9 Daddy Konrad Makes Money (1/2)
”What an odd woman.”
Observed the system as Konrad walked out of the pavilion.
”When you think of it, it's nothing surprising. Those women are trapped in the palace for years without the chance to have a relationship or to even see a real man. Developing some odd fantasy is only natural. In any case, it's not like I haven't seen worse.”
”To be roughly taken from behind every night by a man I yearn for, yet, can never see.” That was her core fantasy. Needless to say, it didn't quite match the aloofness with which she usually portrayed herself.
”Women are natural dreamers. The more you try to restrain them, the more their thoughts wander.”
”That aside, why didn't you use the purple bead on her? That would have made everything a lot easier for you. It's very likely that you could have even taken her on the spot.”
To this, Konrad smiled with his usual touch of mischief.
”And miss out on such a fine challenge? It is not every day that I find worthy opponents. I should at least give her a chance to fight her way out of my clutches.”
For three seconds, the system was rendered speechless, but afterward, it burst into laughter.
”Bwahaha! Did you think yourself cool and fancy?”
”You have less than three days, and you want a challenge?”
”Hehehe, you better believe that when the time comes for me to administrate punishment, you will have no chance to find your way out of my clutches.”
Black lines crept on Konrad's forehead, and all his excitement went to the gutters.
”That aside, how do you plan to obtain the High-Grade True Spirit Restoration Pills.”
High-grade True Spirit Restoration Pills were priced at ”8000 exp” in the system. Konrad couldn't afford one, to say nothing of two.
While he could gain exp with intercourse, Faidra and Aliki were, on one hand standing too close to the Holy Consort and on the other hand, he wasn't about to go burst six nuts into them just to get the required exp.
All good things required some moderation, right?
”Naturally, I will go make money!”
The official currency of the Holy Flame Empire was crystals. One purple crystal was worth a thousand red crystals which were, in turn, each worth a thousand blue crystals.
The average commoner household's yearly income was one hundred blue crystals.
A True Spirit Restoring Pill was priced at one hundred red crystals. As for High-Grade True Spirit Restoring Pills, they were between seven and eight hundred red crystals.
Even imperial knights couldn't afford that.
Konrad first regained his real appearance and made his way back to his quarters. Once inside and sure of being far from prying eyes, he sat cross-legged and entered the system to look for the cheapest low-ranked True Spirit cultivation method he could find.
”Clear Heart Scripture: low-ranked True Spirit Cultivation method, 1000 exp.”
He exchanged it for the ”1000 exp” and exited the system. His exp count then dropped down to 4515.
The system made no distinction in prices between martial and spiritual cultivation methods, so their costs were similar. In the outside world, however, that was not the case. Spiritual cultivation methods were by far rarer than their martial counterparts and were thus priced much higher.
They were two reasons for that. The first was that for every ten martial cultivation methods, there was only one spiritual method. The second was that just like nobility monopolized martial cultivation methods, the Holy Flame Church monopolized the spiritual counterparts.
Placing the ”Clear Heart Scripture” within a bag, Konrad exited his quarters and went back toward the kitchen were Alan and Ralph tended to their duties.
”Done with your task?”
They asked as they saw him sneak back inside.
”Not quite. Who among you is the most familiar with the auction department?”
”That would be me.”
Ralph replied with soaring pride. And seeing Alan gritting his teeth but not contending, Konrad carried on.
”Do you have contacts known for their greed? The greedier, the better.”
At first glance, one might worry about the trustworthiness of greedy business partners. But in some cases, they were the best option. Konrad needed someone with an eye for opportunity who would be willing to ignore the ”odd” for the sake of profit. Greedy people were perfect for that.
Moreover, they always controlled much more wealth than their rank could usually afford.
”Yes, I have the perfect man. His name is Hans. Although he's just a mid-ranked eunuch, he has a lot of connections to the head eunuchs of the auction department. As long as there is a profit to be made, there is nothing he's not willing to do.”
That was precisely what he needed.
”Lead the way!”
”R-right now?”
”Yes!”
Through Konrad's commanding tone, the importance of this matter and its impact on future work and cooperation was made clear. That being the case, Ralph didn't dare delay and led the way toward the auction house.
”Two can cover for three, but how can one achieve that? Hopefully, they will soon be back.”