The first round of competition for the World’s Singers concluded at night. Upon conclusion, Joshua did not linger around. He took a carriage and returned to the Hearthstone Tavern.
“In the end, the only ones that managed to gain some fame were Lia and Luvita?”
Joshua’s fingers swiped through the magic network interface before his eyes. Majority of the posts on the Mage Forum were discussing ‘Lia’ and ‘Luvita.’ He simply cannot find the names of the other contestants at all.
“Even in the Daily Discussion sub-forum, there were many posts discussing that Blackwood Elf. Joshua... I also noticed that there were people asking for that song’s music record.”
Sitting next to Joshua, Ciri was also completely immersed in the Mage Forum.
“We don’t have to rush on releasing the music records.”
Joshua pulled back the blinds and looked out the carriage window. Norland National Theater was growing smaller and smaller into the distance. Tonight, that theater had brought upon its most glorious night in its entire history of operation.
When Joshua walked out the theater, a large crowd was gathered outside... After the Blackwood Elves finished their performance and left the theater, they’ve personally experienced the sensation of being famous.
Once the crowd discovered the courageous Blackwood Elf girl Luvita, they immediately rushed at her.
Feeling fame for the first time, the Blackwood Elf priestesses were completely stunned. Fortunately, the Flower of Farucci was already used to fans rushing toward her.
Thus, with her help, the nine Blackwood Elves managed to escape from the crowd. They got onto their carriage and returned to the Farucci’s Mansion.
As for Joshua, he was much more quick-witted and chose to escape through the back door. The reason why he ‘escaped’ was because there were two ‘famous individuals’ next to him.
“They’re both sleeping?”
Joshua looked at the sight before him.
Tylene and Ynor were seated across from him. Tylene had spent all day hosting the World’s Singers competition. Even though she, an elf, possessed more stamina than ordinary humans, she was still completely exhausted.
The moment she got in the carriage, her exhaustion revealed itself. She only managed to have a couple short exchanges with Joshua before falling asleep. Seated next to Tylene, Ynor was also plagued by sleepiness. After receiving permission from Joshua, Ynor leaned his head to the side of the carriage and also fell asleep.
From Joshua’s point of view, there were two pretty ‘girls’ sleeping across from him completely unprotected. Furthermore, they were nestled against each other.
“The two of them are really not on guard in the slightest,” With her arm across her staff, Ciri looked at the two seated across her that fell asleep in only three seconds.
When this mage lady was surviving in the wilderness, she would never let herself fall into such deep sleep.
“If you’re sleepy, you can take a nap too,” Joshua pointed at his shoulder, “Once we reach Hearthstone Tavern, I’ll wake you up.”
Ciri did not answer Joshua.
After a moment of silence, Joshua felt warmth and weight on his shoulder.
He extended his hand and gently stroked the silver-gray hair by Ciri’s ear. Then, he quietly waited for the carriage to arrive at the Hearthstone Tavern.
.........
Norland National Theater was not far from the Hearthstone Tavern. After roughly twenty minutes, the carriage arrived outside the Hearthstone Tavern.
When Joshua returned to the Hearthstone Tavern’s second floor study, Mrs. Melina came to him to report a... bad news.
“We’ve reached the limits of our usable funds?”
Joshua flipped through the ledger Mrs. Melina placed on his desk. Compared to several months ago, the ledger was several times thicker.
The contents had also increased from a simple daily upkeep needed for the Hearthstone Tavern to something much more complicated.
In the past, the ledger will ultimately result in a cash surplus. Furthermore, the surplus amount would be so much that one could pile up an entire hill of gold coins enough for Ciri to roll back around multiple times.
But, the remaining balance on today’s ledger was not even in the triple digits...
Joshua’s ‘entertainment guild’ was now faced with a not-too-serious economic crisis.
“Mister Joshua, I’ve totaled up our recent asset utilization. I’ve recorded them all at the end of the ledger.” Mrs. Melina flipped the ledger to the last page.
