Rich lady, hungry, feed me

"However, we don't need disguised items; I have something similar."

Klein, controlling the "World" dummy, added, "Before you prepare to perform your Trick, remember to pray to 'Mr. Fool ' first."

He was worried that the other party might choose a time that was inconvenient for him.

"No problem." Fors readily agreed, then turned to "Justice," the noblewoman she knew in the Real World: "I'd like to ask for some advice on managing fixed assets, such as land, orchards, and Hunting Forest. How much compensation do you require?"

Fixed assets? Audrey looked at the "Magician" with surprise.

"Haven't seen you for a while, Fors doing so well financially now?" she muttered to herself, then replied after careful consideration, "It depends on the specific scale."

"Taking land as an example, if it does not exceed 1,000 mu, it is recommended to directly lease it to farmers through contracts and collect rent regularly."

"For 1,000 to 10,000 mu (approximately 667 to 667 hectares), it is advisable to hire several reliable assistants. The Metropolitan Association for Improving the Domestic Servants is a good option."

"If there are any more, we'll need to hire dedicated managers."

As she spoke, she chuckled and asked, "I wonder what range your fixed assets fall into? If you don't mind, you can tell me so I can offer more further advice."

"The third scenario."

After thinking for a moment, Fors added a figure, "More than 100,000 mu."

Although the two knew each other, she didn't elaborate, worried that the other person might use her to further uncover Fitz Posner's identity.

Ten thousand acres? And more than ten thousand acres? Klein, shrouded in thick Gray Fog, subconsciously recalled the land prices he had learned about.

In the countryside or on the outskirts, one hectare of farmland costs only 5 to 6.5 soli: even if we assume 100,000 hectares, the value of this fixed asset would exceed 30,000 pounds.

The annual land rent income is between two thousand and three thousand pounds.

This is a considerable sum; it could buy a nice house in the safe West Borough, or even an Manor in the nearby suburbs.

I only spent £2,000 on the "Sun Brooch"—meaning that Miss "Magician's" fixed asset income is enough to buy a decent Mystical Item every year—of course, I know that these fixed assets most likely don't belong to her, but are managed for her "friends."

Even so, she must be able to get a lot of money—why isn't there a rich woman to help me out— Klein chuckled to himself.

He suddenly remembered an emoji that perfectly captured his current mood:

The rich woman is hungry.

At this point, the two ladies were already chattering away about how to hire a professional manager, which he didn't want to listen to, lest he make his mood even heavier.

Klein glanced discreetly at the others and couldn't help but chuckle.

Apart from "The Sun," other members of the Tarot Club, including "Admiral of Stars" Cattleya, all expressed varying degrees of envy.

It seems no one is wealthy—and rightly so, the expenses in the Mysticism world are a bottomless pit—for some reason, he felt a little better.

Backlund, a remote northwestern suburb.

At dusk, fiery red clouds filled half the sky.

Matthew sat on the ridge of the field, drenched in sweat, squinting at the soil he had just turned over, intending to rest for a few minutes.

"I hope for a good harvest this year." He took out a piece of Linen from his pocket, wiped his sweat, and silently said to himself.

But thinking of the rumors he had heard recently, he couldn't help but feel worried again. He silently finished a pipe of tobacco, put on his coat, and stood up.

Shouldering his tools, Matthew prepared to go home when he suddenly saw several people walking towards him from the north, chatting and laughing. They were all from the same village.

Could something good be happening? A thought popped into his head, and he stood by the roadside.

After waiting for two or three minutes, the group arrived, and they started walking south together. After exchanging a few pleasantries with them, Matthew casually asked, "I'm so happy to see you all from so far away. What are you saying?"

"You still don't know?" The man with short blond hair and a red headscarf looked surprised, then, as if remembering something, he smiled and asked, "Did you bring your own lunch and eat it in the fields again, instead of going back to the village?"

Matthew nodded.

The man in the red headscarf glanced at his companions and chuckled, "I knew it."

After laughing, he looked at Matthew and explained, "A few days ago, weren't there rumors that our village, and a dozen or so nearby villages, had been replaced by a noble lord?"

Matthew paused for a moment upon hearing this, then eagerly interjected, "Not changing it again?"

With the repeal of the Corn Laws, food prices fell day by day, and the harvest from the same ten acres of land was much cheaper than in previous years.

Many farmers went bankrupt as a result and were forced to give up farming and go to the city to work.

The reason why the farmers in these villages can barely make ends meet is because the nearby land belongs to the Church of the Evernight Goddess. As long as they provide devout faith, they can rent the land to cultivate at a relatively low cost.

Farmers who leased land from noblemen were not so Luck. The high rents and ever-decreasing incomes forced them to change professions.

Therefore, he was unwilling from the bottom of his heart to have the position replaced by a nobleman, and the thing he was worried about by the field just now was precisely this rumor.

"What do you mean 'not changing'? It's already decided."

The man in the red turban shook his head and said, "The church members and the village chief announced it together at noon; from now on, the nearby land belongs to that Lord."

"What about this year's land rent?" Matthew asked anxiously. He had a wife and three sons, and the five of them depended entirely on the harvest from the land for sustenance.

"I knew that was what you cared about most," the man in the red turban chuckled. "Don't worry, the Lord's men said that as long as we continue to devoutly believe in the Goddess, the rent will remain the same, not a penny more."

Matthew breathed a heavy sigh of relief and murmured, "That's good."

The group walked back while talking.

Another middle-aged man carrying Hoe laughed and said, "That's not all."

"There are other good things happening in the Church square tonight. I bet you'll get home all alone, with no wife or kids."

They must all be there.

Matthew, intrigued, quickly asked, "What good news?"

But just because he asks a question doesn't mean others have to answer it.

The group just laughed and joked without saying anything, which infuriated him.

Chatting and joking along the way, time flew by. Instead of taking the small path back to the village, the group embarked on another wide road.

This road leads to the Church, the only Church in the dozen or so nearby villages.

There is a large square in front of the Church, where clergy members of the Church of the Evernight Goddess hold large masses on certain dates.

So many people?

Matthew was stunned by the sea of people in the square.

In his memory, there weren't this many people even during Mass, since the church required each family to send at least one representative.

Matthew looked at the high platform in the center of the square, then asked his companion with a puzzled expression, "What's that?"