Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Two months passed since Liu Shu Leveled Up and opened the <Golden Sap Town>. During this time, profits completely skyrocketed, earning them a massive fortune. 

Before opening the town, their daily earnings from the mines were around 200 Lir. Things have improved several orders of magnitude since then.

Flor was sitting at her desk, and Verdantia, Cinderielle, and Tempestria arrived with new reports. "Flor! Ready for the monthly reports~?"

Flor looked at them with a deadpan and sighed. "No. I am not ready." 

The three Sylvans laughed and sat around Flor with familiarity. They had interacted a lot during the last two months, increasing their bond a lot. All three of them treated Flor with respect, as she was Liu Shu's mother figure. 

Flor looked at them and said. "Before we get technical and start throwing numbers around. Did you go and visit Liu Shu's… Well, her other Mom?"

Tempestria smirked. "Other mom?" 

Flor snorted. "What? I am also something similar to a Mom! Right, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu's gentle voice echoed in the room like a refreshing breeze that relaxed the soul. "Yes. I have three moms! Flor, Ignatia, and Tree!" 

"..." 

The three Sylvans and Flor stayed silent for a few seconds, processing the words. Tempestria asked slowly. "Um… Liu'er… Do you call that Willow Tree… Tree?"

"Is it wrong?"

Liu Shu's innocent tone made them not know how to answer. Cinderielle coughed and asked. "How did Tree react to that name?"

"Very happily!" Liu Shu bragged. "She hummed and told me she liked it!"

Flor rubbed her forehead and muttered. "Well, as long as she likes it." 

Verdantia returned to the subject. "You asked if we visited, right? We did visit and stayed with her. The other day, I saw a pesky Explorer sneaking around that area so I beat them up and sent them packing." 

Liu Shu added. "I ate them after!"

The four of them paused again, and after thinking for a few seconds, they decided to ignore that comment.

Cinderielle sighed. "Honestly, I didn't expect this to be so tiring."

Tempestria smiled. "Well, you are part of the force that makes sure everyone pays their fair share. Speaking of fair share, have you thought about including taxes yet?"

Flor frowned. "Why should I steal part of their money? I don't understand the taxes."

Tempestria hummed. "Well, it is a widespread practice. They give you part of their earnings, and in return, you offer them security, new buildings, and a better city all around."

Flor commented. "But, we are already making them pay for staying in our houses, making them pay an entrance fee to the town, and making them pay for a residence permit! Isn't that enough 'Taxing,' so to speak? I mean, they are paying to enter, to stay, and to live. What else do you want me to tax them for, the air they breathe or something?"

Verdantia explained softly. "Flor, the Temple's blessing and the Runic Formations in every building are more than enough reason for the taxing. While they are maintained for free as Liu Shu takes care of them, people don't really know about that. Do you know that if any other place had that <Summoning Blessing> constantly active, they would at least force people to pay 10 Lir per hour?" 

Flor almost choked. "That's ridiculous! That would make…" Flor did quick calculations and exclaimed. "7200 Lir per month! That's more than 14 Tyn! And that's per person!"

Verdantia shrugged. "That's the harsh truth. Moreover, these prices are for our town. If we lived in the continent's center where prices just swell, the 10 Lir per hour might become 10 Tyn per hour."

Flor rubbed her forehead. "No wonder Wert looked at me strangely when I said to only bill them 10 Lir per month for their Resident Permit." 

Cinderielle sighed. "I also told you that adding a Zero wouldn't be too much, and you dismissed me."

Flor scratched her cheek. "Sorry, Cinderielle. I was a bit grumpy that day."

Cinderielle thought back then and realized. "Oh! That day, there was a big fight because a human attacked a Rose Fairy, right?"

Flor nodded with a tired face. "The attack was completely uncalled for. He was walking down the street when he suddenly punched the Rose Fairy. If Liu Shu wasn't constantly keeping an eye open, he might've managed to kill her."

Liu Shu spoke happily. "I ate him too!"

The girls deadpanned and started to wonder if Liu Shu had taken a liking for human flesh.

Cinderielle commented. "So? Do we change the Residency Permit?"

Flor asked, cautious. "Won't people be upset?"

Verdantia raised her eyebrow with a smile. "Oh? Do you care if they do? They can go away if they want to. Other people will come and fill their spots. Flor, you are underestimating the value of living in this place. Liu Shu is a tremendously beneficial World Tree for everyone. I can already compare the benefits that she brings to Fortuna's, and Fortuna is Level 28 while Liu Shu is half of that! When Liu Shu reaches Level 28, I can't even imagine what kind of benefits she will bring those around her."

Flor nodded. "I see. Well, then, let's increase the monthly Resident Permit cost to 300 Lir. That's 3 Lir per day, which is the cost of a meal."

Tempestria laughed. "A 3000% increase! Nice~."

Flor sighed tiredly. "Anyway, let's move to numbers."

Liu Shu giggled. "Yay! Numbers! I love numbers getting bigger!"

The girls smiled, and Flor got energy from that. "Let's go from the things that make less profit to the ones that give the most. Cinderielle, you have everything, right?"

