Chapter 1: Money I love you

"Money I love you."

Shin was lying on a hospital bed surrounded by people who 'loved' him but his last words were money I love you.

Because no matter what happened in Shin's Life, money was Shin's first and last love, his commitment to the pursuit of money all started when he was nothing but a street rat.

Everyday he would scavenge just to make end meat until one day he bumped into an elegantly dressed man.

Usually if he bumped into someone they would beat him black and blue but the man just looked down at Shin and gave him words that would change his life.

"Pathetic, aren't you tired of just scavenging like a rat to live." The man said and Shin clenched his dirty fist.

"What am I supposed to do I was born with n-"

"Nothing, only losers that don't make it say that. Let me give you some advice, kid." He said pulling out a hundred dollar bill.

"You could be dealt with the best hand in the world or the best talent but that all doesn't matter what matters is money, money can get you anything so start using it." He crumpled up the hundred dollars like it was trash and threw it at Shin who graciously picked up the crumpled paper.

Unfolding it he held it up high and after a while a mad smile formed on his face the cruel temptress of wealth had just seduced another person.

From then on Shin stopped begging like a street rat and started stealing, then he started learning, and then he started achieving.

Shin used everything for his own benefit, relationships? Meaningless. Love? For fools. The only thing that mattered was wealth and he would do anything to garner it.

His whole life was built around the pursuit of money. His wife? Just used to gain her fathers business. His kids? Used as political marriages or a means to benefit his companies.

However just as life is a gift, death is a cold hearted b*tch. Shin bought everything he could dream of, and with his gifts he only regretted he couldn't get more money.

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep"

The heart monitor went flat as the life slowly diminished from his eyes. Even though he used all the people around him for his own growth, the people still wept in sadness at his demise.

While his soul was floating into the afterlife Shin only felt despair. Seeing the bright light above him only meant that his journey for wealth was over.

'I NEED TO MAKE MORE MONEY!'

A sudden thought entered his mind so before he could enter the white light he started to struggle with all his might.

The beam of light tried to pull the unwilling Shin into the light but Shin's resolve COULD NOT BE VANQUISHED.

"Soul please enter the afterlife do not struggle there is no need to be afraid w-"

"F*CK OFF!" Shin yelled trying to break through the barrier to escape the white light.

"Soul it is no use yo-wait stop that NO YOU CAN'T" The voice didn't realize until it was too late, Shin had already miraculously broken the barrier but before he could jump into it he heard a scream.

"SOUL WAIT!!!!! If you go through there your soul might diminish an-"

"Is there a currency in the afterlife?"

"...."

"No the-"

"Bye!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

Shin didn't hesitate and jumped through the barrier ignoring the screaming warnings of the angelic voice.

"God is going to be so angry at me." The voice said before closing the portal.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

*Plop*

'Huh?'

"It's a boy!"

"Congratulations miss!"

"I'll name you Ramon, Ramon Gold." She said with a smile before collapsing on the bed giving her last breath.

'Did my mother just die....bummer.' Shin now Ramon had a moment of silence for his newly deceased mother before opening his eyes.

"WHAAAAAA!"

'DAMN I'M THIRSTY!'

Hearing of his wife's death Rupert collapsed and started crying, the servants tried to comfort him but instead of hearing their words he picked up the nearest bottle of alcohol and started drinking.

*SPEED RUN FOUR YEAR TIME SKIP*

In these four years Ramon has learned that other than his father being a cowardly drunk that this world had magic and aura.

But so what, the only thing that interested Ramon was the gold coin in between his fingers. The most important object in his new life, The imperial coin.

The imperial coin is used in all human countries and is the most solid currency. Right now Ramon was reading a book on how all the banks started using one coin so as to not have any issues with multiple currencies from multiple different human kingdoms.

The Kingdom in which Ramon resided in was the Reinstar kingdom, They were one of the northernmost human kingdoms and surrounded by three human kingdoms and one demi human kingdom.

"Young master, quick your father!" A butler rushed into Ramon's study.

