When Anders and the other returned from the government bureau that handles the sales of land and property it was already late in the afternoon. They all met in the suite that Anders rented and everyone who was considered the core of Anders Merchant's business was there seated surrounding the table.
“We completed paying for the manor. The naming of the manor can be done anytime but we were advised to do it as soon as possible so they can enter it into the official archives,” Anders told everyone.
“Did it cost us a lot, Father?” Anton asked his father.
“No, just ten percent of our total liquid assets,” Anders smiled and Anton laughed.
“What’s funny,” Anna asked.
“That’s all we have. We currently don’t have any fixed assets for now which means properties like a home or a shop,” Anders told his daughter and Anton kept laughing which made Anna roll her eyes at his brother.
“Fixing the manor and the mansion and purchasing the things that we will need to fill the mansion would probably cost us twenty percent of our assets. We need to save the rest to grow our business,” Nemina said.
“Tomorrow, all of us will be busy restarting our business of purchasing items that Anton would repair and selling the items he had already repaired. Doing this will allow us to check the current flow of business in the local economy,” Anders added.
Anton sighed, thinking of the busy days ahead. When Anders saw his son sigh, Anton saw that his father felt a bit embarrassed.
“I’m sorry son for asking you to do this but right now, the items that you repair are the only thing that would bring us funds. Once we’re established, we will begin conducting our business normally.”
“I understand, Father. You don’t need to worry too much about me but I will give a limit of three hours a day, is that fine?”
“That will be fine,” Anders said.
“Nemina, can you check if we could sell our wooden board of air conditioner and our enchanted lantern without any problem and if the price is worth me working on them?” Anton asked and Nemina nodded.
“Are you sure you want to sell your enchanted items?” Anders asked.
“If it's worth it, yes since it would allow us to gather enough funds so you can begin a business without relying on me. If my enchanted item is worth it, I would increase my working hours to four hours a day. Two hours for repair work and two hours for enchantment work but it would only be for five days a week,” Anton jokingly said.
Anton knew that the working hours he set were subject to change since he might need to focus on doing more so they could increase their wealth. That meant that he wouldn’t be able to join the university this semester since he would need to work. Their foundation was really poor when it came to their wealth and he knew that he would need to increase it a lot and the only way for him to do that was to rely on his magic, either on the repair work or his enchanted items.
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Even if he worked for a few hours a day, there would still be enough time for Anton to receive tutoring and he knew that learning basic knowledge was very important so he wouldn’t skip that part. He would also have enough time to continue leveling up his character. He wouldn’t stop doing that and would still prioritize the majority of his time doing it since his Diablo II system was the basis of his power.
Anton thought of creating a schedule to maximize the use of his time but decided against it. He didn’t want to be too anal about it and would just go with the flow and would just create a rough schedule like what he would do in the morning and what he would do in the afternoon, something like that. He also wouldn’t stop playing his music since it soothes his soul and wouldn’t stop watching animes, television shows, or movies since it prevents burnout.
Regarding his idea of socializing to prevent himself from turning into a sociopath, he would still join the university once his family’s foundation was solid. Suddenly, he remembered one very important fact that everyone seemed determined to forget.
“What would we do once the Undead Coalition attacks the city? Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the city is powerful but the coalition is really determined and I know that they will attack sooner or later,” Anton suddenly said to everyone which caused them to pause.
“Sir Anton, you don’t need to worry too much. Although the coalition does plan to attack the city, it would probably take a minimum of five years before they would start to do so,” Zenoxus said.
“Really? They did work extremely fast when they attacked the other cities,” Frederick asked.
“You can’t compare those pitiful cities to Zalnothel. It’s like comparing a huge capital city to tiny villages,” the elder vampire continued.
“If that’s the case, the best thing for us to do is to establish ourselves here so we will have the power to do whatever we will need to do when that time arrives,” Anders said to everyone.
After that talk, Anders asked Colin to go downstair and order dinner for everyone when they heard a knock on the door and when Colin checked, everyone heard the man gasp. Anton immediately went to check who was visiting them and was surprised to see the archmage Voduria followed by Lurien and Bolat.
“Archmage, High Wizards! To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Anton asked the wizards to enter their suite.
“Lurien and Bolat are here to invite your vampires so they can interview them regarding the information they have of the Undead Coalition and I’m here to talk to you to learn what your plans are. I apologize if it seemed like we’re being nosy but you do have the power of an archmage,” Archmage Voduria said.
Anton asked the vampires to follow Lurien and Bolat and when the two high wizards and three vampires left, he invited the archmage to sit on the sofa. The others all excused themselves except for Anders which was understandable since even though Anton was an archmage, he was too young.
“We know that you have purchased a manor in the in the city and plan to conduct a business. May I ask what type of business you’re planning to establish?” Archmage Voduria asked and it was Anders who answered.
“We’re planning to buy and sell weapons and armor and some general items we have collected during our travels. To be honest with you Madam Archmage, the majority of our coins came from the vampires that my son enslaved.”
The Archmage Voduria laughed heartily when she heard what Anders said.
“I don’t doubt what you said since Anton here is really too young to have any foundation. I know that he encountered some kind of fortuitous phenomenon that let him rapidly increase his power and I will be honest with you, you have to prepare to defend yourself but based on your experiences during your travel you can do that anyway but be vigilant. So what is your next step young archmage?”
“I was planning to enroll in the university but decided to hold off and just let my sister join school this term. I will need to help my father establish his business first and I can’t divide my attention for now since as you have said, our foundation is extremely poor. My immediate plan is to hire a tutor to fill the gaps in my knowledge because even though your orb of truth considers me an archmage, knowledge-wise, I’m truly a novice. So while I’m helping my father, a tutor will teach me and I will also continue my research on my own magic to increase my personal power,” Anton told the archmage honestly.