Chương 5: Chapter 5 The Prodigal Son

If the East Half City of Bright City is the flourishing face of Light, with the Royal Palace, Noble District, various Church cathedrals, and the Commercial District all clustered in the east, then the West District is where the lower classes reside, with ordinary residential areas, workshops, and dilapidated streets intermingled.

Among them, Langai Street in the West District is one of the most desolate and neglected places, so much so that even the patrolling officers rarely give it a glance, naturally turning it into a haven for some gangs and homeless people.

But today, Langai Street was different—the clatter of carriage wheels could be heard as a beautifully decorated four-wheeled coach pulled by two tall horses slowly made its way down this street.

The squat houses beside the street now seemed particularly shabby and derelict, their blackened doors and windows tightly shut, as if showing unwelcome to outsiders.

Even the beggars at the road's edge quickly scurried aside, not daring to approach for fear of offending the noble person seated in the carriage.

As the wheels moved over the broken stones and muddy water, Bender looked disdainfully at the homeless lying in the corner of the walls, flicking his whip, though with a touch of distress for the splashes of mud staining the carefully maintained horses and carriage.

Before long, the carriage stopped beside a two-story house. Bender carefully hopped down from the coach, fetched a footstool, and set it up before finally opening the coach door.

"Master Lis, we've arrived, please watch your step."

"Thank you, Bender."

Lis stepped down from the carriage, looked around at the dilapidated streets which were identical to his memories, an unfamiliar visitor might not even realize that this place and the glitzy district in the East Half City were separated by merely half the city's length.

Lis looked at the brick and stone house in front of him, which was obviously different from the surrounding, he smiled lightly and knocked on the metal door with accustomed force, "clang clang clang."

After a long while with no answer, Lis's brows furrowed.

This isn't right, the last time I knocked like this, Old Jess would've been out cursing at someone by now. Why is there no reaction after such a long time?

At that moment, a wooden window of the house opposite Lis slowly opened a crack, and a timid eye peered out, whispering to Lis,

"Um, if you're looking for Uncle Jess, he's gone out, and won't be back for a month."

After saying that, the window slammed shut with a "bang," as though there were a flood or a ferocious beast outside.

Why do they seem so afraid of me?

Lis felt several hidden gazes watching him secretly; he glanced around, but they all disappeared.

Looking down at his clothes, he then realized.

In his past life as a gamer, heopted for maximum profit, penny-pinching to the extreme (stubbornly so) and unlike those leisure players, he wouldn't spend much on his attire, so he hadn't realized what his appearance and the accompanying carriage meant on Langai Street.

It looks like I'll need to change into more ordinary clothes next time; I can't take the coach here anymore either.

Lis silently made plans, and although Old Jess wasn't there, it wasn't a trip without any gain.

"So, Little Easter Egg is now living just across from here!"

-----------------

Ashley patted her chest. The courage she had so hardly mustered to speak a single sentence was now exhausted. If it hadn't been for Uncle Jess asking her to pass a message to anyone who came looking for him, she wouldn't have dared to speak to those intimidating-looking people at all.

After waiting a while and hearing the carriage drive away, Ashley carefully opened the window and, seeing the carriage wobbling into the distance, finally relaxed.

"Ashley, you did great! The task Uncle Jess asked of me wasn't so hard after all!"

Was that person a noble?

They must have been, only Nobles dress so finely and cleanly. She had never seen such a beautiful carriage before and it even had a silver-white eagle with outstretched wings on it.

But that person didn't seem as scary as Aunt Anna described, huh? Do nobles really snatch away girls just like themselves to eat?

Little Ashley's head was filled with big questions. Without giving it much thought, she closed the window again.

Whenever Aunt Anna was away, she would always lock the doors and windows tightly. Although this made the house very dark, Ashley was not afraid at all; she even liked to stay quietly in the shadows by herself, feeling secure surrounded by the darkness.

-----------------

Kane Mansion.

Lis had just stepped down from the carriage when he saw the butler Joyce awaiting him, impeccably dressed in a black and white tailcoat with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. His bow was so precise not even a fraction was off, the very epitome of grace.

"Joyce, come with me to the study,"

"Yes, Young Master," Joyce replied, perfectly embodying the butler's code of asking little and saying less, following a step behind Lis up to the second floor of the mansion.

Seated behind the desk, Lis looked at Joyce standing to the side and said with the same tone as his predecessor:

"Joyce, what is the current state of the family's business affairs?"

Indeed, Lis was the only remaining member of the Kane family, but his predecessor had been so obsessed with magic that he had entrusted all the family's business affairs to the butler Joyce, asking for his needs to be prepared directly by Joyce.

However, Joyce was also worthy of Lis's trust. Since the Kane family had received its peerage, only three generations had passed, and they belonged to the newly risen nobles of the Royal Faction. Joyce had served as the great butler of the Kane family since the second Viscount Kane, never making a single mistake and understanding the Kane family even better than Lis, the current Viscount Kane.

Having personally raised Lis from youth after the loss of his parents, Joyce's loyalty was naturally not in question for Lis.

Although Lis had rarely concerned himself with the family's business affairs before, Joyce thought little of it and, after a brief reflection, responded:

"Currently, the family's yearly income is about 7,500 Gold Coins, which includes 5,000 Gold Coins as a royal stipend, approximately 2,000 Gold Coins from the income of three shops in the Feis District, and about 500 Gold Coins from the yield of two estates outside the city."

"The yearly normal expenditures amount to roughly 4,800 Gold Coins. This includes 1,000 Gold Coins for maintenance and repairs of the mansion and estates, about 300 Gold Coins for servants' wages, food and daily essentials cost 1,000 Gold Coins, approximately 2,000 Gold Coins for maintaining the Kane family's relations with the Royal Family and other Nobles, and other expenses around 500 Gold Coins."

(Note: 1 Gold = 10 Silver = 200 Copper. A commoner's yearly income is around 10 Gold, while a simple meal of black bread and vegetable soup outside costs two Copper.)

Since the Kane family's peerage is that of a Court Viscount without any land grants, their primary economic source is the annual stipend from the Royal Family.

Lis clicked his tongue. Nobles truly live differently; he remembered that in his past life, when he first started a game, he worked tirelessly for days to complete a mission, and the reward was merely 1 Gold Coin.

However high the income, the expenditures were high as well, with most of it going towards maintaining the family's noble facade.

But this was also inevitable. Being frugal was not an option—they, as Court Nobles, couldn't live like commoners without being seen as an insult to the Feis Royal Family, at the risk of light punishment or even severe Deprivation of noble status.

Such a stark class distinction. Nobles truly are extravagant and indulge in luxury!

As Lis savored a sip of the hot chocolate Rossi had just brought in, he inwardly denounced the lavish lifestyles of the nobility.

"What are the family's savings now?"

Lis estimated that, after all, being an inheritance of three generations, there should be a considerable fortune, right?

"Due to your recent purchases of precious materials for magical research, the family now only has about 500 Gold Coins left after this year's necessary expenses."

"Cough—" Lis choked on a sip of hot chocolate.

Good grief, turns out I myself am the wastrel Σ(°Д°;)!

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