At her desk in her own bedroom behind the bandit throne, Alex sat and in front of her lay a scroll sheet. On it were the full results of the market research from Sleider's Coast.

82 sales of Cup of Cubs, 142 Arabelum Refreshers, 67 Cafe Mochas. In total, that was a revenue of 1,492 coppers. Cup of Cub cost about 0.2 coppers per cup, Arabelum cost 0.42 per cup, while Cafe Mocha 0.5 per cup.

Alex smiled. The highest profit margin was Cafe Mocha at 93.75% excluding labour. This kind of profit margin back on Earth would've been a CEO's wet dream. A laugh formed in her core, growing into a full-bellied laugh. Nuflrae was hers for the taking... economically.

Except, there was one issue. Infrastructure.

Currently, Dragus relies on dirt paths that could barely even be called paths. They were riddled with sharp rocks, boulders, and terrain that would crush a wooden wheel if the coachmen didn't avoid them.

It was specifically a problem to chain stores, which would rely on just-in-time deliveries from HQ. That itself was a problem. Logistical checkpoints, such as warehouses, would need to be strategically placed sooner or later once they expand out of the Hadstead Mountains.

Sleider's Coast and other locations would have to wait to be served.

For now, the best location was a convergence point sitting right on the Hadstead Mountain paths. The convergence point had paths running from south to north, south to northeast, and south to west. Everything from Lyra converged onto that single path heading down to Dragus's capital.

Grey did say that it was the main trade route between Lyra and Dragus. Recently, more people had been passing through as well.

In other words, since it was close to HQ, where the main production was, it was the perfect spot for their first retail store, right where all the paths converged.

Knowing those Lyra money hungry merchants, they'd also travel through the night just to optimize time. What more could they want than a Cup of Cub under the clear starry skies of the Hadstead Mountains?

The possibilities were endless.

She stood up from her desk and exited the room. Then walked towards the fur-covered throne, and sat on it. In front of her were the already kneeling Aurora, Grey, Fraser, and Elador.

Alex didn't bother to tell them to stop. Probably some kind of medieval culture bullshit.

"Aurora," she said.

"Yes, my Lady," Aurora said.

"Based on the market research, we would need to increase the production of Arabelum berries by quite a lot. Hadstead Stalk sugar is used for all of our products, which would mean that we need a different plot of land that can handle more of the sugar plants," Alex said, rubbing her chin. "How's the northern bandit camp's fields?"

"The fields are ready. There are uncultivated Star Seeking Flower beds growing sporadically. Nothing else," Grey said.

"The size?" Alex asked.

"3 kilometres by 5 kilometres," Grey said.

"What about the western bandit camp?"

"The western camp doesn't have much of a field. It's more of a mountainous area with steep rocky climbs. There's a couple of caves there. The western path also leads to the Loomlight Grand Labyrinth."

The fuck was a grand labyrinth? Fuck it, who cares for now. The northern bandit camp had a bigger field than HQ.

Currently, there wasn't a need to increase Star Seeking Flower production. The current warehouse built by Yulka and her blue collar workers was already at capacity with caffeine powder too, the current main consumer of the product was her alone. For now, the issue was that the sweetening ingredients that made coffee palatable to the masses were needed. The sugar stalk itself was a highly valuable commodity that could be sold to the general populace.

"Aurora, quick question. Are Hadstead Stalk sugar popular with the general population?" Alex asked.

"No, my Lady. Production of it in sugar form is not at all too common and more common as a syrup. Even then, only nobles have access to sugar," Aurora said.

That was another key market that could be developed apart from coffee. Specifically, the long shelf life of instant coffee would produce a bitter taste that needed sweetener. Since syrup was already a luxury, powdered sugar with its unlimited shelf life was an accessible luxury. Having powdered sugar would allow customers in retail stores to adjust their sweetness level themselves and not have to ask her baristas to 'make it sweeter'.

