54: Chapter 54 Earl, your ransom is just the right amount to be my start-up capital.

Levi had appeared behind Ella Radiance at some point. He still carried the warmth from indoors and a faint scent of ink, utterly out of place amidst the blood and gunpowder that permeated the city walls.

He followed Ella's gaze down to the base of the wall, watching as his own guards dragged the once-overbearing Armored Count through the city gates like a fat pig. A satisfied smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Your Highness, how do you find my 'Quarterly Summary Report'?" His voice was soft, yet it pierced through Ella's chaotic thoughts like a needle.

Ella whirled around, her sapphire-blue eyes filled with shock, anger, and a hint of confusion she herself hadn't noticed.

She opened her mouth, only to find her once-proud courtly eloquence now seemed utterly pale and powerless.

"You... you are desecrating war! Desecrating the honor of the nobility!"

"Honor?" Levi repeated, as if he'd heard a particularly amusing joke. He reached out and brushed a layer of dust from the battlement, his movements as elegant as if he were polishing a piece of art.

"Can honor fill the bellies of my subjects? Can it clothe the children shivering in winter? No, it cannot. But gold coins can."

His gaze was calm and profound, a coolness that transcended his age, making Ella's heart shudder.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself back into the familiar framework of logic: "Even so, Count Roland is a great noble of the North. You have captured him. According to the Radiant Codex and noble tradition, you should demand a ransom from his family commensurate with his status and then release him with dignity."

"Tradition?" Levi repeated the word, the smile on his face growing wider. "Traditions are meant to be broken. Moreover, do you think the shrewd heirs of Iron Hammer Castle would willingly empty their coffers to ransom a defeated father? No, they would seize the chance to carve up his power and wealth, then haggle with me symbolically for a few years until Count Roland dies of illness in my dungeon."

Ella's face paled slightly. She had to admit Levi was speaking the truth.

Family affection among noble houses was often fragile, crumbling before immense interests.

"So, why should I wait for a bad debt that might never be repaid?" Levi dusted off his hands and turned to walk down the tower stairs.

"Come, Your Highness. I invite you to witness a more efficient 'asset liquidation' process. Evelyn!"

He called out, his voice not loud, yet it carried clearly to the ground below.

"Yes, Lord." The Succubus Steward's cool voice responded immediately.

"Bring our esteemed 'asset' to the Council Chamber. Don't let him die, but don't be too polite either." Levi's steps didn't falter as he walked straight down the spiral staircase.

In the Council Chamber, the cold air seemed to retain the tense atmosphere from before the battle.

Several servants swiftly cleared the sand table, sweeping all the small red flags representing the allied forces into a wooden box.

The fire in the hearth burned brightly, casting Levi's shadow onto the rough stone wall, stretching it long and thin like a lurking beast.

Ella followed him inside, her heart filled with absurdity and unease.

She couldn't predict what crazy move this man would make next.

Soon, the heavy sound of dragging and the grating of chains grew closer.

The disheartened Count Roland was hauled in by two guards and thrown onto the stone floor in the center of the Council Chamber.

The molten Battle Qi around him had long since dissipated. His magnificent armor was smeared with mud and bloodstains. His right knee and left elbow were haphazardly wrapped in thick bandages, seeping blood that stained the white linen.

The eyes that once held the majesty of a lion now held only humiliation and the despair of ashes.

He stared fixedly at Levi, who sat in the lord's seat, his teeth grinding with a grating sound, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Levi paid no heed to his furious gaze, merely picking up a cup of warm water from the table, taking a sip to moisten his throat.

He turned to look at a young girl standing to the side, holding a stack of parchment.

"Sophie."

"Yes, Lord." The girl answered.

She looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, with delicate features and a hint of sickly pallor, but her eyes were exceptionally bright and focused.

Ella remembered her. She was selected from the refugees some time ago, said to possess a startling talent for numbers.

Levi pointed at Count Roland on the floor and instructed in a tone as casual as discussing the weather: "Begin. Conduct an asset valuation on our spoils of war. Be quick. Our time is precious."

"Yes." Sophie nodded, not even sparing an extra glance at the great figure who once dominated the North, now lying on the floor.

