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Making up my mind, I bulk-sold 2,534 mana crystals to an alchemist nation, leaving me with 32,000 mana crystals—still plenty—and a whopping 2,027,200 gold coins.
Vanity struck. I immediately visited the leaderboard.
"Richest Lord!"
1. Ace the Gambler | 2M gold coins
2. Yu Zhong | 1.2M gold coins
3. James | 970K gold coins
4. (hidden) | 900K gold coins
5. …
I came! I saw! I conquered!
Sadly, my expenses loomed. Enjoy the spotlight while you can, Yu Zhong.
I sent 1.5M gold coins to Kirin, who promptly delivered the troops. But then, a thought struck me: Wait. If the current top 1 is at 1.2M, and I just gave Kirin 1.5M… did I just make her number one?
Excited, I reopened the leaderboard:
"Richest Lord!"
1. (hidden) | 1.7M gold coins
2. Yu Zhong | 1.2M gold coins
3. James | 970K gold coins
4. (hidden) | 900K gold coins
Fufu, not as rich as I expected, I mused. Kirin probably reinvested most of it into troop production.
Next, I handled the troop maintenance costs (16.8K) and castle construction (125K). The final tally left me 350K gold coins lighter.
Now, I was set for war. But then doubt crept in. With only 10,000 troops, should I bolster my numbers? What if my army outgrew my population? I could buy soldiers, but I couldn't buy citizens. Maybe I should stay defensive?
Or… An idea sparked: The construction of the fifth line of defense!
Bam!
Lucia hit me on the head the moment I voiced it.
"My lord, stop wasting resources," she snapped. "Leave the defense to the new grade-4 military advisor. We desperately need to develop our inner lands. We're not self-sufficient, and we're spending hundreds of thousands of gold on food every day!"
She rattled off an exhaustive list of our financial failings. Halfway through, I decided.
"Fine," I said, clapping my hands together as if struck by genius. "Get Barns to enchant our miners' equipment with mana cores. Also, take over the finances. I'll deposit 300K gold into your account daily."
Lucia stared at me, her stern expression barely hiding her frustration.
"I'm so glad I'm such a genius!" I added, proudly.
She sighed, clearly resigned to her fate. "Fine. I'll take care of it all then."
Perfect. Days of worrying about money are over. I chuckled inwardly. Development? Lucia and Benny will handle it.
Still, I couldn't resist sending 50K gold for my dream: the fifth wall of defense!
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A few hours later, a messenger approached me, looking nervous.
"My lord, Lucia-sama has forbidden the construction of new walls."
AGH! MY POOR HEART.
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