Chương 407: The Dwarf's Suspicion: Half Cut

Roland rambled on and on, but failed to completely convince Dura.

Dura still questioned.

"No matter how much you say, it won't change the fact that the costs are high, will it?"

"Making money with these costs is no easy feat for a downtown tavern."

Roland frowned.

"Does Miss think the Spinning Sparrow can't do that?"

"Of course, your current high income largely depends on the extravagant spending of tourists in the upper city. Once they return home, the spending power of the laborers in the lower city will be far from enough to support your current expenses."

Dura adjusted the monocle hanging over her right eye.

An ordinary businessman might have been fooled by Roland's sweet talk.

But Durra was a seasoned business veteran with a comprehension ability far exceeding that of the average person in this era, and she had long since discovered the flaws in Roland's words.

Roland simply shrugged at this.

"The nobles of the upper city will not be going home."

"Why are you so sure? Do you know something about it?"

Dura stared intently at Roland's face, as if trying to discern something from her maturely made-up features.

Roland met Dura's gaze and answered without any hesitation.

"What's there to know or not know? It's just that the steel core crack has opened, the trade route between the two worlds has been opened, and business in the upper district of Black Iron City has become more difficult."

"After all, the environment of the surface world is free from magical pollution, and the development of industries such as agriculture, metallurgy, culture, precision casting, and magical machinery completely overwhelms the dark underground."

"And Iron City's main business happens to be smelting and casting, which is really..."

Roland drawled out her words, then spread her hands.

"It's all over, meow."

Faced with Roland's frivolous actions, Durra, unusually, did not feel disgusted, but instead asked a serious question.

"What does the setback in Black Iron City's trade have to do with the Lower City?"

Roland was taken aback, reached out to press down the curve of her chest, and looked down at Dura.

The petite Grey Gold Heiress narrowed her glassy golden eyes, as if at this moment, she was the one who had turned the tide in the Upper City and preserved the foundation of the Grey Gold family.

This young lady... is she getting serious?

Roland raised an eyebrow, also abandoning her relaxed attitude, and said with a smile.

"Young Miss, are you testing me?"

"You can understand it that way." Dura nodded.

"Tell me, what's your opinion on Black Iron City right now? Why do you think the nobles will stay in the lower city?"

"Because nobles, and even you, young lady, have no other choice."

"I had no choice?"

"Of course there is no other choice. Trade in the Upper City will only get worse in the future. The leading chambers of commerce can only invest their funds in local industries. Firstly, they hope to stimulate domestic demand and establish an internal economic cycle in Black Iron City to avoid direct competition with Steel Core Crack. Secondly, they also want to try to use the Lower City channels to develop the surrounding primary markets."

Roland turned around, leaned against the railing, and looked down, focusing on the booths of the nobles around the tavern.

The nobles dining in the booths were not only the demon investigators ordered to hunt them down, but also members of other families from the Upper City.

Roland pulled out a folding fan from her waist and used it to point to the noble customers below.

"Young Miss, take a look: a business consultant for the Zelen family, a market researcher for the phosphate palm mining company, an executive at the dwarven foundry, a spy for the Heartmoon Fox..."

Roland listed a series of guests' identities, then suddenly looked at Dura and said with a smile.

"Oh, and our young lady from the Gray Gold Merchant Guild has also come to inspect the Lower City in person."

"With such a display of power, where else could Black Iron City's future development focus be but the Lower City?"

The information Roland provided was mostly gathered through the intelligence network of the lizardman Gis and the tavern's waiters.

After the intelligence was gathered, it was handed over to the meticulous goblin mute Tess for cross-verification and summarization before being reported to her.

Because of the use of modern inductive methods, the level of detail in this type of intelligence was beyond imagination, even surprising Durra.

Dura fell silent.

She didn't reply immediately, but instead took two steps back, raised her chin, and stared intently at Roland, as if she were meeting Roland for the first time.

Roland didn't make any move, just maintained her smiling expression and quietly let Dura observe her.

After a long pause, Durla spoke softly.

"You are really smart."

"Young Miss, you've already praised me."

"No, what I mean this time is that you're too smart for a lowly succubus from the dark underworld."

Dura's eyes suddenly sharpened, and the atmosphere between the two instantly turned icy, leaving Secretary Sissia, who was standing behind, somewhat at a loss.

"Young Miss..."

Just as Secretary Sissia was about to speak, Durra raised her hand to stop her, maintaining eye contact with Roland.

Her eyes were filled with the oppressive aura of a superior, compensating for the reduced presence due to the height difference, and she tried to use this to make Roland reveal a weakness.

Just then, the sound of high heels clicking on the stairs broke the silence, gradually approaching and interrupting the three of them.

A goblin girl with lake-green hair carried a huge platter and brought the pink king oyster mushroom dish and drinks that Roland had ordered to the second floor.

Tess was a sensitive girl. As soon as she stepped onto the second-floor corridor, she sensed that something was wrong. She opened her mouth slightly and silently cast a worried glance at Roland.

She recognized Dura, the 1. 2-meter-tall capitalist dwarf loli beside Roland. Without a doubt, she was Dura Graygold, the current head of the Graygold family, who was also Roland's boss and shareholder.

But given the current situation, it seems that Miss Gray Gold has a problem with Boss Laura.

Laura sensed the worry in Tess's eyes, returned a reassuring smile, and waved.

"Tess, put the dishes in the office. I have important business to discuss with the young lady, so it's not appropriate for us to stand in the hallway any longer."

……

Tess worked very efficiently, clearing the office desk in no time. She even found a high-end tablecloth made of wet spider silk and turned the office into a temporary VIP booth.

A steaming dish of pink king oyster mushrooms was placed in front of the three seats, with silver cutlery and glasses of wine on the side.

After doing all this, Tess took advantage of the moment when Durra sat down to sneak over to Roland's side and raised the small sketchbook at her waist.

There was a string of small characters written on the drawing board.

"Miss Laura, are you alright?"

The sentence ends with a simple, worried expression, which looks very expressive.

Roland felt a warmth in her heart, touched Tess's soft, lake-green hair, then rubbed the triangular ear that peeked out from between her strands, and spoke in a normal voice.

"Don't worry, it's just a small misunderstanding between me and Miss. We'll explain it in a bit."

"Go back to the main hall and keep the tavern running normally. Remember to close the door when you leave."

Durra sat in her seat, watching from afar as Roland and Tess interacted.

The gentle maternal instincts that Roland inadvertently revealed were amplified by her mature makeup, causing Dura to raise an eyebrow slightly and lower her guard a little.

But that's all.

The succubus race has caused too much loss to the Cult of Wealth and the Grey Gold Family.

She had specifically trained in charm resistance, so a mere Laura could not possibly affect her firm belief in capital.