At the same time, this also presented a market opportunity that the noble bastards kept for themselves.

Now the issue was, where to find the necessary metal? All the metal from the 55 knights was already used up. The fat idiot bastard hasn't sent any more knights her way, which meant that someone behind the idiot king was actually playing the kingdom.

Princess Alizia, the Aritzia wearing bitch.

Alex smirked. "Fraser, is the formulation of the recipes finalized? What about the exact measured scoops?"

"Yes, my Lady. I have the scoops right here that have measurements for different cup sizes: Tall, Grande, and Venti." Fraser handed Alex the measurement cups.

It was made of metal, each one embossed at different depths on the cup, marked with the respective size. Specifically, this cup was labelled for caffeine water. In Fraser's hand were other different cups, smaller ones, labelled for Arabellum Berry Extract, Latia Berry Extract, Piker Bean Melt, and Sugar Cup. On each cup handle was an embossed letter 'E', which was Elador's logo. Both of them made these exact measurement cups.

"Grey, have Yulka and her employees extend the stone road towards the northern bandit camp. Rename the northern bandit camp as North Star."

"Your wish is my command, my Lady," Grey bowed his head.

"And what about the shrinkage in the balance sheets? Did you figure that out?" Alex asked.

"Not yet. I'm still reverse tracking the transactions in the scroll sheets, but nothing has caught my eye for now," Grey said.

"Sure, whatever. Keep on tracking." Alex stood up. She moved towards the door of the town hall.

Lyra, being the most economically strong of the three kingdoms, was a rather juicy market to bite into. After the first retail store is completed on the convergence point of the Hadstead mountains, it was best to use the earned capital to create a flagship store somewhere in Lyra, preferably, near its capital. And that's where she started heading to right now.

"My Lady, where are you headed?" Grey asked from behind her.

"A casual walk in the woods." Pulling the door open, Alex walked out and disappeared from view in an instant.

"Enjoy your afternoon walk in the woods, my Lady," Aurora said, though it was obvious the Lady had already disappeared. Turning to Grey, her eyes turned sharp. "How long has the thief been siphoning funds from the Lady's coffers?"

"Chief Product Officer Aurora, I assure you, this matter's currently being dealt with. However, I don't seem to see where it's coming from," Grey said.

"Show me the scroll sheets," Aurora said.

"Shall we leave?" Fraser asked.

"I do have matters to attend to as well..." Elador muttered.

"Stay," Aurora said.

"Yes, Chief Product Officer!" Fraser and Elador said.

Grey visibly gulped and gave Aurora the scroll sheets. Opening the scroll sheets, she didn't see anything amiss, but that was primarily because these were balance sheets.

"Give me the sheets for the Piker Bean Tree saplings," Aurora said.

Taking another scroll from his pack, Grey extended it out.

However, as her hand swiped it off his, she noted that on the sheet were 35 saplings bought at a rate of 200 coppers per sapling due to the distance of Pandor's fiefdom of Crowfall.

Aurora did tell Grey to buy the Piker Bean Trees and signed off on the price of 160 coppers per sapling...? She couldn't have made a mistake buying it at 200.

"Grey, I'm assuming you were not able to balance both sides due to the price of the 35 saplings set at 56 silvers instead of the paid for 70 silvers, correct?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, and based on the signature of the documents, there doesn't seem to be anything amiss. Your signature is perfectly on that copy and also in the request order copy."

Grabbing a pen quill from her pocket, Aurora took the ink well from the Lady's side desk and dipped it once. Using the readied ink, she signed the paper once again beside her original signature, and it came as a match. It even had the same texture as the original.

However, there was no way that she'd let Grey buy the saplings at the rate of 200 coppers.

"Could we not just ask the Lady if this was acceptable shrinkage?" Elador asked. "I'm sure 14 silvers in her plans wouldn't be that unacceptable."

"Silence!" Aurora shouted. "Have you no shame to allow these thieves a hand in the Lady's coffers?!"

