Chapter 53: Should He Praise a Few Words?

Chapter 53: Should He Praise a Few Words?

After Louis finished asking about the money, the chief steward Stuart pulled out the account book.

[Sir, there were many spoils of war which you left for Mr. Ross and the others, but they withdrew a considerable amount of money from the account to use as their own ransom.]

[Mmm… although you didn’t plan to set them free, that money did get credited.]

[– It adds up to over three thousand Gold Galleons. Adding the bounty from the previous days, it’s over five thousand.]

[Harold’s bounty was very high. Last time, he turned the Hexagon Magic Prison upside down and even stole a prison cell. Plus, with all the trouble he caused in the Muggle World these past years, the Ministry of Magic and the Hexagon Magic Prison have already increased the bounty many times.]

[However, because the amount is too large, we cannot take all of it — we need to grease palms both at the Ministry of Magic and Polst’s side. After distributing according to the usual proportion, what’s left is estimated to be around ‘thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and seventy’ Gold Galleons.]

“Over thirty thousand Gold Galleons?” Louis was stunned.

This number surprised Louis a bit. Converted, that’s equivalent to over five million US dollars, right?

Looking at it from a professor’s salary perspective, take Ocris as an example — she is currently a department head-level professor, just one step away from being a deputy head of house. And she also teaches, yet her salary is only 100 Gold Galleons.

Over thirty thousand Gold Galleons was equivalent to thirty years of her salary.

Over five million US dollars was enough to buy a wine estate near Englen City in the Muggle World.

If one didn’t spend on labor and design fees, and only bought materials, then using just one-third of the cost, a very nice manor could be built — though one would have to go to the Muggle World to get some good trees, flowers, plants, seeds, and soil.

Among the craftsmen were gardeners, and didn’t Ross say he was also a carpenter? They could do it.

“Over thirty thousand Gold Galleons… who would have thought, this trickster is also a formidable internationally wanted criminal.”

[Indeed, sir.] Stuart flatteringly smiled. [His tricks are quite good.]

Before long, Stuart prepared a budget list for Louis. The biggest expense was the Crystal Array. This thing, if placed in modern times, would be like large diesel generators one after another. The price was much higher than luxury cars.

Stuart suggested purchasing a Crystal Array with an energy level of 1200 — such arrays were generally used for magic towers, Secret Realms, or magic laboratories. Individuals couldn’t afford them, and even if they bought them, they’d be useless — who runs computers on large diesel generators?

But Louis now had something that needed this very thing — in fact, two things. One was the Magic Mirror, and the other was the Magician’s Box.

They were both Secret Realms.

So this 1200 energy level Crystal Array was Stuart’s procurement suggestion after careful budgeting.

Actually, according to Stuart’s thinking, the Magic Mirror didn’t temporarily need a Crystal Array. Buying a 1000 energy level Crystal Array for the newly built manor and potion garden inside the box was enough.

But Louis felt uncomfortable looking at the shattered Crystal Array on the Magic Mirror, so he added a 200 energy level array.

[With the remaining money, aside from purchasing materials for the manor, a windmill, a mill, farm animals, a potion called ‘leek’ and so on, I suggest buying some ‘Climate Blankets’ — they can simulate climates like desert, rainforest, ocean, etc. With them, your Secret Realm will have climate and seasons. They consume the energy from the Crystal Array. A 1000 energy level array, after deducting the energy needed to sustain the Secret Realm and the daily consumption of Wizards, can support several large Climate Blankets without a problem.]

[Additionally, I suggest getting some Magical Creatures — for example, ‘Sun Worms,’ ‘Moon Worms’…]

[After calculating everything, the remaining money is still over a thousand Gold Galleons.]

Stuart basically spent this money to the limit. In the end, a manor and castle with about 600 acres of land and a sufficient magical environment could be established.

[Sir, if you were to buy a 600-acre piece of land with a manor castle, it would cost far more than this number. You know, land prices are very expensive nowadays. Just buying a castle could cost nearly 40,000 Gold Galleons.]

[However, sir, after the manor is established, you will have income. After all, the ‘craftsmen’ under you are very capable. This manor will be run very, very well — after the first batch of potions, grains, and Magical Creatures grow, deducting the maintenance costs for the manor and the Secret Realm’s interior, as well as the usual expenses for Wizards’ tools and materials, you could probably have an income of over a thousand Gold Galleons per month. You could recoup the investment within three years. If you can collect more Magical Creatures and potion seeds, the future income will be even higher.]

“Mmm, give Ross and the others some wages.” Louis said while playing around. “What’s the monthly pay for a carpenter or the like now?”

[Ahem… probably around 2 Gold Galleons.] Stuart’s expression turned interesting.

“Good.”

