What is a natural enemy?
A cat catches a mouse, a bird eats a worm—the former uses absolute strength to form absolute suppression.
Yet mice and worms can also burrow three feet underground and hide in caves to avoid the attacks of their natural enemies.
If it were merely one-sided overpowering, it wouldn’t be worthy of the name “natural enemy.”
Only when both sides have their own advantages and can engage in mutual checks and balances does it deserve to be called a “natural enemy.”
Lafeier and Liliya were exactly such a relationship of give-and-take.
In Lafeier’s 16-year journey of pretending to be an idiot, if there was any obstacle, this violent maid in front of him was undoubtedly the foremost.
As a personal guard, every move Lafeier made was exposed under Liliya’s watch.
If he showed even a moment of normal human characteristics, everything would be ruined in an instant.
For Lafeier, the most accurate positioning of Liliya was “surveillance,” not “guard.”
When Lafeier faced harassment, this “good guard” had never stepped in to help.
But Lafeier really didn’t care about being bullied by those meddlesome relatives and their brats.
On the contrary, the more they harassed him, the more he could play weak and humble, thereby lowering the Duke’s expectations of him.
“Liliya,” Lafeier frowned, “I’m no longer the heir of the Duke’s house, so of course I don’t have the right to enjoy such treatment. But you, as a servant of the Duke’s house, isn’t it against the rules for you to run out on your own?”
“Master, what are you saying? For ten years, my only task has been to protect the master’s safety.”
Liliya replied calmly, not at all intimidated by the “rules” Lafeier had brought up.
‘Trouble is coming…’
Lafeier shifted his feet, his fingers tightly gripping the wooden handrail of the carriage steps. He smiled on the surface, but inside he was rapidly thinking of a countermeasure.
‘Liliya, it seems she came here against orders.’
‘That old man, his ghost never leaves!’ Lafeier cursed inwardly.
At this point, he could no longer pretend to be an idiot, and there was no need to.
The heir to the Duke’s house had already changed. Even if the Duke knew Lafeier had normal intelligence, he wouldn’t take him back to inherit the title.
To depose and then reappoint, then depose again—wouldn’t that be a farce?
Moreover, if he wanted to take control of the prison, he could no longer act willfully and play the fool like before. He had to establish authority as a manager.
In that case…
“Liliya, you know, I took over a prison,” Lafeier said, propping his head with an exaggerated gesture, his face full of exhaustion. “Deep in debt, chaotic management, stationed troops that don’t listen to orders… Really, I’m completely drained.”
“Hmm…” Liliya tilted her head and stared at Lafeier for a long time before speaking. “Then what can I do for the master?”
As a guard, her top priority was to protect Lafeier’s safety.
As a servant, she should also help Lafeier solve his problems.
And… A barely noticeable smirk curled at the corner of the girl’s lips: ‘Master, Lord Lafeier, are you done acting? Tonight, let me see how much you’ve grown… Hehe, hehehe…’
The same smirk appeared on Lafeier’s face. “Oh! As expected of my most trusted subordinate! Since you want to help me so much, then join my prison. Give me advice, overcome difficulties—I won’t treat you poorly.”
That was right. To break this deadlock, retreat was the best advance.
Loyalty—as the Warden, Lafeier could see the loyalty of his employees.
In that case, rather than trying every trick to shake Liliya off like a bomb, it was better to make her a prison employee and closely monitor her loyalty.
He was too lazy to keep up the act. As long as he could know when this woman might cause trouble and take precautions in advance, that would be enough.
This hurdle had to be overcome.
“Understood, Master.”
Liliya bowed in salute.
The next second, a character panel appeared:
[Individual Name: Liliya]
[Position: None]
[Loyalty: 99 (Utmost Devotion)]
Lafeier: ?
‘Good heavens, 99 loyalty? How the hell did she build that up?’
‘I thought she was a spy, but she’s actually a loyal retainer!’
‘So this woman really has been fulfilling her duty as a guard for ten years…’
“Ahem, Liliya, you’ve worked hard.” Lafeier was momentarily at a loss.
The face that always wore a forced smile had once struck him as hypocritical, but it turned out she was a die-hard loyalist doing her duty!
“Hehe, it’s not hard at all, Master.”
Liliya chuckled softly.
That eerily robotic customer-service tone now seemed vivid, lively, and interesting.
‘Stereotypes really cause major deviations in perception…’ Lafeier murmured.
The five craftsmen stood in the distance, occasionally glancing at Lafeier and Liliya.
As soon as they saw Liliya sneak up behind Lafeier, they stopped approaching to avoid disturbing the master’s mood.
“See what I said? I told you she’s the master’s dish,” Xiugu laughed loudly.
“Alas, ‘Why not sell my hook?’ I want to be the master’s dish too.”
Xiugu: ?
…
“Well, although there was a little hiccup in between, overall it wrapped up perfectly.”
He had picked up five craftsmen and gained an extra loyal maid—a fairly fruitful haul.
On the carriage back to the prison, Lafeier, Liliya, and Xiugu rode together, while the other four sat in a separate carriage.
“The current situation at the prison isn’t optimistic. After paying this month’s wages and various expenses, there won’t be a single coin left in the accounts,” Lafeier admitted openly. With one passenger at 99 loyalty and the other at 80, he could spill everything without worry.
“Is there any way to quickly earn at least 3,000 crowns within this week?”
3,000 crowns—that was the prison’s current funding gap.
There was 13,000 crowns left in the account, and the expected expenditure for the month was 18,000 crowns. After subtracting the prison’s revenue of 600 crowns and the inmates’ labor subsidies, the net loss was 16,000 crowns.
“3,000 crowns…” Xiugu fell into deep thought.
That was a considerable expense.
The smallest currency unit in the Empire was the “sou,” and 100 sous equaled 1 crown.
The average monthly wage for an ordinary worker was 100 crowns, or 10,000 sous.
A loaf of bread cost around 15 sous, a mug of beer cost 8 sous, a regular piece of clothing was about 100 sous (about 1 crown), the monthly rent for a not-too-shabby single room was 20 crowns, and the low-tier half-breeds in the Imperial Capital’s factories—though lacking human rights—still received a daily wage of 30 sous due to the employment relationship.
Don’t ask why it was a daily wage instead of a monthly wage—if a consumable died one day, wouldn’t the company have overpaid its salary?
And 3,000 crowns could hire 10,000 half-breeds for an entire day.
Buying a half-breed for odd jobs cost only 20 crowns.
For those with slightly special needs, it might cost hundreds or thousands of crowns, but that was a later concern.
Overall, 3,000 crowns was definitely a heavy burden for the current prison.
For a moment, Xiugu really couldn’t think of a good solution.
“I have an idea,” Liliya said, looking at the downcast Xiugu. “Since the prison can’t generate revenue, shouldn’t we cut the losing assets?”
“To quickly recover funds,” she smiled, “wouldn’t it be fine to just sell off the unnecessary junk?”