By the next day, Rocky had someone prepare a room in the City Lord's Mansion early in the morning to serve as his own study.
Since he had the ability to draw First Level Magic Energy Runes, he naturally planned to devote his time to learning how to make them.
However, it was best to have a separate study for these kinds of activities. Fortunately, the City Lord's Mansion had numerous rooms available, and it was just a matter of arranging one to be cleared out. Later on, the equipment scavenged from the research institute could be moved in, and the study would be complete.
But what Rocky hadn't anticipated was that Aileen, whom he had met the day before, arrived even before the room had been readied.
"Is it ready already?"
With a stack of thick papers in hand, Rocky found it hard to believe because this stack contained the financial summaries of Thunderhawk City for the last three quarters.
The day before, Rocky had indeed asked Aileen to prepare this information and hand it to him, but he hadn't expected her to compile so much data so quickly—it had only been one day.
Looking at the documents in his hand and then at Aileen standing before him, Rocky found it hard to believe.
In his eyes, Aileen was just a delicate girl, approximately seventeen or eighteen years old, seemingly younger than him, yet he hadn't anticipated her capability in handling matters to be so strong.
It would be one thing if Voss had helped organize these documents, but if Aileen had done it alone, then this seemingly youthful girl was truly extraordinary.
Thinking this, Rocky tentatively asked, "Aileen, have you looked over all the financial documents regarding Thunderhawk City?"
"I have," she replied, her face devoid of much expression.
"Since that's the case, do you have anything you want to tell me?"
Seeing her nod, Rocky asked again.
"Yes, I hope the City Lord can be prepared."
Facing Rocky's casual query, Aileen indeed nodded, then stated, "I just received news that the price of imported yarn next month might be much higher than before."
"Oh?"
Rocky hadn't expected Aileen to bring up the matter of yarn, and he furrowed his brow.
As mentioned before, textiles were the only industry of Thunderhawk City; men in the city took care of farming while the women worked on weaving at home. Thus, every quarter, the City Lord's Mansion had to import yarn from cooperating chambers of commerce to ensure that the residents could produce fabric.
Aileen's words suddenly made Rocky realize it was already August, and September was the last month of the third quarter. As City Lord, he indeed needed to prepare the yarn required for the fourth quarter.
However, he was puzzled as to why Aileen would suddenly tell him about the rise in yarn prices.
This matter couldn't be taken lightly by Rocky, as it was extremely significant, directly affecting the financial income of Thunderhawk City and the well-being of its residents. Thus, he immediately set aside his concerns about Magic Pattern Runes and regarded Aileen solemnly.
"Aileen, what exactly is going on? Is there a problem with the Azure Commerce Guild?"
There were two chambers of commerce working with Thunderhawk City. The Azure Commerce Guild, mentioned by Rocky, was one of them, primarily responsible for supplying the city with yarn and food; the fabric produced was then sold to another chamber of commerce.
Confronted with his question, Aileen directly responded,
"Sir, it's not that there's a problem with the Azure Commerce Guild, but Canglang City is engaged in warfare."
"Are you saying… Canglang City has gone to war?"
"Yes, the information is very reliable."
Facing Rocky's slightly surprised look, Aileen nodded, then fixed her gaze on his face, observing his reaction closely.
Despite her calm demeanor in front of the City Lord, Aileen was actually quite intrigued.
Previously, when Voss handed over the position of finance officer to her, Aileen always wondered what her grandfather meant by this. Of course, with her intelligence, she could understand that her grandfather wanted her to start building a relationship with the City Lord from scratch, yet Aileen didn't see the reason for doing so.
The City Lord in front of her appeared quite ordinary, and his reputation was notably feeble. Was he really worth building a relationship with?
Aileen couldn't figure it out, but she agreed to her grandfather's approach and grew curious about Rocky.
Just like she had just mentioned, she did indeed receive this news today, but the reason she told Rocky was not out of loyalty, but because Aileen wanted to seize the opportunity to see how the City Lord would react.
Was this City Lord truly as incompetent and pathetic as rumors suggested, or did he actually possess some extraordinary qualities?
Of course, at this moment Rocky was unaware of what Aileen was thinking because he was considering a more critical issue.