"Aurora is right," Grey said. "Although I am at a loss, I cannot allow even a single copper escape the Lady's coffers."

"But what can we do then?" Fraser said. "We can just ask the Lady for help in figuring out the authenticity of the paper if you're so sure that one of those sheets might be fake."

"Fraser," Grey growled. "Have you not just heard the Lady went for a walk?"

"Isn't she just taking a break?" Fraser said. "That's what a walk is for."

"Fraser, I understand your viewpoint, but have you not even seen an ounce of the Lady's grace and her peer into the future?" Aurora said.

"What do you mean?" Fraser asked, now shrinking back.

"A casual walk for the Lady means an action utterly different from us mortals, do you not understand?"

"You mean her walk is not just a walk?"

"She may be pondering the future that we cannot see during that walk. We cannot simply disturb her for our mortal perils of a mere 14 silver."

"But you said it's just a 'mere' 14 silver. To the Lady, it might be too miniscule an amount."

"Let me ask you this. Would you let a thief steal 14 silver from you?" Aurora asked.

"Even at 2.5 gold per Ter, 14 silver is almost a month's worth of salary. Do you understand, Fraser?" Grey asked.

Fraser held his mouth shut, clenching his fist. "You're right... the bastards stole from our Lady."

"Your anger is understood, Fraser. However, all of this is also within the Lady's plans," Aurora said.

"What?"

"Think, Fraser. The Lady went for a walk, knowing that her employees would solve this problem for her. Through her grace, she's allowed us to solve this issue for her. Does that not fulfil you as her employee?"

"Right..." Fraser looked up, brows furrowing in anger. "As expected of the Lady. She could've probably solved this on her own but allowed small problems to filter to her employees."

"Do you not agree, Elador?" Aurora said, smiling.

Elador cleared his throat. "Sure. I dare not argue with Chief Product Officer."

"That's not what I asked, Elador. You agree, correct?" Aurora asked.

"Y-yes... I agree, Chief Product Officer."

"Then we must think. Is there a way to figure out whether this signature is fake?" Aurora asked.

"There is a way, but we do not have a Mage classed Golden Generation with us. They have a skill that can identify mana signatures," Grey said.

"Might I suggest Blue Fraedium spring water and heat?" Elador said.

"Explain," Aurora said.

"Blue Fraedium spring water contains large amounts of mana already. It is naturally used for making mana potions. Since the document is suspected of being a magical forgery, there is no way to physically tell whether it is real or not. The spring water itself won't do anything to detect whether the scroll is a forgery. However, boiling the spring water under the heat plate will cause the spell application of the forgery."

"I've never heard of Blue Fraedium spring water doing that," Grey said.

"That's because I've recently just found the interactions. The heat plate is of the same quality as a high level dungeon artifact, which means it has its own spell signature."

"Meaning?" Aurora asked.

"Meaning, using the heat plate as the boiling mechanism, the signature of the heat created from the heat plate is transferred into the spring water, which will clash with the spell of the forgery based on how spell clashes work."

"Why can't the heat plate just be used instead then?" Aurora asked.

"That would burn the scroll, and the mana has already transformed into the concept of heat with a solid signature. Instead, we use the Blue Fraedium steam that will release a blank mana in a signatured state which will clash with the forgery. That is my current working theory."

"Then let us make haste," Aurora said, already moving towards the exit.

The others followed her as they entered the square. Once there, they turned left towards the acetic acid distillation plant.

Entering the plant, Aurora veered right towards the small desk that Elador had set up for himself. On it were several alchemical tools, containers, and vials. One of them was on top of a heat plate.

Elador moved that heat plate over to an empty part of the desk. In the bottom drawer, he pulled out a jar of blue liquid, the Blue Fraedium spring water. He poured it into a beaker and set it on top of the heat plate. Twisting the knob once on the heat plate, everyone felt the ether rush through the artifact. In less than 5 seconds, the blue spring water started boiling.

