As Will approached the southern district entrance, he was stopped by two guards. The guards looked at Will curiously.

"Aye, what are you doing here cadet?" a guard asked here.

"Yea, there's nothing here but the poor and even worse filthy beastmen," the other guard lamented.

"I came to explore," Will responded honestly.

"Oi, one of you lot, you came to visit the zoo? If that is the case, the beastmen brothel is one block down, on your right," said the first guard laughing.

"It's the largest building in the slums, you can't miss it. Madam Kun will greet you at the door," the second guard said smiling.

Not sure how to respond, but wanting to gain entrance, Will thanked the guards and handed each guard a silver coin, before walking through the slanted, warped, wooden gate. As Will walked through the gate, his noise smelled the stank urination and feces that came with poor plumbing. Will guessed the sanitation tunnels did not work well in this area. As Will walked he saw piles of trash lining the street, and some piles of trash were set on fire, thick black smoke hung in the air. He saw children running around with sticks, sword fighting. He saw beastmen laying on the streets, many appeared to be homeless. As he walked, he had to dodge water being thrown out windows. Yet everywhere he walked he saw people laughing and smiling. These people were poor, destitute, but they had a strong community.

He saw a small café, with large windows, benches aligning the walls. As he walked inside. He was surprised to see Elder Li, speaking with a couple of people. It was fair to say, Elder Li was more shocked to see than vice versa. Not, wanting to intrude on the conversation, he decided to ignore the elder. After a minute, a beast woman greeted Will and ushered him to a table adjacent to Elder Li's table. She handed Will a menu and then left.

Will opened the book looking, examining each page and goods he could purchase. He was excited to find coffee, chocolate, and rice. His favorite drink, dessert, and food from his past life. However, the import cost was expansive. Even worse he knew agricultural crop prices varied seasonally. The worst part of selling food or owning a restaurant was the slim profit margins, the variably of crops could easily cut in his profit margin. That was a big reason, he decided not to open a restaurant, and instead of a game store.

However, Will still wanted to sell food. He dreamed of a store where customers could purchase and play games in the store. Every decent Chief Executive Officer or C.E.O. knew it was important to keep customers in the store as long as possible. The longer someone stayed in the store, the more they bought, the more customers bought, the more they would profit. That was why selling drinks and food were important. Will dreamed of board and card game tournaments, with hundreds of people lining his pockets. Even better once his products were patented, he would license them to another store, making even more money. He could sit comfortably raking in money, saving money, to move on to his next project a theatre.

Putting down the trade book, Will picked up the menu. Scanning the menu, he saw new dishes he had never seen before coming to this world. Seeing his blank stare, the waitress came to his aid. Explaining the new dishes, however, the more she explained the more Will had an epiphany. These dishes were curry, omurice, ramen, hotpot, and others he loved.

Not missing this opportunity, Will ordered the hotpot, omurice, with a hot tea. He had to figure out why, if rice was so expensive how was this restaurant in the slums able to afford it? As Will waited he opened the trade book and zeroed in on the rice traders. There were two trade routes for rice, one from the east and one from the west. The western route brought rice from the beast tribal region and was considered an inferior product. The rice from the east came from the Sylvain Empire, which grew a limited supply of rice. Sylvain's limited supply of tradeable rice, coupled with prejudice against beastmen drove up the cost of rice.

How utterly ridiculous, prejudice had no row in business, not for Will. Will believed in taking advantage of everyone equally. Why be prejudiced if people had the money for the taking. Prejudice was for the ignorant. However, Will still had to be cautious of people's perceptions, until he built enough of a following, at that point people would not care where the rice came from. He had to figure out a way, to buy rice at bottom-level prices.

When the food was brought, several customers glared at Will. They stared at the massive amount of food he purchased, for a single person. Why was he flashing his wealth amongst the poor? Was this a form of entertainment for him, rubbing his coin in their faces? Ignoring the looks, Will happily ate his feel, smiling reliving fond moments of Earth. He missed his friends, business associates, executive board members, and family. The spice, oh how he missed this level of spice. He realized only now; how bland the food was as he ate. The other customers saw Will eating and smiling, and realized he was not being rude early, he really missed this type of food. Suddenly laugher ruptured, and people realized he must have grown up in the southern district and missed this kind of food. Hearing the laughing, Will looked up and saw people smiling and waving at him, welcoming him back home. Knowing there was a misunderstanding, Will chose this moment to play along and thanked them for their kindness.

Elder Li sat watching this moment and laughed as well. Only she knew the truth, Will was not born in the southern district, but a barony. He was not a commoner, but a noble. Yet, he fooled everyone here. How amazing was this boy, to blend in with locals after a matter of minutes? Seeing the environment, she decided to play along. She rose from her sit, excusing herself from her companions, and approached Will. Seeing Elder Li, standing before him, Will graciously asked Elder Li to join him. Everyone else, seeing these two sitting next to each other, only confirmed their suspicion that Will was a native of the southern district.

"Will I be surprised to see you, what brought you down here?" she asked inquiring.

"I came to read in a quiet place and explore Guidon further," said Will.

"Did you know this is a popular beastmen restaurant, is that why you decided to eat here?" she said. She knew Will was always curious about beastmen.

"I had no idea, I just saw this place and decided to give it a try," Will responded honestly

"Are you not afraid of the reputation you'll receive from the nobility if you are caught here? Being a beastmen sympathizer is frowned upon by the nobility. Even Elder Thaddeus suffered after he approved my admission as Elder Librarian," she said sadly.

"I had no idea that being a beastmen sympathizer carried so much weight," he said after trying the omurice.

"Yet, you know now and continue to eat. Are you not worried?" she asked curiously.

"Not that much, but if it becomes a hindrance I'll deal with it then," he said honestly.