Shortly after, he sighed and then glanced at Aileen, "So, does this mean there might be problems with the food supply for the winter as well?"
They were clearly discussing the rising prices of yarn, yet Rocky suddenly mentioned the food supply for the winter, which was completely off-topic.
But it was precisely this remark that made Aileen's eyes light up!
This City Lord was quite impressive!
Aileen stared intently at Rocky and a slight, barely noticeable smile appeared on her face.
It seemed that this City Lord wasn't particularly incompetent; at least he was thinking clearly.
Because, indeed, the rising prices of yarn were related to the food issue in Thunderhawk City!
These two matters seemed unrelated but were actually closely connected.
It was well known that the textile industry was the sole industry in Thunderhawk City, and the revenue from exported textiles was the only source of income; the use of this money was even more important as it was meant for buying food.
Thunderhawk City's own food production was far from enough to feed everyone, and it was necessary to purchase additional food to meet the needs of the residents.
But now, as the price of yarn, a raw material, increased, the profit from exported textiles would decrease, naturally reducing the money available to buy food.
Perhaps some might wonder why not just increase the price of the textiles as well? If both were raised, wouldn't it solve the problem?
This idea might sound reasonable, but that's all it was—reasonable sounding; the actual situation was nowhere near that simple.
After all, the reason Thunderhawk City's textiles were able to sell was because they were cheap!
In the skies, there were not just one but multiple cities producing textiles like Sky City, compared to which Thunderhawk City's textiles were neither substantial in quantity nor quality. Their only advantage was the lower price, which attracted Chambers of Commerce to purchase in large quantities; but once Rocky raised the textile prices, no Chamber of Commerce would trade with them.
In this matter, Thunderhawk City utterly lacked bargaining power.
So, at the root of it all was the rising price of yarn.
Regarding the price increase of yarn, Aileen had already provided a reason: Canglang City was engaged in a war!
Canglang City, a large Sky City with a population of over one hundred thousand, housed the headquarters of the Azure Commerce Guild, which collaborated with Thunderhawk City.
The reason the Azure Commerce Guild could sell large quantities of yarn was because Canglang City produced a lot of cotton, which enabled the Guild to conduct yarn business.
But now, as Canglang City was at war, this would inevitably lead to a rise in local prices, and the Azure Commerce Guild would certainly seize the opportunity to increase the price of the yarn sold to Thunderhawk City.
And more importantly, Thunderhawk City not only needed to import yarn from the Azure Commerce Guild but also the food necessary for winter.
As the headquarters were located in Canglang City, a large Sky City, the Azure Commerce Guild could access a large amount of food; however, with the start of military conflicts, securing more food would become challenging, and the prices offered by the Azure Commerce Guild would rise as a result.
With the increase in yarn prices and the decline in textile income, not only would the money for food decrease, but the food prices might also surge significantly. Between the two, the pressure on Thunderhawk City was enormous!
Therefore, Aileen had urged Rocky to be prepared, because given Thunderhawk City's current financial situation, it might be impossible to buy enough food for the winter, and if there was a food shortage, many people in the city would starve to death!
If such a situation truly arose, it would be a real crisis for Thunderhawk City, and as the City Lord, Rocky naturally had to be prepared to face this crisis.
In fact, Aileen had initially thought that Rocky wouldn't be able to foresee such a far-reaching issue, considering the complexity and the non-obviousness of the connections. People with slow reactions or less capable minds would never think that a problem with yarn could trigger such a massive crisis, but Rocky indeed had thought of it, which was interesting.
Since Rocky now understood the severity of the situation, Aileen was very curious to know how, exactly, this City Lord planned to help Thunderhawk City get through this difficult time.
Yes, how exactly would Thunderhawk City overcome this difficult time? That was a question Rocky was also pondering.
At this moment, Rocky felt both helpless and powerless. The discovery of Mana Runes should have promised him a bright future, but before he had even mastered a single rune, Thunderhawk City was faced with such a big problem, and if not handled carefully, it could lead to serious chaos!
So, how exactly could Thunderhawk City overcome this difficult time? Rocky indeed was thinking hard...