"Pass me a blank piece of paper first," Elador extended his hand.

Grey passed him an ordinary empty scroll.

After he took it, Elador put it on top of the boiling spring water. Everyone watched for 5 seconds as nothing interesting happened.

"That's the normal reaction. If there is no reaction from the piece of paper for 5 seconds, the document is real." Elador passed the paper back to Grey and extended his hand to Aurora. "Pass me the forgery."

Aurora passed the suspected forged document.

Hovering it over to the steam of the spring water, everyone waited for 5 seconds, and then it happened. Prismatic lines and shapes appeared to distort reality around the forged document. Taking it out after 5 seconds, Elador laid the document for everyone to see.

On the document, it was now just a piece of blank paper with nothing on it. If it were real ink, nothing would've happened. But as the mana had completely been destroyed from the document, it left nothing.

During the moments that the document's mana dissipated, Aurora felt the distinct signature of the person who had cast the forgery. It was weak, but she'd never forget anything that dared to tarnish the Lady's grace.

"Chief Product Officer?" Grey asked.

Fraser shrank back, almost hiding behind Grey while Elador continued to turn off the heatplate and tidy up his table.

Grass grew around Aurora's feet, what little mana she had became unstable from her emotions. The thief must be punished. They've dared to disgrace the Lady's benevolence.

Closing her eyes, she sent out her druidic sense to the surrounding area for the exact scent of the signature that was on the scroll. The scent started from Grey's house by the walls of HQ. It led down south to the path and then veered up north. From there, it turned northeast at the fork towards Lyra.

However, Lyra wouldn't need to steal a 'mere' 14 silvers. There were also bandits up the road from the northeastern route, which were classified as the eastern bandits.

"Grey, is there a relationship between the eastern bandits and Lyra?" Aurora asked.

"Not that I can think of, except they sometimes fetch commissions from Lyra to subjugate monsters around the Hadstead path," Grey said.

"The scent of the signature leads to either Lyra or the eastern bandit camp. I do not believe that Lyra would steal a mere 14 silver," Aurora said.

"Then it must be the eastern bandits," Grey's eyes turned cold. "The bastards shall pay with their lives."

"No, Grey," Aurora said. "I believe we may tell the Lady about this issue instead."

"Didn't you say that this matter should not be put on the Lady's table?" Fraser asked.

"I did," Aurora said. "But I believe we cannot force Sir Rand and his army without the Lady's permission."

"That's true..." Grey said. "Then did the Lady already foresee this answer?"

"Of course, Grey. The Lady already knew of this answer, she just wants us to catch up to her," Aurora smiled with her teeth. "The Lady is truly slowing down for us."

Grey's shoulders trembled. "As expected of the Lady. She even gave us the chance to report the eastern bandits to her, even though she already knew the answer."

"The Lady is so... scary," Fraser muttered.

"Silence!" Aurora shouted. "You may only fear the Lady if you are against her. You are part of her generals, Fraser. Stand tall and raise your head. Do not disgrace the Lady any further!"

Fraser stood up tall, raising his head. "I shall do as you say, Chief Product Officer. I shall not dishonour the Lady's stature!"

Elador put the hotplate back into its case in the cupboard and cleaned up the remaining hot spring water spills from his desk.

"Elador, have you no awe of the Lady's benevolence?" Aurora asked, smiling widely.

"Y-yes, Chief Product Officer. I am in dire awe of her grace," Elador said. "But might I remind you, I am here for boundless knowledge. Her stratagems do not interest me."

"That is fine, Elador. Her might and knowledge are truly boundless!" Aurora shouted. "Now we must get back to work. Once the Lady arrives back, we shall report the situation to her to point her holy army towards the eastern bandits."

Grey bowed. "I shall get back to work."

Fraser bowed too and left in a hurry, followed by Grey.

