Return of the Fallen Volume 10 Chapter 52
“How much do you want?”
These words fell over the room and everyone went silent. Simple yet straightforward forward but no one expected it. The man who had greedily asked for money after learning about the world and the Realms impending danger, everyone expected Kazuki to rebuke the greedy pig yet instead he just asked how much. No one saw this coming.
Kazuki had shown them all what type of being he was during battle. The way he fought, the clever cunning, and the cruelty he had displayed. The man was not someone you messed with. They all at least expected some punishment or something along those lines but Kazuki went the complete opposite way. Kazuki could be cruel and even petty but that was towards those he deemed enemies. These people here were not his foes nor were they friends. Kazuki understood they needed to be compensated, he wouldn’t be unfair.
The man who seemed to be greedy felt entitled after hearing Kazuki say how much. He was still getting condemning stares from those around so he quickly tried to explain himself to the crowd.
“Why are you all giving me those looks. Even lord Kazuki has agreed. After the war, I am left with nothing. No home, no wealth, and all of my research was reduced to ash in the embers of war. I have a family to feed first and foremost. After they are taken care of, I would still like to walk away with something so that I can continue my research. I am not being greedy in the least and anyone who thinks differently is simply foolish.”
After his explanation, there was some sympathy among the crowd. They understood what it meant to lose everything as well as still needing to provide for their relatives.
Kazuki though didn’t ask for a reason. As far as he was concerned it simply made sense to be paid for work so of course he would pay them.
Before the man continued on with his unwinding speech Kazuki’s voice filled the room.
“I didn’t ask for your life story. Tell me what it is you wish to be compensated with and if it isn’t unreasonable I will deliver. Now speak, what do you want for your services?”
The man felt a chill run down his spine. Kazuki added no power or ara to his voice and simply spoke but still, he brought an overbearing demeanor.
The man trembled slightly but he understood from what Kazuki showed him of his memories he wasn’t a bad guy, rather he wished to protect the Realm. Knowing this, the man’s back straightened and he became bold as he held up three fingers.
“Th…Three million gold Zeni!”
This amount was considered absurd among everyone there. This amount of money could allow them to live a life of luxury for hundreds of years if they so wished. For a man who had almost no accomplishments and his only real merit was his knowledge, this number would make others laugh him out of the room.
To Kazuki this indeed was laughable but for the complete opposite reason. For him, it was too little, for the sole fact that Kazuki could create an infinite amount of wealth so long as he had either his aura or magical energy.
Kazuki held his hand out in front of him and everyone went quiet, curious as to what he was going to do. No sooner did they look at him did a single gold Zeni materialize above his palm. Following one was two and then three and then a hundred followed by a thousand. Within half a second, tens of thousands of gold Zeni were overflowing from the palm of his hand and cascading down toward the ground like a heavy waterfall. In only two seconds a large pile of gold was spilled over in front of him and spread out for well over 30 feet. Eventually, it was like a small flood as it touched the toes of those closest by in the crowd.
A short old woman in the crowd curled her finger and a small swirl of wind picked up a single coin and placed it in her hand. She examined it closely and could see not a single flaw. It was exactly like the gold Zeni that circulates through all of the Feya kingdoms. It even had identical inscriptions carved within. The woman almost fell backward as she exclaimed.
“It’s real!”
Everyone was shocked as they too quickly grabbed a coin here and there and examined it. It wasn’t shocking that Kazuki had this much wealth, it only made sense, someone being as powerful as him, acquiring riches would be easy for him. No, the people were shocked because he didn’t pull these from a storage ring. No, they all felt waves of magical energy spilling out as these gold coins were materialized in front of their very eyes instead of minted and inscribed in a secret location in the kingdom.
To make a gold Zeni coin, it would require dozens of Mages that held secret knowledge and needed many months and secret techniques to make, yet Kazuki did it in less than two seconds and with witnesses all around. This was something unheard of.
Kazuki didn’t stop with the shock value just yet. Waving his hand the overflowing gold coins rolled backward across the floor and stacked themselves neatly beside him in a large pile the size of a small hill. A small piece of metal formed above Kauzki’s hand and was shaped into a ring. With a thought, Kazuki used his aura to inscribe a few hundred inscriptions upon this ring and turned it into a storage device.
The ring lit up with purple light and all of the gold Zeni was sucked inside the ring. Kazuki took the ring and tossed it to the greedy man as he fumbled to catch it.
“Place a drop of blood onto the ring and from here forth it will open only to you and you alone.”
This of course was a lie. It would still open to Kazuki as he made it and even then he was powerful enough to break it open without damaging the goods inside. There was no reason to tell this man that piece of information.
The man stared at the ring and immediately he knew what it was as he exclaimed.
“God metal!”
The moment he said this, all eyes focused on him and there were looks of greed and temptation. The man quickly held the ring to his chest and looked defensive. He didn’t hesitate to bite the tip of his thumb and drip a single drop of blood onto the ring. As soon as he did, like a sponge, the ring drank the drop up and absorbed it. The very next moment the man opened the ring and inspected it and confirmed the gold Zeni.
“Thank you, lord Kazuki, thank you!”
Kazuki didn’t like the whole lord title but he could see these people revered him even more now. Even if he told them to stop, they would be too afraid not to call him this way so he just sighed inwardly and allowed it.
There were still many eyes filled with greed after seeing the rarest known metal in the world being given out so easily. Kazuki could see where this may lead so with a wave of his hand, he created thousands more of these simple rings and tossed them out. In an instant, all of these rings appeared in everyone’s hand. No one hesitated to drop a bit of blood on it. The moment they did, nearly everyone began to try and see through the inscriptions and study it to find out its secrets.
They had something incredibly rare and precious and many thought how this would become a sacred heirloom in their family and would be passed down for generations to come to the brightest and best in their family. Kazuki almost laughed as God metal was something he could easily create with a simple thought now but he didn’t because he was once where they all stood. Instead, he asked openly.
“Who’s next?”
This set bells off in everyone’s head. The way Kazuki so easily materialized all of that gold, what else could he do they wondered. What else would he be willing to part with? People started to think extremely carefully as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This could literally change their lives and shape their future paths in life. Lots of these people now looked on at the greedy man with pity for the sole fact that he simply wasn’t greedy enough.
Very soon a woman in the crowd shouted out.
“Lord Kazuki, could you grant me power. If I could become a being at the 6th…no just the 5th stage, I would be your loyal servant for life.”
Kazuki thought for a moment before promptly making a decision.
“I see no reason not to do this. Fine, I will bring you to the 5th stage. Who else, who’s next?”
Jaws hit the floor and stupified expression spread across the room. Immediately one after another, shouts rang out asking for the same or even more.
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