Time flew and very soon the grandfather clock in the hallway had struck eleven times deep into late morning. "Is Kazuki at home?" echoed a clear voice. There were no guards at the Reshin manor so obviously the person had to have arrived already. Frowning, Kazuki set aside the heavy tome stacked before him. "Renji, we will stop here today." Kazuki looked back over his shoulder and started across the guest hall.
"Ah, Kazuki, my dear friend! The day before yesterday, the clothspinner bird called to me from the forest, and I knew that something good was about to come. By noon, your message came assigned, and I leapt with joy," Philip said.
"Dear Philip, I'm relieved I can meet you, too. Haruto, bring that monkey sculpture, 'Fierce Dragon,' once. Philip, we will go to the main hall and wait on that sculpture. It will be here very soon."
Renji's heart sank. "More of our family belongings to be sold? " He knew 'Fierce Dragon' was his father's favorite. The humble tax income from the Dragonspire Village was obviously not enough to get the Reshin clan out of the edge of bankruptcy. Fortunately, with the long history of the clan in being blessed to possess many rare and precious items, few things were hard to come by. Not even the most extensive collection ever could stand up to endless liquidation sales and auctions.
Renji could only wonder how long before even the grandfather clock might be sold.
He was a noble with long, golden hair and appeared to be middle-aged. He entered the room with Kazuki and, at that moment, Renji first got to know him—his name was Philip.
"Ohh this must be the cute little boy, huh?" Philip shone a gentle smile towards Renji. "Renji Reshin, can I call you Renji?"
"Oh, no, it's an h-honor to, to meet you, S-sir," answered Renji, putting his right hand on top of his heart and bowing down deeply.
Philip looked very pleased. "Kazuki, wouldn't you hurry up? See, the 'Fierce Dragon' you've long wanted is here," Haruto said, and he carried the enormous sculpture into the hall without much visible effort and dropped it on the floor easily. The stone sculpture, heavy with nearly a thousand pounds, looked light in Haruto's hands, reflecting his strength.
"Mr. Haruto, you're really something. I don't have anyone of your level in my manor. And I handle twelve towns," Philip smiled broadly, clearly suggesting that he wanted Haruto to work under him.
"Sir, Dragonspire Village is my home," was Haruto's indifferent answer.
"Oh, I apologize," said Philip with haste. Then, he faced Kazuki. "Kazuki, I do like this sculpture, but its craft is not best-level at best, let alone grandmaster sculptors' works.
"If you don't seem to want to sell, then so be it," he said, bluntly. Philip narrowed his eyes, yet laughed.
"Haha. Of course you won't, Kazuki. But what I'm trying to say is, I'm not saying I won't buy. I'm just being blunt, honest with you. Alright, let me propose 500 gold coin offers. What do you think?"
"Five hundred?" Kazuki frowned. That was a price he really hadn't dreamed of. He had been hoping for at least eight hundred. In Aerthos, one gold coin was equal to ten silver coins, which was in turn equal to a thousand copper coins. The average commoner's annual net income was in between twenty and thirty gold coins, while the general typical soldier's income was about a hundred gold coins.
"The price is too low," Kazuki shook his head.
"Kazuki, you must understand: in the thousands of years Aerthos exists, countless sculptures have been made. The real value lies in the craftsmanship. As for this one… well, I just like it. Five hundred gold is my highest offer. If you don't take it, then let's just forget about it."
Philip gave a triumphant look at the grandfather clock in the hall. "Kazuki, if you wanted to sell this clock, on the other hand, I would be willing to pay a thousand gold for it."
At that point, Kazuki's face turned cold. "Ahem. two thousand gold would do it, and that would be my best offer."
Philip altered his offer right away. "Alright, Kazuki. I'll give you some face. Six hundred gold. Housekeeper, bring me six hundred gold."
The housekeeper, who had been waiting outside, promptly arrived with the gold. Six sacks, yellow-colored coins.
"Six hundred gold, Kazuki. Feel free to count it if you wish," Philip said with a smile.
Kazuki picked up the loads and, by carrying them, was sure there were indeed six hundred gold coins. He smiled and nodded. "Philip, won't you have dinner with us?"
"No thanks, I am attending to other business," Philip said in a light-hearted reply. He turned to his housekeeper and instructed her to call hold warriors and commanded in a slightly louder voice to lift and bring the sculpture out, to which they did with much effort. Philip and his entourage gone, Kazuki with a somber expression, stared at the six sacks of gold. This time, he had sold, the stone sculpture. How long before, there was nothing else to sell?
"Father, I'd like to learn to be a master sculptor!" Renji suddenly spoke. He knew that works made by a master sculptor in Aerthos could be valued at tens of thousands of gold pieces. Some even reached a hundred thousand. Aside from that, this profession had high social status. "If I can become a master sculptor, then…then Father won't have to sell our family possessions."
Cold eyes turned on Renji. "Renji, do you know that in Holy Union there are millions, and yet amongst those there are countless that learned to sculpt here? But only a very few of them are really skilled ones. So, without a good instructor, success is impossible.
"This inner circle of sculptors is not one that an ordinary person can gain access to. You only see the high valuations of masterpieces, but most sculptors earn but a few dozen gold coins each year. Their works are bought by commoners for a few silver coins at most.
Kazuki's voice was stern. Renji was frightened and knelt down. He had spoken out of a desire to help his family, which he did not think would bring such a harsh response.
"Enough. The ancestral hall needs cleaning. Go and tidy it up after lunch," ordered Kazuki coldly. "Yes, Father," Renji replied with respect. Kazuki sighed as he looked at his son. "Sculpture, is it? I have actually engaged in the fossil art, spending ten years trying to master it like anything, but my works were all useless; it's a pyramid, the field of sculpture. The most talented artists are at the very top, and most sculptors under that umbrella cut a miserable existence."