One thing was curious though, the vision she saw through the leaves of the trees, was the carriage that came by the other day to test the drinks of the Lady, Cafe Mocha.

Weren't they from Duke Tanison's diplomats? Yet they veered off path and were headed to Lyra's capital instead. How curious indeed.

☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎

Capital of Lyra. Royal Castle, reception room of Princess May Lallemant, afternoon time.

Terrance took the cup of tea on the table and took a sip of the strong Geig tea, hailed as Dragus' strongest tea from the Hadstead mountains. Putting it down after the sip, he looked around the empty room.

He didn't really know why he was here, but it had been almost an hour since he arrived and no one had arrived to receive him yet.

It was the tricks of Princess May to have the upper hand in these kinds of negotiations, not even Revy was allowed to accompany him. While it was true there was an amazing product at the southern bandit camp, that didn't call for this kind of treatment.

He had underestimated the bandit camp, even though the Lady Alex was just a peasant with 20 prowess. With his own eyes, he saw the Saintess' only skill, grand healing.

To think he was used as a royal taster to see if the food was poisoned by the Princess... but he couldn't see why. Sure, the Saintess class would be highly valuable, yet it was weak. The class didn't pose any military threat to Lyra.

Then the value was in their product.

It was true that the product given to him as a demonstration by Aurora was even more complex than any of the drinks he had had in any royal banquets. However, was it enough to court the leader for?

The Duke, under the Princess' command, had sent him to pay for any product that the bandit camp had. Key word was 'any'. It meant the trade was meant for diplomatic purposes, not truly for trade, and only to curry favour from the other party.

There were exactly 3 other Saintesses that currently existed. Two of them were in the Church of Frae, and the other one was in Pandor. Lyra did not need a Saintess as they could just buy the service from the Church of Frae.

Terrance didn't know. There were too many variables.

The double door of the reception room suddenly opened with a jolt. One of them was Princess May, wearing a white gown and a tiara with a blue gem on her head. Beside her was her trusted Administrative Knight, Kalaiser.

Kalaiser slid the seat to allow Princess May to sit. Seated, she looked upon the teacup in front of her while Kalaiser backed off a couple of steps.

Terrance moved immediately, grabbing the teapot and filling Princess May's teacup. As he was about to say something, her hand shot up to tell him to stop. She grabbed the teacup with her slender fingers and took a sip.

This was the first meaningful interaction she's had with Terrance. Him sitting in front of him, she laid her eyes upon Terrance as she set down the teacup after her sip.

"Greetings, Princess May. I am Terrance Degroif. I am the lead diplomat of Duke Tanison, at your service." Terrance bowed.

"We've met before, why introduce yourself again?" Princess May asked.

"It's just customary, Princess May," Terrance said. "May I know the purpose of the summons, if I may?"

"What do you think of this tea, Terrance?" Princess May asked.

Truthfully, he never liked any tea from Dragus. Most of the tea from there had a strong taste of the herb. He preferred the teas that came from the land of Kite where his hometown was.

"I believe the tea is of poor quality compared to teas harvested from within Lyra's borders," Terrance said. "The earthy notes and herbal taste are too much at the forefront rather than blending in together. I do find it fits the culture of Dragus."

"Yet we do have some of those kinds of teas in Lyra that are rather popular in Dragus, do we not?"

"Yes, my Princess..."

"Recently, the trade route to Dragus has been relatively calm. Less monsters appearing, do you agree?"

"There were a bit of howlers that we've encountered, but I wouldn't know. I assume that amount is normal."

"How long did it take you to come back from where you went to the Capital?"

"8 days, my Princess. However, that was due to the Royal Frozen Brigade being on foot."

"So you're saying that it would've been faster if they were on horses?" Princess May said.

"Why certainly. 8 days would've been cut down to less than 3 days...?" Terrance trailed off on the last word.

If he remembered correctly, although it was long ago, it shouldn't take only 3 days by horse to the capital. It should have been longer, but his memory was fuzzy since the last time he was set off to Dragus.