Cinderielle nodded. "I do. We are earning a LOT of money, haha. Anyway, let's start with the thing that is giving us the least total profit. The mines. While they have quadrupled compared to before, they still give us a daily income of 800 Lir." 

Flor asked. "These numbers are raw profit, right? Like, all expenses are already taken into account."

Cinderielle smiled. "Yes!"

The Rose Fairy Queen hummed. "I see… 800 Lir per day is the last one on the list? Wow. What about the next?"

Cinderielle commented. "More than the least, it is a small percentage of our earnings. Our next item on the list is Liu Shu's berries."

"My berries are not last! Yay!"

Cinderielle commented. "After Verdantia suggested it, we opened <Liu Shu's Miraculous Berry Shop>." 

Flor asked. "How did it work again? I have so many things on my mind that everything gets jumbled in my brain." 

Verdantia explained. "We basically take 10% of Liu Shu's berries and place them in the shop. The berries that we are selling are <Delicious Berries>, <Phoer Berries>, <Mana Berries>, and <Energy Berries>."

Flor frowned. "<Delicious Berries> as well? Those are quite important. They are our extra <Experience Points> source."

Verdantia nodded. "They are. However, they are mighty profitable. Each berry sells for 100 Lir. Moreover, because those <Delicious Berries> are sold to 1 per customer, the Experience Points spread thinly throughout the community, making them almost nothing in the grand scheme. We are selling around 50 to 60 <Delicious Berries> daily, with each giving 5 Experience Points. In short, we sell around 170 Experience Points worth of experience daily to thousands of people." 

Flor understood and asked. "But, won't people get greedy and try to find the source?"

Tempestria grinned. "And provoke us? Flor, we are starting to become a sacred place. The Temple's <Summoning Blessing> is basically a dream come true for many people. If someone dares provoke us, they will be swarmed by many Summoners."

Verdantia agreed. "To be honest, I undervalued that blessing. There have even been public statements from some Summoning families that if someone dares to provoke us, they will regret it." 

Flor blinked several times, incredulous. "Really? When did that happen?"

Verdantia explained. "We didn't get the news because we don't really have intelligence-gathering groups. However, it seems that those families said such words almost the day we opened."

Flor crossed her arms and got thoughtful. "No wonder there have been almost no big riots or fights. To be honest, besides that one incident, people have been behaving like saints."

Cinderielle continued her report. "The shop is earning 3062 Lir per day, Flor. It is very profitable because we basically have no real expenses. They are fruits we sell from Liu Shu. 3062 Lir per day of raw profit."

Flor gasped. "3000? Wait, but this is the second-to-last profit maker of our town. Where is the rest of the income coming from?"

Cinderielle explained. "The next profit maker is the entrance fee that you accepted. We are making people pay 5 Lir to enter the town. In my opinion, it is too little. Even then, this makes us 7400 Lir per day on average. Again, because they are entrance fees, they are raw income. Oh, the Monthly Residence Permit has, funnily enough, an identical daily income of 7400 Lir per day." 

Flor was stunned. "No wonder you said the mines are a small percentage. We went from 800 to 3000 to 7400. Are you doubling the next number as well?"

Cinderielle laughed. "Not quite." She used her hand to place her flaming hair behind her ear and commented. "The next income source is the Inns that we have. The two inns are fully booked all the time. Here, we have a few expenses like furniture and food. We need to pay our workers as well. Even then, each Inn can house around 220 people. We've also set the daily stay price at 50 Lir." 

Flor blinked and did rough calculations in her head. She was confused. "Wait, you said that it wasn't double the profit of entrance fees, that feels like double."

Cinderielle smirked. "Well, it's not double. It's more than that." 

Flor's eyelids twitched as Cinderielle continued. "Without the maintenance costs, we earn 22,000 Lir daily, triple the entrance fees or monthly fees. Still, after subtracting all maintenance expenses, we earn 18,700 of profit… daily."

Flor remembered how the 800 from the mines felt like a lot, and she felt like her eyes were opening to new horizons. "That should be it… Wait, no. The houses. Do most of our profits come from them?"

Cinderielle laughed. "Yes! The <Lignified Houses> are our most profitable asset. They are all full, with people waiting in line to get a spot."

Flor asked with a stutter. "H-How much?"

Cinderielle explained. "We are taking into account everything here. But, we lack one expense that house builders usually have. For us, the expenses for building a house are basically zero. The materials Liu Shu needs to construct a <Lignified House> cost around 10 Tyn or 5000 Lir, not much more. Moreover, no labor force is involved, as Liu Shu does everything by herself. They are basically free buildings." 

Flor listened and realized all the previously ignored advantages were incredibly valuable in a society. "So… How much do we earn daily?"

Cinderielle placed the report on the table and gave it to Flor. The large leaf had a list of all the expenses and profits from different resources written, and at the bottom, Flor could read the profit. "66,700 Lir per day…" 

Even Verdantia and Tempestria were stunned to hear that number. The profits the 50 houses generated were double what the rest of the town earned. 

Cinderielle smiled and finished it off with a giant bomb. "Our permanent resident population has reached 1480 people, and our coffers currently have 270 <Lir>, 67 <Tyn>, and 26 <Bren>. If we turn everything to Lir, we have 6,533,770 <Lir>."