[CEO's Cheat Sheet]
Financial Audit: An objective examination and evaluation of a company's financial statements to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
Sunk Cost: Money or resources that have already been spent and cannot be recovered.
Liability: A financial burden or obligation that can drain a company's cash.
That morning, Stephanie's office on the second floor of Winterhaven Castle looked drastically different. There was no more thick dust or messy piles of parchment. Everything had been organized with terrifying mathematical precision.
Sylas Thorne stood in front of Stephanie's teak wood desk. The Elf wore his gold-rimmed glasses, flipping through the financial ledger with an absolutely flat expression.
"An 800 percent profit margin from the soap and salt sales in Veridia," Sylas reported in his smooth baritone voice. "Plus the discovery of the pure Mana Stone vein in the basement. From any business perspective, your startup's valuation has skyrocketed absurdly in less than a month, Madam Director."
"I sense a 'but' at the end of your sentence, Sylas," Stephanie replied casually. She was sitting on a leather sofa draped in wolf fur, holding a cup of warm tea.
On her lap, Revista lay on his side with his eyes closed. The massive man was using Stephanie's thighs as his personal pillow. His muscular arm hugged Stephanie's waist possessively, while his face was buried in her stomach, purring softly like a tamed giant carnivore.
Sylas pushed up his glasses, glaring at the sofa with an expression of elegant disgust.
"But," Sylas continued, tapping the ledger with his quill, "you have one giant black hole in our balance sheet. The Abyssal Suppressant."
Hearing the name of the medicine, Revista's ears twitched slightly, but he didn't open his eyes, far too comfortable with the gentle strokes of Stephanie's fingers through his silver hair.
"The billing system for that curse suppressant utilizes a predatory algorithm," the Elf Accountant explained with a condemning tone. "The price increases exponentially every time you purchase it. The first dose was 1,000 WP, the second dose was 1,500 WP, and the next dose is estimated to hit 3,000 WP. This is a horrifying Sunk Cost. If left unchecked, his medical bills will bankrupt our entire territory in two months."
Sylas closed his ledger with a soft but firm THUD.
"My professional advice as your Chief Auditor?" Sylas looked at Stephanie coldly. "Lethal injection for this defective combat asset right now. Euthanasia. We cut our losses, liquidate his remaining value, and use the Mana Stones to hire regular troops who are exponentially cheaper."
FWOOSH!
Revista's red eyes snapped wide open. The air around the sofa boiled in an instant. The silver-haired man sat up with lightning speed, glaring at Sylas with pure, unadulterated murderous intent.
"I will rip out your long tongue and feed it to my dog," Revista growled, the muscles in his arms tensing, ready to pounce.
"Please do try, Your Highness," Sylas replied casually, completely unfazed. A golden magical protection seal instantly glowed around the Elf's body. "Dying in the line of duty means the Madam Director will have to pay a massive severance package to my spirit."
"Enough."
One word from Stephanie stopped the lethal argument instantly.
Stephanie set her teacup down. She calmly pulled Revista's shirt collar, forcing the giant man to bend down until their faces were level. The anger in Revista's eyes slowly subsided as he met Stephanie's clear, unwavering gaze.
"Listen closely, Sylas," Stephanie said without taking her eyes off Revista. Her hands shifted to cup Revista's scarred, rough jaw. "In my company, we never throw away valuable assets simply because their maintenance costs increase. Revista is the absolute foundation of our security, as well as the energy generator for the entire factory. Without him, we would have frozen to death on the very first day."
Revista's eyes widened. The heart inside his broad chest beat rapidly, slamming hard against his ribs. Never in his entire agonizing life had someone openly and without the slightest hesitation defended him as something incredibly valuable.
The man slowly leaned his cheek into Stephanie's palm, closed his eyes, and let out a heavy purr filled with Absolute Devotion.
Stephanie then looked at Sylas with a dominating CEO aura.
"Your job is not to tell me to cut my core assets, Sylas. Your job is to find tax loopholes and secure cash flow. If his maintenance costs rise exponentially, then we simply need to make money a hundred times faster than the medicine's inflation."
Sylas fell silent for a moment. His emerald eyes gleamed with awe, before the Elf finally gave a faint smile and bowed respectfully once more.
"Your ambition is truly insane, Madam Director. I like it," Sylas said. "So, what is your expansion plan to cover this deficit? Selling raw Mana Stones is obviously still too risky."
"We unlock the Phase 2 Tech Tree," Stephanie answered. She swiped the blue System screen in the air that only she could see.
[Ding! Unlocking Phase 2 Industrial Blueprints.]
[Purchasing: Clear Glass Blueprint - 500 WP]
[Purchasing: Cheap Mass-Produced Paper Blueprint - 500 WP]
[Remaining Balance: 36,500 WP]
"Call Ornn here," Stephanie ordered. "In this era, mirrors and glass windows are still cloudy, wavy, and fragile. Parchment paper is also incredibly thick, expensive, and completely monopolized by the Church of Light."
Stephanie smirked cunningly. "We are going to make Clear Glass with diamond-like purity using the silica sand on the lake's shores, and produce thousands of reams of cheap white paper from pine wood pulp. We won't just monopolize the Capital's aristocratic market... we will destroy their economy from the inside out."
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers to the South, inside the Capital of Aethelgard.
SMASH!
An antique vase worth dozens of gold coins shattered into pieces after being hurled at the wall. Duke Malakor Vane stood with heavy breaths, his face completely red with boiling anger.
In front of him, the only surviving Griffin Vanguard assassin knelt trembling on the marble floor, recounting the horror he had just witnessed.
"A f-fifteen-meter-high obsidian wall... high-tier defensive magic that vaporized our captain in the blink of an eye..." the assassin sobbed in panic. "Duke, that's not a wasteland! Princess Stephanie has built a military fortress!"
"Shut up, you useless dog!" Malakor snapped. "She is just a foolish girl! Where did she get a high-tier mage and billions in funding to build an obsidian wall?!"
"Perhaps, from the dark power residing within the Crown Prince."
A cold, echoing voice cut through Duke Malakor's rage.
The room's doors opened. A man in pristine white robes bearing a golden sun symbol stepped inside. His eyes were as white as blind snow, yet his aura radiated a highly suffocating holy pressure.
Duke Malakor flinched and slightly bowed his head. "Inquisitor Zephyr..."
Zephyr walked slowly, touching the leftover ash clinging to the surviving assassin's cloak.
"The Church of Light detected a surge of the Abyssal curse in the North. Your banished daughter seems to have allied herself with the Monster Prince," Inquisitor Zephyr said in a terrifyingly fanatical tone. "Duke Vane, you want your salt trade monopoly back, don't you?"
Malakor nodded stiffly. "Of course. But her new defensive wall cannot be breached by regular troops."
"Then let the Church destroy that wall for you," Zephyr smiled, a smile completely devoid of mercy. "We will form a coalition. Prepare your family's infantry forces, and I will bring the Church's Paladin Vanguard. We will conduct a Holy Cleansing in Winterhaven... and burn your traitorous daughter at the stake."
[Nymphaearoot the Author]: War is imminent! Our CEO is busy expanding the factory to rake in trillions of gold, but her biological father and the fanatic from the Church of Light are secretly forming an alliance to level Winterhaven. Are Sylas's S-Class walls and Revista's Abyssal power enough to fight the combined forces of the Capital and the Church? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!