Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8. More Than Ten Million Gold Coins Received, Professionals
William gave the Vice Principal a slight nod, then turned to the young men and women before him, his voice clear and steady.
“All right. One at a time.”
As soon as he said that, all of their faces flushed red. After all, this was the first time they had approached a prince in such a manner, so it was only natural for them to feel awkward.
Though they were born into noble families, they understood perfectly well how delicate this act was. Still, in order to seize the opportunity, they could only follow their families’ instructions.
Seeing this, William directly pointed at the girl at the front of the line.
“You first. Give it to me.”
The girl’s cheeks turned scarlet. She took a Spatial Ring from her pocket, quickly walked up to William, and gave him a deep bow.
“Y-Your Highness, this is the ‘tuition’ my father asked me to hand over to you.”
William took the ring and swept it with his divine sense. A trace of satisfaction flashed through his eyes.
Inside were four hundred thousand gold coins.
He waved a hand at the girl, and she withdrew in a hurry, as though she had been granted a pardon.
After that, he called them up one by one.
Twenty-three young men and women stepped forward in turn, each handing over the Spatial Ring their parents had prepared. Every movement carried a mixture of shyness and nervousness, yet anticipation was impossible to conceal.
William checked them one by one, and the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened further and further.
By the time the last ring was in his hand, his heart was already burning with excitement.
When it was all added up, there were more than ten million gold coins in total.
This harvest truly was enormous.
He cleared his throat, restrained his smile, and his expression turned solemn.
“Since you have all paid your ‘tuition,’ you will follow me into the palace shortly.”
Everyone bowed together and answered, “Yes, Your Highness!”
Their voices sounded much lighter now. After all, this unspoken “transaction” had finally been completed, and what came next was the real opportunity.
William put away all the Spatial Rings and said to the Vice Principal, “Please arrange for someone to coordinate with my palace guards and have them follow me back to the palace.”
“Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will see to it at once.”
The Vice Principal quickly agreed. As he looked at the group of young men and women behind William, a glint of understanding flashed through his eyes.
This Fourth Prince truly had a very direct way of accumulating wealth.
And yet, these noble families were willing to fall right into it.
The handover was completed shortly afterward.
William led his newly accepted attendants out of the Royal Academy, where the carriages had already been waiting outside.
The twenty-three of them boarded in order. For a time, the carriage interior remained quiet. No one spoke first. They only exchanged glances, each able to see the complexity in the others’ eyes—both the excitement of becoming a prince’s attendant and their unease toward the future.
William sat at the front, tapping his fingers against his knee, but in his heart he was already calculating how to use those more than ten million gold coins.
The carriage left the academy and headed toward the royal palace.
The noise outside gradually faded into the distance. William looked toward the palace and curled his lips into a faint smile.
Now he had the money.
Now he had the people as well.
What came next was making these “investments” truly produce value.
When they reached a crossroads, William instructed Knight Tos, “Take them back to the palace first and settle them according to the rules.”
He pointed at the young men and women behind him.
“I am going to make a round through the slave markets in the royal capital and see whether there is anyone else worth using.”
Knight Tos bowed and replied, “Please be careful, Your Highness. I will arrange for guards to remain on standby nearby.”
The carriages split up there and went their separate ways.
William had already instructed Tos to notify the slave market in advance. That place was a chaotic mix of all kinds of people and was nothing like the orderly auction house, so clearing the grounds beforehand was necessary.
Before long, the carriage arrived at the first slave market.
The place, which should have been noisy and bustling, was now completely empty. Only a few slave owners stood there uneasily, their eyes fixed on the carriage bearing the royal crest.
William slowly stepped down from the carriage, and everyone around him immediately dropped to their knees in salute.
He looked down at the filth and stagnant water on the ground, frowned instinctively, and casually tore open a cleaning magic scroll.
A faint blue glow flashed, and an invisible layer of protection attached itself to his shoes, isolating them from the grime on the ground.
Only after doing that did he step into the market.
Inside the cages on both sides, the slaves shrank back, not daring to lift their heads. Only in a few pairs of eyes did some unextinguished light remain hidden.
William’s gaze swept across the halos above their heads. Most were Bronze or Black Iron Aptitude. Occasionally there were a few with Silver Aptitude, but even they carried the numb deadness of people who had long since given up.
“Bring me that strong man over there, the one lifting stones.”
He suddenly pointed toward the corner, where a bare-chested man was silently carrying stone blocks. Above his head lingered a faint Legendary halo, and his aura was steady, unlike the cowardice of ordinary slaves.
The slave owner hurried over, unlocked the man’s shackles, and pushed him in front of William.
The man kept his head lowered, every muscle in his body taut like a beast poised to spring.
“Lift your head,” William said calmly.
The man slowly raised his head, revealing a face covered in scars. Only his eyes remained astonishingly bright.
“What is your name?”
“…Shitou.”
The man’s voice was hoarse, as if it had been scraped by sandpaper.
William nodded, then pointed at a boy in a cage who had been secretly drawing runes.
“Bring that one as well.”
The boy looked no older than ten. He wore tattered clothes, but his fingers were tracing strange patterns on the ground. Above his head was actually the halo of peak Legendary Aptitude, along with a rare affinity for runes.
The slave owner did not dare delay and quickly brought the boy over as well.
William did not spare them another look. He said to the royal knight behind him, “Take these two back to the palace together with their bills of sale.”
Then he tossed a bag of gold coins to the slave owner. “Keep the change.”
The slave owner caught the coins and was overjoyed, bowing repeatedly in thanks.
William cast one final glance at the slave market behind him, then turned and boarded the carriage again.
After that, he visited four more slave markets and truly broadened his horizons. Slaves from various countries had gathered there, with different skin tones and appearances, while the air was thick with the mingled smell of sweat and despair.
He even saw a half-elf, but the other party only had Silver Aptitude. To him, that held no value, so he did not stop.
After making the full round, he had selected only four people in total.
Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening, William brought these four newly purchased slaves back to the palace.
In just a few short days, the news that Fourth Prince William was amassing wealth on a massive scale had completely spread throughout the not-so-large royal palace.
Whether noble attendants or palace servants, everyone was discussing it in private.
This young prince seemed to possess an extraordinary obsession with gold coins. He was selling attendant positions and gathering slaves everywhere, using methods so direct that they left people speechless.
Some sneered at him, believing that such conduct tarnished the dignity of the royal family.
Others secretly began making calculations of their own, wondering whether they, too, could use “payment” as a way to connect their children to this prince.
Because of this string of actions, the current within the palace was quietly beginning to change.
At that moment, however, William was sitting in the carriage on the way back to the palace, counting today’s gains.
Among the four slaves, there was a dwarf skilled in forging and a herdsman boy who could communicate with wild beasts. Both of them had excellent Aptitude, reaching Sky Aptitude.
As for why he had chosen them, the reason was that William had actually seen the professions Beast Tamer and Blacksmith above their heads.
Together with the boy from earlier, that made a full three Professionals.
He had only ever seen such professions at court banquets before.
Under ordinary circumstances, they were almost never encountered at all.
That alone was enough to show how rare professions truly were.