Ludwig was embarrassed. Their whole income came from his grandfather's hard work!
Not a single cent was earned by him, not to mention his father…
His father entered the mage profession and stopped at the zeroth ring, without a chance to go further. His highest achievement was giving birth to a somewhat talented son, but before Ludwig grew to an adult, he died together with his wife in a magic accident.
From then on, Ludwig was raised by his grandfather, but even his grandfather was helpless when it came to lifespan.
The lifespan of a second ring mage is generally two hundred years, an experienced second ring mage like his grandfather, especially one of the arcane path, can expand it even further to three hundred…
It was only because his grandfather earned a life-extending magical plant at the end of his lifespan that he was able to watch Ludwig grow up to be an adult, but eventually he still died.
That was three months ago. He gained his memories and started to prepare everything for the players – using the last savings of his Talos family.
He already knew what people outside would say about him when they heard his spending – "A young man who went mad after his grandfather and parents died one after another".
In fact, he had heard this from the mouths of a few servants, well, former servants.
"We borrowed ten thousand gold coins from the Crimson Flower Chamber of Commerce?"
"Yes… my lord…"
"I know, they are loan sharks who aim for my families' property, nothing more!
Hmph, do they really think they can get my families' property just based on a ten thousand gold coin debt?
If it comes to that, why don't I just visit the tower and ask for ten years worth of pay in advance?
I didn't go to them because I thought it was a better option to keep a last trump card.
That chamber of commerce, heh, let's see if they dare to attack me, a noble of the empire!
Do they think the kingdom behind them would help?
Who doesn't know that the empire just waits for an excuse to start conquering again?"
Ludwig was angry when he thought of these loan sharks.
He never thought about refusing to pay, ten thousand gold coins were an easy matter to solve if it really came to it.
His families' laboratory in the wizard tower alone is worth at least a hundred thousand gold coins, the manor outside the capital was worth more…
There were also many people he could borrow money from –
The wizard tower, royal court, or even the connections of his grandfather.
If it wasn't because he didn't want to bet his own property, which would allow him to borrow from commercial banks, he would never have gone so far as to borrow from a loan shark!
But these loan sharks were simply too much – just yesterday, they sent a reminder, telling him to not forget the first payment.
This first payment was already next week…
Ludwig was a bit annoyed at this, he didn't want to borrow money from his connections – once he did that, he would instantly lose the connection.
After all, favours aren't eternal, once you use them, getting them back is a difficult matter.
The highest connection he has is the marquis, but bothering him for such a small matter is really wasting an opportunity!
As for the wizard tower… he didn't want to do it now either, maybe he needed to ask in the future? It would be embarrassing if he used this chance already.
The royal court wasn't a good place either – borrowing from the royal court is like hanging a "Bankruptcy" sign on his door. No noble would take him seriously from then on.
"Bran oh Bran, tell me, how can I get a thousand gold coins in a week?" he asked his butler.
"My Lord… the late lord has left many things in the laboratory…"
"Forget that!" Ludwig instantly rejected the idea "Both of us are just at the first stage, so our vision is too low!
We might think a simple stone is worth nothing, but it could turn out to be a treasure!
I can't take this risk!
Not to mention, grandfather clearly told me that we can't sell anything from the laboratory.
Grandfather was part of that research, and he even left my Talos family a legacy. Others know we have a legacy but don't know the specific content, because of the Wizard Tower's protection, we won't be targeted.
But if I were to start selling things, that will definitely alarm people and make them think of me as a breach point to get my families' legacy!"
Higher nobles might not think too deeply about the Talos families' legacy, after all, the main research was already taken by the wizard tower and royal court, all that remained was a small legacy.
If the Talos family researched this legacy for many generations and even upgraded it for a long time, maybe they would look over.
But this is just the third generation, and the second generation was a useless person.
Considering this, the larger families would never look down on them.
Only small families would be greedy, and with the Talos families' lack of power, it would be difficult to defend against sneaky attacks.
Currently, the only protection against them is the thin film that guarded him from being targeted.
Selling things from the laboratory is equivalent to tearing it apart, making it open for everyone to see!
Ludwig had to consider many things, making him tired and annoyed at the fact that the players that were supposed to enter somehow didn't!
'Why can't Bran just be a Player? Wouldn't that make everything easier?'
Just as he thought of this, he looked over to Bran.
Inexplicably, the words "Player" and "Bran" mixed in his brain.
At this moment, a small window opened up in front of the panel –
[Do you wish to assign "Bran" the role "Player"?][Yes]/[No]