As for sugar? The sugar factories in the Northern Territory were led by her for construction, using the large-scale industrial sugar production thods she introduced. Piling up a lot of sugar in the warehouses and then scraping so loose wealth from the nobles—what's the trouble?
However, for Shay, both tea and snacks were truly a rare treat, making him nostalgic even as he ate.
How long has it been since he tasted sweetness? Shay felt as if he was too stingy, unwilling to spend so money to buy sugar to improve his quality of life.
After all, he too, as a Knight with territories, though the output from his lands was not abundant, it could still support his expenses on sugar.
As long as he doesn't buy too much, a small packet per month should still be affordable.
Shay was contemplating these matters when the maid returned and said to Shay, who was munching on a small biscuit, "The Count has so ti now, please follow ."
Upon hearing the maid's call, Shay quickly swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, gulped a large amount of tea, then tidied up his appearance, picked up the gift he brought, and followed the maid through the corridor into a reception room.
The previous guest just left from an audience with the Count. Shay even encountered the person in the corridor and exchanged simple greetings.
This could actually be considered sowhat rude behavior. Normally, when nobles entertain two batches of guests simultaneously, unless they know each other or the servants made a mistake, the two batches of guests shouldn't bump into each other in the corridor like this.
The servants of the Lord's manor were undoubtedly qualified, and Perfikot's old steward was even less likely to make such errors.
The reason for this situation was simply because Perfikot had too many guests to et today, so much that she had to compress the visiting ti for each guest and the intervals between two batches, allowing her to et more people.
It's precisely because of this that Shay happened to encounter the previous guest who ca for audience with Perfikot in the corridor.
However, the two sides did not know each other, and Shay's White Wolf cloak was sufficient to make the person keep any dissatisfaction or opinions to themselves.
After all, this is the Northern Territory. The White Bear Knights are recognized in the Northern Territory as Perfikot's direct line. Offending them, let alone in the Lord's manor of the Northern Territory, is akin to wishing oneself dead.
Not to ntion, the person didn't seem at all surprised by Shay's appearance, and even greeted Shay in a friendly manner.
"Shay Cormac, I rember you, sit wherever! Seeing as you are my knight, I won't stand on ceremony with you. Today I've t with too many people; let's relax a bit!" Perfikot saw Shay coming in, her whole deanor relaxed. Her previously straight back bent instantly, the entire person almost sinking directly into the sofa.
Seeing Perfikot like this, Shay, although sowhat surprised, found it more genuine. So he said nothing, rely greeting Perfikot, "Salute to you, Saint blessed by the Almighty Father, savior of the world, one who rings the doomsday bell, Northern Expedition and Guardian of the Victor Empire, ruler of the Northern Territory, protector of all Northern People, chief respected by Northern tribes, builder of Chernobyl, last Dragon Slayer, Deputy Director of the Royal Academy of Sciences in the Victor Empire, founder of the Northern branch of the Royal Academy of Sciences, honorary Grand Leader of the White Bear Knights, honorary Grand Leader of the Iron Fire Knights, the Most Radiant Pearl of Langton, conqueror of the skies, leader of the era, Count of Exploration in the Northern Territory."
Listening to this long list of titles, Perfikot closed her eyes in exasperation but soon looked at Shay, asking, "When did 'savior of the world' and 'one who rings the doomsday bell' get added to my titles? If we are just adding titles, shouldn't 'Godslayer' be among them?"
"This is the latest version of all your titles published in the newspaper last month, Count. As for 'Godslayer', I guess the newspaper hasn't had ti to update yet?" Shay hurried to explain.
Shay called out all Perfikot's titles not only to show respect to Perfikot but also to indicate that this was a formal audience occasion, where a vassal pays homage to their lord.
Although Perfikot appeared very casual, this was precisely a sign of trust towards her vassal.
In traditional feudal concepts, the more casual a lord behaves towards their vassal, the more it indicates trust in them.
So facing Perfikot's casual deanor, Shay felt sowhat pleased and privileged.
"Alright, fiddling around with titles all day, not any use," Perfikot grumbled, but still looked at Shay and asked about the real business, "As my vassal, since you're here, do tell, how's the managent of your domain lately? Population, outputs, tell all. If there are troubles or things to resolve, let know. If doable, I'll do it for you."
Shay dared not be negligent, quickly pulling out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it in his hand, and began reading aloud, "Currently there are 1827 residents at the settlent, with 24 newborns this year, 12 reaching adulthood, showing a slight population increase compared to last year.
The settlent is running normally, everyone receiving their daily rations and monthly living supplies stably. No one is starving or freezing.
Moreover, because of the Energy Tower heat field, there are many animals appearing in the domain, providing a stable source of at for the domain. There is currently consideration for whether to dosticate them."
Listening to these bureaucratic-like statistics and reports, Perfikot glanced at Shay and asked, "Is this written by your brother?"
"Apologies, Count. I'm really not good at this kind of paperwork, so I entrusted it to my brother." Shay explained to Perfikot, feeling a little embarrassed.
Perfikot didn't mind at all, rely waving her hand and saying, "It's a minor thing. Having soone working hard for , I'm pleased! Since your brother has this ability, give him a position as a clerk. It seems the position has always been vacant in your domain."
Hearing Perfikot arrange a position for his brother, Shay sincerely expressed his gratitude to Perfikot, and also took this opportunity to present the gift he brought.
Seeing Shay open the box—a box big enough for a person to sleep inside—in front of her, Perfikot couldn't help but be curious about what kind of gift Shay could present to her.
Even though Perfikot had anticipated the gifts from these vassals long ago—if not so local specialties such as fur or crafts, they would be arts or jewelry from nobility—she was indeed sowhat tired of them.
Yet she couldn't refuse them because the vassals gifting her are ones she must regard with importance.
Receiving too many indeed leads to aesthetic fatigue; she's no longer interested in things lacking uniqueness.
Yet what Shay took out of the box made Perfikot raise her eyebrows, showing a 'you actually brought sothing alive' expression.
Because Shay pulled out sothing Perfikot couldn't describe properly.
It appeared like a severed hand, overall resembling a human hand, yet densely covered in white long hair, which could be at least a cubit long per strand by estimation.
And the entire hand asured almost as big as an adult, hinting at the enormity of its original body.
The hand seed ripped from an arm, with bones sticking out from the severed spot, the cut presenting a torn appearance.
"Where on earth did you get this? It looks so fresh? Did you catch it on the way?" Perfikot inspected the severed hand, casually joking.
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