109: Dinner

Beneath the newly cast dome of the Black Panther banquet hall, a chandelier with several layers of crystal tassels illuminated the twenty-meter-long dining table.

Twelve brass candelabras flickered brightly in the spaces between the lavishly arranged delicacies.

Beside each guest, a small porcelain jar held half a jar of snow-white crystalline salt, a silver spoon resting against the rim like a crescent moon docked ashore.

These small silver spoons were acquired by Old Hather at a low price from an Anm Trade Company at the market.

Originally, the head of the trade company was still worrying about how to offload this batch of extra-fine spoons, which they had received as payment for a debt. Unexpectedly, not only did we buy all the spoons, but we also received an order for more custom-made spoons of this kind.

Old Hather just reported to me that although a few items totaling less than twenty gold coins were lost in some areas without alarms, the wave of consumption by these nobles just now has already exceeded one million gold coins.

The main income came from refined salt.

If the Dragon King hadn't helped me quickly swallow the boxes of gold coins brought by the noble servants into the system space, the collection counter's cabinets would have been full long ago.

I asked Old Hather to transcribe today's income statement onto a parchment as soon as possible, only needing the key figures, which I would use later.

After those who went downstairs to grab salt had returned to their seats, I had the employees serve hot lamb chops dipped in refined salt flowers to the table.

Iced wood elf wine rippled in the glass goblets.

A stout man, holding a glass of the elf-originated Everlasting Wine that I had purchased at a high price from Feierde Inn, approached me: “Lord Lion Black, I heard that the salt wells in the Cherlimb Swamp to the north have all been occupied by lizardmen… Your refined salt wouldn’t be mixed with lizard meat powder, would it?”

I raised my wine glass, reflecting the crystal lamp light, “Baron Han Ting’s cellar is much drier than the swamp. However, I did hear that the town’s smokehouse…” I paused appropriately, then smiled, “has been failing at preservation recently due to a salt shortage?”

Seeing someone take the lead in striking up a conversation with me, more people crowded around me.

At the sixth and seventh seats on the right side of the table were Gorebest’s tax official and his wife. The tax official lightly tapped his gilded dinner plate and said to me with a loud smile, “I hear that the young sir wants to use the tax revenue from the newly developed South City to build a mage tower? My son also built a sandcastle in the garden last year—unfortunately, it collapsed after a single autumn rain.”

The tax official’s wife gently shook her diamond earrings, “This refined salt is truly rare in its purity… I wonder if it will be targeted by bandits during transport? The Wan'an Highway is not peaceful these days; many trade companies did not arrive as scheduled for this market.”

I took a sip of fruit juice and saluted the two, “Sandcastles need to be mixed with shells to be strong, you know…” I winked and continued, “Like using Gnolls as ‘shells’ before it rains?”

A tall, thin man wearing amber glasses behind him approached me, his fingertips still rubbing salt grains, “This purity… is much higher than what Baldur's Gate alchemists extract.”

As he reached my side, he suddenly lowered his voice, “Interested in appraising for the black market?”

I snapped my fingers at a servant, “Get Mr. Yuri a fresh set of tableware—too much salt can also affect one’s taste.”

The tall, thin man smiled and retreated.

At the same time, Old Hather had quickly transcribed today’s income statement onto parchment and delivered it to me.

I took the parchment, unrolled it, then “conjured” a pen out of thin air in front of everyone and added two lines of text to the bottom of the paper.

Then, I made the quill “vanish” without a trace, rolled the parchment into a scroll, and handed it to Randall beside me.

I quietly instructed him to give it to the Kedas City Lord, who was twenty-odd meters away at the other end of the dining table.

As the metal pieces on the Holy Knight’s boot soles clanked on the carpet, making “clank, clank, clank” footsteps, everyone’s gaze followed him.

When the priest took the parchment scroll, I picked up a silver spoon and continuously tapped my wine glass—

“Clink, clink, clink, clink…”

Seeing everyone at the dining table look over, I leapt onto the dining chair.

“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen! I am Lion Black, owner of the Black Panther Mall and Lord of the Cloud Mist Mountain Northern Foothills. Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend! Thank you all for being the first esteemed customers of this mall and for purchasing a large quantity of goods. Especially salt!” I proclaimed loudly.

“Now, what the Kedas City Lord holds in his hand is the Black Panther Mall’s sales turnover for tonight.” I pointed my left hand towards Kedas across from me.

Everyone at the table uniformly turned their heads to look at their City Lord.

“How much is tonight’s turnover? City Lord Kedas, would you mind reading it out?” I shouted.

Facing everyone’s uniform gaze, Kedas stood up. This ruler, always known for his frugality, now had a pulsating vein in his neck, as if deciphering an ancient draconic spell.

City Lord Kedas’s Adam’s apple vibrated up and down three times like a stuck gear, and the cuff of his priestly robe scraped an ear-piercing sound on the parchment, “What is written on this paper, the Black Panther Mall’s on-site transaction amount tonight, since our arrival… one hundred thirty-eight… ten thousand… six thousand seven hundred twelve gold coins.”

Everyone present gasped, and a few looked as if they were about to faint.

I saw from afar that the priest’s hands were trembling. He continued, “If the previous agreement holds, then the tax payable to Gorebest is fifty-five thousand four hundred sixty-nine gold coins.”

As the priest’s voice fell, a buzz erupted below, and everyone could no longer sit still.

“How much did you buy?”

“I only bought salt and a few sets of clothes…”

“I only bought salt…”

“I only bought a pair of earrings; Mother and Father, you bought everything else!”

…

Two hours later, the banquet ended. The excited crowd of nobles gradually left the square by carriage.

I still clearly remember when I stood on the dining chair and loudly said, “This is just the income from a few hours in one night. What if, in the future, nobles and trade companies from all over Ferun come to Gorebest to purchase refined salt?

Today, I only sold you over 10,000 pounds of salt? In the future, if 100,000 pounds, 1,000,000 pounds, 10,000,000 pounds are sold, how much money would that be? How much tax? Anyone with the capability to procure large quantities from me and sell them throughout the Northern Lands can send someone to discuss details with my business manager, Mr. Hasser, tomorrow…

With so many trade companies in the future, will hotels be able to accommodate them if expanded 100 times? If ale sells 100 times more, can the procurement speed keep up? Tailor shops, tinkers, general stores, can your procurement speed keep up with customer demand?”

Next to me, the tax official who had previously mocked my wild ideas was now pulling out paper and pen, calculating with a look of madness: 10 times 60,000 in tax is 600,000 gold coins, 100 times is 6,000,000 gold coins, 1,000 times is 60,000,000…

His wife stared intently at her husband’s pen tip, completely unaware that she had even broken her pearl necklace.

Baron Han Ting, who had first challenged me, was also calculating which cities he could sell refined salt to if he purchased it from me.

The vast majority of nobles were discussing what they would do in the future, and even those officials and councilors completely forgot that they had initially dismissed a child’s plan to develop the South City.

When City Lord Kedas asked why I didn't build a city and sell salt in my own territory, all the nobles looked like drowned rats, and only then did someone realize that I wasn't limited to selling salt only in Gorebest.