The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 8

Episode 8

“Thank you for welcoming us. “Mayor.”

Raul walked briskly and shook hands with Reynaldo.

‘Hou-dae looks fine?’

Raul’s appearance was completely different from what Reynaldo had expected.

This was truly surprising, as I had expected him to be short, with skinny arms and legs, and a pale face.

His height was similar to that of his, and his arms and legs were moderately muscular and looked sharp.

And above all, he has a very handsome face.

Reynaldo, who was almost lost and just staring at her face, quickly came to his senses and spoke.

“Yes, Prince Raoul. “What brings you to this city?”

“I heard that this is a good place to practice.”

After hearing Raul’s answer, Reynaldo was completely lost in his thoughts.

But as always, there was a message prepared.

“of course. If you want a place to practice, you’ve come to the right place. “If I’m going to tell you here…”

It hurt my pride to have to explain this every time, even though I’m not a guide, but having money is the only way to save face.

‘Anyway, like the other guys, I’ll pass the time by pretending to train properly and then go back home.’

Most children of noble families came here for one of two reasons.

It may be sent to encourage you to reflect on an accident or trouble at the territory, or you may visit because you are curious about whether the rumors that it is good for training are true.

It was no lie that Mira was a good place to train. This was because it was a city blessed by God where no one could take each other’s life.

Status didn’t matter. Anyone who receives a residence permit receives absolute protection.

If you get hurt, your wounds will heal, and if you die, your life will come back to life. It was literally God’s blessing.

So, if you use the training grounds inside the city, you can spar with real swords without risking your life.

What a great training place for children of noble families who lack practical experience!

However, the reason children from noble families avoided training was because of ‘pain.’

It saved my life, but it didn’t eliminate the pain.

There was no way that people who had grown up well would like such difficult training.

So Reynaldo thought Raul would be no different. According to the rumors, he was a very weak guy.

However, the moment Reynaldo heard Raul’s next words, he could not help but believe his ears.

“I would like permission to enter the cursed forest.”

“…!?”

Reynaldo looked at Raoul with a slightly stiff expression.

‘Did this guy know what kind of place it was and say something like that?’

But nothing could be discerned from Raoul’s expression.

Breaking the momentary silence, Reynaldo opened his mouth.

“That place cannot be opened. It’s too dangerous. “There is no point in going in.”

The cursed forest was a place where monsters settled in Mira’s territory. The problem is that monsters come back to life, but people cannot.

Why risk your life to catch a monster that leaves nothing behind?

In the past, there were many people who went in out of curiosity and never returned. So after he became mayor, no one was allowed in.

“I know very well what the cursed forest is like. But I really want to go in for training. “If you allow me to enter, I would like to invest money in this city.”

Reynaldo was intrigued for a moment. But then he shook his head.

‘I guess I heard somewhere that I was short of money. But you can’t put your young life in danger just for a little money. If anything goes wrong, there could be trouble with the count family.’

Moreover, although it is said to be an investment, how much money can the youngest member of the count family have?

It was calculated that even the son of a wealthy family would not have more than 5,000 gold at most.

Even though that amount was a good thing for him, it wasn’t enough to take the risk of opening up the cursed forest.

Reynaldo decided to politely decline and opened his mouth.

“Thank you for saying you will invest, but you can’t open the cursed forest…”

“500,000 gold!!”

“…You know! Of course I was going to open it!! When do you plan to enter?? “It doesn’t matter right now.”

Reynaldo jumped up, grabbed both of Raoul’s hands, and spoke excitedly.

A big smile was on his face as he looked at the bag of gold coins placed on the table.

It seemed like the negotiations would proceed smoothly.

* * *

Raoul and his party stayed in the official residence provided by the mayor.

It was a three-story building large enough to accommodate up to 50 people, and there was a large training ground in the back area.

The basement was equipped with a private training center, swimming pool, and even a bathhouse, so you could see how much care the mayor put into it.

Raoul was lost in thought as he watched the sunset from the terrace of the most ornate room.

‘The market is also having a hard time. I thought he was just a solemn and blunt person.’

It was something I could never have thought of in my previous life.

Mira at that time was a very prosperous, wealthy and dynamic place.

Naturally, the mayor’s power and authority were high enough to overwhelm the surrounding fiefdoms, and he was such a powerful person that it was difficult to see his face unless he made an appointment a month in advance.

But now Mira is just an undeveloped, unbalanced city.

There are far more accommodations than visitors.

A huge shopping street with only a few stores open.

Excessive amenities and various guilds compared to the number of residents.

It was only natural that the city was designed with the players in mind to stay there in the first place.

The mayors of the Hart family, who had never gone bankrupt while running a city like this, felt amazing.

But thanks to this, Raoul achieved everything he wanted.

The permission to enter the Cursed Forest was just a side note, but the real target was Mira’s undeveloped real estate.

