After calmly reviewing the accounts, Victor gently placed the ledger on the table.

"Leah, what are the sources of income for our domain?"

Hearing Victor's question, Leah tilted her head and squinted her eyes at him, almost as if looking at a fool. She let out a light chuckle, her tone laced with a hint of mockery.

"As the lord, you don't even know the sources of income for your own domain?"

Although Victor truly didn't know, this did not stop Leah from mocking this "titular" lord.

"Listen up, our Klevena domain's main sources of income are the sale of grain and minerals!"

Through Leah's explanation, Victor gained a general understanding.

The Klevena family owned a domain named "Klevena". The land was fertile, surrounded by lush forests. The domain was located about 100 kilometers from the capital, a day's journey by carriage. As a result, the empire's second most prosperous town was situated there.

The Klevena domain had a very rich vein of minerals that could be mined for over 50 more years, even now. With its proximity to the capital, fertile land, bountiful harvests, and mineral resources, it was difficult for the Klevena family to be short on funds.

"But recently, mineral output has decreased significantly, and we haven't entered the grain harvest season yet. The grain we previously sold was stored from last year's surplus."

Facing Victor, Leah's tone was angry.

"We have to ensure grain consumption in the domain, we can't sell it all. Now that domain income is severely lacking, how dare you still spend money like this!"

Victor nodded silently, his face betraying no emotion.

"Don't you have any regret?"

Leah looked at Victor in disbelief. She knew her brother was negligent, but didn't expect him to be this unaware.

After some thought, Victor responded, stroking his chin:

"Hire some mages and acquire a shop in the busiest area of the capital to open a mage's supply store."

Hearing Victor's suggestion, Leah immediately bristled, sharply retorting:

"Victor! Didn't you listen to a single word of my advice?!"

"Do you think such shops are rare in the capital?!"

"Even if you open a store, how will your name overpower all the other merchants?!"

"Victor, do you even know how to do business?!"

Leah grew more and more agitated. She thought about how, after their parents' death, she had been managing the domain since childhood, maintaining it for over a decade until now, when it still had some surplus. Even if Victor squandered everything, she had never complained.

But now, this Victor who knew nothing wanted to meddle in the family's business! What was he trying to do?

As she spoke, she felt increasingly wronged.

Seeing no way to calm Leah's emotions with words, Victor simply waved his hand, and dozens of bottles of blue magical potions appeared on the table in front of them.

Leah paused, staring at the sea-blue potions, her rising anger momentarily subsiding.

"What are these?"

She blinked. Nowadays, no one had seen such magical potions before. Restorative items existed, but they were all rare and extremely expensive. The market only had healing potions, whose effects were vastly different from the player-used "health potions" - the former were like slowly drinking medicine, while the latter restored health instantly. Bringing game items into reality was simply a bug.

Even a single vial of instantly restorative magic potion could be a divine-tier item.

So Victor didn't explain, as his words would be too unbelievable. Better to see it to believe it.

Victor calmly instructed, "Go find some mages, have them cast spells until they're exhausted, then drink a potion. You'll see what to do."

Leah was highly skeptical, but took all the potions.

"By the way, do you have any helpers?"

Hearing Victor's question, Leah sneered dismissively, "Oh, our great lord is finally learning to care for the common folk?"

Victor was unfazed by her sarcasm, as their sibling relationship had deteriorated due to his inaction. So he simply repeated the question.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Seriously, have your caravans ever hired guards or the like as helpers?"

Leah snorted coldly. "No, I don't trust anyone else."

So Leah had been handling Klevena's business all by herself.

"Isn't it dangerous on the roads? While the domain is not far from the capital, it's still a day's journey."

Leah was surprised that her unreliable brother actually showed concern for her, but this care made her slightly uncomfortable. Leaning against the table, she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, averting her gaze.

"Mm... no, we have our own trade routes. If we encounter bandits or the like, just showing the Klevena insignia is enough to make them leave - we generally don't have any trouble."

"At least, we haven't encountered any danger so far."

With that, she didn't meet Victor's eyes, instead taking out a potion bottle to examine it closely.

Victor nodded and then took off the Mage's Hand from his right hand.

"Leah, listen carefully. This trip to the royal capital to open a store is extraordinary. This precious item is easily coveted by others, so wear it to deal with any sudden situations."

Leah looked at the gloves Victor handed her, put down the bottle of medicine, and seemed a little conflicted.

"Don't worry, it's just a small prop of the mage. It will automatically adjust to the size of your palm."

Leah thought that wasn't what she was concerned about, but she didn't know how to explain it. She reached out and took the fingerless gloves, which still retained the warmth of Victor's palm.

She felt the gemstones on the gloves and a sense of resentment rose in her heart. As a merchant, she naturally understood what was on it.

