Charlotte's words were spoken casually, but they sent chills down the spines of the gang members. The destruction of the Black Scorpion Gang the previous night had been utterly terrifying. No one had expected that the city guard commander of the Lucavaro District could be so ruthless and decisive in his actions. The Black Scorpion Gang, a gang that had existed for over a decade, had been wiped out in a single night, leaving nothing behind.
Charlotte had initially planned to consult his old acquaintance, Louis Sim, to assess the wealth of the Black Scorpion Gang. However, since Ross Bard had voluntarily aligned with him, Charlotte decided to entrust this task to the newly recruited "businessman."
With that settled, he stopped concerning himself with the aftermath.
For the next few days, Charlotte did nothing but maintain his diligent attendance at work. The swift and brutal annihilation of the Black Scorpion Gang had made the Lone Wolves, Night Beasts, and Golov Brothers much more compliant. Charlotte didn't take advantage of this situation by pressuring them further, nor did he move against the remaining hesitant small gangs. Instead, he focused on consolidating the power he had already gained.
On the next Monday, which coincided with the Empire's payday, the Fars Empire finally declared war on Byron. The news sent shockwaves throughout the Empire, with newspapers fervently discussing the impending conflict, although the highest levels of government remained silent, indicating a consensus had already been reached.
The Lucavaro District city guard also began to see changes. The Central Government Office issued a decree ordering the Lucavaro District city guard to be reorganized into a Free Knights Regiment, granting expansion rights, and replacing Lady Mayvis as the Chief Inspector with a newly appointed one.
Charlotte felt a sense of relief as he received the official documents. However, upon reading the new Chief Inspector's resume, he was struck by a mix of astonishment and bemusement.
The new Chief Inspector for the Lucavaro District city guard was a Forty-Second-Class Sergeant. In theory, this rank corresponded to a recent graduate or someone who had been out of school for a year or two. But in reality, the new Chief Inspector was a fresh graduate named Dolores Sumei, whose name alone evoked intrigue.
Dolores was the cousin of Menierman, the first-place graduate from Gorgia University and former Laurel Goddess of the Empire.
When Charlotte saw this name, he understood why, despite being a Forty-First-Class Officer upon graduation, Dolores had been "promoted" to a government position, allowing her to become a Chief Inspector with actual power.
No matter how hard he tried, Charlotte couldn't fathom why his new partner would be Dolores Sumei.
To his surprise, this former Laurel Goddess of Gorgia University was highly efficient. On the same afternoon that Charlotte received the documents from the Central Government Office, Dolores appeared at Yansun Street No. 1.
When the beautiful young woman with striking blue eyes and the elegance of a daffodil stood in Charlotte's office, her first words were, "I just wanted to see your shocked expression."
Charlotte spread his hands and asked, "Why did you come to the city guard?"
Dolores, making herself at home, found some flower tea in Charlotte's office, pulled out a card, and placed it under the kettle. She quickly boiled some water and brewed herself a cup.
Charlotte was stunned and asked, "Is that Gorgia University's card magic?"
Dolores, blowing on her hot tea, replied, "Yes, it's the card magic created by Gorgia University's first president, Yuan Arthur Conan Doyle Ye. This card is called 'Campfire.' It's very handy for boiling water and cooking food in the wilderness."
Charlotte was envious, but he knew he didn't have the energy to study card magic, so he casually asked, "Dolores, what rank of transcendent are you?"
Dolores Sumei answered, "I'm a Third-Rank Card Mage, slightly stronger than Annie."
Charlotte didn't want to continue this topic. With Dolores's mischievous personality, anything he said could easily be relayed to Annie, likely in a heavily embellished and distorted version.
Dolores carefully sipped her flower tea. There was no denying that, as the former Laurel Goddess of Gorgia University and the cousin of the Empire's First Rose, Menierman, her beauty was flawless, and her demeanor was incredibly refined. Her appearance was virtually perfect, without any flaws.
However, as for her personality...
Charlotte didn't want to dwell on it.
He poured himself a cup of coffee. He wasn't a fan of the local coffee, finding it too acidic, so he had bought some beans and roasted them himself. The result was a charcoal roast that, while not ideal, was at least palatable.
Dolores sniffed the air and asked, "What kind of coffee is that?"
Charlotte offered, "Would you like to try some?"
Dolores set down her flower tea and followed Charlotte's brewing process, adding sugar and milk. She even used her campfire card to warm it up a bit. After taking a sip, her eyes lit up.
"Where did you get this coffee? It has a slight bitterness, but it's perfectly balanced. With sugar and milk, it turns into a rich and fragrant brew. I've never tasted anything like it."
Charlotte didn't play coy and explained, "I roasted the coffee beans myself." He then detailed the steps to roast coffee beans.
Dolores memorized the instructions and said, "If you opened a coffee shop, it would probably do very well."
Charlotte chuckled and said, "I'd rather open a chain of milk tea shops."
On Earth, milk tea was a lucrative "big business," beloved by women worldwide.
Charlotte had considered various money-making ventures in the Old Continent, including opening a milk tea shop in addition to the pharmacy. However, while the former was an established business that only required adjusting the products sold, the latter seemed too "revolutionary," and he wasn't sure if it would succeed.
Dolores didn't know what "chain" or "milk tea" meant, so she frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "Milk and tea together? It doesn't sound like it would taste good."
"This business would be a loss."
Charlotte didn't bother to explain and asked, "Dolores, are you really planning to work here?"
Dolores put away her magic card and said, "I also brought the recruits you urgently needed."
"But it seems you've already solved that problem yourself."
Only then did Charlotte remember that Lady Mayvis had mentioned the Empire would send him reinforcements. Over the past few days, most of the city guards who had been collecting pay without working had been transferred out, but since a batch of prisoners had arrived and he had recruited local gang members, he had momentarily forgotten about it.