Urging him to go Ramon got up and followed his butler Reginald who was insisting that he hurry up quickly.

"MELODY!" The Count called out as he stood on the window of the three story building.

'This f*cking wreck!'

"Father, what are you doing!" Ramon asked with fake concern.

"WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT LOVE I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ANYMORE!" He wailed and Ramon looked at this situation.

'JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP GIVE ME ALL YOUR ASSETS JUMP JUMP JUMP!'

"Don't Jump!"

"Ramon I'm too weak"

'Damn right.'

"I HEREBY DECLARE IN FRONT OF ALL THE SERVANTS THAT MY WILL IS INDEED CORRECT I LEAVE EVERYTHING TO RAMON, MELODY I'M COMING!" and with that Rupert gold ended his life at a mere 33 years of age jumping out of the window falling head first killing himself instantly.

Reginald covered Ramon's eyes and turned him away trying to shield him from his fathers death, he clenched his lip blaming himself for not being a better servant and swore to be better to his new master Ramon.

'Finally! Our finances were going down the gutter but now that's all going to change.'

After that a royal messenger was sent to confirm the will of Rupert was correct and after three gold coins from Ramon he didn't pry any further stamping a doctrine making Ramon the head of the Gold family household.

The Gold family is a family known for their gold mines, out of the thirty three gold mines in the Reinstar Kingdom the Gold family owns seven of them which made a lot of prominent nobles dissatisfied.

In the study Ramon was going through all the log books to look for any discretion's as he knew that at least someone was embezzling money from his drunken father.

Right now there were three and much to Ramons delight all of them were his vassals which made Ramon smile in delight as the Reinstar kingdom doctrines state in section four paragraph two 'If a vassal steals from their lord then they relinquish everything they were given.' which means Ramon can rekindle his finances as well as seize new territory from these fat pigs.

"Reginald convene all of the Golds family vassals and tell them to be here in a week." Ramon ordered not looking up from his papers as he kept organizing them.

"Yes Lord." Reginald bowed and quickly departed to finish his lord's orders.

This next week Ramon had to prepare, his territory was suffering as his drunken father poorly managed to reinvest in the territory causing a lot of failures, the only thing he was good at which surprised Ramon was that he paid his taxes perfectly.

Ramon allocated money from useless projects that he invested in and put it into something better like, for example, investing in an adventurers guild as his territory has three newly discovered dungeons and only a f*cking merchants guild.

Dungeons were an accumulation of mana however instead of stable mana they were comprised of unstable mana that gave birth to creatures called mindless ones, mindless ones as per their name almost never had any thoughts other than killing and feeding, another plus was that mana crystals made from unstable mana were more potent than stable ones and could sell for a lot.

Dungeons housed mutiple profit avenues and it baffled Ramon how truly incompetent his father was, its a miracle they didn't have a dungeon break so far.

Contacting the adventurers guild was of no hassle as they have been wanting to make a guild in the Gold's territory however since the dungeons were recently discovered his father didn't really understand how great of an opportunity he had and ignored them.

After lengthy bargaining they settled on a 15% tax on a gross annual revenue, 15% tax on all sold mana crystals, and a condition that the guild must provide assistance to the territory if a monster tide or dungeon break were to occur.

The adventurer's guild was happy to accept all the conditions especially since the taxes they usually get were about 35% which disgruntled a lot of adventurers, they were also elated when Ramon allowed sub guilds, sub guilds were like the adventurers guild but more so a branch.

Anyone could make a sub guild and the adventures guild encouraged it as the adventurers guild was essentially the main head of all adventures across the kingdoms and sub guilds took off a lot of burden if they managed and paid their tributes accordingly.

However a lot of territories still did not permit this as lords were afraid that sub guilds would hold to much power and would sway there citizens against them, though Roman was not as he was going to make his future loyal subordinates heads of the most influential sub guilds in his territory but that was for later.

