Claude was very pleased with Angelina's growth. The cowardly, crybaby lolita in his memories had finally grown up.
Without the protection of her father and brother, she had to face the wind and rain alone. She had to take care of her sickly mother and young brother. She grew into a strong and independent woman.
Not only did she improve by leaps and bounds in her magic cultivation, she was also able to handle the problems she faced well and couldn't be faulted.
Even Claude couldn't deny that he had handled the matter better than his sister when it came to dealing with the provocation of Maria's children and the forced purchase of the new building. While there were some hiccups in the purchase of the wood, it was only because of his sister's lack of experience. He didn't think that he would need to be a citizen to purchase a public wood.
Actually, his sister's considerations did make sense. Buying a wood was really beneficial to her magic cultivation. At the very least, it was more convenient than living in the red brick house.
"By the way, Angelina, did you pass the exam to become a novice herbalist?"
Claude asked when he saw the rows of test tubes and a small concoction equipment on the wooden table near the window.
She nodded. "I passed the exam at the end of last year in November at the prefectural city of Baromesee.
There were a total of 247 people who took the exam, but only ten passed.
I was ranked eighth, and I'm the youngest. "
Alright, Claude had to admit that his sister was a genius. She was much better than him in herbalism.
What he didn't know was that after Angelina passed the exam at the end of last year, many people came knocking on their door to propose marriage to her.
Even Borkal's father, Rubiwill, was a little tempted.
But when he saw that all of them were shut out by his sister, he gave up on the idea.
"Haven't you thought about opening a herbalist shop?" asked Claude.
She shook her head. "I can't get away from that. I have to stay in the shop every day.
Not to mention, there are already four herbalist shops in Whitestag. I don't want to join in on the fun anymore.
Now, I concoct potions at home and sell them to the four shops at a cheap price. They're all very willing.
Sometimes, fleets and caravans would order a batch of potions from me. Just this alone is enough for me to make a lot of money … "
Claude pointed at the equipment. "Don't tell me you're using this to make potions. This thing is only for emergencies. The quality of the potions you make isn't that great.
If you use an alchemy array to refine a potion, then the perfect quality potion will expose you as a mage … "
The younger sister giggled. "I'm not that stupid to sell perfect quality medicine.
Actually, after I concocted ten tubes of perfect quality medicine and added three tubes of distilled water, I placed them in the agitator of the pharmaceutical equipment and stirred them evenly. After that, I would have thirteen tubes of excellent quality medicine.
That's why my concoctions are so popular in Whitestag. Since I've limited my production, everyone thinks I'm relying on my patience and luck to produce such high-quality concoctions. "
Claude gave his sister a thumbs up to show his appreciation. She didn't need him to worry about her anymore. She was much more meticulous than he was.
Claude only regretted that he hadn't thought of this idea in the first place. He had the perfect potions but couldn't sell them. He even had to rely on hunting to buy ingredients for his alchemical experiments.
"Well, Brother, there's some bad news. I don't know if I should tell you …" Angelina said hesitantly.
"Tell me, what's the bad news?" Claude turned around.
"Umm … Normanley Real Estate closed down. Your shares in the company were only sold for around 400 crowns."
"Huh?" Claude was stunned. "Normanley Real Estate closed down?
Didn't you say that there were still a hundred thousand crowns left after the construction of the naval base was settled?
Didn't Ludian buy land in the new district in the east to build a community?
How did he manage to close down the company? "
Claude came to a realization after listening to his sister's explanation. It was simple. Normanley Real Estate's collapse was inevitable. It was impossible for it not to close down.
Back then, Claude worked with Maria to set up the real estate development company because he had the advantage of being well-informed. He knew that the naval base was going to be built in Whitestag, so he bought up the properties in the slums.
He used a mortgage to buy real estate and used a small amount of money as leverage to buy all the properties in the east slum.
After the land was connected, he started planning for the entire community. He first built a few model buildings that caught the attention of the naval base's construction department.
Just like that, he sold the entire community to the naval base and received a huge sum of money in advance, solving the biggest problem of the real estate development company.
He sold his goods to the right customers in the right place at the right time. It was truly a seamless connection. That was how he managed to earn an unimaginable amount of wealth in an instant.
Ludian, on the other hand, wanted to replicate that success, but he forgot about the most important factors.
Back then, he convinced Maria to use Normanley Wood's 7,000 hectares of forest as collateral to borrow 20,000 crowns from the national bank and invest it in buying properties in the slum's east sector. He then used the purchased properties as collateral for another loan, which added up to around 50,000 crowns. That was enough for him to build a few model houses.
Ludian, on the other hand, bought the land from the real estate department in Whitestag's administrative center. The price he offered was quite impressive.
Not to mention, the land still had to be leveled and planned, which required much more time and money than the demolition of the houses in the east slum.
Claude even used the demolition to collect a large amount of reusable building materials, which saved him a lot of money.
However, Ludian had nothing in the land and everything had to be reinvested, which only increased the cost.
So, by the time Ludian finished leveling the land and building roads and sewers, the company had already spent most of its money.
So, Ludian learned from Claude and used the land as a mortgage to get a loan to build a new residential area.
That was the second mistake he made. Claude's target market for the new residential area was the navy, but Ludian didn't know who the main customers would be and whether they would be able to afford the apartments in the new residential area.
If Fennix Merchant hadn't come to Whitestag to monopolize the trade between the two continents, the booming business in Whitestag might've given rise to many small merchants who wanted to buy homes there.
That way, many people would buy the apartments in the new residential area. Even if they didn't earn much from it, Normanley Real Estate wouldn't suffer a loss.
