Chapter 53: Shouldn't There Be Some Praise?

After Louis finished asking about the money, the head steward, Stewart, pulled out the account books.

“Sir, there were quite a few spoils of war, which you left to Mr. Ross and the others, but they withdrew a considerable sum from the account to pay their own ransoms.”

“Hmm... Even though you didn’t intend to release them, the money did make its way into the account.”

“In total, it comes to just over three thousand gold galleons. Adding in the bounties from earlier, it’s more than five thousand.”

“Harold’s bounty is particularly high. Last time, he turned the Hexagonal Demon Prison upside down and even stole a cell. With all the trouble he’s caused in the Muggle world in recent years, both the Ministry of Magic and the prison have repeatedly increased the reward.”

“However, since the amount is so large, we can’t claim it all at once—there are palms to grease in both the Ministry and in Polst. After the customary deductions, the remaining amount should be around thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and seventy gold galleons.”

“Over thirty thousand gold galleons?” Louis was taken aback for a moment.

The sum surprised him. With a quick calculation, it was equivalent to more than five million U.S. dollars.

If you looked at it in terms of a professor’s salary—for example, Osyclis, who was now a department head and just one step away from being deputy dean of a house, and who also taught classes—her salary was only about a hundred gold galleons.

So, over thirty thousand gold galleons would be thirty years of her pay.

Five million dollars would be enough to buy a wine estate near the city of London in the Muggle world.

And if you didn’t count labor or design costs, just the materials, you could build a very fine estate for only a third of that sum—though you’d need to source decent trees, flowers, seeds, and soil from the Muggle world.

Among the craftsmen was a gardener, and Ross claimed to be a carpenter too, so they could handle it.

“Over thirty thousand gold galleons—who would have thought that this magician was actually a world-class wanted criminal.”

“Indeed, sir,” Stewart replied with an ingratiating smile. “His tricks really are quite something.”

Soon after, Stewart prepared a budget list for Louis, with the largest expense being the crystal array. In modern terms, this thing was akin to a large diesel generator—and much more expensive than a luxury car.

Stewart suggested purchasing a crystal array with an energy level of 1200—typically used for magic towers, secret realms, or magical laboratories. Individuals couldn’t afford one, nor would they have much use for it—who would run a giant diesel generator just to use a computer?

But Louis actually had something that required such a device—two things, in fact: the magic mirror and the magic box.

Both were secret realms.

So, after much number crunching, the 1200-level crystal array was Stewart’s recommendation.

In fact, Stewart thought the magic mirror didn’t yet need a crystal array; a 1000-level array would suffice for the newly built manor and potion garden inside the box. But seeing the shattered crystal array on the magic mirror bothered Louis, so he opted for the slightly more powerful one.

“With the rest of the money, aside from buying materials for the estate, windmills, mills, livestock, potions known as ‘leek’ and so forth, I suggest purchasing some ‘climate blankets’—they can simulate climates like deserts, rainforests, or oceans. With them, your secret realm will have weather and seasons. They draw power from the crystal array. A 1000-level array, after accounting for the maintenance of the secret realm and daily needs of the wizards, can easily support several large climate blankets.”

“I’d also suggest acquiring some magical creatures—like ‘sun bugs’ and ‘moon bugs’...”

“After totaling everything, you’ll have just over a thousand gold galleons left.”

Stewart had essentially pushed the spending to its limit. This would establish an estate and castle covering about six hundred acres, with enough magical energy in the environment.

“Sir, buying a six-hundred-acre estate complete with a castle would cost far more than this. You know how expensive land is these days. Just purchasing a castle could set you back nearly forty thousand gold galleons.”

“But once your estate is established, you’ll start earning income. After all, your craftsmen are extremely skilled, and the estate will be managed very well. Once the first batch of potions, grains, and magical creatures are ready, deducting the maintenance costs for the estate and secret realm, as well as the wizards’ usual expenses for tools and materials, you should be making over a thousand gold galleons a month. You’ll recoup your investment in three years. If you add more magical creatures and potion seeds, your future income will only increase.”

“Right, pay Ross and the others a salary,” Louis said as he fiddled with something. “What’s a carpenter’s wage these days?”

“Er... perhaps about two gold galleons a month,” Stewart replied, his expression a little complicated.

“Alright.”

If Ross and the others heard this, they would surely weep and wail. Across the world, they’d run pirate gangs and trading companies in the Muggle world, but now their boss just wanted them to farm—and for a measly two gold galleons a month, they’d have to go dig in the dirt.

They’d be better off not getting paid at all.

“They all say there’s nothing much to do in Knockturn Alley these days. From now on, let them all work for me—Hydra is short-staffed.”

Hearing this, Stewart gave an awkward chuckle. He knew his boss was just playing around, not seriously planning to farm. The estate was merely something to keep these wanted men occupied.

More importantly, the elite black wizard leaders from Knockturn Alley would all be future members of Hydra. If word got out that the members of Hydra spent their days farming, feeding chickens, raising pigs, and shoveling dung...

Hydra would have a reputation for being the most unprofessional, unserious criminal organization ever.

Luckily, his boss didn’t know Director Treve; otherwise, with this magic box, they’d probably set up a film studio and go shoot movies in the Muggle world—Hydra would become famous indeed.

And besides, this was strictly forbidden by the Ministry of Magic... Was the grudge between the Ministry and Hydra all because of filmmaking?

Stewart’s leg muscles twitched violently, shaking off this far-fetched idea.

“I’m off,” Louis said, scattering the last pinch of breadcrumbs into the box as if feeding fish. He dusted his hands, rolled the box up like a piece of paper, slipped it into his sleeve, and left.

He headed back to his office, but this time, instead of changing into wizard’s robes, he transformed them into a beautiful antique-style suit, with the wizard’s hat becoming a top hat. After talking with Harold, his transfiguration skills had improved greatly, now able to transform even enchanted robes—something he couldn’t do before.

He glanced in the mirror, nodding in satisfaction. He did look quite dashing. Harold looked like a penguin in a suit only because he was fat, not because suits were unflattering.

The suits in this world really were stylish.

Come to think of it, people at the academy all dressed like ancient folk, and the court wizards looked even stranger—some even wore stockings!

He’d assumed that was simply the local taste, but after spending some time in Knockturn Alley, Louis realized that people here were actually quite Victorian.

And after meeting Harold, he discovered that in the outside world, the most fashionable attire now included padded-shoulder suits!

Though from a modern perspective, these suits and top hats still looked antique, the style was quite appealing.

After tidying up his outfit, Louis returned to his dormitory.

Upon opening the door, he spotted a pair of elegant high heels on the mushroom-shaped shoe rack by the entrance and raised an eyebrow, knowing Osyclis had returned today.

“Well, the room’s been cleaned so thoroughly—shouldn’t I offer some praise?”

......

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