She deftly opened the parchment list in her hands. Her clear, calm voice echoed in the Council Chamber, each word like a cold scalpel dissecting Count Roland's value.

"Assessment target: Roland Iron Hammer, Count of Iron Hammer Castle. Based on the Imperial Noble Annals and Northern commercial intelligence, his personal market valuation is approximately thirty thousand imperial gold coins. This valuation is based on a comprehensive assessment of his potential Hire value as a high-level Battle Qi expert, his organ alchemy value, and his value as a political hostage for ransom."

"Pfft—!"

Hearing this, Count Roland on the floor could no longer suppress the churning Qi and Blood in his chest. He violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes bloodshot with Ultimate rage.

"You... you shameless bastard! How dare you... how dare you appraise an Imperial Count like livestock!"

Sophie's report didn't falter for a moment, as if Roland's vomiting blood was merely an irrelevant interlude.

"Secondary Asset Two: Thirty-seven knights under his command, all captured. Among them, twelve are formally knighted, twenty-five are squires. Based on a comprehensive calculation of their individual ransoms, equipment value, horses, and potential labor value, at a standard rate of four hundred gold coins per person, the total is fourteen thousand eight hundred gold coins."

"In summary," Sophie closed the list, looked up at Levi, and delivered her final conclusion, "the total value of the core asset package from this war is forty-five thousand eight hundred gold coins. Considering market fluctuations and liquidation difficulty, it is recommended to sell as a bundled package. A floor price can be set at forty thousand gold coins to seek rapid capital Recycle."

A deathly silence fell over the entire Council Chamber.

Ella felt her worldview being repeatedly hammered by a sledgehammer until it shattered.

She looked at the girl who had just calmly reported such earth-shattering content, then at Levi sitting in the Main position, looking as composed as if listening to an ordinary business report. A chill shot from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.

This was no longer war. It was a冷酷到 Ultimate的商业并购.

The victor was not a general, but an actuary.

Count Roland trembled with rage. He struggled to stand, but was held down firmly by the guards.

He roared with all his might: "Madmen! You're all a bunch of madmen! Kill me! Have the guts to kill me!"

At that moment, the heavy wooden door of the Council Chamber was thrown open violently. A gust of icy wind carrying snowflakes rushed in.

A scout stumbled in, his eyebrows and beard frosted white, his lips purple from the cold.

"Lord! Trouble!" The scout's voice trembled from urgency and cold. "Bl... Black Snow! It's the Black Snow Calamity! Since midnight yesterday, the entire Red River Valley has been falling black snow! The temperature plummeted! The river surface... the river surface is starting to freeze!"

"What?" Levi frowned, finally looking up from his "asset valuation report."

The scout gasped for breath, reporting even worse news: "And... and the grain! All our teams sent to surrounding towns to purchase grain have been driven back! Silverleaf City, Boulder Town... all the grain merchants we traded with, as if by agreement, simultaneously cut off grain supplies to the Blackstone Territory! They said... they said they wouldn't sell us another grain of wheat!"

The Black Snow Calamity. The grain blockade.

These two terms fell like two mountains, instantly pressing down on the hearts of everyone in the Council Chamber.

The joy of victory just won vanished in that moment, replaced by immense fear for the future.

The Blackstone Territory was already barren, its grain reserves always tight. Now, with external aid cut off and a natural disaster striking, half the people would likely starve this winter!

Hearing this news, Count Roland, who had been half-dead with anger, suddenly froze, then burst into a fit of Madness laughter.

"Haha... hahahaha! Retribution! This is retribution!" He laughed and coughed, blood-flecked foam spilling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with vengeful glee.

"Levi Byron! You think you've won? You think your schemes can Dominate everything? Naive! So naive!"

He lifted his head, staring at Levi with a look reserved for the dead: "I tell you, my five thousand allied troops were just the appetizer! The real killing move is only just beginning! You cut off the Northern nobles' source of wealth, offended people you shouldn't have. The North's largest landowner, the 'Grain King' who controls seventy percent of the North's grain trade—Count Augustus! He's the one who truly wants your life! Without grain, your army, your subjects, will all turn to piles of dry bones from hunger and cold! Hahahaha!"

Faced with this sudden internal and external crisis, and Count Roland's Crazy shouting, Levi's face did not show the expected panic.

