Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

”Please come in.”

Connor gently knocked on the door, and only after Hughes’ voice sounded did he enter the room.

He cleared his throat, and a rare smile appeared on his usually steady face.

”Young Master, your shop opening was quite successful. On the very first day, we sold over two thousand Lio’s worth of goods—our entire stock was sold out in just a few hours.”

”The soap sold best, the laundry soap also did quite well, but the olive oil had only average sales.”

Hughes nodded and smiled.

There was only one reason, because their treasury was nearly empty.

Castel’s city hall had long since spent the last gold rum, and his private reserves were also nearly depleted, with only some hard-to-liquidate jewelry and antiques remaining.

Only the gods knew how Connor, managing Hughes’ finances, had endured these days.

He had never heard of a lord who could spend every last coin in his vault. If it weren’t for Hughes’ firm stance, he would have already refused to let Alexei take any more money from them.

”Don’t worry, Connor. As I said before, gold is something I can spend and earn back just as easily.”

Connor nodded in approval, though he still felt amazed.

It wasn’t that no lord had ever tried to make money from their own subjects, but it usually ended in failure.

The poor valued their money too much and were unwilling to part with it no matter what.

But Hughes had managed to do it so smoothly that even Connor found it unbelievable. He couldn’t understand it at all.

Hughes glanced at him and smiled even more cheerfully.

”I have always insisted on hiring my people for labor and never delaying their wages. What do you think about that?”

Connor remained silent for a moment before slowly replying, ”Young Master, you have your own plans, but in my opinion, it seems wasteful.”

”Wasteful? Wasteful of money?”

The old Butler nodded.

”But have you ever considered this—what exactly is money?”

Hughes took a gold coin from his pocket and held it in his hand. It was about twice the size of a fingernail, very thin, yet not light in weight.

”Money, or rather, all currency, is essentially a materialization of productivity. That might sound complicated, but you can understand it this way,it only has one truly effective purpose.”

Hughes flicked his finger, and the gold rum traced an arc through the air before landing in Connor’s hand.

”Trade.”

Connor looked at the coin in his hand and frowned.

”The more trade occurs, the faster money circulates, and the more its meaning is realized.”

”At first, I had money, and the people had none. I gave them money.”

”Now, the money has returned to me, completing one cycle of circulation.”

”It seems as if nothing has changed, doesn’t it?”

Hughes turned around and pushed open the window. The bright sunlight poured in, filling the entire room.

Connor focused his gaze outside.

On the once-empty land, factories had risen like silent behemoths.

Workers, like ants, transported raw materials in and moved goods out.

Children played and laughed, their faces full of joy.

Near the distant volcano, countless harvesting teams were busy among the trees, and beneath their feet, a wide road was steadily being laid toward the factories.

Further away, in the school, Miss Zoe read the lesson aloud, and the voices of students, both young and old, echoed together in response.

Somehow, this barren island had changed.

Castel.

Connor felt his hair stand on end. He had been following Hughes every day, too busy to notice anything else, and now, when he finally looked up, he realized just how much Castel had transformed.

He stood there in a daze, something stirring deep within him.

”How beautiful.”

Hughes murmured.

Connor looked outside, then lowered his head to stare at the coin in his hand.

Gold coins, Connor had seen many of them. Duke Cohen’s treasury was filled with chests upon chests of them, too many to count.

They all looked the same, unchanged for thousands of years.

But Castel was different. It changed every single day.

”Strange, isn’t it? The amount of gold remains the same, yet everyone is richer, and everything is improving.”

Connor thought of those other lords who desperately squeezed the last Lios from their subjects and then complained that the poor held onto their money too tightly.

They had been wrong from the very beginning.

It wasn’t that Hughes could make money from his people, it was that he had been wealthy all along.

His treasury was empty, yet he was the richest lord in the Storm Ocean.

Money only has value when it circulates; otherwise, it is just a pile of scrap metal.

Connor suddenly recalled these words. Hughes had said them before, but he hadn’t understood.

There were many things Hughes said that he didn’t understand.

But now, he had a vague realization.

When he looked up, Hughes was smiling at him.

”So, the money you’ve just collected is going to be spent again, to continue the next cycle of circulation, isn’t it?”

Hughes was briefly stunned, then slowly applauded.

”Yes, my dear Connor. You are starting to think like a real finance minister. Have you considered becoming a government official?”

”You are right, but a finance minister is a second-rank civil official, which is actually higher than your court adviser title. That wouldn’t be proper.”

Hughes choked on his tea.

”Cough, oh, right, I have something else for you. Chloe gave me an official document from the Candlelight Church, mentioning the accompanying Secret keeper. I need you to look into her background.”

Connor took the document with some surprise. When he saw the name on it, he nodded in realization.

”Beatrice Joanne, you suspect something?”

”Yes. That is a noble surname. She must be a member of the Joanne family. For a noble to become an Extraordinary, there must be a story behind it. But that’s not the reason I want you to investigate her.”

Hughes paused. ”She is a young noble lady, so she must have her own social circle in Rhine. I suspect she will be very interested in our soap. This is an opportunity for us. Even better, she won’t be staying here for long. When she returns to Rhine, she will be our best advertisement.”

Connor’s eyes lit up.

”The royal salons often host the Joanne family. I haven’t heard of Miss Beatrice before, but among Rhine’s noblewomen, she should have some influence.”

A noble Butler often knew more about the upper circles than the nobles they served, as they were responsible for planning their master’s travels and arranging guests for banquets. Connor had handled such matters frequently at the duke’s estate and had detailed records on Rhine’s aristocracy.

”I will look into it immediately.”

Connor left quickly, only realizing after stepping out of the room that he was still holding the gold coin.

He chuckled and slipped it into his pocket.