Si-Yoon stared at the Necro-Excel sheet floating beside his desk. It was a thing of terrifying beauty; green cells for income (mostly soul-gems and conquest tribute), red cells for expenditure (too many red cells), and a glaring, enormous NEGATIVE number highlighted in pulsing, neon purple at the bottom. The deficit was the size of a small country; time to find the leak.
He clicked the 'Sort by Expenditure' filter. The audit function immediately highlighted the three biggest, most hemorrhaging budget lines, converting the runic script into plain, horrifying text.
Top Three Expenditures (Last Quarter):
Garrison Expansion Project Gamma-9: (Massive but justifiable military spending.)
Shadow Magic Research & Development: (Expected cost of being an evil lord.)
Feed for Skeletal Warhorses (Premium Grade): (Catastrophic cost, accounting for 40% of the entire deficit.)
Si-Yoon's jaw gaped open; he mentally blinked his non-existent eyes several times. Skeletal Warhorses?
He scoured his memory of the novel's lore, recalling every detailed battle plan and unit roster; the North utilized only Grim Striders, Bone Wyverns, and foot soldiers with extreme marching discipline; there were no horses, skeletal or otherwise. This line item was pure, unadulterated fraud.
The System panel immediately updated with a new, passive analysis:
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS: FISCAL IMBALANCE DETECTED]
[LINE 3: 'Skeletal Warhorse Feed' is non-existent revenue drain; estimated embezzlement conduit for primary antagonist (Lich Zygone). EFFICIENCY RATING: 4/10; The Lich could have been more creative. Zero stars for villainous finance.]
Si-Yoon felt a surge of professional outrage; forty percent of the kingdom's entire liquidity was being funneled into feed for phantom horses; the audacity was breathtaking. This was his chance to hit Zygone directly, but he couldn't ask where the horses were; that sounded like incompetence.
He needed a command that would instantly shut down the budget line and scare the embezzlers into silence, while sounding like a terrifying power-up; he needed a new, secret monster. Something worse than a horse.
He was interrupted by the soft scratch of the tapestry being carefully parted; Lyra was back.
She approached the desk, holding the same clay mug and tax ledger, which now resembled a wet, muddy brick. The Basilisk-Eye Brew, now mixed with the soaked, shredded pages of the Fifth District tax records, was a viscous, bubbling, foul-smelling swamp; the green eyes now struggled to surface through the financial sludge.
"My Lord," Lyra announced, her voice filled with satisfied dread. "The Cosmic, Financial, and Ocular Suffering Brew is complete. I also took the liberty of adding a few drops of Accounting Zombie Sweat for flavor; it achieves the desired dissonance."
Si-Yoon recoiled slightly; That is disgusting. I would rather drink the Shadow-Root straight.
Lyra waited, eager for the next step of the time-magic ritual; Si-Yoon knew he couldn't leave her hanging. He looked from the hideous, bubbling mug to the glaring 'Skeletal Warhorse' line on the Necro-Excel sheet. The solution; the Act; came to him in a rush of dramatic inspiration.
He pointed the Scepter directly at the floating audit sheet, careful to avoid the mug.
"Lyra," he commanded, his voice taking on a low, vibrating intensity, like a bass drum filled with gravel. "I have peered into the depths of the kingdom's needs. The ritual requires an immediate, profound sacrifice of resources. The weakest link must be severed to strengthen the whole."
Lyra leaned forward, her red eyes burning. "Which supply chain must we destroy, My Lord? The Plague Rations? The Infernal Coal?"
"No," Si-Yoon declared, channeling the voice of a man making a heartbreaking, yet necessary, tactical sacrifice. He stabbed the Scepter at the 'Skeletal Warhorse' line on the sheet. "The Skeletal Warhorse Feed is an abomination. A ridiculous waste of resources."
He projected his voice, letting it echo off the hidden chamber's walls. "The Warhorse is obsolete. Its low altitude and predictable marching patterns are an offense to the true majesty of Northern warfare! I have foreseen the need for a new, terrible form of transport!"
Lyra looked confused, but only for a second; her vampire mind immediately leaped to the most terrifying conclusion.
"The... the Naglfar project, My Lord? The ship made of dead men's nails? I thought that was purely mythological!"
"Mythology is merely a script I have yet to perform, Lyra," Si-Yoon sneered, feeling a confident spike in his Menace Rating. "I command you: Cut the feed budget. Re-allocate 100% of those funds and every related supply chain immediately to the Grand Nail Scavenging Division. I need nails, Lyra. Thousands of pounds of them. We are building something unspeakable that does not require hay."
Lyra's face contorted into an expression of sheer, ecstatic terror. She dropped the ledger-mug hybrid onto the stone desk.
"My Lord... a ship of dead men's nails... built from the sacrifices of phantom horses... a terrifying display of divine logistics! I shall mobilize every zombie laborer and skeletal scavenger in the North! The Grand Nail Scavenging Division begins now!"
She spun around, grabbed the mug, and dipped her finger into the repulsive brew. She drew a quick, horrifying sigil of loyalty on the wall and shot out of the study like a crimson projectile.
Si-Yoon watched her go, then retrieved the Necro-Excel sheet. The Skeletal Warhorse Feed line item was gone, replaced by a massive green entry for Grand Nail Scavenging Division (Future Infrastructure).
The System chimed instantly:
[+30 SPP: Action perceived as 'Lord Eliminates Obsolete Asset to Fund Mythological Doomsday Weapon.' Masterful use of misdirection. Tyrant Aura increased to C.]
[Current SPP: 55]
The System's panel showed his grade in Tyrant Aura had finally climbed out of F-tier; Si-Yoon breathed a sigh of relief.
"Forty percent of the budget saved," Si-Yoon murmured, leaning on the Scepter. "And I got credit for inventing the Naglfar. This acting thing is finally paying off."
He just hoped no one would ask where the massive, mythical nail ship was supposed to be launched from; he still had the budget to fix.