Princess May smiled.

Though she smiled innocently, Terrance already knew that it was anything but innocent. Behind those eyes, she already knew that he probably knew something was off about the Hadstead mountains.

"The bandit camp. What did you see?" Princess May asked.

Cold sweat poured down Terrance's back even though this room had a climate artifact. No more posturing just because he was a diplomat of a Duke. Best to not get in the way of giants within the political field. Princess May already saw through him anyway.

Withholding information at this point for monetary gain would have his head roll with a simple word from her mouth.

"A Saintess of a prowess 20 controls the southern bandit camp, my Princess," Terrance's tone turned solid. "The pathway to the camp itself has been cut to and paved with bricks. An arch was erected with the label 'the Path' in big bold letters."

"Interesting," Princess May said. "A prowess of 20... what do you make of that?"

"Either she has gotten an artifact that could hide her Spirit Sign's prowess, or she is part of the legends, which should be impossible. I do not recall a legend of her physical appearance."

"Maybe she's a newly formed ranker?" Kalaiser spoke up. "There are quite a few rankers at the top that were more solitary and hid their own prowess through artifacts."

"I do not believe such is the case, Kalaiser." Princess May took another sip, then set down her teacup. "Is it possible to imagine a solitary hermit ranker throwing a bag of gold at a bandit and then taking over the whole camp herself?"

"I agree with Princess May. If that even is true, that would be contradictory to how solitary rankers act," Terrance said. "A Saintess class would also classify her as a legend, above a ranker. Although I must say, her personality does fit the eccentricities of the legends."

"Why do you say that?" Princess May asked.

"The Lady Alex gave me a business proposal," Terrance said.

"Speak, now."

"Her business proposal was that of... a unique one. She said we'd have to pay for cost of goods and transportation. On their side, they would construct a building to sell their goods to the masses. All we have to do is pay a licensing fee and maintain the store to earn the 50/50 revenue from their store."

"And what was their product?"

"A drink."

"Was the drink good?"

"The pleasure I've felt from that drink is burnt into my memory, my Princess."

"And this business model, it sounds like they deliver the goods to the shops they've set up. All we do is man the stores?"

"They will have their own men operate the stores, but I haven't seen the details on how that operates."

"Why their people specifically?" Princess May asked.

"I do not know, my Lady. I've proposed we buy their raw materials and we mix the drinks ourselves in our territory."

"Quality control," Princess May muttered.

"Yes?"

"The Lady Alex is not selling a product. She is selling her image through the product."

"I'm sorry, Princess May. I do not see the purpose of such-"

"Quiet. Do you not see?" Princess May leaned forward. "A single consistent product throughout the lands where the people trust its quality. The perishable berry drink popular in the farmlands of the fiefdom of Gasonette, even more popular than the beers and ales of the tavern. However, as other territories have tried to replicate it, none can match Gasonette's mixture. It is simply quality control."

"But even then, would you not just buy a lesser mixture for a fraction of the taste?" Terrance asked.

"Would you buy Gasonette's mixture or a random man's mixture?"

Terrance gritted his teeth before answering. "I would certainly buy Gasonette's..."

"Now imagine if Lady Alex has found a way to control quality through this 'licensing' business structure. Is she not selling her own image rather than a lesser version of the drink in different territories?" Princess May asked rhetorically. "Imagine this, Terrance. Instead of having 100 slices of a pie and asking for 50% of the pie to get 50 slices, she is giving us 10% of what could potentially be 10,000 slices."

Terrance's eyes widened. The Princess was right again. He was too focused on underestimating the prey that he himself did not know he had just survived a negotiation with an apex predator.

Princess May's eyes stared into his own.

Coldness seeped into his bones.

Whoever this Lady Alex was, Terrance wanted nothing to do with her. But it seemed that the cogs within Lyra had begun to turn due to her actions.