Glancing to the side, Vina only then noticed Betty standing there with her enormous sword.
“Good day, Lady Betty.”
She added a little wink, a casual gesture that revealed the close rapport between the two of them.
This girl was always so gentle and considerate toward those close to Li De.
“Good day, Vina,” Betty showed a warm smile.
She and this astute steward of the Crimson Mage Tower had an extremely close relationship. She also enjoyed spending time with this clever yet kind-hearted girl.
Li De smiled faintly, not paying much attention to the two women exchanging pleasantries, and took the lead walking into the Mage Tower.
After several rounds of expansion, the area within several hundred blades around the Crimson Mage Tower had become his territory, enclosed by high walls that separated the outside world from the Mage Tower.
Now, the Crimson Mage Tower was nothing like before. Previously, Spark had been building ancient alchemical magic arrays around the tower, leaving the ground riddled with pits and hollows where it was hard to find a decent path.
Now, it was different, the entire area of the Mage Tower had been turned into a construction site.
Never mind a proper road; you couldn’t even see a clean patch of grass. There was no point trying to pick a better path, since it was all the same.
After placing a Magic Shield over the two girls behind him and one over himself, Li De finally stepped confidently onto the mud, walking back toward the Mage Tower.
The mage apprentices he passed along the way immediately revealed surprised, delighted expressions upon seeing him, each greeting him respectfully.
As the master of the Crimson Mage Tower, Li De was like a god here, controlling the fate of everyone within. No one dared show the slightest disrespect to their ruler.
Looking at the obviously increased number of apprentices, Li De was in quite a good mood.
Not only was Dawn City thriving, but although he hadn’t managed the Crimson Mage Tower much in the past half year, under this little girl Vina’s stewardship, it too had flourished.
At present, the Crimson Mage Tower had 600 apprentices. Though most of them were workers in the Magic Factory, they were still his foundation.
Entering the tower, seeing the familiar scenes in the main hall, Li De felt an inexplicable twinge of sentiment.
As his territory grew larger and his power more formidable, he was spending less and less time here at the Crimson Mage Tower.
Opportunities to spend ten days or half a month focused solely on magic research, like in the past, seemed fewer and fewer.
Whenever you gained something, you inevitably lost something else. In that respect, this world was fair.
For example, he had gained handsome looks, a powerful force, and more money than he could ever spend, but in the end, he had lost his worries.
Li De didn’t stand on ceremony as he entered the room. He sat boldly down on the sofa.
Glancing at the Northern Valkyrie beside him, who had no interest in any of this, he shrugged and sent this combat powerhouse off to the White Tower to fetch Isha back.
Upon receiving this task, Betty’s eyes immediately lit up, and she turned to leave, delighted.
Isha was her bond. Without Isha, this proud Northern royal would never have willingly signed a Soul Contract with Li De.
“Vina, give me a report on the Crimson Mage Tower’s activities during this time.”
“Yes, Lord Li De.” Vina smiled gently. Thinking of what Li De had asked her to do last time, she stepped around behind the sofa and reached out her fair hands to massage his shoulders lightly.
Feeling the comforting pressure on his shoulders, Li De leaned back with satisfaction. His little maid really was the most understanding and considerate.
“During this period, the Crimson Mage Tower has developed extremely rapidly. Thanks to the supply network I’ve established with nobles and merchant guilds in other cities, the Magic Factory’s daily output has now reached 900 magic scrolls.
That’s around 27,000 per month. Of these, 10,000 are supplied to the various nobles in Green City, and 7,000 are sold directly by the Mysterious Shop.
Of the remaining 10,000, 5,000 are secretly supplied to the Dark Pact, and the final 5,000 are kept as inventory.”
Li De gave a slight nod after listening. A daily output of 900, this figure was already colossal. In the past, if the entire city of Green City managed to produce two or three thousand magic scrolls per month, that was considered a high yield.
Now, the Crimson Mage Tower could match that in just three to five days, its production capacity spoke for itself.
And by sheer volume, Vina had seized control of Green City’s magic scroll market, creating a true monopoly, since none of the Crimson Mage Tower’s competitors could withstand the competition.
After establishing this absolute monopoly, Vina also organized a Magic Scroll Alliance. Any Mage Tower producing at least 50 scrolls per month could join. Today, this Magic Scroll Alliance directly set the market prices for magic scrolls in Green City.
And within the alliance, the Crimson Mage Tower held absolute authority.
In other words, if the Crimson Mage Tower decided what the price of scrolls would be tomorrow, then every shop and Mage Tower in the city had no choice but to sell at that price.
With the help of the Magic Scroll Alliance, the Crimson Mage Tower’s influence was magnified even further.
“How about the profits?”
“The cost of producing each scroll is nearly fixed, the cost price is 3 Gold Pucks.
Of the 10,000 scrolls sold to the nobles, the selling price is 9 Gold Pucks, for a profit of 60,000 Gold Pucks.
The 7,000 scrolls the Mysterious Shop sells each month go for 12 Gold Pucks, earning around 60,000 Gold Pucks in profit.
The 5,000 sold to the Dark Pact also go for 9 Gold Pucks, bringing in 30,000 Gold Pucks in profit.”
Vina reported a string of detailed figures.
“At present, the Magic Factory’s production yields about 150,000 Gold Pucks in profit per month. There is some margin of error, but it shouldn’t differ much.
For the past two months, we’ve been keeping 5,000 scrolls each month in reserve. Right now, the Crimson Mage Tower’s inventory has reached 20,000 scrolls.”
Hearing this staggering number, 150,000 Gold Pucks in monthly profit, Li De took a deep breath.