Mana stones, gems that can transmit magic, each worth millions...

He actually installed six of them on a single pair of gloves!

She muttered to herself, but surprisingly didn't attack Victor.

Leah put on the gloves, and just as Victor said, the gloves automatically adjusted to fit her hand.

"Open your palm and aim at me, then think about the gems on the gloves with your mind, any one of them will do."

Listening to the instructions, she opened her palm and aimed at Victor. In the center was a green gem, and she thought the color was quite beautiful.

'Is that all?'

A question flashed through her mind, and suddenly the green gem began to glow faintly, then...

Whoosh!

Like a resonant explosion, a magic circle rapidly formed in Leah's palm!

Almost instantly, a violent gale filled the study, making the papers rustle loudly.

The whirlwind above the magic circle kept growing!

Victor lightly tapped the desk, and a teleportation array quickly formed in the air.

After the whirlwind had swelled to a certain degree, it was drawn into the teleportation array.

Instantly, the storm calmed down.

A few seconds later, a startling cracking sound came from nearby.

Leah was stunned.

"Just now... what was that?"

"Second-tier magic: [Raging Storm], powerful enough to level a mountain."

"Don't be so surprised."

Seeing the dazed Leah, Victor tapped the desk and the magic array in the air dissipated.

Leah couldn't help but be surprised. She wasn't a mage and had only seen others cast spells before.

But the magic just now was released from her own hand.

She was completely dazed right now.

"So this is what it feels like to cast magic."

She stood there blankly, even forgetting to pull her hand back.

Victor recharged the gloves with magic and continued to speak to the stunned Leah, "Be careful, this time I let you release it not just to teach you the trick, but more importantly not to misfire. You saw the power of this thing."

"Pay attention to the number of uses, each gem can only be used once."

"When it's used up, come back to me and I'll recharge it for you."

Leah knew how precious the item Victor gave her was, worth a fortune, and she had never seen such equipment that could allow an ordinary person to use magic.

She was about to say that if she sold it she could make a huge profit, but then she remembered Victor's serious attitude and kept quiet.

This was something that could be used to save one's life.

Leah hesitated a bit, then said a little awkwardly to Victor, "Thank you."

Then, with the magical potion, she hurried out.

After the study door closed, the raven on Victor's shoulder spoke:

"Don't you feel sorry for giving this to someone else?"

"It's just a tool, I can always make more anytime, and I don't really need it."

The Mage's Hand has little use normally, but it's very prominent in PvP as a tool for multi-instant casting magic, to seize the initiative or perform emergency defense.

It's an essential item for mage players during PK.

He doesn't need it for now.

Hearing Victor's words, Vega didn't say anything else, and began to ponder deeply.

'I need to find a way to trick him into making one for me to play with.'

......

The next morning, after Victor finished breakfast and was about to leave for the academy, a servant came in.

"My lord, there is a lady outside claiming to be your teaching assistant, saying she's here to bring you your notes and lecture drafts."

Victor paused in the middle of getting dressed.

Hernie's here?

He didn't remember telling Hernie to bring the things to his doorstep.

However, he still had the servant welcome her in.

As a result, he saw Hernie's haggard face with two dark circles under her eyes.

"What's with that look? Didn't you get enough rest?"

Hernie seemed to wake up, and said to Victor:

"No, Professor, I forgot to sleep last night and wrote the draft all night."

This excuse really made Victor at a loss for words to rebuke her.

"After Erica brings the notes, I remembered you said to bring them to you, so I brought the lecture draft as well."

Looking at the somewhat drowsy Hernie, Victor really couldn't find any words to educate her.

Should he say she's a bit silly?

He was silent for a moment and then asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Hernie shook her head. She had come here early in the morning, without sleep, and naturally, she had not eaten.

Victor waved his hand and instructed the servant to take her to have breakfast, and then arrange a room for her to rest.

Hernie hurriedly "eh'd", just about to say it's not necessary, but she heard Victor's unyielding tone.

"Fill your stomach, then rest."

Hernie wilted at once. She dared not resist Victor, lowering her head like a frost-bitten eggplant, and was led away by the servant.

As for Victor, he had originally planned to go to the academy in the morning, but upon seeing Hernie come, he changed his mind.

Classes were in the afternoon, so he planned to look over Erica's homework and his own speech draft, and spend the morning in the study.

Victor was correcting Erica's homework, without even turning his head, he asked Vega.

"What do you think of that girl?"

Questioned like this, Vega paused for a moment. He knew that the person Victor was referring to was Hernie.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you say to me to recruit followers?" Victor stretched, his fingers tapping on the speech draft on the table, turning to look at Vega with narrowed eyes that revealed his shrewdness and danger.

"This kind of naive and innocent one is the most suitable to be deceived."