In the early morning, after finishing his morning exercises, Lucas finished his breakfast and went to the study room to read for a while. These days, he's either busy handling administrative affairs or absorbing knowledge.
If he wants to transform Sedona City into the ideal city he envisions, knowledge is crucial. After all, planning and everything related to it rely entirely on his teaching and arrangement.
For instance, Lucas is currently reading a physics book, revisiting knowledge he learned years ago. As time has passed, he has handed over much of his knowledge to his teachers which means he has forgotten it.
While reading, Lucas takes notes, essentially organizing his thoughts. The book he's currently reading is his middle school physics textbook, and he's noting down useful information for the next five or six years, to be organized later.
This task is mentally taxing for Lucas. Copying down information isn't difficult, but presenting it in another form is.
"Fire burns air, producing various gasses such as carbon dioxide, helium, etc., resulting in a density lower than that of the surrounding air…"
Lucas muttered softly to himself as he wrote this sentence, then closed his notebook.
"Whew…"
Lucas sighed in relief. He had completed half of the otherworldly university curriculum. Yes, he's adapted Earth's middle school knowledge into something that can be studied at an otherworldly university.
As for the university itself, Lucas has only made plans so far. The elementary school has only recently opened, and it will take a long time for those children to graduate.
"Oh, right, the principle of air expanding when heated and contracting when cooled—could that be used to create a hot air balloon?" Lucas had a sudden inspiration but quickly set the thought aside; it wasn't the right time to work on that.
"Young master, take a break." Mina's soft voice came from nearby, as she handed him a packet of fried fish snacks.
"Alright." Lucas replied with a slight daze, then smiled as he picked up a piece of fried fish snack and slowly chewed it. It was crisp and fragrant, becoming more delicious with each bite.
He glanced over at Mina, who was sitting on the desk with one leg propped up, her slender leg occasionally swaying. It was as if the usual routine had never been interrupted, like the cat-eared girl had never left.
"Annie and Ayesha went to the pizza place again?" Lucas asked, picking up another piece of fried fish snack.
"Yes, they went right after breakfast. Annie even took some administrative work to the pizza place." Mina replied with a light laugh.
"Really, it's just a novelty for a few days." Lucas said with a helpless smile. It had been three days since the pizza place opened.
The business at the pizza shop was doing reasonably well. Besides the employee named Elisa, Nicole had sent two maidservants from the castle to help out. For a newly opened shop, business was generally good, but with only three people, they were definitely overwhelmed. There was no need to hire more staff yet, so Nicole temporarily assisted. As for Ayesha and Annie, their role was more about not causing trouble rather than actively contributing.
"Young master, here are the documents Annie asked me to give you this morning." Mina said, blushing slightly as she pulled out a document from under her and handed it to Lucas. She had just remembered it.
"Oh?" Lucas took the document and opened it. "Customs duties… It seems to be going well. As expected, it's the merchants who are the major taxpayers. The taxes collected from this batch of merchants are several times more than what Sedona City has collected."
As for those who resisted paying taxes? Once they saw other fleets being cleared out while their own goods were being held back, they all obediently paid the customs duties.
Lucas continued reading and saw a report about their own fleet setting out for Sakura City. Some goods could be sold there, such as salt, and they would also deliver the goods ordered by the Lord of Sakura City.
Moreover, and most importantly, some of the commoner people who had originally come from Sakura City had sent letters back, calling their friends and relatives to come work in Sedona City.
When it came to administrative matters, Mina quietly listened, as she didn't understand much and chose not to interrupt. She continued to munch on the fried fish snacks.
"Mina, I don't have much to do at the castle today, so you can go out and have a look around with Annie and the others." Lucas suddenly said.
He didn't want the cat-eared girl to be bored and stuck in the study room all day. Sitting around alone could be quite uncomfortable.
"Huh?" Mina looked momentarily surprised. Her eyes flickered, and she quickly smiled, "Understood."
"…"
Well, Lucas realized his words were in vain. When the cat-eared girl was being stubborn, she wouldn't meet his gaze, and her cat ears drooped.
"Really can't do anything about you." Lucas said, giving up. When the cat-eared girl was determined about something, unless he forced a change, it wouldn't happen, such as her staying by his side.
"Young master, life is already quite good now. I don't feel bored." Mina said softly, her eyes filled with calmness. She was extremely content with her current life.
Mina had found peace, washing away her restlessness. Her simple and somewhat novel life had become something she was deeply fond of.
Lucas shrugged. Maybe so. If he had to sit around all day, he'd probably go crazy. He was considering whether he should bring in more novels.
Hmm? Lucas suddenly had an idea. Before he could voice it, there was a knock at the door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Young master, the four members of the War Wolf Squad have returned." Ben's voice called out.
"Oh?" Lucas's eyes lit up. They had been gone for eight days; were they finally back?
"Come in."
"Creak."
The door opened, and Ben entered carrying a box, with Chris following behind him, holding a sack that was wriggling.
"Good job." Lucas noticed that Chris's face looked a bit tired, showing signs of exhaustion.
"It's nothing. It's my duty." Chris said, slightly excited as he stood upright. The acknowledgment from the city lord made the eight days of hard work worthwhile.
"Did you find what we were looking for?" Lucas asked.
"Not entirely sure, but it looked pretty close to what the young master described, so I brought it back," Chris said with a grin.
"Bring it over."
Ben first opened the box before placing it on Lucas's desk, taking precautions against any potential toxic fumes. This showed that Ben was quite meticulous.
"It's huge." Lucas observed the item inside the box, which resembled a tree root. He carefully broke off a small piece, put it in his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. His eyes soon brightened.
"Yes, this is the taste. This is ginseng." Lucas confirmed with a nod.
Indeed, after escorting Mina and Helen to the Forbidden Mountains, the War Wolf Squad's secret mission was to find ginseng. Lucas had originally planned to send people next spring, but with Helen returning to her tribe, he decided to handle it all at once.
Lucas hadn't expected to actually find ginseng. He was almost tempted to take it back to Earth for verification. If it turned out to be genuine, this box of wild ginseng could potentially be sold for an extraordinarily high price.
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