He wanted money.
He wanted something to eat, he wanted warm clothes, he wanted a home—There were many things he wanted, and money gave him options.
If he had money, then he could choose.
Bread, potatoes, soup, or fruits? If he had money, then the options would present themselves.
As a drifting orphan living in the lowest parts of society, he was dragged along by a lifestyle that gave him no options. That was precisely why he wanted options—he wanted the money that would give him those options.

However, poverty stole those options away.

Driven to the brink of starvation, the boy stole for the first time. He stole a small knife.
Holding that knife, he committed his first robbery.
The target he chose was this town’s famous nouveau-riche mage. The man’s name was Löwenich.
While that man was an excellent mage, the boy had heard rumors that he was a bad person who exploited the weak to make money.
He figured that if he was going to steal someone’s money, it would be better to steal from someone he wouldn’t feel bad about.

“Hey, if you don’t want me to kill you, hand over the money.”

One night, the boy snuck up behind a man stepping off of a carriage and rested the tip of his knife against the man’s back.
The man who stepped out of that carriage was a black-haired man in his thirties or forties wearing a dignified robe.
It was hard to see in the darkness of the night, but judging from the jingling jewelry with huge gemstones and the elegant staff in his hands, there was no doubt that this was the mage Löwenich.
Löwenich was supposed to be an amazing mage, but all he had to do was drive the knife in before this man could finish an incantation.
What do I do if he keeps chanting even after I stab him? That troubling thought emerged in his head.
In that case, he decided he would just give it a little twist. Surely he would be so shocked he would stop chanting. Probably.

“Oi, hurry up!”

“Kuku……”

Löwenich didn’t chant at all, but for some reason he started laughing.
With the knife still pressed against his back, the man twisted his neck and looked at the boy. His face belied his cunning nature.

“How much?”

“Eh?”

“I’m asking what price you would place on my life. My life isn’t cheap, you know? If you don’t ask for at least twenty gold coins, we won’t have anything to discuss.”

The man neither pled for his life nor chanted a spell. Instead, the man asked for an appraisal on the value of his life.
The boy was confused.

“I don’t need gold coins……”

If a drifting orphan like him were seen with gold coins, they would be able to tell immediately that he stole them.
As the boy hesitated, the man with a knife in his back asked condescendingly.

“Then, what is it that you want? Gems? This ring alone is worth thirty gold coins. Come on, name your price.”

“…….A lot of copper coins.”

The boy wanted enough copper coins that he couldn’t carry them all with both hands.
After all, he could buy bread with those. He could buy fruit. He would have more choices.
However, the man snorted in disappointment to the boy’s words.

“No amount of copper coins is enough to buy my life. Hmph, how about we do this instead?”

The man casually strolled towards his manor.
The boy panicked. At this rate, he would lose his mark.
He had to follow after him and get the knife in his back…….As the boy thought that, the man opened the gate before him.

“Come inside and partake in a meal. Kuku……My private chef’s cooking is worth far more than copper coins.”

Saying that, Samuel Löwenich laughed unsettlingly. “Ku, ku, ku.”

The cooking in Samuel Löwenich’s manor was unlike anything he’d ever eaten before.
It wasn’t just potatoes, there was bread too. And that bread wasn’t tough and black, but white and fluffy bread.
Huge chunks of meat floated about in the stew. Meat that wasn’t stringy at all but instead melted in his mouth like he couldn’t believe.
The boy’s malnourished body filled up in an instant, making him yearn for all of the other foods he hadn’t had room to eat.
Even though he could have eaten enough to feed him for ten days. Even though he tried to eat as much as he could.
As the boy massaged his bulging stomach, the master of this manor, Samuel Löwenich, spoke.

“Kuku……This meal alone is not enough to buy my life…….I’ll give you this as well.”

Samuel placed a bracelet on the boy’s wrist.
It was a simple metal bracelet. However, gems were embedded into the inside of the bracelet.

