Wealth in the Castle

Mountain Forest Castle was as lively as ever, except its master had changed in just half a day.

Luo Ning had dinner with the guards from Mountain Forest Town. This was their hard-won victory for the time being.

Although the cook's meat stew, side dishes, and bread were far inferior to those at Wushan Castle, Luo Ning, who had spent the past few days eating Dried Meat and hard bread, still happily devoured several bowls.

The guards downstairs were even more so.

The meals on the road had already been quite decent to them, let alone the soup and dishes at the dinner banquet.

The dinner banquet lasted about an hour. Once night had fully fallen, Luo Ning took a satisfying bath and moved into the cleaned-up little building.

This little building was completely made of wood and had three levels: upper, middle, and lower.

The top floor was an attic, usually used to store unused clothes and tools. The middle floor contained luxurious bedrooms, while the lowest floor held the living room and a place for the servants to rest.

Luo Ning stayed in the largest room on the second floor. It was fairly clean after the servants had tidied it up.

At that moment, he sat in the study outside the bedroom, where lit candles illuminated the entire room.

Though the light was not as soft as Earth's incandescent lamps, it was enough for him to see every word in the books clearly.

Two books lay before him—or rather, two Battle Technique Manuals: Flame Slash and Fire Fist Bombardment.

Luo Ning gave them a quick look and found that both were Battle Skills suitable for Intermediate Knights to cultivate.

Flame Slash was probably the Blaze Attack Prinster had used.

Fire Fist Bombardment was somewhat harder to learn, so Prinster probably had not mastered it. Of course, it was also possible that he had mastered it but never had the chance to use it.

These two Battle Technique Manuals were quite useful to Luo Ning, since one of his attributes was fire.

"Knock, knock, knock~" Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The male servant Chahar walked in. "Good evening, Master."

He came to the desk and respectfully reported, "I have completed the task you assigned me."

As he spoke, he took a sheet of Parchment from his pocket and handed it over.

"You worked quickly!"

The Parchment felt delicate and smooth, but it also carried a faint, fishy odor.

Luo Ning frowned slightly. The smell was unpleasant, but after seeing so many books over the past few days, he had grown used to it.

Luo Ning had no trouble reading the Otherworld's writing. It recorded:

Money: 58 gold coins, 349 Silver Coins, 8,466 Copper Coins

Food: 18,856 jin of Barley, 16,230 jin of Wheat, 1,000 jin of Flour, 500 jin of Dried Meat, 30 jin of refined salt, 136 jin of Coarse Salt, 320 jin of Gasha Salt, 280 jin of butter

Beer: 26 bottles of premium beer, 138 bottles of medium-grade beer, 5 barrels of sour beer

Horses: 1 Fine Warhorse, 3 Common Warhorses, 19 Common Horses, 3 foals, 5 Carriages

Cattle and sheep: 4 Dairy Cows, 1 bull, 1 calf, 10 female Black Water Buffaloes, 1 male Black Water Buffalo, 3 calves, 126 goats

Weapons: 3 full sets of armor, 23 Iron Spears, 6 Knight's Swords, 12 Poor Quality Longswords, 8 longbows, 356 arrows

Hides and Furs: 56 sheepskins, 13 cowhides

Fabric: 87 rolls of linen, 54 rolls of Woolen Fabric

Luo Ning carefully read through the items listed on the Parchment, and the smile on his face grew wider the further he read.

No wonder so many people dreamed of conquering a castle. The gains were simply too tempting!

"Prinster pledged loyalty to Resen of Sain Territory. He must have handed much of his property over to Sain Territory, yet I never expected Mountain Forest Castle to still have this much!"

"Yes, Master. This food is enough to feed us for a whole year!"

Chahar had been beyond excited while taking stock of the assets. He felt as though he had struck it rich.

"And September is almost here. I heard Mountain Forest Town still has a batch of Barley ready to be harvested. When that time comes, we will have a large quantity of fresh Barley."

Although Luo Ning usually ate more Wheat flour, Barley was also an important staple.

Not only could it serve as rations, it was also an important ingredient for brewing beer and making Malt Sugar and Barley Tea. Beyond that, Black Bread made from its bran was what kept many people alive.

"At least we won't have to worry about food in the castle."

Luo Ning had originally planned to go out and buy grain, but now it seemed they had more than enough.

As for money—

With the money seized from the castle added in, Luo Ning now had 589 gold coins on him. Even after buying five Magic Crystal Stones, he would still have more than eighty gold coins saved up.

