Chapter 337 - 332: The Lord’s Ledger

Chapter 337: Chapter 332: The Lord’s Ledger

Minas Tirith, the Lord’s Mansion.

Velin stared at the ledger in his study, the tip of his quill hovering over the paper, hesitating to fall.

The flames in the fireplace danced, casting the shadows of long strings of numbers onto the wall, making them look like monsters with gaping maws.

Tristan stood by Velin’s side. Seeing his lord unusually silent, he spoke softly, "My Lord, is there a problem with the accounts?"

"A big one." Velin set down his quill and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If my calculations are correct, at our current rate of consumption, the Grey Marsh Territory’s finances will be deep in the red in three months."

Tristan’s expression didn’t change, but his fingers tightened slightly on the folder he was holding.

Of course, he knew the source of the problem—the three Leviathans. The Level 5 Magical Beasts were like three bottomless pits, devouring the territory’s wealth each day.

"This is last week’s consumption report for the three Leviathans." Tristan placed a sheet of paper on the mahogany desk.

Velin opened the report and read each line of numbers carefully.

[Mixed Feed, ten tons.]

[Details: Primarily a mix of fishbone meal and grain bran. Totaling 20,000 pounds. By sourcing through the Golden Sail Commerce Association, the combined cost was reduced to 0.48 Copper Leaves per pound, for a total of 9,600 Copper Leaves. Equivalent to: 40 Golden Suns.]

[Fortified Bone Meal and Mineral Additive, 1.5 tons.]

[Details: Totaling 3,000 pounds. The combined cost is maintained at 1.5 Copper Leaves per pound, for a total of 4,500 Copper Leaves. Equivalent to: approximately 19 Golden Suns.]

[Crude Alchemy Potion, 80 gallons, used for absorbing necessary energy and suppressing wild instincts.]

[Details: Approximately 0.2 Golden Suns per gallon, equivalent to about 16 Golden Suns.]

"A total of seventy-five Golden Suns..." Tristan’s voice was heavy. "This is their weekly consumption, and that’s after we’ve used every resource and tried every possible way to cut costs."

He paused before continuing, "That’s three hundred Golden Suns a month, and nearly a thousand a quarter. My Lord, that’s equivalent to half a year’s tax revenue for the entire barony."

"And that doesn’t even account for the energy drain on the Thunderlight Jewels." Tristan turned to another page. "Our current reserves can only support two full-power uses of ’Storm Strangler.’ Once we begin the long voyage, the Leviathans won’t be able to forage for themselves, and their consumption is expected to double."

The study fell silent.

The wood in the fireplace crackled softly, as if mocking their predicament.

"From a financial perspective, this is not a sustainable plan." For a change, Tristan added his own judgment instead of just stating facts. "Perhaps... we need to re-evaluate the cost-effectiveness of raising three Level 5 Magical Beasts. Should we consider selling one or two of them, or look for other strategic alternatives?"

"Without them," Velin said softly, "what will we use to get to the Southern Islands? What will we use to fight the Bloodsail Brotherhood’s fleet?"

Tristan fell silent.

It was a paradox.

Velin needed the three Leviathans as the core of his expeditionary force, but he couldn’t afford to keep them.

Traditional fishing and market procurement could never support such a naval expedition.

"We must find an alternative." Velin turned around, his gaze sharp once more. "The fundamental logic of a food chain is energy conversion. If traditional channels can’t meet the demand, then we’ll change the source of the energy."

He sat back down at his desk, pulled out a blank sheet of parchment, and began to write quickly.

Tristan recognized the symbols—it was Velin’s unique way of creating a mind map to organize the logical chain of complex problems.

[Leviathan → High Energy Demand → Meat/Bone Meal/Alchemy Potion → High Cost]

[Alternative: Low Cost, High Conversion Rate, Sustainable]

Velin stared at the question mark, his fingers tapping a steady rhythm on the desktop.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

Tristan stood aside, not daring to interrupt.

He knew that his lord’s mind was currently working at a staggering speed, searching for an answer.

Suddenly, Velin’s fingers stopped.

He yanked open a drawer and began rummaging through it.

Notebook after notebook was pulled out and tossed aside.

"Last year... Tarry Port... should be in..." A rare urgency tinged Velin’s voice.

Finally, he found a notebook with a somewhat worn cover.

It was his journal from his time in Tarry Port.

Velin flipped rapidly through the pages, his eyes scanning the dense text and diagrams.

Suddenly, his movements froze.

On the parchment was a detailed anatomical drawing—a shipworm, magnified countless times, with its digestive system, reproductive organs, and energy conversion pathways all meticulously labeled.

Beside it were Velin’s research notes from that time:

[Species: Modified Shipworm "Blight" (Level 2 Magical Beast)]

Lines of analytical data were reflected in Velin’s eyes.

A crazy idea was forming in his mind.

"Wood..." he muttered. "Turning wood into meat..."

"My Lord?" Tristan sensed the change in Velin’s mood.

Velin looked up at Tristan.

"Tristan, how much timber do we have in reserve? Including all usable wood resources."

"Various types of timber, including that for construction and ship repair, total about two thousand tons. If we include deadwood from the forests and rotting wood from the swamps..." Tristan calculated quickly. "A conservative estimate would be over ten thousand tons. But, My Lord, are you referring to..."

Velin didn’t answer. He stood up and strode toward the door.

"Follow me."

Tristan paused for a second, then hurried to catch up.

They passed through the castle’s corridors and descended a spiral staircase, going all the way down to the third basement level.