102 Episode 23. Magic Stone Tank (5)
“If it’s blood gold… … .”
“Gold soaked in blood. Something like that happened before. A vein of gold was found in a small estate. At that time, the lord said he liked it very much. Gold came out of his land, so he liked it.”
The young man’s words continued.
“But the lord didn’t know that it was the beginning of a disaster. It was good at first. The estate’s financial problems got better right away, and it became easier to borrow gold coins from everywhere just by discovering gold veins. But as the rumor spread all over the place, even strange people came and started showing interest in gold from the estate.”
The Overseer could roughly guess the story to come.
“When it comes to blood gold, I think I’ve heard of it somewhere. That was the name.”
“It can’t be a good story. Why was it called Blood? Everything is there for a reason.”
Yeongju continued.
“An untimely wind of blood blew in that estate. Suddenly, people claiming the rights of the territory appeared. In the past, when the land wasn’t a gold mine, people who didn’t even pay attention to it said that gold veins were found there, so they suddenly appeared and started fighting to find the right to my land.”
Youngjoo calmly shook his head.
“Wealth beyond the limit is rather a disaster. If you don’t have the strength to protect it, it’s better to give it away.”
At those words, the Overseer questioned.
“You’re just giving it away?”
“You know the story, don’t you? When encountering a band of thieves. I’d rather give them what they want and run away right away.”
With a cough, the Overseer, who raised his upper body upright, fiddled with the sword belt that was worn around his waist.
“If it were me, I would fight against it.”
“Yeah, you can say things like that because you have that level of skill. But if you can’t even use a sword, how should you behave in such a situation? Will he find a way to live knowing his own fraction, or will he fearlessly fight hordes of angry bandits so as not to lose what he has?”
“If that’s the case… … Rather, it seems wiser to give in and run away. A swarm of thieves wouldn’t be normal either.”
Youngjoo shook his head and continued.
“Yeah, I might not even be able to live my life if I don’t worry about it.”
The lord was well aware of the gold ore that was continuously discovered after the Cataclysm.
And what he said afterwards was his decision.
“Whether the gold veins are alive here or not, there is nothing good about this being known from the outside. So, from now on, let Young Ji-min enlist. that’s the way we live And let the sassy Roth Medici know what’s going on here. If you become a guild leader, it would be easy to station a mercenary unit here. It’s all here anyway, so I’m not the only one who cares.”
Overseer expressed concern.
“It’s supposed to be crackdown, but there’s no way to stop the rumors from spreading. Even the children of the neighborhood are clamoring to pick up gold ore. In a situation like this, will the crackdown be properly enforced?”
“But shouldn’t we try our best? At least we’ll have to move on until they get it right, the proud owners of this land. If something happens later, it’s not something we can do about getting paid, right?”
“We will take action as soon as possible.”
Even the lord was disgusted with getting involved in troublesome things.
“If we had that kind of power, of course, work here would have been a good thing. But I have no power. Whatever you have, you have the power to protect it.”
There were a lot of hyenas in the Empire who would pay attention to the work here right now.
But there were others who were more terrifying than that.
“And the original owner of this land was a Dwarf. The other lords don’t move easily because they look like the imperial family, unlike before, but they’re not Dwarves. I honestly wonder how they turn out. If you don’t know anything else, they’re a race that loves gold and beer.”
When the Dwarf story came out, the Overseer also spoke up.
“I agree with that. Other than that, Dwarves are golden, and when it comes to beer, don’t they make concessions? Maybe if they want this land… … .”
The next words were given by the lord.
“I’m going to go to war. Even if they maintain friendly relations with the Empire, they will change if gold is a problem.”
“Can I help you in the Imperial Household?”
The lord was 100% sure of that question.
“When there was a totem war, I didn’t even notice what happened here, but if you have trouble with the dwarves because of the gold that comes out here, the imperial family will help you somehow. I can assure you.”
“Actually, gold is coming out, but the imperial family won’t watch it.”
“Why are you throwing away the gold dust? We are powerless, but we are not the imperial family.”
After the conversation, the lord gave instructions to the Overseer.
“Anyway, let the Los Medici family know. If you keep talking with me, money will come from there anyway.”
“By the way, going to war with the dwarves will cost a lot of money.”
At that, the young man smiled.
“We don’t have to worry about that, do we? It’s a matter of money anyway, because they said they were responsible for everything.”
Overseer seemed to agree with those words.
“I do, though.”
After talking with the lord, Overseer informed Joshua who was in the estate, and the news could be delivered to Rockefeller right away.
Rockefeller, who was working in the store, noticed two letters to him.
One was from the lord and the other was from his brother, who was working in the Montefeltro estate.
Both letters contained a message congratulating him on becoming the guild leader and a story about a recently discovered gold ore.
Rockefeller, who was grinning as he read the letter from the lord, his assistant Ricardo came and talked to him.
“What good is it?”