Seeing his honesty, Elder Li was moved. She was cautious of Will when they first met. She suspected Will had bad intentions or a beast women's fetish after she met Will in the library. But the longer she knew Will, the more she saw he treated everyone equally. His penchant for the coin was well known, and she knew Will treated everyone as an opportunity more than a person. Even now, she could tell Will had questions he wished to ask her.

"Elder Li, do you know how this restaurant was able to order so much rice and sell dishes at such low prices?" Will said.

Raising an eyebrow, and hesitation, she answered truthfully, "the rice was purchased."

"Purchased? Purchased by who…" Will asked.

The price to import rice from the beastmen was set at 60 silver/ kilogram (60 s/kg). The cost of rice from the Sylvain Empire was 2 g/kg. Yet, in this restaurant, the average cost of a meal was around 30 coppers, and this was considered expensive for a restaurant. Most street vendors sold food was between 2 to 5 coppers. The average daily income for the kingdom was 10 coppers a day. Smuggling was the only way for the restaurant to explain such low prices. If they sold a mean for 60 silvers, let alone 1 silver the restaurant would close in a day. Hearing Elder Li's response, Will's eyes glistened. In his past life, he certainly followed the law most of the time, but in business, one had to pursue every avenue to get ahead.

"Tell me Elder Li, are you well known in this district?" Will asked, his eyes filled with greed.

Seeing his eyes made her feel uncomfortable. She squirmed in her seat. His eyes were like the eyes of other men, who looked at her like she was a whore. She knew when men wanted to take advantage of her, and she knew Will had the same intention. She stuttered, "yes, you could say I am well known."

In the southern district, very few people made it out and became successful. Even fewer of those people were beastmen. People across the southern district knew her, and she was famous among the Guidon beastmen.

"Elder Li, tell me, do you perhaps know the person who purchased rice from the beastmen tribes," Will asked. If he could guess, the trader knew the answer. The trader knew, who purchased the excess rice, from the beastmen tribes and sold the rest in the southern district.

"Yes. They were the couple I was sitting with before. Lawrence and his wife Holo, she is a dear friend of mine," she said.

"Elder Li would mind introducing me to them please," Will asked.

Agreeing, more to get away from Will, she left and brought the couple to his table.

"Lawrence, Holo, this is William vont Ballard, a cadet at the Knight Academy. Will this is my dear friend Holo from the wolf tribe and her husband Lawrence," she finished the introductions.

Will could tell that Lawrence was human. Both Will and Lawrence could immediately tell the other was merchant and trader, respectively. For Lawrence, he saw the trade book when he approached the table. After the introductions, Will could tell the bargaining had already started.

"Mr. Murphy and Mrs. Holo, welcome to my table," Will stood up and bowed slightly. Lawrence and Holo did the same with a deep bow.

"I see you're a merchant, are there any particular trade routes that interest you. I am willing to assist nobles, for coin or course," said Lawrence.

Hearing the bribe, Will gladly handed over 10 silver coins. He saw nothing wrong; this simply was the cost of doing business.

After receiving the coins, Lawrence pocketed money happily, knowing that Will was a serious merchant.

"What can I do for you sir, Vont Ballard," said Lawrence. When doing business with nobles, even in the southern district, Lawrence always used formal speech.

"Mr. Lawrence, I'm considering investing in your trade route, but 60 s/kg is expensive, is it not? I want to inquire about a more…inexpensive price?" Will asked slyly.

"I'm sorry sir, Vont Ballard the prices are set by the Merchant Guild, not me. There is nothing I can do about the price," he said truthfully.

"I wonder then, how are this establishment and the street vendors can sell rice food so cheaply," Will asked investigative.

"Sir, this is the slums. The City Lord and Merchant Guild do not care what happens here if no one riots. The restaurants, shops, and crafters you see all belong to their homes. The Merchant Guild does not sell off property here or have trade routes. The gate guards never walk past the gate, and the only nobles that come here are interested in a brothel," said Lawrence passionately.

"And the food? I don't see any farms in this district, how is it imported?" asked Will.

"It's okay Lawrence, Will is a good person. He is Grandmaster Thaddeus' disciple," Elder Li said pleading for civility, hearing Lawrence's voice beginning to rise.

"You…the disciple is you…to a great man like the grandmaster. I would never have guessed. Why did he pick you of all people?" Lawrence said stunned.

"I do not know; he hasn't told me why?" said Will.

"Fine, then, for the grandmaster's disciple, I will tell you the truth. The cost of the rice is inflated, by the Tribal Council. The Tribal Council is the beastmen government with each tribe being represented equally. The price was agreed to by the Merchant Guild, to help support the beastmen living in Fermion. The actual cost of rice is in the tens of coppers, not the 60 s/kg. The rest of the profit is split between the Council and the Merchant Guild. The Council uses its share of the coin to purchase tribal crops to send here and support its people. However, the coin is drying up with the impending war approaching. The Council's vote is split and refuses to send coins to help people until there is a majority. Both sides are saving money to purchase weapons, armor, and mercenaries.

How interesting, Will thought. The macroeconomic policy of subsidizing farmers existed in this world too. By overcharging the Merchant Guild the Tribal Council made a profit, and could use some of that profit to subsidize tribal farmers, and then purchase the excess produce to sell in Guidon's southern district. At the same time, the government could capitalize on the tariffs from the Merchant Guild traders. It was a virtuous cycle of profit, helping both the local and diaspora beastmen. However, now both sides would suffer, farmers lost their subsidy, the cost of production would rise, making it harder for the Guidon beastmen to buy produce. Inflation, would cripple the poor even more, lead to food shortages, and possible starvation.

Seeing an opportunity, Will decided to capitalize on the Tribal Council's stalemate.

"Lawrence, how do you feel about smuggling?" Will asked excitedly