Five days passed in a blink.
During this time, Hel gradually adapted to life in this world.
Meanwhile, his dessert and milk tea shops were booming.
Aside from the two stores in the central commercial district, he had opened two more—one in the southern market and another in the northern one.
Together, they brought in a net profit of three gold coins per day—about 30,000 yuan in modern terms.
That translated to nearly 100 gold coins per month,
more than enough to cover the expenses of his private army.
But that was also the limit.
There were only so many rich people in Heim City.
Even if he opened more branches, the profit wouldn't increase much.
To make more money, he'd need to look elsewhere.
Still, Hel's goal hadn't been to get rich in the first place—he was only trying to refill the treasury that had been nearly emptied by the massive compensation payouts.
The disappearance of the 200 men under Ben's command had already spread throughout the city.
To keep up appearances, Hel had even sent Leman with a small squad to "investigate."
The official conclusion: the men were missing.
According to imperial law, Hel was required to pay death benefits to their families—
a total of 1,512 gold coins.
If not for the profits from his dessert business, he wouldn't even have had the money to pay them.
Still, better to get it over with quickly.
Now that he'd quietly removed all the unstable elements from his forces,
Hel had complete control over Heim City.
Over the next few days, he began recruiting across the entire city.
Aside from hiring more workers for the dessert shops, his main focus was replenishing the city garrison.
Leman's depleted unit needed to be brought back to full strength, and Ben's 200 missing men also had to be replaced.
But since Hel didn't have enough trusted personnel to manage everything himself, he delegated full authority over the city guard to Black—a scruffy, middle-aged man in his thirties and the son of Arwin.
Though Black looked lazy and unkempt,he was dependable—and, more importantly, bound to Hel by a loyalty trait.
Hel trusted him completely.
As for the castle's guards and servants, Hel didn't plan on hiring more.
The fortress was full of secrets now; the fewer outsiders inside, the better.
Besides, he already had a group of free laborers available—why waste money on wages?
And indeed, the undead skeletons, now strengthened by supernatural power, were incredibly efficient workers.
Hel had them doing all the menial labor around the castle.
For example, the cream supplied to his dessert shops was entirely produced by these tireless, energy-efficient undead workers— who could work 24/7, powered by nothing but death energy.
Since cream was the heart of the dessert business, Sebas only needed to hire a few competent chefs from the city.
After some simple training, they handled the shop work, while all the cream production was done within the castle by skeletons.
Beyond that, Hel also began crafting parts for spinning jennies, assembling them and tossing the machines into the Holy Coffin of the Undead's inner space, where the skeletons operated them to weave cloth.
Currently, Heim's yarn supply couldn't meet demand—otherwise, Hel could easily build hundreds of machines and completely monopolize the empire's textile market.
"Everything's starting to come together,"
Hel murmured lazily as he lounged on the sofa in his study, enjoying a freshly baked cupcake while his little maid Anna massaged his shoulders.
He looked every bit the picture of a man who had given up on life—utterly relaxed and satisfied.
Now that he controlled all of Heim City's troops, had stabilized his finances,
and was rapidly growing stronger himself, he could finally let his guard down.
The elemental crystal he had consumed days ago was nearly fully absorbed,
and his power had soared to High Mage, 9 stars—just one step away from becoming a Magister.
With that, the tension that had gripped him for weeks began to fade.
Within the borders of Heim, Hel could now walk sideways and no one would dare stop him.
As long as he kept his head down, avoiding unnecessary conflict with the nobles,
he would be just fine.
But of course—fate never lets you rest easy.
"Master Hel," Lily said, knocking lightly as she entered the study.
"The head of the Heim Chamber of Commerce requests an audience."
Her face looked unusually sour, as if she had just seen something disgusting.
"Sebas didn't want to bother you with this matter, but that man claimed to be here on behalf of the city's Noble Council—he says he has urgent business to discuss."
"What's wrong, Lily? You don't look too happy."
"That man—Ronald—used to work for the Heim family," she said coldly.
"But seven years ago, he schemed against them, tricking the family out of a large portion of their assets, including control of the Heim Chamber of Commerce itself."
"Oh?" Hel raised an eyebrow.
"So that traitor's still alive.
He must have some powerful backing."
"Yes," Lily nodded, her tone bitter.
"He's protected by the Noble Council of Heim City.
Most of the Heim family's old businesses were carved up and taken by the nobles within it."
"In that case…" Hel stood up, brushing the crumbs from his hands.
"Let's go meet my former subordinate, shall we?"
In the Heim Castle reception hall, Hel pushed open the door—and was greeted by the sight of a middle-aged man sitting squarely in the center of the main sofa, flanked by two burly guards.
For a moment, Hel almost felt like he was the guest, and this man was the host.
His brows furrowed slightly.
A show of dominance, huh?
How bold of him.
Ronald didn't even notice Hel's displeasure.
He didn't rise, didn't bow—nothing.
Backed by the Noble Council, he had long grown used to treating Sebas and the others with arrogance. And as for Hel—just a young, unappreciated count—surely he could be easily manipulated.
With that smug confidence, Ronald cleared his throat and spoke pompously:
"Ah, Count Heim, what an honor!
I've heard so much about you.
I come today on behalf of the city's Noble Council to discuss the purchase of your cream cake recipe—"
"Lily," Hel interrupted calmly,
"arrest them."
"Huh? Oh—yes, young master."
Lily blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered.
In a flash, her sword was out.
The two guards barely had time to react before her blade pierced both their throats in two clean strikes.
In the next instant, she was behind Ronald—her sword resting coldly against his neck,
the edge cutting a thin line of blood.
Ronald froze in disbelief, too shocked to feel pain.
What the hell?
Who draws their sword during a negotiation?
I'm a representative of the Noble Council!
He just… killed my guards?!
"Hang him outside the city tomorrow," Hel said after a moment's thought.
"The charge…"
He tapped his chin.
"Attempted assassination.
Oh—and hang the two guards with him.
They're the evidence."
Without looking back, Hel turned and left the room, muttering irritably:
"How the hell did such an idiot become head of the Chamber of Commerce?
Coming to meet me armed—might as well have handed me his neck himself."