Through negotiations with Mayor Reynaldo, Raul purchased undeveloped land and also decided to acquire many good stores in the outer castle.

And on the purchased land, it was planned to build a 10-story high-end hotel as well as a luxury house for nobles, a guild house for the players’ guild, and communal housing for regular players.

It won’t be long before this land, which is now a bargain, will turn into a gold pile hundreds of times more expensive.

When players come in and war breaks out on the continent, this place, where there is no threat to one’s life thanks to God’s blessing, will become the best refuge that money can’t buy.

‘Actually, I didn’t sell land to anyone in my previous life. You could make a lot of money just by lending. Sorry, but I’ll have to share this time.’

Fortunately, the budget was ample.

A total of 5 million gold, including 4.5 million gold earned from betting on tournaments and 500,000 gold borrowed from the Count. It was a large amount of money, equivalent to half of the entire yearly budget of the county.

One gold was traded for approximately 100,000 won, so even in Earth terms, it was an enormous amount of 500 billion won.

In the first place, the stakes themselves were different.

Including the surrounding fiefdoms of the dozens of subordinate families belonging to the county, the population alone exceeded several million.

In addition to the residents, there are nobles and knights who spend a lot of money, and even professional gamblers…

‘I thought I made some money by becoming a ranker in my past life. Since the water used is different, the amount of money exchanged is also different. But…’

Considering the coming war and the potential enemies he would face, this amount of money was far from enough. No matter what we did, we had to raise as much money and resources as possible before something happened.

The Free City of Mira was just the beginning.

Raoul plans to settle down in as many Free Cities as possible before other players arrive.

And based on that, I plan to expand my business and move players in the direction I want.

In my previous life, I was pushed down by the financial power of large guilds, but this time it would be different.

‘They’re going to make money anyway, right? But it won’t be as easy as before. That money you guys are so proud of! I’ll suck the pieces off like a leech.’

Raoul grabbed the bundle of gold coins in his pocket with his hand and made a firm determination to himself.

* * *

next day.

Raoul stopped by the government office early in the morning and registered the guild.

This is because there was no reason to delay once the guild function was added to the system.

The guild name is .

It was a name chosen with the intention of becoming the first and most advanced guild.

Of course, the guild master was Raoul, and the guild members…

“So you’re saying I just have to sign here?”

Jake asked, looking slightly confused.

“okay. Everyone else has already signed. How long are you going to take so long!?”

When Raoul raised his voice slightly, Jake scratched his head and reluctantly rolled his pen.

“My mother said I wasn’t allowed to sign anything…”

‘I’m sure I explained everything to you last night. ‘You sly bastard!’

Raoul glared at Jake once and took the paper with his signature one last time.

As a result, all 50 subordinates who came with him joined his guild.

They will probably see the new world by tomorrow when registration is completed.

In Connect, residents can also participate in player guilds. Not only that, the moment they join a guild, they too can receive assistance from the system as an associate player.

Although they are limited in some functions, they can quickly level up through hunting like players.

However, there were very few cases where residents were actually active in the player guild.

From the player’s perspective, there was no reason to fill the limited number of guild members with residents. If necessary, it was enough to hire them as mercenaries.

‘Besides, once a villager dies, it’s over. There is no need to invest and become a guild member. But my position is different.’

It was natural to receive subordinates as guild members rather than players who were difficult to believe. Because they have the same roots as Raoul and the same goal of protecting the territory.

Raoul submitted the signed documents to the government office and headed to his next destination.

Now that the guild application was completed, all that was left was to equip new weapons for growth. Raoul glanced up at the

[Warrior Association Mira Branch]

sign and walked into the building with his subordinates.

“Oh, welcome. How can I help you?”

The female employee, surprised by the sudden influx of customers, asked, slightly stuttering.

“I came to look at the skill book. “What rank skills do they sell here?”

“Ah, do you want to buy a skill book? “Our branch sells even the highest C-rank skills.”

“Hoo, up to C rank?”

Raoul, who thought he could at most obtain a D-rank skill book, looked satisfied.

However, the female employee added immediately.

“We only sell up to D rank to regular customers. C-rank skill book requires VIP membership.”

Raoul’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“What are the qualifications for VIP?”

“To become a VIP, you must increase your contribution through our association quests. Otherwise, purchase history is required, but the amount is a bit large. So, let’s first increase our contribution…”

“That’s it. “How much do you need??”

The female employee seemed embarrassed to speak, so she looked at me and spoke softly.

“A million gold. “Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

Raoul chuckled.

“It’s not long. Then, I’ll buy it up to D rank first.”

“Which type of skill book should I show you? Sword Spear Ax Mace Shield. “Just say it!”

“Give me everything.”

“yes??”

“I will buy everything from F rank to D rank.”

The female employee had no choice but to stand there blankly for a while as Raoul pointed his finger all the way to the shelf from left to right.

(Continued in the next part)