Seeing that Seraphina was already somewhat tempted, Ed continued:
"But doing business involves both profits and losses; there are always risks. So, is there a way to make a sure profit without any losses?"
Seraphina's eyes sparkled:
"Is there?"
"Yes, brothers, yes!"
Ed patted his chest and assured him:
"If we replace the goods with commodities in a broader sense, and replace the act of buying low and selling high with simply delivering goods, and then charge a fee for it, we can be more professional while ensuring a steady profit. After all, in business, whether you make a profit or a loss, you can't not pay for delivery, right?"
"Besides, people in need will think of these deliverymen first. Professionals doing professional work is much more reliable than doing it yourself. That's the significance of logistics."
As Seraphina listened, her eyes gradually brightened.
Ed shook his head regretfully at this moment:
"It's a pity that my territory is too small and I have too few people. There's no way to wear down those Dragonborn, and the distance is too short to make much money."
Seraphina thought about it and realized it made sense, her gaze dimming again.
"But!"
Ed's tone reversed again:
"Once I take over White Wax Town, my territory will expand exponentially. The distance between the two places is also quite far, which suits the Dragonborn's energy needs."
"Once we fix the road, won't Dragonborn Logistics be making money hand over fist?"
Seraphina nodded repeatedly.
That sounds reasonable. I look forward to that day.
"Just hoping?"
Ed's tone was persuasive and encouraging:
"Couldn't we... make an exception and give those traitors from the church a taste of their own medicine?"
Seraphina shook her head:
"You know there's a non-aggression pact in place, so I can't do that. And... don't even think about getting my help for free."
Ed sighed and shook his head.
It seems his Plan A isn't working, but that's not a big deal. Having Seraphina act was a gamble anyway; his real purpose was yet to come.
"I understand, but this time I'm leading Soul Returner out in full force, so I'll still need you to help me protect the castle and the surrounding area. That shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
Seraphina waved her hand confidently:
"Simple, just go ahead. I'll sit behind the counter and see who dares to cause trouble in the castle."
"Handsome, Haji Dragon!"
"What dragon?"
"Um, a modifier used to express respect and trust."
"Understood... Haki."
"No, wait a minute..."
The daily Ed teacher's mini-lesson ended quickly, and Seraphina, who had learned a lot, was completely unaware that she had once again had her labor taken for free.
She sat behind the counter, closed her eyes, and began to think about whether she could offer any assistance with logistics in the future, besides providing financial support.
As Ed said, the feeling of making money through business is much more interesting than kidnapping or anything like that, but unfortunately, I didn't realize it at all before I met him...
World of Disorder, at dawn.
The [ Dark Archmage ] lay prone on a rooftop, looking at his quest log in front of him:
[ White Wax Town Intelligence Gathering Progress: 60%]
Below this line of text is a half-finished map of White Wax Town, awaiting completion.
The missing parts are the areas she hasn't actually visited yet, including the large square that is conspicuous no matter who enters, and the area around the church near the square that strangers are advised to avoid.
And under the eaves where she was staying, another series of chaotic footsteps could be heard.
Their footsteps finally stopped under the eaves, and the two seemed to rest against the eaves of this house, which they didn't know was occupied.
"I swear, I definitely heard something coming from this side."
One person adjusted their posture as they spoke, while the other snorted and said:
"Isn't that obvious? Are the townspeople dead? Do you think they'd stay completely silent?"
"Not entirely. Those scumbags in the basement aren't dead yet, but they're not making any noise anymore."
"Don't even mention it. Is His Holiness the bishop senile? Why does he insist that we look for that woman? To be honest, nobody has ever even seen her!"
Another person countered:
"That person must exist, otherwise the bishop wouldn't have gotten so angry."
"That's true, but we're calling him bishop all the time, yet he's not really a bishop."
"What can we do? Unless that Duolin guy comes back, Yiden will be the bishop. Otherwise, what? You take the position? I'll be the first to disagree."
The [ Dark Archmage ], lying on the roof, meticulously recorded everything. The basement? She'd like to take a look.
She had seen this kind of scene in many novels and games; it was an NPC being ordered to leak secrets, so it wasn't strange at all.
It was just about sharing some information to make the mission more immersive.
The two talked for a while longer, then realized they would be caught if they continued slacking off, so they got up and continued their patrol.
This is the third patrol tonight. Although [ Dark Archmage ] doesn't feel that the official " World of Disorder " team is hindering his quest progress, he does feel that this quest will be very difficult to complete tonight.
She gathered the information, carefully climbed down from the roof, and then, under the cover of night, slipped back into the woods, returning to the [cocoon] hidden by vines.
At the ancient castle twenty kilometers away, the image of the [ Dark Archmage ] before Ed's eyes vanished.
She was right; Ed had indeed slightly slowed down her mission progress.
Unfortunately, he wanted to ensure the game's realism and immersion, but he also couldn't allow the castle storyline and the spy storyline to lag too far apart in progress.
Whether he was well-prepared for battle but failed to gather sufficient intelligence, or vice versa, neither was a scenario he wanted to see.
Therefore, the [ Dark Archmage ]'s mission can only be completed tomorrow at the earliest, although it would be even better if she were willing to investigate further herself.
However, I've already designed her next special task, and I just hope she remembers to turn on screen recording then...
Shifting the focus of his thoughts from the [ Dark Archmage ] to Duolin's guard squad, Ed saw five men panting as they worked on large pieces of wood.
To Ed's surprise, Duolin and his team actually knew something about shipbuilding!
He only found out about this yesterday.
According to Duolin, at the Garrison Academy of the Holy City Theological Seminary, he not only learned combat skills, but also simple manufacturing methods for items that could not be easily created using Directed Alienation.
Even humans who live in symbiosis with plants will die if they are immersed in water for too long.
Therefore, to prevent this from happening, Duolin would build simple wooden boats, and even while submerged in water, he would continuously cut off his own arms to make rudimentary rafts.
All of this is in order to survive unexpected crises.
After Ed saw the blueprints for the simple wooden boat, he immediately granted Duolin a small plot of land near the river and close to the castle to use as a dock.
Build! Build fiercely! An army of fifty men sailing downstream will be just around the corner!