Ramon did this for the sole purpose of attracting stronger hunters and the reason? First the three dungeons in his territory were D, C, and B rank and the dungeon break's were a grade above the dungeons that housed them. It was important to protect his territory and even though some adventurers might try and take advantage of Ramon, he wasn't worried as the adventures were very strict on their sub guilds along with their adventures attacking lords.

Second, the decrease of taxes will allure strong sub guilds to make their headquarters in his territory, making more business and protection for him.

Finally, when the time came and it would eventually a neighboring lord will try to start a territory war and Ramon will use these strong adventures to help.

A territory war to put it simply is when neighboring lords that have different opinions fight each other and get the others stuff.

Roman also contacted the thieves guild who were happy to agree to the same conditions, they specialized in information which was important only they were a double edge sword though Ramon was willing to take the chance since information was the most valuable thing before money.

This territory had the potential to be an adventurer paradise but all his father focused on was trading overseas which was a risky endeavor since if you failed you would take heavy losses and fashion which was important but magic and aura was also very important so why not take advantage of both.

A week had passed and Ramon was sleeping at his desks as the preparations and loans all were accordingly sent out and for the first time in a week Ramon got more than 4 hours of sleep.

"Lord."

"Lord!"

"LORD!"

"MONEY~" Ramon all of a sudden moaned himself awake.

They paused as Reginald and Ramon looked at each other for a long time before Reginald coughed and deeply bowed.

"Lord all of your vassals have arrived and are waiting for you in the conference room." Regnald tried to brush it off as Ramon looked away with an embarrassed face.

"You heard nothing."

"I heard nothing."

Getting up he changed into formal attire and headed to the conference room. Where a bunch of old men with serious faces were sitting.

Ramon walked to the head of the table as everyone looked at their new lord, some had sneers, others had neutral faces but one had a sad look on his face and it was Viscount Eidenberg

'Poor young master to have both his parents die at such a young age.'

Viscount Eidenberg was completely loyal to the Gold family as the Gold family had been helping them for generations. Rupert especially as he and Eidenberg were really good friends, to the point where they were their respective best men at each other's weddings.

'I must protect the young lord! I failed in helping Rupert but I won't with Ramon.' Gritting his teeth a cold look was in his eyes looking at the scene of the other nobles then at Ramon.

'I'll just tell him after the con-'

"I'll get straight to the point three of you are stealing from me and under Imperial law I'm taking all your stuff."

"WHAT!" x9

*Snap*

Ramon snapped his fingers and knights from the Gold family rushed in and apprehended three particular fat men.

"What is the meaning of this!"

"Unhand me!"

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!"

*Cough*

"Baron Louter, Baron Peter, and Baron Guasta have been found guilty of embezzlement! Papers of evidence have been submitted and under imperial law they are found guilty and will have everything in their name including their titles stripped." Reginald announced to the shocked nobles.

"Y-you can't do this witho-"

"Without a royal order? Yeah I already have one." Ramon pulled the order out of his pocket and the faces of the three went pale.

"P-p-p-please spare me I beg you!" Baron Peter cried as snot came out of his nose.

Ramon slowly walked over to him with a gentle smile, Baron Peter's mind registered this as forgiveness as he already started to plan how he would slowly get back at Ramon for this embarrassment.

"No."

"Thank y-What?"

"No, you think I'll just let you live after stealing from me? If that's the case you'll just do it again because as the saying goes once a traitor always a traitor." Ramon smiled wickedly as Baron Peter started to shiver.

"Throw them in prison and hold a public execution for all three of them, banish their families from their territory and take all their stuff." Ramon ordered swiftly to Reginald who nodded his head.

The knights dragged the former barons who unwillingly struggled throwing out all kinds of slurs at Ramon, once they were out of the conference room a gentle smile reappeared on his face making them all flinch

"Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Ramon Gold, your new lord, any questions?" Ramon smiled innocently but those nobles knew better.

'Demon.' x5

'Takes after his mother.'

"No? Are you sure? Well okay then. Let's start with introductions." Ramon pointed to Viscount Eidenberg.