If Ross and the others heard this, they would surely cry bitterly. They had many Muggle pirate groups and merchant fleets around the world, yet their Boss wanted them to farm. And for the income of 2 Gold Galleons a month, they would have to dig in the dirt.

It would be better not to give this wage at all.

“They all say they usually have no livelihood in Blackhorn Alley. From now on, let them all work for me. Hydra is short on people.”

Hearing the Boss’s words, Stuart laughed awkwardly. He knew his Boss was just dabbling, not really planning to farm. He wanted to use this opportunity to grind down those guys’ temperaments and observe who was suitable to stay.

These days, the Boss had captured three to five dozen famous Dark Wizards. Those who quietly played cards there, listened to the Boss and casually tidied up their hats, trimmed the fur on their hats, were all kept by the Boss.

The others all had their souls extracted by the Boss and fed to himself.

At first, Stuart was a bit puzzled. Later, by listening to these people’s inner thoughts, he somewhat understood.

The ones who stayed were all ‘sensible people.’ They all wanted to do big things and could also keep their composure.

They could all recognize the situation. Whatever the Boss told them to do, they did. And they were willing. They harbored no complaints in their hearts.

They also had two common characteristics: one was dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Magic’s restrictions on Magic, dissatisfaction with Wizards staying in their own small circle playing house.

The other was that these people were all the type with strong power, deeply hidden, and having good networks of connections. They could be easily rehabilitated, could be sent into the Ministry of Magic…

Stuart felt the Boss was probably planning to cultivate influence.

And what the Boss was doing now was taming hawks.

If these people were once trained by the Boss and sent into the Ministry of Magic, becoming an asset for the Boss’s public identity… then the things he could do would be truly vast.

Stuart’s inner thoughts, Louis could hear all of them.

But he didn’t say much. Like feeding fish, he sprinkled the last pinch of breadcrumbs in his hand into the box, then clapped his hands, rolled the box up like paper, stuffed it into his sleeve, and went back.

He first returned to his office, but this time he did not change his magic robe. Instead, he transformed the magic robe into a handsome antique-style suit, and the Wizard Hat into a top hat. After interacting with Harold, his Transfiguration, inspired by Harold, had become vastly different. Previously, he couldn’t transform this magic robe empowered by Magic Spells.

Looking at himself in the Mirror, Louis nodded in satisfaction.

During his time staying at the academy, he noticed the people here all seemed to dress like ancient people, with some men even wearing noble silk stockings.

But Harold, a Wizard from the Muggle World, dressed very fashionably, in that Victoria-era top hat antique suit style — perhaps the development level of the Muggle World was nearly reaching World War I levels.

It seemed Wizards had sealed themselves in a small circle for a very long time. And there was a huge generation gap and barrier between them and the Muggle World.

Those Wild Wizards from the Muggle World seemed to yearn for Magic immensely. But they couldn’t find any Magic. Yet Wizards guarded the treasure trove of magical knowledge without cherishing it, and were arrogant, not innovating. They were even destroying the Magic and knowledge they disliked.

The previous Witch Queen was extremely pained by such actions of the Wizards. And she tried to change. Louis still didn’t know exactly what she wanted to change, nor why she married a Muggle King.

But Louis could be sure that between the world of Wizards and Muggles, a huge transformation was underway!

The experience in Blackhorn Alley had already allowed Louis to confirm his current strength.

And he still needed to understand more about this world.

And he also needed to gradually reveal the strength of his public identity — reasonably becoming a rising star, stepping onto the stage of history. To understand more things, to participate in the transformation of this world.

Ocris ‘teacher’ was a breakthrough point, and this point he had already opened. Later, if he slowly revealed his true strength, Ocris would surely consider it reasonable — after all, his teacher was Sister Stia.

As long as Ocris considered his strength reasonable, then the academy professors would also think so.

But to completely remove the restraints on himself, he still needed to push harder — perhaps within the academy, he needed a group of stepping stones.

He would gather these stepping stones and take them all out together — saving time and effort.

These stepping stones would help him reveal his strength and secure a suitable position in the Ministry of Magic. So he could go out and have a look — only elites from the Ministry of Magic could go outside. Temporary workers couldn’t.

It wouldn’t be long before, in everyone’s eyes, his true identity would be as strong as the dark identity of the Faceless One.

Louis drank tea in his office for a while, calming his mind. Then he straightened his clothes and returned to his dormitory.

Everything that needed to be done today was done. It was time to do something relaxing.

Going home and chatting with the two young girls was quite interesting.

After opening the door, Louis saw the pair of beautiful high-heeled shoes on the mushroom shoe rack by the entrance. His eyebrows raised slightly, knowing Ocris had returned today.

‘Ah, the room is cleaned so spotlessly. Should I praise a few words?’