But with the Fennix merchant group stirring up trouble in Whitestag, many of the smaller merchants were excluded from the trade between the two continents. Whitestag also lost its appeal to them.
So, after Ludian's new residential area was completed, no one was willing to buy the expensive apartments. As a result, the new residential area became a place for birds to gather.
"In the fifth month of last year, the troubled Ludian came to an agreement with Felidos to sell the new residential area to the administrative center of Whitestag as a residential area for the newly appointed officials.
"The selling price was only a third of the original price. After paying off all the bank loans, construction debts and office expenses, the company was left with less than five thousand crowns.
Ludian then announced that Normanley Real Estate would cease all operations there and that he would return to the royal capital to serve as Lady Maria's butler.
"All the shareholders withdrew some of their funds based on their shares, so you received around four hundred crowns. The money is temporarily stored in my bank account book," Ludian explained the reason for Normanley Real Estate's collapse.
A profit of more than a hundred thousand gold crowns had been reduced to only five thousand crowns. It was a huge blow to Maria and Ludian.
Claude shook his head. That wasn't how real estate was played in Aueras.
Without a specific time and target, it would be wishful thinking to replicate Claude's success like Luan's.
"Was the construction team that Uncle Thomas was in charge of disbanded?"
That was what Claude was concerned about. It didn't matter if Normanley Real Estate closed down, but it would be a huge pity if the highly efficient construction team that Claude had spent so much effort on was disbanded.
"You have to call him Sir Thomas. Don't forget that Uncle Thomas is now a member of parliament," said Ludian with a smile.
In fact, she also called Thomas uncle. "At the end of the year before last, the kingdom had a compulsory conscription. Most of the construction team had been conscripted, and there were only about two or three hundred people left. They were all very experienced technicians.
"After the company closed down, the shareholders who withdrew their shares formed a new construction company and signed a labor contract with the technicians.
"Using the technicians, they formed three construction teams and used Uncle Thomas's connections to expand the administrative center of Whitestag.
"Even though they didn't make a lot of money, it was enough to support the development of the construction company.
Uncle Thomas mentioned that this was the company's strategy you told him before you left. As long as he can maintain the construction team, he'll be able to maintain a lot of influence in Whitestag and it'll be good for him to get elected as a member of parliament.
"By the way, my family also invested ten percent of the shares in the construction company under my younger brother Bloweyk's name. We invested a hundred and fifty crowns."
Claude nodded. Uncle Thomas had done a good job. He still remembered what he said back then.
Even after the company closed down, he was still able to maintain the construction team and establish a construction company.
If Ludian could manage the company like that, it wouldn't have closed down at all. The expansion of Whitestag would bring about many more construction opportunities.
It was a pity that Luther wasn't interested in the meager food at all and only wanted to have another feast. Yet, he screwed up and could only leave Whitestag with his tail between his legs.
"By the way, what's up with the wall and Pegg guarding the gate?" Claude asked as he recalled seeing Pegg when he first returned.
His sister shook her head and sighed. "Brother, you don't know how many labor camps there are in Whitestag. There are more than thirty of them in total. I suspect that all the labor camps in the kingdom are concentrated in Whitestag.
"There are often criminals sneaking out to commit crimes, theft and robbery. The security is getting worse and worse.
"Two years ago, two criminals sneaked into the second floor next door and almost scared Madam Wesson to death.
"So, I had to ask Uncle Thomas for help to build this wall to give the tenants next door a sense of security. The land here belongs to us anyway."
"As for Uncle Pegg …" The younger sister's expression turned serious, "Brother, do you remember your childhood playmate, Eriksson?"
"I do. He had a falling out with us because of his father's disappearance. I didn't have any contact with him after graduation.
What's wrong? What happened to him? "asked Claude curiously.
"It's best that you don't mention that you know him to anyone else.
His sister didn't sound like she was joking. "The second year after you left, Eriksson joined the army, but he joined the navy.
"Last April, he started a rebellion and stole a second-grade warship from Storm and became a pirate.
He has a bounty of 850 crowns on his head, and there's even a portrait of him posted at the main entrance of the naval base … "
"How is that possible?"
Claude's jaw dropped. Eriksson actually became a pirate? How old was he? He was the same age as Claude!
The navy wasn't like the army. Seniority and seniority were more important on the ships. He had only been in the army for a few years and the most he could do was wash the deck. How could he have incited an entire ship's worth of soldiers to rebel against him?
"It's true. Most people in Whitestag know about it.
Furthermore, he was extremely daring. He took advantage of the fact that no one in the naval base was aware of his actions. After the rebellion, he drove his battleship back to the base and docked at the shore. Then, he used the night to loot the military warehouse at the dock and took away two ocean-going transport ships. He even went back home to pick up his mother and some of the families of the soldiers who followed him in the rebellion.
Even when he left with the three ships, the marines guarding the port thought he was on a special mission and let him go.
The next morning, the naval base found the guards of the warehouse tied up together and found out about the rebellion.
That incident caused six of the officers in charge of the naval base to lose their positions and became the greatest humiliation to Storm. "
"What about Uncle Pegg?"
"Uncle Pegg refused to become a pirate with Eriksson.
Ever since their private dock was sold, Uncle Pegg worked as a servant in their yard. When Eriksson picked up his mother that night, Uncle Pegg didn't want to follow and was tied up in his room.
After that, he was arrested by the patrol squad for investigation. After he was proven innocent, he became homeless and ended up living on the streets.
Back then, we had just finished building the walls and I asked him to be our gatekeeper. "
Claude nodded. "You did the right thing."
"Also, there's one more thing," Pegg said with a tinge of fear, "Brother, I … I killed two people last year."