"You’ll know it’s nothing once you come with me."

Tiffany looked at Lance, who simply turned and left after saying that, and for a moment, she was uncertain.

But after hesitating slightly, she quickly followed, only to find him heading towards the Lord’s Mansion.

What could be worth seeing there?

Lance led her directly inside, then towards the basement.

Looking at the solid brick walls and stone barriers, it was clear this place had been repaired or even rebuilt before.

No fuss, just simple and as solid as a fortress.

But Tiffany had been here before, and this place was so desolate even rats wouldn’t find food. What was there to see?

By this time, Lance had already pushed open the heavy iron door and walked in with a candlestick.

Following him with curiosity, Tiffany discovered that the small treasury, which had been emptied long ago, was now filled with so many chests that it almost filled the basement.

At this point, Tiffany sensed something was off and quickly opened the nearest box.

The dim secret chamber, barely visible by candlelight, suddenly burst into a glow. The soft candlelight, reflected by the gold coins, appeared even more dazzling, almost drawing Tiffany’s soul into it.

Shaking her head, Tiffany forced her gaze away from the gold coins and turned her eyes to Lance.

"Are all these...?"

Her tone was somewhat hurried, filled with disbelief, as if she feared it was all an illusion.

Lance merely raised the candlestick slightly, bringing more chests into the light’s reach.

"This is Hamlet."

"Yay! Awesome!"

Upon getting the confirmation, Tiffany was overjoyed. She raised her hands and jumped, shouting loudly to vent her pent-up emotions.

What pressure?

Nonexistent. In the face of gold coins, all stress vanished; there was only one word in her heart—satisfaction!

Lance, however, remained calm. Upon his return, he had already placed the "tax" he collected into the basement of the Lord’s Mansion, initially wanting to give her a little Hamlet shock, which is why he hadn’t mentioned it directly.

Now let’s see if she still keeps pestering him for money every day.

Money represents the basic logic of the ordinary world and a kind of rule.

But now to Lance, money had lost some of its importance, signifying he had already transcended the ordinary realm.

It’s no wonder Tamara mentioned that powerful Transcendents are not bound; gold coins mean nothing to them. They prefer to trade rare materials, Superordinary Items, and Mysticism knowledge.

Lance vaguely sensed this situation, yet didn’t have such a high demand for those rituals, items, and materials.

The "Bless" already covers a Transcendent’s growth path, and "Sacrifice" even uses life as material.

He doesn’t need to pursue ancient rituals, study dangerous Mysticism, or cultivate to improve himself like Alhazred and the others.

He’s neither an ordinary person nor a typical Transcendent, so what is he...?

"Where did all this money come from? Tell me quickly!" Tiffany was ecstatic, grabbing Lance and shaking him, pulling his thoughts back to reality.

Getting caught up in nonsensical thoughts could be damaging, thankfully Tiffany dragged him out of it.

Why ponder those meaningless things? I am who I am.

Tiffany impatiently pressed on, knowing Lance was quite capable, yet this exceeded her understanding.

Keep in mind, the Walter Conglomerate, at its peak, amounted to just over a million gold coins, and most were in Totnes’s storefronts, fleets, and fixed assets, with only a few thousand in cash on hand.

And this level was among the top two grain merchants in Ovando; here there might be several million, far surpassing what her father could strive for in a lifetime.

"This is Hamlet’s tax, accumulated for over a decade, collected all at once," Lance casually explained, not mentioning how much blood had been shed for this money, since there was no need for her to know.

Upon hearing this, Tiffany calmed down. If it was tax, particularly accumulated tax over many years, it wasn’t surprising.

Tiffany had no intention to delve further. No matter how it appeared, the money was there, and that was enough; the rest wasn’t her concern.

"Now that the money is here, shouldn’t you give me that thing?"

Lance suddenly brought it up, making Tiffany hesitate, nervously reaching for her necklace.

"Didn’t you say you were giving it to me..."

"Stop playing dumb. I mean that IOU," Lance urged, "You’d keep something like that on you."

"No!" Tiffany refused firmly, "That’s Bastia’s ransom, and I haven’t received that money yet."

"Isn’t this money enough? Why still worry about that little bit?"

"Tax is tax, ransom is ransom. How can you mix the two? You taught me that accounts must balance."

"Haha, don’t make me take action myself..."

......

Grendel now understood why Lance preferred handling matters in his study rather than the office at the government building.

The office indeed carried an inexplicable pressure, whereas at home, it was much more relaxed, allowing him to handle things more comfortably.

Thus, Grendel only went to the office in the morning; if tasks weren’t sorted, she’d bring them home in the afternoon, where the room opened into a small garden.

With blooming flowers, sipping floral tea and eating freshly picked berries, efficiency greatly improved.

A cup of tea, a plate of fruits, and a set of documents lasted all day.

This was when Lance stepped into the garden with quick steps, though he seemed to notice something, glancing towards the garden where someone else was busy, not Grendel.

This made his steps falter momentarily before he understood.

With Grendel busy with work, the garden required someone else’s upkeep since pest control, watering, fertilizing, and pruning were no easy tasks.

Every beautiful place requires laborious maintenance, and a nobility’s garden reflects both diligent gardeners and financial prowess.

He wasn’t particularly concerned, hurrying into the house.

Grendel appeared to feel his approach and came out to greet him, quickly sensing something amiss.

"What’s the matter? Who’s upset our lord?"

"Don’t even mention it; she nearly drove me crazy."

Bringing it up, Lance didn’t hold back, not needing to put on airs in front of her, he plopped down and started complaining about Tiffany’s earlier reaction.

"When I went in, good heavens, her look was like she wanted to tear me apart. Had someone stumbled by, they’d think I owed her millions.

Frightened, I dug up something nice from the stock to appease her, only for her to..."

Grendel came around to massage Lance’s temples, calmly listening and soothing him.

"I gave her money, then asked for my IOU back. Do you know what she said?"

"What did she say?"

Lance mimicked Tiffany’s tone, repeating her words.

"She actually used my words against me!"

"Did you get back the IOU?" Grendel zeroed in on the crucial point, curious to ask.

Lance let out a sigh and answered with a somewhat forlorn tone, "Sigh~ No..."

As Lance recounted the event, Grendel couldn’t hold back her laugh, from behind enveloping his head with her arms, whispering softly in comfort.

"How can she bully our lord~ You should give her a lesson."

"You clearly haven’t stopped laughing."

"Hahaha~"