141: Chapter 88 Financial Crisis_2 141: Chapter 88 Financial Crisis_2 She looked to the side and only then did she notice the handsome blond youth beside Leon.
Curiously she asked, “May I ask who this is?”
“This is a friend we met during our journey, his name is Kovis, from a very distant place, and he currently has no destination in mind.
I invited him to stay with me,” Leon introduced, raising his hand.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Miss Olivia,” Kovis said, accustomed to giving a chest bow as a salute.
“So you are the friend Elena mentioned.
There’s no need to be so formal; I am no noble, just a commoner,” Olivia clarified quickly, seeing the seriousness of his gesture.
After Leon and the other had become acquainted, he proceeded to ask, “Where’s Azeryan?
I have matters to discuss with him urgently.”
“He should be outside the village patrolling with others.
I was just about to go relieve him.
Why don’t you two go back inside and wait for a bit?
I’ll call for him to return.”
Kovis dismounted and followed Leon.
Watching Olivia’s figure disappearing into the distance, he couldn’t help but turn his head and ask, “That young lady, is she very skilled in martial arts?”
Such a young girl, with such a petite figure, unless she was a spellcaster, it seemed unlikely that she could handle ten or twenty jackals and leopards, even in armor.
Yet, seeing Leon’s trustful manner and their serious conversation, it didn’t seem like a joke to Kovis.
Not just skilled, you seem pretty good with the sword as well.
You should spar with her when you get a chance; after fighting her, you’ll understand,” Leon suggested with a laugh, pushing open his house door.
The grand hall on the ground floor, modeled after a lord’s hall, was still as clean as it had been before they left.
Lena, with her old apron tied around her, hummed softly as she stood beside the temporary and symbolic high-backed chair, polishing the lord’s throne, which she had made shine every day.
Hearing the noise, the young maid lifted her head, saw her master returning, and came running excitedly.
Leon ruffled the little one’s head, praising her diligence, before asking her to call Hawk to tend to the horses outside.
He also requested the kitchen to prepare some additional food and drink for him and Kovis for the evening.
He found an empty room for Kovis upstairs and showed him where to settle in.
Leon returned to his room, removed the leather chain armor damaged in battle with the mages, and instructed the small servants to store it away.
Sitting at his desk, waiting for Azeryan to return for their discussion, Leon suddenly noticed a sheet of paper with writing on the table.
He picked it up and saw it appeared to be…
a record of the month-end expenditures?
It detailed the wages paid to the stableman, the coachman, the cook, and the small servants.
Also listed were the grains consumed by the warhorses in the stables and the pantry consumption of the estate, as well as unplanned expenses for tools and utensils, each meticulously accounted for.
Looking at the neat handwriting, Leon felt it didn’t look like Azeryan’s.
It must have been written by Olivia.
After all, she had been managing his finances for over a month.
Appreciating the girl’s carefulness, he wasn’t at all worried she would embezzle, but being able to write everything down so clearly indeed saved him a lot of trouble.
Leon continued reading and roughly totaled Olivia’s summary of expenses, confirming that the young lady hadn’t made any mistakes.
The first month alone had cost 2,034 Dier.
The major expense was horsemanship, which accounted for more than half the costs.
Leon realized this was still the cost of maintaining just six regular warhorses after they began their journey riding three noble warhorses.
He calculated according to the paper, if they added those three top-tier warhorses, keeping other expenses unchanged, his expenditure for the next month would reach approximately 2,500 Dier.
As for the remaining funds—
In order to save Lokhak’s sister, the three of them had been lavishly spending without restraint on their journey, buying dresses and giving wedding gifts to the Felcon Family, living extravagantly with their horses…
all the money they had brought had been spent.
Helping a sworn brother save his only close relative, Leon wouldn’t mind spending a mountain of gold.
But, the problem was that while facing a security crisis, a financial crisis loomed for his domain as well.
Originally, the Kantadar Gold Coins, left in Olivia’s care, were roughly valued at 100 gold crowns.
After a little more than a month of expenses, the remaining value was about 80 gold crowns.
That is, less than 8,000 Dier.
And with the monthly expenses of 2,500 Dier, the money in hand would only last another three months or so.
Moreover, to counter the pressure on security, expenses for the domain were likely to escalate…
Pondering, Leon quickly awaited Azeryan’s return from his patrol outside the village.
He stood up to embrace and warmly greet his unexpectedly arrived brother.
After chatting about their respective experiences, they sat down to discuss the problems facing the domain.
Leon briefed Azeryan on the general course of events and the fact that the domain’s barrier had dissipated.
Then they discussed possible strategies.
Azeryan was shocked, which far exceeded the noble youth’s previous guesses about the cause of the undead beast attacks.
According to local memory, the Nightmare Forest had existed even before the founding of the Orland Kingdom.
Though dreadful, as long as one didn’t foolishly enter, the man-eating forest was nothing more than a natural barrier separating the northern and southern countries, unchanged since ancient times.
Human settlements close to this ancient natural fortress, on the other hand, had always enjoyed indirect protection and peace.
But now, that tranquility was about to be shattered.