Lux could not believe his ears. One gold coin for a low-quality monster core? Surely, he had heard wrong.

  Twiggs looked at him like he had asked if rain fell upwards. “Yes? How much did you think they were worth?”

  Lux stood there, his mind whirring. All this time he had assumed they would cost a fortune, that the city’s future would balance on the backs of expensive, hard-to-find monster cores. He had worried, he had stressed, and for what? If they were this cheap, he could just buy them!

  He blurted out the next question that popped into his mind, “Then what about medium quality monster cores? Are they cheap too?”

  “One hundred gold per core.” Twiggs let out a short laugh at Lux’s gobsmacked expression. “I can tell what you are thinking just from your expression! This is why I like hanging out with you, you're so easy to read!”

  Lux was not even listening to Twiggs. The jump in price was to shocking. Lux didn’t dare ask about the high-quality ones, but he soon found out anyway. When the low and medium cores had been auctioned off, a couple of high-quality monster cores appeared on the screen. For a single one? One hundred thousand!

  A cold suspicion crept up Lux’s spine. The people who had returned to earth rich from monster cores, they must have sold high-quality ones. There was no way a gold coin from Mystic Beau would buy you a mansion back on earth, the exchange rate wouldn’t stretch that far.

  He thought of the deal he had struck with Silver, a monster core in exchange for help with the dungeon and building the city. Realisation hit him hard. No wonder Silver had agreed so quickly! Lux had ripped himself off!

  The auction rolled on, but Lux sat in a grey fog, wincing at his own stupidity. Flowers and potions flicked across the screen, but his thoughts rolled over and over, fixated on monster cores. Until a familiar bottle with a purple label appeared on the display. Lux snapped upright.

  Icewine. The air in the room shifted, crackling with anticipation. The auctioneer’s voice took on a new edge. “Fifty-eight boxes up for auction!” The room filled with whispers, eager faces leaned forward, eyes glued to the screen.

  Lux felt it too, a pulse of excitement. He held his breath as the opening bid was announced. “Starting at one thousand gold!” Bids came fast, ruthless. “One thousand, one thousand five hundred, two thousand…” The numbers climbed like smoke.

  “Seven thousand five hundred gold going once, going twice, sold!” The hammer cracked down. Lux nearly jumped out of his chair to cheer, but before sound could escape him, Twiggs yanked him back down.

  Twiggs pressed a finger to his lips. Lux got the hint and nodded, cheeks burning. Best not to attract attention here.

  The next boxes soared away at similar prices. Lux grinned until his cheeks ached. When they finally went to the cashier, Lux leaned in to hear the total. “Your proceeds, minus the administration fee, come to four hundred thousand and ten gold coins.”

  The numbers hit him like a blow. Lux pressed his hand to his chest, his heart thundered. Nearly half a million for seven hundred bottles of wine! The weight of looming debt vanished like mist in the sun.

  This would not be the only batch of Icewine they had to sell, and the farm’s produce too. He would be able to scrape together the money Trella had borrowed. With his biggest problem solved, Lux’s thoughts spilled out in all directions about what to build next.

  He hardly remembered walking home. One blink, and he was on his bed, the day already over. Thoughts swirled, then sleep swept them aside.

  In the morning, he went through his routine, dressing, then marking the wall. He scratched his chin, frowning at the sixty-fourth mark. “Time flies. I need to find Silver to get the rest of the monster cores for the dungeon.” Lux wrinkled his nose, remembering the auction. “And renegotiate my fee!”

  As he ambled toward the fire circle, voices drifted ahead of him. A familiar group lounged around the flames. Trella was first to spot him. “Lux! We just heard about the auction! Congratulations!” Trella’s grin was bright enough to light the clearing. “Everyone will be happy to know they can finally collect their wages!”

  Lux let out a laugh. No wonder Trella was pleased. “I’ll drop the money off to Beatrice after breakfast. Let people know, from now on, they’ll collect their wages at the town hall.” He settled onto a log and took out his ledger, ready to tally what he owed.

