Whenever she took Khan around the entrance of the village, five or six children would appear from somewhere and circle around, and some of them would play mischievous pranks by grabbing Khan's tail or pulling at her outer hem.
It was not a particularly pleasant thing to do, but Thalia accepted all of it indifferently. She realized that the citizens of Kalmor were gradually beginning to feel favor toward her.
She did not particularly hope to gain their support, but there was no reason to reject the public sentiment that had turned toward her. If her position became solid, wouldn't Barca's burden also lessen?
With such calculations in mind, Thalia began to show a moderately tolerant attitude. She responded briefly when villagers spoke to her, and she generously turned a blind eye to children's antics as long as they did not cross the line.
However, it was not as if she displayed an amiable attitude or returned excessive kindness, yet people reacted enthusiastically. At some point, gazes of wariness and fear turned into eyes of admiration, and the whispering voices also transformed into praise filled with wonder.
Of course, such a change did not occur in the Kalmor region. The castle's retainers still disapproved of her, and the Eastern Order treated her like a troublemaker, not hesitating to openly criticize her. However, at least the residents of Kalmor seemed to no longer regard her as a strange outsider.
"Your Highness, Grand Duchess. These are the last apples harvested this year. Please have one."
Thalia, who was walking down the street, turned her head toward the direction from which the voice came.
A white-haired woman tidying up a stall on one side of the shopping street on the outskirts of the village was picking out a ripe apple and offering it.
Thalia looked down at it with a reluctant gaze and signaled to the guards standing behind her.
“Make sure you pay.”
"Oh, please don't say that. I'm just giving it to you to taste."
The woman waved her hand dismissively with a flustered expression.
After hesitating for a moment, Thalia cautiously reached out and accepted the apple. Then, a woman with a bright smile filling her wrinkled face took out a few more apples from the sack.
She stepped back.
"That's enough. You don't need to go that far."
At the somewhat curt reply, the smile on the old woman's face subsided slightly.
Thalia shook off her discomfort and spun around.
As the Sabbath season began, the number of empty shops and stalls on the streets had increased significantly. This was because outside merchants were leaving Kalmor one by one.
The wool markets that had been held throughout Kalmor for a couple of months had mostly come to an end, and most of the temporary tents and warehouses set up by the merchants had also been dismantled.
She looked around the scattered shops remaining on the now quiet street, then slowly walked toward the stream lined with tanneries, dye shops, and fabrication workshops.
The various workshops that were once bustling with dozens of workers were now noticeably quiet.
She suddenly wondered how all those workers made a living throughout the winter.
"I picked these before the frost. They were exceptionally sweet this year."
'Perhaps I might be able to entrust it to you at a cheaper price than expected.'
She guessed that many workshops had run out of work. It occurred to her that they might be able to significantly reduce the costs of post-processing the woolen fabrics produced at the castle.
Thalia stepped into the nearest workshop with a heart full of anticipation.
As she passed the shabby fence and entered the spacious yard, she saw a narrow waterway where water from a stream had been drawn. A man crouching in front of it, tending to wooden barrels, recognized her and hurriedly rose from his seat.
"Your Highness, what brings you to a place like this?"
"I’d like to commission the construction work. I plan to process about forty horses first; how long will that take?"
As he opened his eyes wide in surprise, the man took a step closer with his eyes shining.
"If you gather workers again, it will take about 15 days from the tenth hole."
"Then please handle forty bolts first. After that, I will steadily deliver about ten to fifteen bolts at fifteen-day intervals."
The man's dark face flushed red with uncontainable joy.
"It would be a great honor if you entrusted us with the work. I will gather the workers immediately."
The man who had been bowing rolled his eyes once and cautiously added.
"By the way... how much are you thinking of paying?"
"How much do you usually get?"
A look of conflict flashed across the man's face for a moment. He appeared to be weighing whether he could earn even a little more money with this opportunity.
Then, glancing at the huge wolf standing beside her and the guards waiting at a distance, he honestly confessed that he had given up on the idea of adventure.
"It is about nine rirams per bolt."
"Then I will make it seven rirams."
A look of bewilderment briefly appeared on the man's face.
"Your Highness, nine rirams is the wage agreed upon by the textile guild. It is by no means an excessive demand. If you remain in doubt, I will show you the ledger."
"That figure was set based on the peak season. Aren't you just sitting around doing nothing now that work has dried up?"
Thalia looked around the quiet workshop and said.
"I plan to deposit forty bolts right away, and continue to steadily supply them every fifteen days thereafter. Under those conditions, even if I lower the price by a little over two rirams, it wouldn't be a losing proposition."
"Even so, seven rirams is excessive..."
"I'm not saying we should keep it at that price. Once the off-season is over, we will pay according to the wages set by the Guild."
The man, who had kept his mouth tightly shut for a while as if calculating in his head, finally nodded.
"Alright. I will write the contract according to the terms you mentioned."
Thalia immediately took out a writing instrument from her bosom. Then, she spread the parchment on the workbench and wrote down the terms agreed upon with the plumber in elegant handwriting.
"Let's make the period six months. After that, we'll renegotiate the terms and decide whether to extend it."
"It's good. It's very good."
The man nodded with delight, as if he liked what she had added.
Thalia left her signature at the bottom of the parchment and handed the quill pen to the man.
“Now, sign.”
The man carefully scanned the contract from the beginning and wrote his name at the very end in crooked handwriting. Thalia copied the same document one more time and handed a copy to the man.
"I'll send the first batch tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Highness. I will gather the workers by tomorrow."
Thalia left the workshop feeling satisfied.
Fabrics woven by maids may not be treated as luxury goods traded at high prices, but since the costs of production and post-processing have been significantly reduced, a decent profit can be expected.
Since it amounts to reducing the felting cost of one bolt of wool by two rirams, if two hundred bolts are produced and sold in a year, wouldn't it amount to earning an additional profit of four hundred rirams?
As Thalia happily tapped the abacus in her head, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Is there any reason for her to do this?
Her gaze naturally turned toward the pasture at the top of the hill.
Each ranch likely has a surplus of wool that wasn't sold at the market. Storing it in a warehouse for months until the next market incurs storage costs, and since its market value would drop if it absorbed moisture, the ranch owners would want to get rid of the inventory, even at a low price.
If she purchases wool from them and entrusts the spinning to residents who have no work during the winter, she can reduce both raw material costs and yarn purchasing costs simultaneously.
If she could lower the cost of yarn for a bolt of wool by just five rirams, they could make an extra thousand rirams a year, so they could dramatically improve the profit structure.
She headed straight toward the ranch to review her newly devised plan. She intended to see for herself how much unsold wool remained and what price the ranchers were willing to accept.
"Your Highness, the Grand Duchess, I think it would be best not to stray from the village today."
The moment she stepped onto the pasture, a soldier on patrol ran up and blocked her path.
Thalia raised her eyebrows with a displeased expression.
“What’s going on?”
"There was a raid by looters in the western outskirts."
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