not conflict with the laws issued by the Empire, there was no problem at all. Although Frank felt that Josh's approach was a little too ruthless, he still nodded.

"By the way, Frank, how is our economy?" Josh suddenly remembered another issue: the economy. After all, he had studied the liberal arts in the past. Even after coming to this world, most of what he had learned was about its customs and people, followed by all kinds of magical knowledge. Managing a territory still gave him a headache.

"The economic situation is relatively optimistic," Frank said after thinking back over the records. "According to them, during Rain Palm Month, which is March, the hunters in the territory had already begun deliberately hunting beasts and stockpiling supplies. We also planted a great deal of wheat during First Sprout Month, which is February. That should be enough for us to harvest sufficient wheat before Hearth Fire Month, September, to make bread and other things, while still selling some for money."

"However, my lord, I do not think we should sell this food. If we encounter some special circumstances—say, a bandit raid—we will still have enough supplies to deal with it."

Josh's head began to ache at Frank's words. He had wanted to ask about the economy, not agriculture. But after thinking about it for a moment, he understood. In a society like this, agriculture probably determined to a large extent how prosperous a territory was, so there was nothing wrong with Frank's answer.

"You misunderstood. I mean our money! Money! How much money do we have? I'm not asking about food."

"You mean money?" Frank froze for a moment, then thought quickly before giving his answer. "We have a little over two hundred gold coins on hand. It isn't much, but it isn't a small amount either."

"That really is quite a lot." Josh nodded. Frank was someone who kept public and private matters distinct. What he had told Josh was how many gold coins the territory possessed, not how many personal coins Josh had left. Of course, Phoenix was already extremely satisfied that the territory treasury still held two hundred gold coins.

On the Muya Continent, one gold coin was worth one hundred silver coins, while one silver coin was equal to one hundred copper coins. A commoner earned roughly one to two silver coins a month, which was already considered a decent living.

A loaf of wheat bread cost nearly ten copper coins, which was not cheap. Black bread, on the other hand, cost around three copper coins. So earning two or three silver coins a month generally meant living quite comfortably.

"Frank, once you finish the census, I plan to hire the permanent residents—preferably those without jobs. I want them to stop begging on the streets all day. Of course, I'll pay them wages."

"Pay them wages?" Frank found that quite novel. This was the first time he had heard of a lord recruiting residents of his own territory for work and actually paying them. "You don't need to give them even a single copper coin. They'll do it as long as you give them enough black bread to fill their stomachs."

"How is directly giving them food better than giving them money to spend as they please?" Josh shot Frank a glance. "Once they have money, they'll spend it on daily necessities. Then merchants, in order to meet that demand, will buy the farmers' crops. This is a way to stimulate the economy. When everyone has money, collecting taxes will be easier and more convenient for us."

"And we'll collect more, too!" Frank immediately caught on. He was not stupid. Just from Josh's explanation, he roughly understood what Josh had in mind. Though such a practice seemed unheard of on the Muya Continent, it left him astonished.

"My lord, when did you start studying these things?"

"These things need studying?" Josh said dismissively. "This stuff is ridiculously simple. Anyone could think of it with a little thought. I really don't understand what you people have been doing. Also, finish that census immediately. I need to recruit a group of people and properly clean up this city. Good heavens, you can't feel it much inside the castle, but the moment you step outside, it feels like you've arrived in hell!"

Everywhere was more or less the same, except for the Imperial Capital. Frank gave a bitter smile inwardly, but he did not say it aloud. It was obvious that Josh was extremely dissatisfied with the sanitary conditions in his territory. Still, he had some doubts. When had Josh started studying politics and economics?

In Frank's mind, Josh had always liked reading anecdotes about the continent before devoting himself wholeheartedly to studying magic. Though he seemed to possess magical power close to the third tier, he could not use even a single elemental spell.

Could His Highness Josh also be eyeing that position? Frank wondered secretly. Of course, he felt that it was only natural for Josh to have such thoughts. He was also Augustus IV's son. Why should others have an opportunity while he did not?

But His Highness Josh, you don't have enough helpers or enough strength.

Frank did not dare say those words aloud. Though they would be discouraging, they were indeed true. Of course, ambition was a good thing. If Josh had truly accepted his fate and decided to live like a useless layabout from now on, Frank would instead worry about the future and look for an opportunity to return to the Imperial Capital—though ever since arriving in Constantinople, he had always felt that his future looked grim.

Take it slowly. One step at a time. At least His Highness Josh doesn't seem to have accepted his fate. I wonder whether the heavens are jealous of him or punishing him. He has such powerful magical energy, yet no elemental spirits to cooperate with him. Even now, he can only use tricks. How pitiful.

Josh had no idea that his butler was pitying him. If he had known, he would definitely have formed a Void Blade and driven it straight into Frank's chest, then told him, I only lacked a magical inheritance before. I'm not worthless anymore.

Of course, Josh could not be bothered to do that. Void Magic had never appeared in this world to begin with. Even Spatial magic existed only in legends left behind by those who became gods. Only gods could command space. Josh was no different from an ant right now, yet he possessed something similar to Spatial magic. Exposing it would be no different from courting death.

"Looks like I need to find a way to learn more things in the future. Preferably some kind of attribute-free magic." Josh pondered as he returned to the castle, but he soon felt that he was overthinking things.

"But the randomness of this Void Gate is really a pain in the ass. It seems I can't enter whatever world I want whenever I want. What a pity. Otherwise, I could try remembering which world has attribute-free magic or something, sneak over there, and learn it. That would be so much easier."

Chatting with Frank on and off, the two soon returned to Constantinople. Less than an hour had passed from the time they left to the time they returned. The maids in the castle found it strange, but they were in no position to meddle in Josh's affairs. They quickly returned to their respective duties.

Josh also took the opportunity to return to his room and consolidate his magic. He did not know how to gather Void energy, but his skills could reset once every seven days. So, Josh quietly began preparing for his next journey.

The first issue was his own strength. That was the most crucial thing. Thinking of his miserable experience in Valoran, Josh was filled with anguish. It was simply a mage's disgrace. As far as he remembered, aside from protagonists in novels, almost no mage could be defeated by a warrior of the same level—or even one with only a small difference in level.

Yet Josh had set a precedent. Though Garen could be considered one of Valoran's protagonists, there were over a hundred protagonist heroes in Valoran! Besides, in the game, Garen was only a character chosen for stomping weaker opponents for fun, or simply because someone wanted to have a good time.

Though in the game, he really did counter some mages quite well.

"That certainly fits Garen's character. He hates mages and counters mages."

Josh sighed and stopped thinking about those embarrassing matters. He soon began meditating along the paths of his mind. Before long, Josh "saw" the silvery-white Magic elements within his body. He had now confirmed that they should be called Void elements.

There were an enormous number of Void elements in his body, but what troubled Josh was that he had still underestimated his control over them. If the Void elements within him had gathered into a great river, then the Void elements Josh truly controlled were only about as much as a small stream. The rest was energy entirely beyond his control.

"What a waste." Josh lamented inwardly, but he had no good solution. If he had been able to control all the Void elements in his body back then, then leaving aside everything else, he could have easily crushed a third-tier Garen—roughly level six and nearing level seven in Valoran. But unfortunately, that was only wishful thinking.

Of course, Josh did not merely sit there lamenting. He quickly mobilized the Void elements he controlled within his body, continuously merging with and devouring the uncontrolled elements scattered around the edges. The process was not very fast, but it was effective. Whenever Josh completely devoured a Void element, he could feel his strength increase somewhat.

Only by a tiny amount, an exceedingly tiny amount. But wasn't that still better than making no progress at all?