Victor sat in a private room in a Neverwinter tavern, flipping through recent trade bills.

Unlike the noisy hall downstairs, this was undoubtedly a high-end accommodation. The floor was covered with a wool rug, and a heated pit was set under the soft couch, so that his feet would not feel a trace of chill from the moment he entered the room to when he lay down.

At his request, the shopkeeper had also installed a movable wooden table board next to the soft couch, which did not hinder his usual rest and could be used as a low table when needed. Especially in the howling winter, sitting on the couch to work was a kind of enjoyment.

At this moment, on his left hand side was a plate of golden roasted chicken breast slices, and on his right was a glass of mysterious purple Chaos drink. Regardless of the taste, this meal alone was worth ten gold dragons.

As an above-board jewelry merchant, and in reality the fourth son of the Lothar family, these expenses, which were huge sums in the eyes of ordinary people, were nothing to him. Spending a sum of gold dragons to let himself enjoy the comfort of wealth had become his subconscious action, and whether it was worth it or not was not within his consideration.

Since visiting the giant machine called "Train" two months ago, he had bought a room on the third floor of this tavern and used it as his business base.

Of course, with his wealth, it would not be difficult to buy one or two properties, but Victor preferred this feeling of detachment—being in a quiet place, but also being able to feel the hustle and bustle of the bottom. Compared to the traditional noble mansions, he always had a yearning for places like taverns.

Not just for the convenience of negotiating business with various trade caravans.

If there was anything that could directly reflect the vitality and commercial prosperity of a city, it would definitely be the taverns located in the downtown area.

After flipping through the last page, Victor closed the lambskin book in his hand and picked up the crystal clear drink. Illuminated by the candlelight, the purple-red liquid was like a beautiful gem.

The recent bills had a little trouble.

That was that he had not received rough gemstones from the Western Territory for a long time.

The War of Kings had greatly changed the situation in Graycastle. Cities were destroyed by war, and nobles no longer owned fiefs. These changes caused the price of luxury goods to drop again and again. To maintain the original profit, it was necessary to increase sales. But without rough gemstones, his jewelers could not conjure gemstones.

Longsong Stronghold was originally a major supplier of rough gemstones for him, but after Roland Wimbledon announced the establishment of Neverwinter, the source of rough gemstones became increasingly scarce. He had visited the Longsong area several times and found that all the mining areas there had been taken into the hands of the young king—this was not surprising, as hoarding wealth was the common trait of lords. What was strange was that after those products were transported to the Border Region, they seemed to disappear into thin air.

That's right, he had not found a single jewelry store in Neverwinter yet.

Either sell rough gemstones for profit, or invest a sum of money and make gemstones for profit. The lord's methods were nothing more than these two. He could earn a price difference from the former, and he could cooperate in sales from the latter—whether it was sales channels or further processing into jewelry, he had the strength that the other party could not refuse.

But the king simply did not leave him a way to intervene.

It was as if Roland Wimbledon had no intention of making money from gemstones at all.

This made Victor a little distressed.

He had also tried to bring the finished jewelry to Neverwinter for sale, but the result was equally disappointing. Civilians anywhere could not afford such expensive commodities that cost dozens of gold dragons. They were always only supplied to wealthy noble families to satisfy their need to flaunt and compare at banquets. But here, there were no nobles in the traditional sense!

That's right, a huge new city like this lacked interest in jewelry, which was something he had not anticipated.

He had come to Neverwinter many times, only buying goods here, but rarely selling them. The accounts in the lambskin book showed a one-sided tendency.

This was undoubtedly an unhealthy signal.

The appearance of the Train had made Victor realize that the future had arrived, but it was not evenly distributed—and in order to better expand his business, he naturally had to go to the place closest to the future. Transferring the center of his business from the old capital to the new capital was also his inevitable choice.

The problem was, what if there was no such industry in the future?

He did not lack money, and he could enjoy a prosperous life even if he did nothing. But he had to prove his ability in the trading business, so that those merchants who coveted the family and the "black money" would have nothing to say.

He could not let his father down.

While Victor was thinking about how to solve this problem, the noise downstairs suddenly increased several times, and even the floorboards trembled slightly.

It was still early in the evening, and it shouldn't be the time for the drinkers to be happy. Had something happened?

He rang the copper bell to call the maid.

"Excuse me," a pretty woman quickly pushed the door open and walked in, "What are your orders?"

The moment the door opened, the noise suddenly increased a lot, and he seemed to hear someone shouting something loudly.

Victor pointed to the outside, "What's going on downstairs?"

"Sorry, sir, did they disturb you?" The maid smiled apologetically, "There's no way to avoid it, after all, today is the day the newspaper is released, and everyone is scrambling to buy it."

"News...paper?" He repeated awkwardly.

"Yes, His Majesty issued an announcement a week ago, saying that he would use it to replace the bulletin board in the square. Everyone has been looking forward to it for a long time, and they all want to see what the newspaper is."

Heh, is there a new gadget again? No wonder it's the new capital, Victor was immediately interested, "How much does it sell for?"

"I heard it's ten copper eagles a copy."

"Then help me buy one... no, buy ten copies!" he said immediately.

"Yes." The maid ran downstairs quickly, and soon ran back panting, "S-Sir... all the newspapers that were delivered have been sold out."

"So fast?" Victor blinked in surprise, if it was a commodity, it was too easy to sell. But this was not difficult for him, wasn't it just throwing money, "Then buy it from the people who bought it, money is not a problem!"

He threw a gold dragon into the maid's arms, "As long as you can buy it, the rest is yours!"

"Yes! Sir!" The girl smiled happily.

Half a quarter of an hour later, six stacks of gray-white newspapers were delivered to him.

"The price downstairs has risen to twenty silver wolves, I have tried my best..." The maid hesitated.

Was this a case of raising prices on the spot when someone was buying in large quantities? And the other party's expression clearly exposed the thoughts in her heart—although she had not completed the task, she was reluctant to hand over the remaining money. Victor didn't care, "What's your name?"

"Linglong, sir."

"Keep the money," he shook the newspaper in his hand, "Also, can you read this with me?"

Since there was delicious food and wine, the missing thing was self-evident. The other party's slightly heaving chest and the fine sweat on her nose all exuded the breath of youthful vitality. Having seen many noble women, this slightly clumsy girl had a different flavor. Besides, the other party was a resident of Neverwinter, and if he encountered something he didn't understand, he could ask her about it.

"Lord Victor..." The maid lowered her head, a blush appeared on her cheeks, and after a while, she bit her lip and nodded, whispering, "I am willing."

"Hahaha," he smiled and patted the soft couch, "Then thank you for your company."