  He paused. Did he even know how many people worked in Silver City now? He glanced up. “Trella, what’s the current labour force population?”

  Trella rattled off the numbers, barely glancing aside. “One hundred thirty-three labourers, twenty farmers, one merchant. All on twenty silver coins a day.” He nodded at the two sisters. “Add Constance and Grace, they’ll need wages as well. And there’s the winery manager, he’s on a gold per day.”

  Lux had not forgotten the sisters’ wage backlog, they’d waited for the Icewine to sell. He did a quick tally, just to pay back the owed wages, he’d need roughly two thousand gold coins.

  His pen scratched across the page. For weekly wages alone, he’d need 222 gold and 60 silver coins for the labourers, farmers, merchant, and winery manager. The sisters alone would earn 56 gold a week. It looked like upskilling was just as profitable in Mystic Beau as on earth.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  He decided to give Beatrice five thousand gold coins, enough to cover back wages and a couple months forward.

  Lux pulled out the city ledger to update the accounts. He added the wages in, so he could see the drain on the treasury at a glance.

  Silver City

  Treasury: 410,000 gold, 6 silver, 23 bronze.

  Population: 48 (Permanent), 106 (Temporary)

  Contracted Workers: Labourers, Farmers, Merchant, Architect, Mechanical Engineer, Winery Manager

  Weekly Wages: 278 gold, 60 silver

  Buildings: 10 shoddy houses, Farm, Dirt Path, Town Hall, Logging Factory, Granary, Mill, Main Roads, Farm, Winery, Brick Factory, 1 Temporary Apartment, Bathhouse (under construction)

  Exports: Produce, Icewine

  Monster Cores Required: Low 28, Medium 1

  Available Monster Cores: Low 198, Medium 21

  Minus 5,000 coins for wages, that left 405,000 in the treasury. Lux glanced at Twiggs, who was tearing into toast with gusto. “Twiggs, when will the next batch of produce be ready for sale?”

  Twiggs licked his lips, then answered, “Tomorrow. George will be back then, too. If Beatrice is running the town hall now, I’ll have him deposit the money straight to her. Easier than you chasing him down every time for city revenue.”

  Lux nodded at the logic. “Good idea. I’ll keep city funds at the town hall from now on.” With the population surging, a town hall was now essential.

  In fact, soon someone else would need to run Silver City. Lux had only thirty-six days left in Mystic Beau. Better to get everyone used to centralised services now, instead of hunting for one person with a pouch of gold.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a plate of fresh fruit. Magenta handed it over, beaming. “Good morning darling.”

  Lux blinked, caught off guard by the warmth in her voice. “Do you need anything from town today?”

  His jaw actually dropped. Magenta, volunteering to open a portal and fetch something for him? Was it because of yesterday’s date? He wondered, briefly, how long it would last.

  “Good morning to you too, Magenta. Thanks, but I don’t need anything today.” He smiled, sincere, and thanked her for the food. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Twiggs staring, aghast, at this strange new Magenta.

  Lux shrugged at Twiggs, then focused on breakfast. As soon as he finished, he made straight for the town hall. He had promised Beatrice he’d meet her there. She was already waiting out front. “Good morning, Beatrice!” Lux waved.

  “Hi Lux.” The feathers around her eyes shimmered in the sunlight. “I’ve got the list of everything we’ll need to get the town hall operational.” She handed him a long sheet of parchment. Lux skimmed it, eyebrows rising. Beatrice had listed everything, with prices.

  Tables, chairs, printing machines, stationary, tablets, the list went on. The total at the bottom made Lux’s stomach lurch. Two hundred and thirty-three thousand gold coins for the lot. He exhaled hard. He could not earn money fast enough.

  Beatrice anticipated his worry. “Most of that is for the central administration system. That’ll give us official access to all services, permissions, records, oversight.” She spoke primly, like a judge reciting laws.

  Lux scratched his head. He had no idea what any of that meant. Beatrice grinned at his blank stare. “In short, it means Silver City can handle things internally, no more running off to another town for every little request.”

