Whoever Has Money, We Profit from Them

Everyone on the scene stood stunned for a moment.

"M-My lord!" Deputy Captain Hant was the first to drop to his knees and bow to Claire.

A Silver Knight like Dean had died right before his eyes. The shock Claire's shot brought him was simply too great.

After Hant knelt, the more than fifty knights behind him also fell to their knees before Claire one after another.

This time, Claire did not step aside. Instead, she looked at them with an indifferent gaze, and an imposing aura naturally radiated from her.

Before receiving an order, those knights did not even dare raise their heads. They could only kneel humbly, hoping the Viscount would not turn on them.

Claire pointed at Hant. "From now on, you are the Knight Captain."

Hant raised his head in disbelief. Still unable to believe it, he pointed at himself and asked, "My lord, are you referring to me?"

"Yes." Claire glanced at the corpse at her feet and said, "Deal with it."

Although Dean had stopped at the end, Claire had no intention of keeping someone who bore ill will toward her around for the holidays. Besides, she had just arrived in Nafu City and needed to establish her authority. This Knight Captain had presented himself at exactly the right time.

She then had Regan lead the carriage as they passed the fifty-odd knights and entered through the city gates.

Hant immediately rose to his feet and shouted after her, "My lord, how should we deal with him?"

"Cut off his head and hang it at the entrance to your barracks," Claire called back without turning around.

The moment those words were spoken, all fifty-odd knights heard them. Silence fell over the crowd. The sound of people swallowing was clearly audible, and fear showed in every pair of eyes.

This Viscount was far too ruthless. This was nothing a sixteen-year-old child should be capable of doing.

After they had walked some distance, Regan could not help asking quietly, "Young Master, why did you do that?"

Claire gave a soft laugh. "So they'll see the head of their former Knight Captain every morning when they wake up. That will be the fate of anyone who opposes me."

Regan's heart churned. When had his young master acquired such methods? But... this was what a true noble should do! The Griffin Family had produced a remarkable talent. Master, your spirit in heaven must surely be comforted.

Though it was her first time killing someone, Claire did not feel much turmoil. The other party had wanted to kill her in the first place; she had merely acted in self-defense. She had only used a little too much force. It should not be a problem, and the person involved probably had no objections.

The Baronial Manor stood at the very center of Nafu City and was also the finest building in the city. The moment one entered the city, one could see its towering castle. Like Nafu City itself, the Baronial Manor had been built back when the Griffin Family's ancestors had been prosperous, so it was still quite new and magnificent.

However, having seen skyscrapers and all kinds of unusual architecture in her previous life, Claire was not particularly shocked.

After entering the Baronial Manor, Claire did not go inside first. Instead, she had Regan lead the knights who had followed them in cleaning the place, then moving in the furniture and other heavy items. By the time they were nearly finished, the moon was already hanging high in the night sky.

Claire watched the moon from a pavilion for half an hour before Regan finally finished tidying up the Baronial Manor with the others.

After dismissing the knights who had come along, only Regan and Claire remained in the empty Baronial Manor.

"Young Master, it's all taken care of. Please go in."

"Mm." Claire nodded lightly and entered the castle. It had six floors and a basement, seven levels in total. There were more than fifty rooms of various sizes. Outside was a lawn roughly the size of a football field, as well as pavilions filled with flowers and plants. Compared with the villas from her previous life, it was indeed far more luxurious.

Claire took a brief look around the castle where she would be living from now on.

Regan followed closely behind and apologized softly, "This is all we can manage for today, Young Master. Once it's daylight tomorrow, I'll go hire some maids."

"Mm," Claire replied through her nose.

"The basement and the top floor are off-limits to the maids," Claire instructed. She planned to use the basement as a place for experiments, since she was a novice mage herself. The top floor would serve as a study and a place to store items she acquired through her usual trades.

"Understood."

"What benefits will the maids receive?"

"Room and board, plus five hundred Copper Coins per month."

At the current purchasing power, three or four Copper Coins could buy enough food to fill one's stomach. A family of five spent around fifteen Silver Coins a month on food alone, while an adult man in Nafu City could earn only around ten Silver Coins per month. Without the mother's income as well, they simply could not survive.

This income level was among the poorest in the kingdom. Even beggars in the royal capital earned more than they did.

But if they worked at the Baronial Manor, they would not only earn money but also reduce some of their family's expenses. Underage girls could not do physical labor and had no way to make money, so becoming a maid was an excellent choice. Five hundred Copper Coins was therefore not a small amount. If not for maintaining the Griffin Family's reputation, Regan would have been reluctant to spend even those five hundred Copper Coins.

"Double it. Make it ten Silver Coins," Claire said quietly.

She calculated it roughly in her head. The castle would need no more than fifteen maids. Even combined, their annual expenses would not reach twenty Gold Coins. The cost of any experiment she casually conducted would exceed what they spent in a year, so this little money was nothing.

Regan froze slightly, then said, "You truly are a benevolent lord. Your subjects will surely cheer for your kindness."

Claire asked again, "How much money do we have left?"

"A little over twenty thousand Gold Coins."

That amount was truly nothing for a noble. The dagger Claire had been holding earlier was worth several thousand Gold Coins. These twenty thousand Gold Coins could only support them through a period of respectable noble living. Without income, it would all be gone in a few months.

"A little over twenty thousand. That's enough for a while. Tomorrow, summon the administrative officer."

"Yes, Young Master. Are you planning to raise taxes?" Regan asked tentatively.

"No. I'm going to cut taxes."

"You absolutely must not, Young Master." Regan immediately became anxious. "We've only just arrived in the viscounty, and we already don't have much money to spare. If you cut taxes..." Regan did not finish the sentence. Then we will not even be able to maintain a noble lifestyle, and the other lords will laugh at us.

Claire patted Regan on the shoulder. "Do you remember the mother and her two children we encountered?"

"What about them, Young Master?"

"Their taxes have already become a monthly payment. After all these years, there is no more fat left to squeeze from them. No matter how much we raise taxes, our income will not increase."

"Then if we don't squeeze the commoners, who do we squeeze?"

"Whoever has money, we profit from them. And what we get from them will certainly be more plentiful and richer than what we could get from commoners."

Regan was slightly stunned. What his young master said seemed quite reasonable, but he still did not understand. If nobles did not squeeze the commoners, then whom could they squeeze?

Claire suddenly thought of something, and a cold glint flashed in her eyes. "Oh, and look into that administrative officer. See how many of our Gold Coins he has embezzled."

There was no need to investigate whether he had embezzled anything. They only needed to find out how much he had taken. Without the administrative officer helping behind the scenes, Claire simply did not believe the taxes could have driven people so close to death.

"Young Master..." Regan's expression grew somewhat troubled.

But Claire had expected this long ago. "It's fine. There's no rush. Make a note of it first; we can investigate later."

After all, the viscounty currently had only Claire and Regan. They had no other manpower. Even if Regan were told to investigate, he would not know where to begin.

"There's no rush to hire maids either. Announce it together when the tax-cutting decree is issued."

"As you command!"

"It's getting late. Go rest."

"Yes, Young Master. Good night."

From the rooftop room on the sixth floor, Claire could see the moon outside through the clear window. The moon here was different from the one on Earth. It was much larger and gave off an eerie blue glow.

"Emmm." Claire lay on the recliner and rubbed her chin. I wonder if this world has a moon orbiting the planet too.

She swayed in the recliner, her thoughts drifting everywhere. At some point, Claire fell asleep.