Through that page, Joshua managed to clearly realize where he had spent all his money.
“As expected of a theater located in the center of Norland, the price is simply excessively expensive.”
Joshua looked at the largest expense. It was the cost of purchasing Norland National Theater.
A portion of the cost for purchasing Norland National Theater was paid by Sir Weissenasche. As for the remainder, they were paid by Joshua.
Even though that theater was in a state of near-bankruptcy, a haggard dragon would still be larger than a fat lizard. The amount of wealth Joshua spent on purchasing that theater could no longer be described as ‘chopping off one’s hand.’
“The upkeep for Norland National Theater is also an enormous sum,” said Mrs. Melina, “Even though that theater will be worth an incalculable amount in the future, it is still too early and difficult to purchase it with your current resources.”
“I don’t think it’s possible to return Norland National Theater to the seller, no? Regardless, it’s always good to purchase it before others do.”
Joshua’s eyes landed on the two other major expenses on the ledger.
“The other major expenses are the costs associated with the ‘television’ arcanotech device. Although I’ve tried my best to cut down on the spending, we ended up purchasing forty-seven not-so-well-known shops and taverns throughout Norland. Furthermore, we’ve spent a portion of the capital to persuade those tavern and shop owners with ‘modest behaviors’ to install televisions in their places.”
“I’ve unwittingly became the owner of forty-seven taverns and shops? I suddenly felt like I’m a real estate tycoon.” Joshua scratched his head. He was truly not well-versed in dealing with money. As for financial management, that would be something completely beyond his abilities.
Back on earth, he was known to be an ‘online shopaholic.’ He even believed in the principle of ‘want what you see, buy what you are hesitant toward.’
In order to make sure that Joshua’s Hearthstone Tavern does not go bankrupt, Mrs. Melina had worked meticulously with these transactions. It was so much that some of her hair had even fallen off her head.
“Fortunately, as your forty-seven taverns and shops were installed with ‘televisions,’ they’ve attracted a vast amount of customers the past couple days. As things are, they’re all making big profits.”
Mrs. Melina found a map of Norland and spread it open on Joshua’s desk. Those taverns and shops belonging to Joshua were all clearly indicated on the map.
“We can consider opening branches of the Hearthstone Tavern at these two taverns. But, regretfully, we’ll have to wait some time to gather enough funds to manufacture new arcanotech devices,” said Mrs. Melina.
“Then, how are things going with the gathering of foodstuffs, do we have enough funds for that?”
Joshua glanced at the smaller expenses on the ledger. The next largest expenses came in the upkeep for the Hearthstone Tavern and the rewards for the members of the Black Dove.
Ever since the Dark Elf gathered the Black Dove and reformed it completely, they became Joshua’s eyes in Norland. They would provide the latest information from all over Norland to Joshua at the first opportunity.
Naturally, Joshua paid these hard-working black doves very... generously.
That said, Joshua was only an agent in the Black Dove. The Dark Elf was the one who had the final say in the monthly salary of the Black Dove members.
“Due to our lack of funding, we have no choice but to put that matter on hold,” Mrs. Melina replied to Joshua with a tone of regret, “I’ve already purchased a portion of the foodstuffs from Norland’s various business associations. However, as the amount required is too numerous, it caused the price of the foodstuffs to increase nonstop.”
“How much have you gathered?”
“Roughly enough to feed two thousand people for ten days,” Mrs. Melina provided Joshua was a very numerical description.
From that, Joshua concluded that it was far from enough.
Those foodstuffs would be provided to the Demon Realm’s Royal Capital so that they could survive through the famine.
Even though Joshua was not hopeful that the foodstuffs would be able to stuff the bellies of all the civilians living in the Demon Realm’s Royal Capital, that number Mrs. Melina gathered was still far too little.
“That would be a long-term task. As for issues with funding... it’s about time to let the ‘television station’ display its value.”
Joshua admits that he was a massive money squanderer. But... as long as he could earn enough money to spend, the problem would be completely solved.