He simply listened quietly, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table, as if calculating something.

A moment later, he raised his eyes. His gaze swept over the despairing scout, the Maniacal laughter Roland, and the worried Ella, finally landing on the CFO Sophie.

"Yes."

"Draft a 'Blackstone Territory Disaster Relief Special Bond Issuance Announcement' immediately." Levi's voice was not loud, but exceptionally clear, carrying an undeniable force. "Use Count Roland and his knight order—this 'asset' with a total value of forty-five thousand eight hundred gold coins—as the initial collateral. Offer it for sale to all the subjects, soldiers, and craftsmen of the Blackstone Territory. Tell them that buying bonds is investing in the future of the Blackstone Territory. We pledge that for the next three years, all Liquor tax revenue from every tavern in the Blackstone Territory will serve as interest for these bonds, paid quarterly."

Bonds? Collateral? Liquor tax interest?

A series of unheard-of terms spilled from Levi's mouth, plunging everyone in the Council Chamber except Evelyn into bewilderment.

Ella found it utterly Unbelievable. What was the time for this? Grain was running out, and instead of thinking how to beg for grain, he was Doing all this fancy stuff?

Using a living person as collateral for a sale?

This was simply madness!

Events unfolded faster than Levi had anticipated.

In less than half a day, a man claiming to be an envoy of Count Augustus appeared at Blackstone Castle, striding through the wind and snow with an air of arrogant.

Dressed in luxurious fur, he cast a disdainful glance at the Simple furnishings of the Council Chamber, then tossed a piece of parchment onto Levi's table.

"Lord Levi," he drawled, his tone full of arrogance and condescension, "Count Augustus has heard of your territory's Dilemma and is deeply sympathetic. The Count says that as long as you sign this 'Mineral Rights Mortgage Agreement,' mortgaging the Blackstone Territory's mineral mining rights to him for the next fifty years, he is willing to sell you enough grain to last the winter—at ten times the market price."

With that, he glanced at the bond announcement Sophie had just posted and let out a laugh. "As for this 'bond' of yours, the Count is also quite interested. He is willing to trade a sack of already moldy wheat for one thousand of these... Um, pieces of toilet paper too stiff even to wipe with."

A Blatant humiliation.

Levi didn't even look at the agreement. He simply smiled and said to Evelyn, "Evelyn, please show the envoy to his quarters. And let him have a Just browsing around the castle, allow him to Experience it our Blackstone Territory's 'ample' state of combat readiness." He emphasized the word "ample."

"As you command." Evelyn, understanding perfectly, gestured for the envoy to follow.

The envoy snorted coldly and followed Evelyn out.

Passing by the castle cellar, he "unintentionally" saw that the cellar was brightly lit. Hundreds of laborers were Moving things around in a frenzy huge crates covered with heavy tarpaulins.

The crates looked immensely heavy. From the occasional gap, they seemed filled with golden-yellow grain.

The entire cellar was filled with the aroma of grain, and a scent of... fresh earth.

Filled with Doubt and unease, the envoy hastily left Blackstone Castle.

When Evelyn returned to report, only Levi and Ella remained in the Council Chamber.

Ella finally couldn't hold back her question: "What exactly are you trying to do? Those things in the cellar... they weren't really grain, were they?"

"Of course not." Levi admitted frankly. "Just some crates filled with sand, with a layer of wheat on top, It smelled a bit. with alchemical medicine. A simple Sleight of hand to buy time, to keep him from See clearly our Hidden Card."

"But that doesn't solve the fundamental problem! Your subjects need real grain!"

"Correct." Levi nodded. He pulled out a blank sheet of parchment, of fine quality, from beneath the desk and slowly spread it out before Ella.

The paper glowed softly in the candlelight, its The fine texture is clearly visible..

He picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, but didn't start writing immediately. Instead, he looked up and said to the utterly Confused Ella in a tone Almost delirious:

"Your Highness, have you ever seen a lord print his own money?"

Ella's pupils constricted sharply. She seemed to see a Pandora's box slowly opening in this man's hands.

The corners of Levi's mouth curled into a mysterious radian. The quill in his hand hovered over the blank parchment.

"Now, let's print some banknotes."