Chapter 67: This Coal Has Strength

“Sephine! Come calculate the morning’s revenue.”

Auntie Xue called Sephine over.

Seeing her sitting there bored out of her mind, she figured she might as well give her something to do.

The tavern’s various dish prices were all roughly the same, but because they had to pay taxes to the Kingdom, everything had to be tallied clearly.

Normally, this kind of thing was left to Xiao Yi, but with Sephine here now, Xiao Yi could finally slack off for once.

“Mom! I’m going out for a bit.”

“Don’t go too far. Guests should be arriving soon.”

“I know.”

Xiao Yi pushed open the door and left.

After she was gone, Auntie Xue stopped idling behind the counter.

She counted out some money from the cash box and walked over to Sephine.

“This is your pay for the morning and afternoon combined. Take it for now.”

The boss placed five Silver Coins on the table.

Sephine gave her a suspicious look.

They had agreed on 20 Silver Coins a month, so why was she getting 5 Silver Coins after just one day of work?

Could that Demon King have threatened the boss?

Or was this just her being generous?

“Wasn’t my salary supposed to be paid monthly?”

“A lot of guests left tips for you, but they were too shy to give them to you directly, so they left them with me. The rest is an extra bonus.”

The boss seemed to be treating her too well.

It wasn’t that Sephine didn’t appreciate kindness, but this was just strange.

There had to be a reason for everything, right?

“Boss, be honest with me. Did that tall female customer from this morning say something threatening to you?”

“Of course not. You helped bring so many new customers to the tavern today. You deserve this.”

Sephine counted them.

In total, it was 6 Silver Coins and 2 Copper Coins.

The exchange rates for Gold, Copper, and Silver Coins were always fluctuating.

Right now, one Gold Coin could be exchanged for about 20 Silver Coins or 100 Copper Coins.

In recent years, many new gold mines had been discovered, causing the exchange rate of Gold to Silver to drop a bit.

6 Silver Coins was a lot.

She wouldn’t be short on money for this month at least.

It was even enough to pay off the debt she owed Aglis.

Things were finally looking up.

Still, she didn’t know how long she’d be able to work at the tavern.

She needed to figure out a way to secure some stable assets.

Just working a job forever wasn’t a solution.

The children would grow up, and for all she knew, it might happen quickly.

“Thank you, boss!”

Sephine smiled and gave the boss a bow.

Her eyes curved into crescents, beaming with joy, and her clean, silky white hair swayed with the motion.

Auntie Xue finally understood why Vi was so captivated by this little one.

Sephine pocketed the money, humming a tune like a child who had just gotten some candy.

Chuckling to herself, she went back to calculating the revenue.

Objectively speaking, Sephine was greedy for money.

But she only coveted money that she rightfully deserved.

She would try to get a higher salary, but she wouldn’t use her position to extort or cheat people out of ill-gotten gains.

Maybe it was because she had lived like a savage in the forest for too long.

After coming to the Royal Capital, she often engaged in revenge spending, buying whatever she wanted without thinking too much.

This left her with no assets besides physical objects.

In other words, she was dirt poor.

When she lost her job, her cash flow was cut off, and she nearly couldn’t afford to eat.

Thankfully, things like food in the Royal Capital were very cheap.

Only the novel Magic Tools had high prices.

So Sephine managed to hold out for a few days, and she hadn’t spent much of Aglis’s money either.

“The money we made this morning is really quite a lot… no wonder the boss was so generous.”

In total, this morning’s earnings had brought in 80 Gold Coins.

For a small tavern in the city center, that was already a very high income.

When you focus on one thing, time flies.

Once she finished calculating the revenue, she noticed the noise from downstairs had picked up.

The boss, who had been upstairs, was gone, and in her place was Xiao Yi, who had just returned.

“Finished? Leave it here. You can clock out.”

“Huh? Don’t you need my help tonight?”

“Don’t you have kids? Hurry home.”

“But…”

“You’re a mother now. Stop being so hesitant and shy. No wonder people treat you like a child.”

Xiao Yi pinched a bit of skin on Sephine’s cheek and rubbed it.

It hurt a little.

“Go on, get out of here. The two of us are enough for the night shift. Those workers don’t cause much trouble; as long as we serve food and drinks on time, it’s fine.”

“Mmm… Thank you.”

“Hehe.”

“…?”

The boss’s daughter suddenly let out this weird laugh, which sent a shiver down Sephine’s spine.

That kind of laugh sounded so strange.

It was like she was expecting something.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I’m not laughing at anything.”

“Alright, I’m going then.”

Before leaving, Sephine took another look at Xiao Yi, who let out another strange “hehehe.”

She couldn’t figure it out. Time to make a run for it.

“Ah, I can’t believe she’s that Demon King’s wife.”

“So cute… I wonder what it’s like when they… you know. Does she get carried? She must, right…”

“Xiao Yi! Come downstairs and help!”

“Oh, coming!”

Snapping out of her daydream, Xiao Yi went downstairs to help her mom serve the guests.

Sephine walked along the road.

As the cool wind brushed past her ears, she felt like she wanted to buy a hat.

She didn’t know how much longer this weather would last.

The Festival of Light was almost here, so spring should be coming soon.

The Festival of Light was similar to the New Year’s festival from Sephine’s previous life.

Everyone gathered together to thank the Gods for casting the first ray of light upon the world, bringing warmth to all life.

Usually, on the day of the Festival of Light, the sun would be especially bright, and the winter chill would be completely driven away.

“So cold…”

Sephine shivered as she hurried towards home.

But it looked like they were out of firewood at home.

She needed to buy some.

At this hour, the general store should still be open.

She picked a random store and walked in.

As she entered, a wave of warm air hit her face.

The firewood in this shop must be pretty good quality.

“Boss, do you have any firewood?”

“Yes. How much do you need?”

“Three bundles.”

“For three bundles, can you carry them all by yourself? How about trying this? It’s a new product, Magic Coal. Just one small bag will burn for a long time.”

“Coal? Can such a small amount really keep you warm?”

“Take a look. This is what we’re burning in our shop. Don’t you think it’s warm?”

“How much is it? I’ll take it.”

“One bag is 5 Silver Coins.”

“That’s so expensive!”

“It’s a new product. It’ll be cheaper in a few days. Tell you what, I’ll knock off a bit. 4 Silver Coins, how about that?”

“Mmm… alright.”

Sephine ended up buying it.

She spent most of the Silver Coins she had just earned today on a bag of coal.

“Here you go!”

“Where is this coal produced?”

“It’s imported from the Elf Kingdom. We just got it in a few days ago. Since you’re being such a good customer, I’ll let you in on a secret. In a few days, a merchant caravan from the Elf Kingdom will be coming here. They’ll have plenty of good stuff. If you’re interested, I suggest you go check it out then.”

“Is that so… Thanks for the tip, boss.”

“No problem. Take care.”

Elves.

Sephine remembered them as a group that made a living by selling their looks.

When did they suddenly start getting into business?