"By the way, why hasn't Kefnie come over for the past two days?
Actually, Claude, you and Kefnie are both adults now. Why don't you settle your affairs while you still have some time at home? What do you think? "asked his mother as she turned her attention to Claude's marriage.
Claude felt his scalp go numb. His failed marriage in his past life and his experiences as an old driver made him distrustful of women and fearful of marriage.
Even though Kefnie was a decent girl and his mother's favorite daughter-in-law candidate, he didn't feel the slightest inclination towards marriage.
However, he did not have the slightest intention to start a family right now.
What a joke. I'm only 18. Not to mention, he was about to enlist in the army. His future and life were unpredictable and he didn't want Kefnie's future to be tied to his.
"Mother, Kefnie has been busy reviewing the bills for the construction materials with Ludian. The 15th is almost here, and the salaries of over a thousand people in the company have to be recorded. She also has to go to the bank to coordinate the finances and prepare for the distribution. She's so busy that she doesn't have time to come over to our house to play.
As for my personal affairs, I'm not in a hurry. If I come back as a second lieutenant in three years, I'll definitely do as you say, "Claude said perfunctorily.
After the meal, Claude cleared the table and cutlery.
His mother took the account book upstairs to find a place to store it. It was the most money she had ever seen in her life and she had to find a good place to hide it.
Angelina was playing with Booker and the snowhound on the grass in front of the villa when Claude called them back.
The sky was already dark and there were many mosquitoes on the grass. If one wasn't careful, they would get stung and itched all over.
After playing with the snowhound for the better part of the day, Claude dragged them into the bathroom for a shower. It was close to ten by then and his mother had gone to bed.
He sent his brother to bed as well and had the snowhound stay by his bedside to keep him company. Only then did he go to the study.
Soon, his younger sister, Anna, arrived as usual.
"Anna, how was your flintlock practice today?" Due to Claude's overtime, his younger sister was a little worried.
Due to Claude's overtime, his mother drove the newly bought carriage to pick him up and bought some ingredients and condiments from the open-air market.
"There were 20 shots today, and I hit 14 targets," the younger sister answered proudly.
"Not bad. Keep it up." Claude took out a folder from his backpack.
"Anna, I have opened an account for you with three thousand crowns in it.
Remember, this is for you to buy magic materials in the future.
If there's an emergency in the future, you can also withdraw money from here to help, but you can't tell Mother, in case she hides it. Do you understand? "
His younger sister nodded sensibly.
"Don't worry. I've opened an account for Mother as well. There's a thousand crowns in it and the rent for the red brick house. It'll be enough for her to live on.
I also asked around and found out that Arbeit is nowhere to be found. I heard that he left Whitestag the day his father passed away.
I don't know if he will suddenly come home after I go out. You have to be careful at home. If he comes back, don't mind him eating and drinking, but don't let him cheat mother of her bank account. Do you understand what I mean? "
Angelina widened her eyes and suddenly teared up. "Brother, I don't want you to go …"
Claude stroked her head with a smile. "It's impossible for me not to go. Otherwise, I'll be sent to labor.
Don't worry, I promise you that I'll come back safely.
You're already fifteen and you're going to be a big girl soon. You'll have to take care of the family after I leave. Mother isn't feeling well, so you have to take care of her. "
"Okay, I know how to drive a carriage. I can drive myself to school without Mother picking me up," said Angelina proudly with tears still on her cheeks. She looked rather funny.
Wiping away the tears on his sister's face, he said, "Alright, from now on, you will drive the carriage we just bought to school.
The mare I bought, Wendy, is very tame. It'll be safer up and down the mountain, so you don't have to worry about anything. "
Claude handed his bank account book to Angelina and a bulging pouch of money. "Don't touch the money in the bank account for now. When you become a one-ring rune magus, you'll be able to use that alchemical formation. Only use it when you need to buy magic materials.
You remember how to buy those materials, right? That's why I want you to learn herbalism.
Many magic and herbalism materials are common. If you buy them in the name of herbalism, no one will suspect that you know magic. "
"I'll remember that." Angelina nodded and opened the pouch. "So many gold and silver coins …"
"Okay. This is for your pocket money. It's worth thirty crowns.
Keep some money with you and treat your classmates to good food. That way, it'll be easier for you to make friends and you won't be ostracized in school.
Use it sparingly. Don't think that you can squander it just because you have money, understand? "
"Hmph, I'm not a child."
"Go back to your room and find a place to hide the account book and money. Don't let Booke and the snowhound find them."
"One more thing," Claude said as he opened the pouch, "I bought a piece of land in your name at the entrance of the old street. It's right next to the naval base and I'm going to build four buildings there.
