The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

"That's great!" Taram and Taliro both smiled broadly, and even the young tribesmen next to them patted each other on the shoulder with joy.

Taram and the others bowed again before turning to leave.

The grocery store fell silent again.

Sylvia looked at the stack of gem coin cards on the counter, suddenly let out a "whoosh," jumped off the high stool, and threw herself into her mother's arms:
"Mommy! Mommy! We made money! Lots of gem coins!"

Her little face was flushed, her eyes were incredibly bright, and she was extremely excited.

Moran hugged her, smiling as she ruffled her hair: "Yes, our little shopkeeper has closed a big deal. So now—"

She gently pushed her daughter away, making her face the counter:

"It's time to settle the accounts. What's yours, what's Mom's... we need to figure these things out."

Sylvia immediately perked up.

She climbed back onto the bar stool, spread out the gem coin cards one by one, and then turned to look at Kaba, who was standing quietly to the side:

"Click! I'm officially hiring you for one day! Help me calculate: three bottles of level 5 healing potions, each costing 1000, selling for 2500, what's the profit?"

Kaba's ghostly fire flickered in his eye sockets. He took out paper and pen and began to write out the calculation: (2500-1000)×3 = 1500×3 = 4500.

After it finished writing, it turned the cardboard over.

"4500 gem coins!" Sylvia's eyes instantly lit up like two little stars. "I earned 4500 gem coins!"

She immediately began picking through the spread-out gem coin cards, muttering to herself, "One thousand... two... three... four! And another five hundred..."

Although she can't do arithmetic yet, she's naturally good at counting, from one to one thousand, and back again, or even more.

The little finger pointed at the card, the movement was quick and accurate, and the child knew exactly what it was.

After counting out 4,500 gem coins, she paused to think, then picked out two gem coin cards with a face value of 1 from the pile of smaller cards:

“I almost forgot… I helped my mom sell a Level 5 Antidote Potion card and a Level 5 Magic Card - Thorn Strangler. As agreed, each card is worth 1 gem coin as commission, so my mom still needs to give me 2 gem coins.”

She added the two one-dollar cards to her small pile, then took one more from the pile and pushed it to Kaba:

"Also, I hired Kaba for a day, 1 gem coin per day! Here's your pay!"

Kaba extended his skeletal hand and took the {Gem Coin Card}, the soul fire flickering gently.

After the distribution was complete, Sylvia looked at the pile of gem coins that belonged to her, totaling 4501 gem coins, and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"Money I earned myself..." she muttered softly, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile, "It feels... amazing!"

But she quickly calmed down from her joy of success and looked at Kaba:
"Right, click!"

She opened the card shop and filtered out cards priced below 4500 gem coins:

"Please calculate this for me again: if these cards were sold at double the price, what would the selling price be, and what would the profit be? Write down the calculations on a piece of paper and make sure it's clear and understandable!"

The "little rich woman" who holds 4,501 gem coins will make the most of her daily accounting work, which is only one gem coin per day.

Kaba had no complaints whatsoever. Its biggest advantage as a bookkeeping assistant was that it could work 24 hours a day without interruption.

Outside the window, the setting sun had sunk below the mountain ridge, and the sky was dyed in a brilliant purple-red and orange-gold.

In the valley, the camp of the Tatali tribe began to light up with warm lights, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys. The sounds of children chasing and laughing could be faintly heard, along with the joyful growls of the lightning wolves.

Sylvia leaned against the windowsill, sniffing gently: "Mommy, can you smell it? It smells so good... They must be preparing for tomorrow's celebration!"

"Yes." Moran walked to her side and gently placed her hand on her shoulder. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"I can't wait!" Sylvia turned around, her purple eyes sparkling in the darkening sky. "I've never been to a festival before! Will there be dancing? Will there be singing? Will the Thunder Wolves perform?"

“Mother has never attended a Tatari festival either,” Moran said softly, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. “However, according to other witches’ travelogues, their festivals usually involve a grand bonfire, a whole roasted game, homemade rêgo wine, and impromptu hunting dances and war songs.”

Sylvia imagined the scene and became even more excited.

Then, she suddenly remembered something and looked down at her {Gem Coin Card}:

"Mom, can I bring some small gifts for the children in the Tatali tribe when we go to the celebration tomorrow?"

Moran felt a warmth in her heart as she looked into the pure kindness in her daughter's eyes.
"Of course! Mom will also prepare some gifts for the Tatali tribe; it's a courtesy when visiting."

“Yes!” Sylvia nodded vigorously, then started planning what to bring: “I want to buy some delicious candies and cookies…”

She opened the card shop, muttering her budget as she looked through the cards: "I have 4501 gem coins... {Food Card - Popping Candy (Large)} costs 20 gem coins, {Food Card - Fruit Gummy Candy (Large)} costs 15 gem coins, {Food Card - Bear Cookies (Large)} costs 25 gem coins... There are more than ten children in the Tatali tribe, so I need to buy at least five of each kind to feed them... Okay, help me calculate how many gem coins that is!"

Click: "500 Gem Coins!"

"Five hundred?" Sylvia frowned slightly as she looked at the number.

That's almost one-fifth of her entire fortune.

But after only a moment's hesitation, she nodded firmly:
"It's okay! The point of making money is to use it where it's worthwhile!"

After saying that, she operated the screen without hesitation to confirm the purchase.

Instead of immediately realizing it, she opened the online store again and searched for "packaging materials".

Soon, she selected a roll of translucent food wrapping paper printed with stars and moons, and a spool of indigo ribbon with a faint fluorescent sheen.

"The Tatars will definitely love this color!"

These two items cost her another 20 gem coins, and Sylvia didn't even blink.

She then materialized the candies and cookies, cut the wrapping paper to the appropriate size, and made them into small gift packages.

The movements, initially clumsy, gradually became smooth.

Moran did not interfere with the gifts she prepared for the children of the Tatali tribe.

She took out only a wooden box and put three Level 5 Healing Potion Cards and three Level 5 Antidote Potion Cards inside.

It's not a particularly high-level card, but it's exactly what the Tatars need.

"Alright," she murmured to herself, placing the small wooden box on a corner of the counter.

By the time she turned around, Sylvia had already finished wrapping all the gifts.

More than a dozen small packages with indigo blue ribbons were neatly arranged in a row, each package being slightly different in size, shape, and ribbon knot.

Sylvia knelt on the ground, looking at the fruits of her labor:
"The children of Tatali...would they like it?"

“Yes, it will,” Moran said confidently. (End of Chapter)