  She pressed on. “Here’s an example, with central admin, we can request workers from every guild straight from the town hall. No need to visit different guilds in person.”

  “That’s fantastic.” Lux’s excitement surged, then wavered as he remembered the debt. He filled Beatrice in. His face twisted, the city was broke.

  Beatrice brushed it off. “You’ll have it paid in a week. Don’t worry, Lux. Small settlements juggle debts all the time. This is nothing new.”

  Her confidence steadied him. “Thanks Beatrice, I needed to hear that.” He handed over his money pouch. “I’ll leave the city funds with you.”

  Beatrice shook her head. “Better use the city vault. Deposit it yourself, the vault logs everything.”

  “Vault?” Lux felt the headache gathering between his brows. Of course they’d need a vault. “How much will that cost?”

  “What…” Beatrice frowned, puzzled. “You already have one. Silver dropped it off but didn’t have time to activate it. He said you’d do it.”

  Lux blinked slowly. There was a vault? He motioned for Beatrice to lead the way. She guided him to a back room, where a massive golden orb pulsed quietly in the middle of the floor. Pressure rolled off it, shoving at his chest. Lux fought his way forward, until he reached the orb.

  Beatrice stood in the doorway. “Just place the city seal on the orb. It’ll activate. I’ll wait outside, you need registration to enter.”

  Lux fished out the seal from his pouch. The moment it touched the orb, a mechanical voice sounded: “Official city seal detected. Activating city vault.”

  The orb blazed and gold light oozed out, spreading across the floor. Lux watched the liquid gold creep toward his shoes, then he bolted for the door and yanked it shut. Light glowed under the seam. After a minute, silence.

  He peeked inside. The gold glow lingered, but now the floor and walls were coated in a transparent golden shell. Lux tried to step inside and bounced off an invisible wall.

  “Touch the seal to the door, then go in,” Beatrice advised.

  He did so and stumbled inside, now unimpeded. The only change was the missing orb and the gold-lined room, humming with energy. He could see Beatrice waiting in the hall. “Is it activated?”

  “Yes, go ahead and deposit the money.” He followed Beatrices instructions and placed the pouch on the floor. The bulging bag instantly sagged as the coins vanished.

  “How do I check the balance?” The answer popped into his mind, as clear as viewing a picture. The vault even listed whose name was authorised to access it, just him and Silver, for now.

  “Beatrice, how do I add you to the access list?” Even as he spoke, her name shimmered into place on the list. “Never mind, it’s automatic!” Lux grinned at the system’s efficiency. “Can we store other things in here besides money?”

  “As much as you want, so long as there’s space,” Beatrice replied, walking in. “With a vault this size, it’ll take centuries to fill. Honestly, a vault this big is more suited to a major city, not a settlement our size.”

  Lux shrugged, then upended his pouch, dropping all the monster cores onto the floor. They vanished the moment they touched. He fished out the ledger and handed it to Beatrice. “Use this until the real admin system arrives.”

  “Thanks.” She tucked it into her pouch. “I put mobile tablets on the order for the town hall. With them, you’ll be able to access city finances anywhere.”

  Lux imagined Constance’s tablet, it was probably similar. “Great. Get the town hall operational as soon as the debt is gone.” With nothing left to do here, Lux wanted to check on construction. “I’ll take my leave then.”

  “Wait, there’s something urgent.” Beatrice’s eyes sparkled with concern. “The complimentary three-month period from the Labourers Guild expires in just over a month. Have you figured out how to gather extension visas?”

  Lux froze solid.

  Beatrice stared, worried. “Lux, please tell me you knew about this.”

  Lux’s breath stuttered. Every time he felt in control, something else crashed down on him. Wait, Silver City had existed before he arrived, hadn’t it? He voiced his confusion.

  “It’s based on when you first use the Labourers Guild,” Beatrice explained. “Three months from then.”

  A wild, slightly unhinged laugh burst from him. Was that sound really his? Apparently, yes. Lux clapped a hand to his mouth. He’d reached the end of his rope. “I’m going to find Silver and quit!”