***

Eight days later.

It had already been eight days since the wheat field fire. Edmund was still in his study, staring toward the front yard of the Aschwin Mansion.

There were not many documents delivered to him, giving him more free time. His focus had now shifted toward finding a way to maintain commodity prices in the market.

[Public trust level: 85%] [-1%]

Edmund froze in silence, clearly seeing the system panel notifying him that the public trust level had decreased.

The decline in public trust had started five days ago.

I already checked the market, but the prices are still normal. There hasn’t been any significant increase yet.

What exactly is happening?

The door to Edmund’s study opened, and Sebastian entered to inform him of something. He came together with a staff member from the Trade Department, a blonde-haired woman.

"I came with a staff member from the Trade Department. She has something to explain," Sebastian said.

Edmund turned around and looked at them. Without asking them to sit, Edmund chose to walk to the front of his desk and lean against it.

"What did you find, Miss..."

"Rachel."

"Miss Rachel, right."

Rachel opened a document folder and handed it to Edmund. The man accepted it and immediately read it carefully, his mind more than capable of understanding the contents of the report and data.

So, the reason why the public trust level had been declining over the past five days was because bakeries and flour factories had increased the prices of their products.

But why hadn’t the market merchants raised their prices yet?

"If news about these shops and factories increasing their production prices has already spread, then why haven’t the people in the market raised their prices since yesterday?" Edmund asked.

"Lord Lucas already knows about this issue, and he has provided subsidies to every merchant affected by it."

"That’s why they’re still maintaining stable market prices."

What caused the bakeries and flour factories to raise their product prices? Could it be because they were worried after the wheat field fire the other day?

That sounded like a logical reason.

"Sebastian," Edmund called.

Sebastian stepped forward and lowered his head, ready to receive Edmund’s orders. Edmund instructed Sebastian to summon all bakery owners and flour factory owners to the Aschwin Mansion.

By gathering all of them together, Edmund could find out what exactly they were worried about to the point of increasing their product prices.

"I’ll do it, Lord Edmund."

"You may leave, Rachel. If anything happens, you may come back and report it to me," Edmund replied.

"I understand, Viscount Edmund."

Accompanied by Sebastian, Rachel left the place and returned to the Trade Department office, while Sebastian would go summon the owners of the bakeries and flour factories in the city.

There were a total of seventy-eight bakeries and two flour factories in the city. The two flour factories were owned by noble merchant families, while all the bakeries were individually owned.

To accommodate all of them, his study would not be enough. Edmund needed to hold the meeting in the city hall building.

Just as Edmund was looking at the papers in his hand, a system panel suddenly appeared, showing a mission from the bond system.

────[Fifth Mission]────

[Objective: Raise Leonor Aschwin to Level 10]

[Reward: +15 Conviction Stats || +10 All-Stats Attributes || Obtained 1x Low-Grade Weapon]

[Status: Completed!]

[Bond: Conviction || Energy: 45/100] [+15]

Edmund fell silent for a moment after realizing the panel showed that the fifth mission of the bond system had been completed, with rewards in the form of additional conviction stats, increased all-stat attributes, and one low-grade weapon.

[Basic Attributes:]

[STR: 210 || AGI: 140 || INT: 80 || DEX: 110 || CONS: 110] [+10 All-Stats Attribute]

Not only that, a white light shined in front of his face and summoned a floating chest.

[DING! Congratulations, you have obtained a Low-Grade Weapon]

[Tap the chest to choose a weapon variant!]

Without hesitation, Edmund raised his hand and reached forward. His fingertip touched the chest and triggered another panel displaying five different weapons.

From swords for Knights to holy magic staffs for Priests.

The man narrowed his eyes. Low-grade weapons were suitable for beginners, with durability and attack power matching the abilities of novice users.

Edmund fell silent for a moment. The Diva Party consisted of five members from five different classes, each carrying weapons purchased from weapon shops.

However, the quality of shop weapons was far lower compared to reward weapons, even if they were both categorized as low-grade.

Their stats might be the same, but the compatibility and weapon design were clearly different.

Among them, who should I give this weapon to?

His mouth stayed silent, but his mind continued racing. He tried to think of the best possible choice for who should receive the weapon.

Maybe Leonor? Or Denise? Or perhaps someone else.

One thing was certain, Edmund himself did not really need the weapon, especially considering it was only low-grade quality.

"I should give it later," Edmund replied.

He stored the chest inside his magic pouch, and the system panel in front of his face changed again, displaying the next mission from the bond system.

Unlike the system rule missions, the bond system missions had now reached the sixth mission, and the objective this time was related to the academy.

────[Sixth Mission]────

[Objective: Make Leonor pass the entrance exam of Livden Academy]

[Reward: +15 Conviction Stats || +15 STR || +15 AGI || +15 INT || 1x Fire Affinity Magic Spell]

[Status: Ongoing!]

Now, Edmund’s sixth mission for Leonor was to ensure that she could pass the entrance exam of Livden Academy, which would take place very soon after the academy’s new student registration process began.

After escorting Rachel outside the front gate of the Aschwin Mansion, Sebastian returned to Edmund’s study.

As far as Sebastian knew, he could not see Edmund’s bond system mission panels. Edmund was aware of that and did not panic immediately.

"She already returned to her office," Sebastian replied.

"Sebastian," Edmund called.

"Yes, Lord Edmund?"

"How many tests are there for entering Livden Academy?" Edmund asked.

Sebastian stepped forward and sat on the wooden chair in front of Edmund’s desk.

He explained that there was a difference in the number of exams between lowborn and highborn students.

"I already looked into the details. You could say that students from the lowborn category have more exams compared to highborn students," Sebastian answered.

"Livden Academy tries to maintain standards according to their preferences. There are five tests for lowborn applicants, while highborn applicants only have three," Sebastian added.

"The five tests are affinity potential, class awakening, physical endurance according to class, basic strength, and basic knowledge," Sebastian explained.

"However, they make it easier. As long as the applicants show exceptional potential and ability in the affinity, awakening, and physical endurance tests according to their class, they can still be considered passing even if their basic strength and basic knowledge scores are lacking."

Edmund nodded while listening to Sebastian’s explanation. Leonor and her friends might have formed good teamwork as a party. However, they also had to think about their individual abilities.

"What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Sebastian asked.

"It’s nothing," Edmund explained. "After they finish this mission, I want them to gather in my study."

"Understood, Lord Edmund."