“Kuku, this piece is high enough quality to make a magical device out of it. If you sell it, it should fetch more than five gold pieces.”

The boy looked between the bracelet and Samuel.
Samuel smirked.

“I shall give you a choice.”

A choice. That was the one thing this poor boy lacked the most.

“If you want to sell this bracelet, then go ahead and sell it. However, if you come back to this manor wearing that, I shall give you another meal……ku, ku, ku. Choose whichever one you prefer.”

If he sells it, he gains money. If he keeps it, he gains a secure source of food.
The boy now had options.
The boy thought it through, and ultimately decided not to sell the bracelet.
At first, he had his reservations, but as long as he wore the bracelet, even when Samuel wasn’t around, one of his servants would let the boy into the manor and serve him a meal. Each time, the meals were shockingly tasty.
After a month of this routine had elapsed, Samuel asked the boy.

“Can you read?”

“……A little bit.”

Samuel offered him a book, and spoke.

“Kuku, I shall lend you this book. I don’t mind if you sell this book off. However, if you don’t sell it, read it to the end, and return it, then I shall lend you the next book in the series.”

The book was an adventure novel written for children.
Once again, his choices expanded. Would he sell the book, or return it?
Deciding to leave his decision until later, the boy brought the book home and read it.
Since the book ended on a gripping cliffhanger, the boy decided not to sell it and to return it to Samuel, then borrowed the next book.

He would show the bracelet and be let in to the manor; he would eat a warm meal; and he would borrow books.
Around the time that the books started to get a little more difficult for him, Samuel talked to him again.

“Kuku, I shall give you a choice. Will you become my son and study under me, or not?”

The boy thought about it a lot.
He thought a lot, and a lot more. Then finally made his decision.

“Okay. I will become Samuel’s son.”

Samuel sat up, laying his elbows on his armrests and crossing his legs, then laughed “Ku, ku, ku” unsettlingly as he spoke.

“Very well. From today forward, you are the son of the great mage Samuel Löwenich. You are now Julius Löwenich.”

“Julius……Is this right?”

As Julius sat at the desk in his dorm room, his roommate Finn spoke up in a reserved voice.
Finn Nohl was thirteen, three years younger than Julius, but due to his short limbs, he looked even younger than his real age.
As the son of a woodcutter, he hadn’t gone to school at all, and he was barely able to read and write his own name. So Julius took it upon himself to teach him how to read, write, and count.
Julius looked over his work. His handwriting was poor, but the math was correct.

“Ku, ku, ku……Every answer is correct. Not bad.”

“Thank goodness……”

Finn placed his hand on his chest and sighed in relief.
After being driven out of his own home so they’d have one less mouth to feed, and after taking the entrance exam with nothing left to lose, Finn became an Apprentice Mage with no clear objective in mind.
Regardless, he seemed to have the motivation to study. He always put his all into his assignments.
Finn wasn’t a very quick thinker, and his capabilities were limited. Even then, so long as he had the determination to keep studying, the time spent teaching him did not go to waste.

“Kuku……Finn, you should join my faction. If you do, I’ll promise you two gold coins.”

He wasn’t saying that out of kindness.
In order to achieve his goal at the Wedge Tower, the fastest way was to build a faction and rise through the ranks. More importantly, it made his operations much simpler if his roommate was in the same faction as him.
However, Finn seemed troubled by Julius’ offer.

“I don’t need gold coins……In the first place, I’m the one being taught here, why would I get paid?”

Finn’s words made him recall what happened back then.
Julius arched his back and cackled.

“Kuku, ku, ku, ku, ku, ku……”

“Julius? What’s wrong?”

“Kuku……That’s right. Gold coins are inconvenient to use. How about I make it a bracelet that’s suitable for making a magical device?”

“Like I said, I don’t need anything…..”

—That took place the day before Julius was kicked by Tia Vogel.

<
Previous Post
[V3C14] Men Who Gamble With ******
>
Next Post
[V3C15] A Teacher Who Lays the Groundwork