The Founder of the Great Financial Family

What kind of teachings were you trying to leave behind in the yard where everyone was dying? 

"Although our grandfather was well-liked by many for his medical expertise, he was also someone who had to live his entire life wary of the stares directed at him. When you think about it, it wasn't a smooth life. Healing others might be highly respected by some, but to others, it can become an eye-sore," 

The younger siblings couldn't understand their father's words, but Rockefeller was different.

He might have been in the body of a 15-year-old boy, but in his mind, he was a thirty-year-old man with the experience that brings. 

‘Of course, from the point of view of the Church – to heal someone was to make money, but if an arrogant guy who hasn't officially learned any healing appeared and suddenly said he would heal people with less money – of course, it wouldn't be fine. If it were me, I wouldn't have liked it,'

Hans continued his story, 

"On the weekends, we always went to the parish where there was a worship service and greeted everyone without considering rank. We also paid more donations than anyone else. Even though others respected him, he couldn't live a comfortable life. He was always walking on thin ice. He had lived while considering the thoughts of the Church at every step." 

If his grandfather had lived without considering the Church, what would have happened to their family by now?

Probably nothing good. 

"But one day, your grandfather saw him. Another weekend at the parish's worship service was when a mage suddenly visited. He was rumoured to be a terrifying mage. There were no good rumours about him. The priests, who had always appeared so out of reach, began to bow from their waists as soon as the mage arrived as if there was nothing more they could do," 

Listening to the story, Rockefeller could guess what the teachings left behind by his grandfather should be. 

‘I can roughly guess what this family's heirloom is,' 

Hans continued his story,  

"When your grandfather saw that mage, he probably had much thought. He thought it was better to be the object of everyone's fear, like that mage, rather than being respected. After all, that is what power is. So your grandfather desperately wanted me to study to become a mage – but just because you want it doesn't mean it will happen. In the first place, I didn't have the qualities of a mage…." 

He had finished telling the story and began telling him about the teaching, 

"From now on, listen to my words clearly, and remember them. There is no need to become someone respected." 

The words that followed were words that had some backbone to them – since, after all, they were the teachings of his family. 

"Rather than being respected, be someone who is feared. You have to be the kind of person people are afraid of. Always…" 

These were the last words left by Rockefeller's father and the head of the Rothmedici family – Hans Rothemedici. 

That evening, he quietly closed his eyes for the last time. 

His funeral was held the next day in a cemetery near the castle of the territory lord—a day where grey rain drizzled down sluggishly. 

The Rockefellers' expression was not great at the funeral, barely put together with the lord's help.

‘That's all money too.'

The funeral costs were not part of the lord's patronage. 

The coffin used at the funeral and the mourning clothes he and his siblings wore were all paid for with money borrowed from the lord, and it was a debt that had to be paid back to the lord someday. 

‘But it wasn't like we could go without a funeral.' 

Rockefeller quietly looked down at Hans' coffin buried in the cold ground with a chilly expression. 

It wasn't his birth father, so he didn't feel distraught – instead, he was more worried about how to live from now on.

‘To begin with, it was a house without substance, but this is terrible – how do I live now?'

The money borrowed from the lord to hold the funeral was also a problem, but the more pressing matter was the problem of food and living right now. 

‘It's a real total problem.' 

At that time, the words of the people around them began to enter his ear, 

"Although the grandfather was a useful person – Hans, who's buried here, wasn't."

It was a rather authoritative tone. 

Rockefeller slowly turned his head, and there stood a man of a sturdy physique who seemed to be in his 30s. 

Chester de Montefeltro. 

After the Empire absorbed The Azrak Goldmine, formerly the Dwarven Kingdom's domain, he changed his name.

He was now the owner of the new Montefeltro estate and the lord who had helped with this funeral. 

"Going to the academy to learn to write, I mean," 

His expression was almost as bad as Rockefeller's. He might not have any bad feelings towards Hans, but that didn't necessarily mean he had good feelings towards him either. 

It was very lord-like, the way he, without even considering Rockefeller, carried on stating his opinion. 

"Though it was one thing if he had managed to become a mage – since that's an official appointment," he laughed lightly. 

He was belittling someone who had already died. 

"But that didn't happen. He had no talent, but did he think he would become a mage if he went to the academy? Then everyone in the world would be mages. It's not that easy,"

Still, it wasn't good to mock the dead like this, so Rockefeller couldn't help feeling bad. 

‘Does he need to say that? It doesn't matter how much of a lord he is. He's talking too much.'

However, it wouldn't do good to be hated by the lord. 

So Rockefeller lowered his head, and the lord's mouth didn't stop. 

"He did something truly useless. The thing is, people need to know their place," 

Even though Rockefeller was a citizen of his territory – perhaps because he was still young, the lord didn't bother sugar-coating or mincing his words,  

"A serf should be like a serf. If you are a commoner, behave like a commoner, and nobles too should behave like nobles." 

He then turned his gaze to look at Rockefeller, 

"You, did you learn how to write from Hans?" 

Surprisingly, the lord had blackened eyes.

Of course, as one who would become the lord, there were plenty of learning opportunities, but he was absorbed with his playing, didn't spend enough time on his studies, and wasn't smart enough to learn without paying serious attention. 

Instead, it was more important to him to have a strong body so that when the emperor called them to the battlefield, he would make his family name known through overwhelming strength and power. 

However, the Rothmedici family was different.