Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos

Chapter 140. The Mine and [Cores].

Flor spoke about all the berries except the <Breakthrough Berry> and the <Energy Cycle Berry>. Just the <Delicious Berry> effects left them speechless, not to mention when they heard about the berries that permanently boosted their Affinity stats.

Flor looked at them and asked. "There are better ones, but these will be reserved for later. What do you think? Are these enough to compensate?"

The economist laughed, feeling a bit defeated. He answered honestly. "Well, taking into account the effects, receiving five of the recovery berries weekly and one <Delicious Berry> should be enough to pay for most of us."

Flor blinked. "So... around 60 of the recovery berries and 4 <Delicious Berries> are valued at around 1 Tyn?"

The economist hummed. "Well, 1 Tyn is equivalent to 500 Lir. Then, if each of the consumable ones would be sold at around 5 Lir, making a total of 300, the remaining 200 can be filled with the cost of 50 Lir per <Delicious Berry>. Experience-related items are expensive, regardless of how many Experience Points they give. In total, they do indeed make up for 500 Lir, or 1 Tyn."

Flor refrained from saying exactly how many berries Liu Shu produced monthly, but her production was astounding right now. Going berry per berry, the production every month was as such:

1500 <Low-Rank Delicious Berries>, 240 <Low-Rank Phoer Berries>, 240 <Low-Rank Mana Berries>, 240 <Low-Rank Energy Berries>, 9 <Low-Rank Breakthrough Berries>, 30 <Low-Rank Resonant Berries>, 30 <Low-Rank Refinement Berries>, 30 <Low-Rank Affinity Berries>, 30 <Low-Rank Palace Berries> and 3 <Energy Cycle Berries>.

This was taking into account that her <Enchanted Growth> was constantly active, and her summon was inactive. If not, the numbers would be even more absurd.

So, hearing that just 60 of the consumable berries and 4 <Delicious Berries> were enough payment, Flor relaxed. 'So, our wealth is much deeper than I expected. This is a relief. We can pay our people with a mix of both.'

The economist suggested a very similar idea. "To make it difficult for outside powers to interfere economically in our city, I recommend prices for our wares to be done in berries. Of course, that's only possible if Liu Shu can keep up with the production. Even if she can't, the market can regulate itself by increasing the value as scarcity grows. Eventually, the berries, if not available for everyone, can become a luxury item like Sylvanium. To be honest, the potential here is tremendous. I would need the exact production for each berry, though."

Flor hummed. "How about you give me the value of each berry, and then I keep track of it? While you've all been very forward and honest, showing that it is worth giving a try to trust you, we just met. I can't tell you every detail yet. I need some time to be assured that you are truly on our side."

The people looked at each other and nodded. "Sure, we can do that. While you are a monster-kind, you and the Ant Queen have shown incredible intelligence. If it weren't for your appearance, I would've thought I was speaking with an intelligent species and not a wild monster."

Flor laughed. "I have yet to learn a lot. Still, I appreciate the compliment."

The conversation moved forward, and eventually, Flor gave them a temporary place to rest in the inn. "I would like Terra and Terran to come with me and see the mines. Is it okay? Or do you prefer to rest?"

Terra stood up, excited. "I thought I would need to wait a bit more! Let's go, Lady Flor!"

All of them were doubtful at first. After all, conversing with monsters was an unprecedented thing to happen in this area. Yet, Verdantia and the words of the other two didn't appear as exaggerated after getting to know Flor and Ignatia better. The monsters and World Tree living here had something special that made them trust their chances to overcome Fortuna City.