At that question, Rockefeller raised his head and looked at Ricardo.
“It’s not a good thing, I mean… … Are you just saying it’s funny?”
“Who sent it?”
“It was sent by the lord of Montefeltro. It says congratulations on becoming the guild leader.”
Riccardo was also familiar with the matters related to the Montefeltro estate.
“I don’t think it’s too bad to send a congratulatory message to the person who made him half-broken.”
Rockefeller laughed softly at that.
“Still, I am in a relationship. My sister married her daughter.”
“It’s marriage… … .”
“It wasn’t what I wanted, but the second one liked her so much. And it turned out to be an advantage for me.”
Ricardo, who had little knowledge of the rumors, inquired.
“If you did well, you would have become the lord over there, so why did you refuse that? It’s just a rumor. Did you put the lord in debt and bring the right to the territories?”
Rockefeller answered the question frankly.
“It would have been. Maybe if I wanted to, I could even become the lord over there, but that’s because it’s not what I want.”
“If it’s a lord, it’s the ruling class… … Did you give up on that?”
“Actually, even if I had wanted that position, it would have been the best thing I could have done. If you don’t know anything else, you wouldn’t make a person who used to be a commoner in the imperial family the seat of lord.”
In those words, Ricardo felt more positive than negative.
‘but.’
“Then did you give up your seat because you knew the imperial family would oppose it?”
Rockefeller shook his head softly.
“You can see that at first glance, but becoming a lord is a troublesome thing anyway. So I decided to give it to someone who was just doing it and take the reins instead.”
“In what way?”
“I have the money line. All the finances of the estate are managed by us. Now, Joshua, not me, is in control.”
Controlling the ruler of a territory with money.
Ricardo had something to say.
‘Did you subdue the lord with money, not power? It’s not like it’s nothing, but something feels different.’
Rockefeller changed the subject.
“More than that, this is a bit of a problem.”
When Ricardo showed interest, Rockefeller informed him of what was written in the letter.
‘Even if I don’t say it, I will somehow find this letter and read it without even a mouse or a bird. In that case, it would be better to reveal it openly and gain the author’s trust.’
The opponent is the head of an assassin family.
He was someone who could even know what the emperor had told him in his bedroom the day before if he wanted to.
“I heard that a large amount of gold ore was recently discovered in the Montefeltro estate.”
talk about gold.
Ricardo didn’t know either.
‘I’ve heard rumors like that.’
“It happened.”
Rockefeller continued.
“As long as unexcavated gold ore has flowed out after the Cataclysm, the land is not yet dead.”
shiny gold.
Is there anyone who would refuse it?
What can be said to be the beginning and end of all greed.
“Since ancient times, gold has been said to be the daughter of the sun, and silver is the tears of the moon.”
that story.
Ricardo also remembered hearing about it somewhere.
“I am the daughter of the sun… … I remember where I heard it.”
“It’s kind of a joy to know that something like that comes from a land where I actually have rights.”
Rockefeller’s expression was not as bright as he was speaking.
So Ricardo questioned it.
“You probably have most of your rights. You don’t seem to like it very much. Is there any other reason?”
Rockefeller had the same thoughts as the lord who wrote the letter.
“It is not certain yet. The land had once received the attention of Dwarves. Azrac Gold Mine was one of the best gold mines on the continent. what now… … It has become so abandoned that its former reputation is overshadowed.”
“Isn’t that still a possibility?”
“There is a possibility. But whether you get real gold or not, it doesn’t matter.”
Rockefeller immediately continued.
“If you don’t have the strength to protect it, even if you leave my land anyway, it’s not mine.”
Ricardo agreed with that statement.
‘If you don’t have the power to protect it, it doesn’t belong to the author.’
“I agree. If House Tepez or House Sinclair find out about their work, it’s going to be a bit boring.”
The Ismail family is not even mentioned here.
because?
Rockefeller was well aware of this.
‘A family whose limbs have already been severed cannot immediately outstrip two powerful families.’
for that reason.
‘I have something to say. Even if you know anyway, you can’t pay attention to interest.’
“There is something like that. And it’s not certain, so if you get frustrated and get disappointed, that’s a problem in its own right. and… … .”
Those looking for gold?
Tepez? Sinclair? or imperial?
No, the real thing was different.
“The thing that worries me the most is the Dwarf. I don’t know if you know, but that land was abandoned by the dwarves in the past.”
“I heard that it used to be a dwarf territory.”
“But I never handed it over to the Empire. The empire took over the land that was just abandoned.”
What would happen next was pretty much predictable.
“It’s because the Dwarves are another race that loves gold as much as beer. If they suddenly appear and assert their rights, trouble will naturally arise. We won’t give up easily, and they too will somehow bite and droop because of the cursed greed imprinted in their blood.”
If the Montefeltro estate had not died according to the contents of the letter, Ricardo could be sure of this.
‘War with the dwarves is inevitable.’