Chapter 799: Tsk Tsk, How Generous!

"Waha! There are truly quite a lot of books here."

Lan Qingyou, walking into the study, looked at the rows of bookshelves with shining eyes and exclaimed.

But in Elisa's eyes, this kind of thing was very normal.

"He is a noble after all. Even if he doesn't read much, he would definitely get some to put up a front."

"..."

This time, it wasn't Lan Qingyou who was silent.

But the maid who brought the two here was silent.

Firstly, as a maid, she certainly couldn't say anything.

Secondly, as far as she knew, there really were such front-putting nobles.

After bringing the two to the study, the maid took out a silk pouch from her pocket.

"What is this?"

Lan Qingyou floated over and took the pouch from the maid's hand.

Then opened it to take a look.

Good heavens!

A full bag of Gold Coins.

Although she didn't know how much, if nothing unexpected, it should be a lot of money.

"What does this mean?"

Elisa frowned and asked after looking at the opened money pouch Lan Qingyou handed over.

"The Viscount said during the one-week period it's inevitable you will go out for fresh air, so it will be more convenient if you want to buy anything then."

Facing the two's confusion, this maid who was around forty years old reported neither servilely nor overbearingly.

Tsk.

This Adams was really thoughtful...

Lan Qingyou couldn't help but smack her lips.

Although she indeed came for the books.

But it was undeniable that it would obviously be a loss not to stroll around in a prosperous commercial city like this.

"So that's how it is, then please thank Viscount Excellency for me."

Nodding, Elisa took out a Gold Coin from the money pouch.

"Speaking of which, how is the purchasing power of this Gold Coin?"

"Purchasing power?"

"Meaning how much stuff can it buy?"

"This... probably around the price of an adult cow."

A cow? A vintage one?

The maid's answer caused the two to calculate for quite a while in their hearts.

However, compared to Lan Qingyou who only graduated from junior high school, Elisa who was a Ph.D. obviously had a better concept.

"It's roughly a few thousand to ten thousand Federation Credits."

Elisa answered for Lan Qingyou, whose eyes revealed a clear but foolish look.

Tsk tsk!

Ten thousand Federation Credits!

Lan Qingyou weighed the money pouch in her hand.

There were probably about a hundred coins inside.

Doesn't that mean one million Federation Credits?

Doesn't that mean this bag of Gold Coins could buy a two-bedroom apartment in the city center back on Blue Star?

This Adams was truly generous.

Sure enough, people with noble titles and territory to collect taxes from were tough economically.

Although as an Alchemist, Lan Qingyou had already transcended low-level tastes.

But that was in the Karim Continent a thousand years later where there was nothing.

Now it was a thousand years ago. There were people, countries, cities, and markets.

In this kind of place, although money couldn't be said to be the standard measuring everything, lacking money was absolutely impossible.

"Are there other coins besides Gold Coins?"

After a slight estimation, Lan Qingyou asked a more realistic question.

"There are. There are also Silver Coins, Copper Coins, and Black Iron Coins."

"What's the exchange rate?"

"One Gold Coin can be exchanged for one hundred Silver Coins, one Silver Coin can be exchanged for one hundred Copper Coins, and one Copper Coin is one hundred Black Iron Coins."

Base ten, convenient and easy to understand.

Even someone without much knowledge should be able to calculate it clearly right.

If you really can't calculate it clearly, you can just do one for you, one for me.

The reason Lan Qingyou asked this topic was just to get a bit of intelligence about this world.

And what Elisa wanted was a bit more specific, it was intelligence regarding finance.

After all, for a society to function, finance was definitely an indispensable link.

Subsequently.

After gaining a slight understanding about money, the two began the settlement of this remuneration.

This place, rather than a study, was more like a reading room.

After all, compared to the office functions it provided, it had more functions for storing books.

But it didn't matter.

This truly didn't matter to the two.

Having books to read and knowledge to learn was enough.

"Walnut Travelogue? I've read this book before."

"Thirty Methods for Stain Removal?"

"The Untold Story of Baron Helka and Marquis Tuman..."

"What the hell are all these?"

Lan Qingyou, picking up a book casually, looked at the title, then directly put it back and pulled out the next one.

As a result, she consecutively picked up quite a few that were either romance novels or daily life tips.

Lan Qingyou even saw a booklet that only recorded complaints about neighbors.

This Adams truly wasn't picky.

Bringing anything and everything home?

No...

Clearly, the North John family had heritage.

It just might not have been used in this aspect.

Forget it...

Although there were some that couldn't be read, there was still a portion that could be read and had information.

So Lan Qingyou stopped complaining.

In short, just put aside what she didn't like and only read what she was interested in.

For example, local customs and practices, or slightly more professional books...

"Did you notice?"

Elisa, sitting opposite at the desk, asked Lan Qingyou opposite her without looking up from her book.

"Notice what?"

Lan Qingyou didn't look at the other party either.

"Although there are several hundred books in this study, there really aren't many true educational books."

"Isn't this a matter of course? This is probably just used to put up a front."

"You mean they were bought randomly?"

"What else? It couldn't possibly be that Adams and the others hid them away so people wouldn't read them right."

A mocking expression appeared on the corners of Lan Qingyou's mouth.

What a joke.

Although this place was a bit remote, it was still within Lake Bay Town, and it was the Viscount's property.

With maids, butlers, and gardeners here, who would come to steal books? Or borrow them to read?

So there was basically no such thing as hiding or not hiding.

This place had no other use besides acting as a front.

"I'm rather more inclined to believe it's because as a noble, he doesn't have a need in this aspect, thus didn't purchase them."

Elisa calmly turned a page of the book she was reading.

After all, nobles had fiefs and taxes.

Plus, inherently serving as managers, they basically didn't have that much time to learn other things.

That was why they wouldn't need to purchase professional books in this aspect.

"This is also possible. But if you put it that way, then educational books being hard to buy is also a possibility."

"You mean... an education monopoly?"

"Who knows. But a book I read earlier recorded that the academy faction in the Imperial Capital is extremely forceful."

Putting down the book, Lan Qingyou shrugged.

Then she picked up the tea the maid had brewed earlier and took a sip.

"Mm... forceful huh..."

Hearing this, Elisa also raised her head and directly looked at the ceiling in the study.

"Speaking of which, I also saw a book earlier. There was a section inside talking about a student in the academy who went to teach the children in his territory on a whim because he had nothing to do during the holidays."

"After the school found out, it drew a round of critical education..."