I've already discussed it with Boa's father, Rubiwill. I've given him full authority to build and rent out the buildings. The blueprints and funds have all been given to him.
Also, the shops on the first floor of the building facing the street have all been rented out to him. He's going to move his family's main shop there after the building is finished.
In the future, he'll transfer the rent for the four buildings to your account. These documents have been verified by the administration and I'll leave them in your care. "
"Does Mother know about this?" Angelina asked as she looked at the documents.
Claude patted her head again and messed up her hair. She grunted in displeasure and turned her head away.
"Mother doesn't know about this.
Claude smiled. "Don't forget what I said. I bought the land in your name and built the four buildings in your name.
I've made an agreement with Rubiwill to let him take care of the four buildings until you're eighteen. I'll hand it over to you when you're of age, or you can continue letting him take care of it.
If you get married in the future, these four buildings will be your dowry.
Haha … "
"I don't want to get married!"
The younger sister's ears turned red. Although she was very shy, she still held the property documents tightly in her hands. These were her personal assets. In this world, this meant that as a girl, she would never have to worry about her living expenses for the rest of her life.
"You spent a lot of money, didn't you?
Brother … "
It was a lot, close to four thousand crowns. Whitestag was upgraded to a city and there were plans to develop it. The prices of houses and land had almost tripled.
The land Claude bought was public land. In the past, he wouldn't have needed 500 crowns to buy it. But now, he spent more than 1,600 crowns. That was only after Felidos's adjutant, Yuse, went through a lot of trouble to get it.
Borkal's father, the great merchant Rubiwill, was given full authority to build the buildings. The funds for the buildings were also around two thousand crowns.
Claude was the one who designed and built the buildings himself. He adopted the Hogo style of his family's red-bricked house. The only difference was that each room had two large balconies.
The people of this world loved to let the sun dry their clothes and blankets. Claude was already sick of hearing the tenants complain about not having a place to dry their clothes.
That added up to around four thousand crowns. After giving his mother a thousand and his sister another three thousand, Claude only had a little more than a thousand crowns left in his bank account. That was more than enough for him to spend after he joined the army.
Even if he treated his comrades to a feast every day, he would be able to live a carefree life for a long time.
"It's fine, Anna. Your brother has money. This is all the dividends from the company's shares.
It's already late. Go back to your room and bring your things back. Don't forget to meditate before you sleep. "
"Okay, Brother. I'll be going back to my room then." His sister left obediently.
Claude touched his face and listened to her footsteps as she walked up the stairs.
He bent down and took out a black leather bag from the bookshelf beside him. He opened it and took out a black robe and a mask, as well as a few bottles and jars.
He first took out a large clump of white fat from the bottle of badger fat before scooping out some condiments from the other bottles and started mixing them. After mixing them evenly, he rubbed some on the back of his hand and it didn't take long for him to find a suitable dye.
Claude started rubbing the blob of brown badger fat on his face, hands and any exposed skin.
Soon his skin had taken on a bronze hue, and he looked like the sailors and sailors who had been exposed to the sun and wind at sea.
Next up was hair, which required a special alchemical potion. Fortunately, he had concocted a bottle of it based on Landes's notes. What he didn't understand, however, was who Landes's hair dye potion was meant for.
Could it be that the magi of that era had a hobby of dressing up?
After applying the hair dye potion, his hair turned from black to dark gold. Claude cut off some of his hair and trimmed it into a beautiful mustache.
He stuck the fake mustache on his lips and looked into the mirror. This time, even his mother wouldn't be able to tell that the mature man in front of her was Claude.
He changed into a pair of leather shoes and a pair of trousers he took out from his black pouch, put on a robe and another backpack. Then, he put on the bottle of whiskey he brought back and snuck out of the study. He opened the door and slipped out of the hut.
His mother and brother were already asleep and his sister was probably meditating, so they didn't know that he had snuck out.
The snowhound, however, whimpered and scratched at the bedroom door a few times. But when it realized that it was Claude's doing, it quickly fell silent.
After descending the forest, he followed his old route and entered the town without a hitch.
Since the naval base covered almost the entire slum area, whether it was the courtyard of the Catherine sisters' two-story building or the fat old man's grocery store, they were all targets of relocation.
Felidos, on the other hand, was inspired by the community project built by the Normanley Real Estate Development Company. He directly demarcated a piece of wasteland outside the west gate of the town and prepared to build a batch of simple houses to house the poor who were forced to move. This move won him a widespread reputation.
However, the design of the naval base in the slums hadn't been completed yet. The main reason was that the official in charge, Viscount Wenisk, had a new idea every day. Plans made one day would be overturned by him the next. Before the plan was finalized, the slums who had nowhere else to go would continue living there. However, the area was much quieter and more deserted.