He could now consider the First Purchase Bonus, but Mountain Forest Town had no Magic Crystal Stones for sale.

If he wanted to buy them, he would probably have to make a trip to the nearest Pasture City.

"Mountain Forest Town hasn't found its footing yet. It isn't a good time to leave."

Luo Ning had been stationed in the castle for less than five hours in total. There were many things he had yet to do, and he simply could not get away.

Letting someone else handle it was even less possible.

Macken, his only capable general, had to remain by his side. The others were too weak. If they rashly went out and got robbed, Luo Ning would not even know who to cry to.

Aside from the money, he was more concerned about the horses, cattle and sheep, and weapons. Their value was far greater than that of food.

"These three Warhorses belonged to Prinster and the people from Sain Territory," Chahar explained. "They were counted in together after being seized."

"The full suits of armor were basically the same."

Luo Ning nodded. He now had a rough understanding of Mountain Forest Castle's wealth.

At that moment, he also understood just how tempting such wealth was to an Administrator. No wonder the other man had been unwilling to let go.

"You compiled this very thoroughly. You did an excellent job."

Luo Ning placed the Parchment in his hand on the table and gave Chahar an approving smile. "You've worked hard!"

Chahar quickly waved his hands, looking very humble. "Please don't say that, Master. It is my honor to serve you!"

"Mm. There should be warehouses and cellars in the castle. You will be responsible for managing all these supplies."

Luo Ning began making his first personnel arrangement. "Work hard, Chahar. From now on, you are the steward of Mountain Forest Castle."

Chahar froze when he heard that. His dream had always been to become a Head Butler like Holwart.

Now, he had finally taken the first step in his life—from a male servant to a steward!

Though he was only the steward of Mountain Forest Castle in this remote place, he had come to realize during this time that following the master before him would surely lead to great things!

Chahar immediately dropped to one knee. "Let the Seven Gods bear witness: Chahar will never betray the trust you have placed in me, Master!"

"Haha, get up."

Luo Ning raised his hand and handed over another sheet of Parchment from the table.

"Prinster's servants can no longer be used. I will leave the recruitment of new servants to you. This is the salary range chart I drafted. Follow these standards."

"Yes, Master!"

Chahar accepted the Parchment and began reading it carefully.

It divided servants into categories, such as apprentice servants, Laborer Servants, Kitchen Chefs, Kitchen Hands, Personal Maids, personal male servants, male stewards, female stewards, and so on. Each came with a brief description and a salary range.

The highest salary was for male stewards, who were responsible for all management matters in the castle. However, they had to maintain clear boundaries regarding the maids' living quarters, daily lives, and so on. Their pay was 8 Copper Coins per day.

Female stewards and Head Chefs were in the second tier, earning 6 Copper Coins per day.

The lowest were apprentice servants, who earned only 1 Copper Coin per day.

"Our castle is not large yet, and we do not have many people. We are still in the early stages, so the salary I am offering you is 8 Copper Coins per day."

Luo Ning said with a smile, "Once our castle expands and there are more people and matters under your management, I will raise your pay."

A baron's castle steward earning 8 Copper Coins a day would make only 2 gold coins and 6 Silver Coins a year. It was not much, but it was considered normal.

But Chahar had clearly not expected such treatment.

"Master, you are far too generous. On behalf of myself and the servants who will join the castle, I thank you!"

"Work hard, Chahar. Improve your management abilities in every respect. One day, you will become my Head Butler!"

Luo Ning did not mind making empty promises. After all, everyone felt good hearing them.

"You can decide the number and quality of the servants, but I have a few requirements in other respects."

"Please tell me, Master!"

Luo Ning said, "First, you must find out their family backgrounds. Anyone who followed Prinster, especially anyone who took part in today's betrayal, is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Second, after selecting them, observe their words and behavior. We do not want anyone irresponsible at work, lazy, or restless."

"Lastly, and most importantly, they must be loyal to me."

Chahar committed the three points firmly to memory. "My lord, I understand!"

Luo Ning waved his hand. "All right, go on. Once I have met my subjects tomorrow, you can begin recruiting servants."

Watching Chahar leave his study, Luo Ning stretched.

After a busy day, he could finally rest quietly by himself for a while.

However, some people were destined to have no rest.

Take David, for example. He was probably searching the homes in Mountain Forest Town belonging to the three Professional Knights from Sain Territory together with Tom.

He wondered how much property those men would leave behind for Luo Ning.