Draven was standing in a corner near the gate. Upon noticing him, he smiled and approached. "Man, the Keito really has tight management. They actually refused to let me in and only had a guard come to look for you. I didn't think you'd really be outside.".
"Yori, you guys go on ahead, I'll join you later," Renji turned his head and said. Yori, Giichi, and Ryūji all smiled at Draven then entered the Keito Institute.
"Uncle Draven, why are you here? I thought you only would come here to pick me up after the semester ends?" Renji asked puzzled.
"Let's talk over here." Draven pulled Renji aside, his face alight with irrepressible excitement. "Renji, I want to tell you something—really something."
Renji looked at him. "Say."
Draven smiled. "Do you still remember little Kenji's birth date?" he replied.
Draven laughed. "It is already December now. So, little Kenji is close to six years old. Just last night, your father tried the little Kenji in his ancestral hall for how thick the Dragonblood ran in his veins. And the result of the test was …haha…"
Draven began to laugh again, and Renji's heart rate increased drastically. What could the test result be for the density of Dragonblood…?
Renji asked, "Did the Dragonblood density in little Kenji's veins reach the cut-off?"
Draven laughed loudly and nodded. "Right. Your father was extremely happy. He drank wine with me excitedly until midnight. Your father said that his two sons are the absolute prides of his life. One is a great Magus, and the other is a Dragonfire Warrior. Haha…"
"Wonderful." Renji's heart was full of excitement. Before Kenji was tested for the content of the Dragonblood, the prospects of this five-millennium-old mythical Warrior DragonFire Warrior clan had all been on Renji's shoulders alone. The greater their former glory, the heavier the burden Renji wore. But now… With his own little brother, Dragonblood density was available that was of sufficient height that with literally just a few decades of hard work, he could become world-renowned as a DragonFire Warrior.
"I came here to tell you this great news. Your father said the two strongest people in Dragonspire Village now are me and your father. We are both sixth rank warriors! Our level of skill wasn't high enough for proper tutelage for your little brother and the methods of your clan are all stated down but are vague." Draven's expression grew serious. "Thus your father has decided to send your little brother to the Stormcrest Empire's 'Stormcrest Academy' to study. In that mighty military empire, in the finest military academy, your little brother will receive the best tutelage available."
Renji agreed. Without technique and experience to back it up, a person with only tremendous brute strength could only be considered a big dumb ape.
"Wait." Renji scowled at Draven. "Uncle Draven, that Stormcrest Academy's fees must be very, very expensive. While they allow in their own students for free, no doubt they are extremely ruthless in collecting fees for out-of-empire's students." Renji clearly remembered how much Ryūji had paid to enter Keito Institute.
Draven nodded in agreement. "It's like five thousand in gold coins for a drop. Your dad is going to send Kenji with Haruto to look after him over there. That's one big number for the tuition fee. That will be fifty thousand in ten years."
And fifty thousand in gold coins would pretty much approximately equate to the value of all the things their clan owned if sold off.
"All right! Uncle Draven." Draven looked questioningly at Renji as he watched Renji withdraw a magicrystal card from his pocket. This shocked Draven. "A magicrystal card?" He had seen magicrystal cards before during his time as a soldier. "Ren-ji, how do you have a magicrystal card? Not even your daddy has one."
Renji tugged at Draven and said, "I won this magicrystal card from a rich kid who lost a magic duel with me. Let's go to the Golden Bank of the Four Empires." The guards at the Keito Institute's entrance no longer tried to bar the way of Draven, recognizing Renji left earlier in the morning. To Renji, this extra amount of money just hadn't much use. If anything, he could offer it to help his family.
Main Hall
of the Reshin Clan Manor within Dragonspire Village
Kazuki was now thinking. Now that his clan had borne a descendant with the needed density of Dragonblood, he had to be brought up in the best manner possible for him. Even if they had to be beggared to the last coin. This was a certainty!
"Who should I sell the bedroom stone carving screen to? Philip is too stingy; he'll never give a good price." Inside, Kazuki was lost in thought. The tuition needed to send the little Kenji to the Stormcrest Academy was astonishingly high, and he was trying to figure out how to acquire enough money from the sale of his clan's possessions.
Kazuki gasped, his gaze suddenly drawn by a sound of footfalls, "Draven, you're back. Uh, what's that on your shoulders?"
Draven heaved the satchel from across his shoulders onto the floor. It thudded against the floor with a heavy sound, heaviness evident.
"Lord Kazuki, Renji sent this to you with me." He untied the bag's string and emptied it out. One after another, small gold colored sacks hit the floor and the clear sound of clinking coins echoed. That clinking sound was definitely gold coins. These gold-colored sacks were used only by the Golden Bank of the Four Empires. Each bag generally held a hundred gold coins.
"Gold coins? And so much gold. Must be at least ten thousand gold coins here." Kazuki stared at Draven quite surprised. "Draven, you say that Renji asked you to bring this here?"
Draven's face was solemn and he spoke solemnly, "In total, nine thousand, nine hundred gold coins. Eight hundred also. Renji charged me with delivering this to you. We were having this magical duel with the rich young fellow when he lost, and in his losing, also lost ten thousand gold coins. Renji stored them all into a magicrystal card, and so now has withdrawn the entire balance."
Draven could almost hear the words Renji refused to shout at the attendant in the Golden Bank of the Four Empires. "Withdraw everything!"
"9900 gold coins? Renji's?" Kazuki was staring at the mound of gold-colored sacks and went silent.