15 The Pierce Third Branch Family

"Wha- May I know the reason why?" Rachel was flustered by the quick refusal, but managed to quickly regain her composure.

"You are part of a noble family, right? And your family plans to move to the Master Realm?" Kyle answered with questions of his own.

"That's right, though that is mainly just the Pierce Main Family's wish," Rachel replied honestly, though she could now vaguely guess what Kyle was about to say.

"That makes things simple enough. I don't intend to have any dealings with anyone who has any links to the Master Realm. So that includes your family as well," Kyle stated matter-of-factly.

Rachel bit her lower lips nervously before speaking once more, "Then…what if the Pierce Third Branch Family were to officially break away from the Pierce Main Family? But for that, you would have to give me some time to build up our foundation before being able to leave the support of the Pierce Main Family…"

"Heh, you sure are trying, aren't you?" Kyle let out a snicker. "Even if that is possible, I still don't intend to join your family just because you asked."

"How about just as a guest advisor?" Rachel did not intend on giving up so soon. "Once you find something that you want to do or somewhere else that you want to go, you can leave anytime you wish as long as you give notice in advance! We will provide free food and accommodation! And copper coins! You like copper coins, don't you? You can have 10 copper coins every day!"

Kyle watched on as Rachel tried her best to convince him, and could not help but feel the desperation in her voice. The passion in her eyes was just like when she was trying to convince him to help save the Oasis Seeker, or perhaps it was even greater this time.

Instinctively, he knew that this young lady was extremely sincere in enlisting his help.

Considering that she was offering such a high salary despite her family's supposedly bad situation, on top of not binding him to the family, it could be said that it was quite a good deal for him.

Especially now when he had no information whatsoever about Green Realm, this could prove to be a good starting point for him to start gathering information.

"What would my role be as a guest advisor?" Kyle asked as he crossed his arms smugly.

"You can do anything you want! We will just be consulting you regarding things that we do not understand. And hopefully you can help us out in times of need!" Rachel's face lit up immediately upon finally getting a positive reaction from Kyle.

"That's an interesting offer. But I can leave anytime I wish as long as I give notice in advance? How long in advance would that be?"

"A month will do! That should be enough time to settle things!" Rachel quickly answered.

"That's too long! How about a day?"

"A day?!" Rachel hesitated for a moment before trying to negotiate. "How about a week instead?"

A day was far too short a notice! There would not be time to make any adjustments at all!

"…one week is not too bad I guess," Kyle agreed.

It was still within the acceptable range for him. After all, he simply could not imagine anything urgent enough to force him into leaving at such a short notice.

"Okay! One week then!" Rachel nodded immediately. "Does this mean you have agreed?"

"Yeah, I might as well join since you are so sincere about this!" Kyle smiled as he stretched his hand out towards Rachel. "Well then, I will be relying on you in the future, Rachel!"

"I will be relying on you in the future as well!" Rachel quickly took his hand and shook it, unable to hide the excitement that was obviously showing on her face.

After the short exchange, the duo made their way back to Fern City, the capital of Star Empire, and also where the Pierce Third Branch Family was based at. In order to return, they had to hire a horse carriage which would take around an hour to bring them back.

During the journey, Kyle did not miss the chance to ask Rachel about the current state of the family. Rachel hesitated for a moment, but decided not to hold anything back, telling him everything he wanted to know.

After all, she looked to Kyle for help with the family situation, and how would he be able to do so if he was kept in the dark about the hard facts?

Beneath the Emperor, there were 6 main nobility classes – Prince, Duke, Count, Viscount, Baron, and Knight.

Of course, within each nobility class, there were still differing social statuses depending on the individual's accomplishments and influence, but they were usually not starkly apparent.

Headed by a Count, the Pierce Family belonged to a noble lineage that had governed the lands around Vine City, a territory bestowed upon them long ago by the then-emperor. In those lands, they held absolute authority as the governing family.

But even so, they had set up shops within Fern City in order to take advantage of the bustling crowd in the capital. And in order to facilitate the managing of the shops, some members of the Pierce Family decided to stay within the capital itself.

The Pierce Third Branch Family was one of these members.

As one of the Branch Families, the Pierce Third Branch Family might not be entitled to the main inheritances of the Pierce lineage, but they were still given a small branch of the Pierce Family's famous enchantment business to manage on their own.

Things might look good for them from the eyes of outsiders, but what others did not know was that in return, they had to pay quite a high rental fee, as well as a portion of their profits, to the Pierce Main Family.

The leftover amount was only barely enough to feed the family and pay for their expenses.

It might be better than nothing, but at this rate, they would forever be at the beck and call of the Pierce Main Family, having to rely on that little shop to survive.

What made things worse was that the Pierce Main Family had been gradually raising the rental fees in the recent years!

At this rate, there was no way that their family would be able to last for long!

After Rachel's father passed away in an accident, she was suddenly made the Head of the Pierce Third Branch Family, and that was when she realised that things had to change.

Now that she managed to convince Kyle to join her, albeit temporarily, Rachel was determined not to squander this golden opportunity.

She needed to set up a system that would ensure their self-reliance in the future. Only by doing so would they escape their current fate of having to dance to the tunes of the Pierce Main Family, and be able to stand independently in this world.

That would be the only way she could repay her father's meticulous efforts in grooming her to be the person she was!