"Lord!" Eidenberg stood up putting his hand on his chest.

"I am Viscount Eidenberg, your loyal vassal I watch over the county known as Blackwood." Eidenberg bowed a full 90 degrees before sitting back down, he was a burly was with short white hair and a long white beard.

The others hesitated before a man with a thick gray mustache, a monocle, and a slim figure stood up slowly.

"I am Baron PennyBags. I rule over the fief known as Vastrad and your loyal vassal." After that the others stood up one after another.

"I am Baron Wigglesworth. I rule over the fief known as Wrestelle and your loyal vassal" A fat guy with no hair anywhere on his body replied.

"I am Baron Putney. I rule over the fief known as Backside and your loyal vassal." A cleanly dressed bearded man stated.

"I am Baron Weewax. I rule over the fief known as Earnee and your loyal vassal." A small man with big ears said.

"I am Baron Quakenbush. I rule over the fief known as Ronade and your loyal vassal." A bushy eyebrowed man with a huge beer gut huffed out.

'Everyone except Eidenberg are neutral snakes.' Ramon concluded after introductions were finished.

"Well I'm glad I could meet all my vassals. Unfortunately I have to end this meeting a little early on the account that I have to deal with those traitors." Ramon only emphasized two words, Vassals and Traitors, everyone except Eidenberg got the memo and remained silent waiting to leave so they could gather their thoughts and plan their next course of action.

"Thank you all for coming, if you would like to stay the night the gold family will be happy to make accommodations." Everyone except Eidenberg wanted to leave as fast as possible so they all declined before immediately making their way to their carriages.

Eidenberg remained seated with a gentle smile on his face seeing Ramon, he looked just like his mother.

Jet black hair, Red eyes, chubby cheeks, and a short stature. Ramon was a little kid yet he held the gaze of a man who had been around for decades.

(I know his appearance is cliche but I couldn't find a f*cking drawing of a character holding money that wasn't so random anime character and if you're dissatisfied you could always draw me a better image for free.)

"You look so much like your mother Ramon." His appearance looked nothing like his father who sported brown hair and brown eyes, the only thing that set his father apart from the common person was his sharp jawline and handsome face.

"Thank you Uncle." Ramon smiled back, out of all the snakes Eidenberg was known for being an upfront man.

Even though he never met him his father would go on a drunken rant on how amazing his friend was and how courageous he is.

The territory of Blackwood was a territory the furthest to the north, it was a somewhat barren land however they made up for it as monster's were frequent in that area so they mostly made their money off of that.

His father's and Eidenbergs friendship began from there academy days to which Ramon had no interest in, that academy was only for noble kids to make ties with future heads and to protect them until they grew up but Ramon didn't need that as he was already the head of his family and the academy would be a waste of time.

"When I came here I was worried about those snakes trying to take advantage of you, however my worries were for naught as you proved to be very capable." Eidenberg chuckled.

Eidenbergs heart ached through all of this, he truly wished his parents could see the person Ramon would become so Eidenberg put it upon himself to guide and help this young child be the man his parents dreamed of.

"Listen Ramon I apol-"

"Uncle it's not your fault my father was a weak hearted man." Ramon put up a fake saddened look he had mastered from his past life, Eidenberg remained quiet hearing his words knowing that to be the case.

Rupert Gold was many things but he was not a competent lord, his wife Tala Gold made up for his misgivings until she couldn't anymore.

"The Eidenbergs will always be on your side, you have my word." Eidenberg resolutely stated.

'YES GIVE ME YOUR UNDYING ALLEGIANCE FOR FREE!'

"Thank you Uncle I am grateful." Hearing this Eidenberg laughed heartily.

"It's what a vassal should do."

After that Eidenberg left to see the arrangements Ramon made leaving him all alone twirling a gold coin in between his fingers.

Just gazing at the coin filled him with immense joy and satisfaction as a heartfelt smile bloomed on Ramon's face.

'Oh Money I love you.'