Kage’s eyes sparkled yet again. But this time... it was different...
He was hugging Guren.
Guren, who was a dignified social recluse hiding under the guise of a fractured voice and so much work, found himself in a very awkward position as the young lord grabbed him and embraced him tightly like a man, tapping his back with vigor.
"Yes! Yes! This is it!"
They say the love for money is the root of all evil. Kage right now was the King of Evil if that were the case.
’What a twisted manner of thinking! Why did I even think about that?’
Kage pulled himself away from Guren. Gold light showered upon his face, sparkling and reflecting in the depths of his eyes.
There were rows of shelves, and every one of those shelves was filled endlessly with boxes of gold coins.
Kage was this elated because he of all people knew the importance of money. After his mother, Taro and Shinro died, life became brutal. For whatever reasons, his allowance of 10 Taels per month stopped coming in.
Luckily for him, his mother had saved up over a thousand Taels which he later found. Eating and getting by in his daily life wasn’t so difficult.
But one day Kage realized how desperately he needed money if he wanted to do more than just eat and get by. He did all considerable debilitating things—beyond moral grey and extremely desperate acts to make money.
Some of them he was not proud of. Some, the people deserved. But all together, if put in the same position, he would do it all over again.
But thanks to the golden light showering his face, he wouldn’t have to.
’Those whom I would steal from don’t know that they should be offering sincere prayers of thanks to the heavens right now.’
Kage turned to Guren and gestured his hand across the room.
Guren was shocked. If he wasn’t wearing a lower face mask, his mouth would probably drop right now.
Kage, seeing the Butler’s confusion, pressed.
"Father said I can take anything I want. I want all the gold here. We don’t need to go down anymore. This is what I want."
Guren was not sure how to respond to this. Never in his life did he think that he would see a fifteen-year-old, whom weapons bored, history bored, but who wanted to claim a treasury of four hundred thousand Ryo.
"Uhmm, yo–young lord, I think I may have to confirm with the Patriarch himself."
Kage tilted his head, slightly irritated.
"Uhnn? But the Patriarch himself told me to take everything. Why are you panicking?"
Guren scratched his temple. The drop of sweat rolling down there was tingling his skin.
"Indeed, I am aware of the Patriarch’s order. But this is a treasury of over four hundred thousand Ryo in coins, with materials worth over 2 million Ryo. We can’t make such a decision abruptly."
Kage folded his arms, frowning.
"If they are so important to the clan, why are they locked down in the third underground level of a vault that keeps relics? I bet they are from hundreds of years ago and the Patriarchs have just forgotten they exist. I mean, why else is this amount of money here and not in the Clan’s treasury?"
Guren was slightly taken aback.
Kage’s argument shocked him so much because it was coldly accurate. It made him want to get excited because he could pinpoint something so obvious like that.
’Kids these days are so dumb. I expected the same of him and was not interested in him. However... the more time I spend with him, the more peculiar he shines.’
Guren chuckled dryly and looked over the vast chamber, then said to Kage.
"Even if you can take them all, it’s not possible right now to move all this amount of Ryo on your own. Either way, we would have to consult the High Patriarch, so please exercise some patience, young lord."
Kage looked at him with suspicion.
Guren shook his head.
"Not at all, young lord. Rest easy. If the High Patriarch agrees to this, we will process a depository profile for you and move the money there. But please permit me to confirm first with the Patriarch."
Kage released his folded arms and exhaled. Content originally comes from novel•fire.net
He walked past Guren, going towards the stairs. Upon reaching the entrance, he stopped and turned back to Guren, who was still standing.
"You want to sleep here?"
Guren gestured towards Kage with a slight raise of his hand.
"But that is not the way to the lower level."
"I’m done here. And I’m hungry too."
Guren was yet again stunned.
"But young lord, there are still many more valuables down there. We have the phoenix tear, pills of various kinds, shapes, and forms. There are also several Qi absorption pills that can give you a head start when you eventually begin cultivation."
Kage waved him off with a dismissive expression.
"I’m hungry. I want to eat..."
He placed a foot on the first step of the stairs but stopped. He hesitated, then turned back.
He stared Guren directly in the face.
"I understand where you are heading. But let’s be frank—would the clan not have tried their very best to find a solution to my talentless body if they had the means?"
He was silent for a beat, making the air suddenly somber.
"Well, if they have the means within their disposal and their best solution was to discard me, then whatever it is down there, I don’t care about it, Butler Guren. Let it all burn."
Guren hesitated but then locked eyes with Kage from afar.
"You weren’t discarded."
Kage scrunched his face in a random manner and threw his head away from Guren.
"I don’t need your consolation. I need food and money!"
He quickly began climbing the stairs. He paused halfway and suddenly turned back to add.
"And please make sure to remind Father that if he does decide to give it all to me, it is regardless of the allowance I will be receiving now that I am back in the clan. I made my search, and I know I’m supposed to be receiving a monthly allowance of 50 Ryo."
Guren was just... speechless.