He groaned when he heard that and even complained about it, "But I already have a lot on my plate."
She explained, "You don't have to start right now. But you need to start before I stop supporting you. At that time, you will venture out on your own, so you need to be familiar with a deadly weapon to protect yourself."
He understood what she didn't say. Since she will stop supporting him when he reaches the seventh transformation, he will have to start learning how to use a weapon ideally when he reaches the sixth transformation.
She continued to speak. "Fighting with fists and kicks can't compare with fighting with a sharp weapon. You will need the edge when you go out to fight for resources."
He said, "You have a point. But will I get an allowance before then?"
She asked, "What do you want to use an allowance for?"
He replied, "Just to buy some things that I fancy."
She rolled her eyes. "I know that you want to buy things to give to others. I'm not going to support that."
"But mother…"
She cut him off. "Don't mother me. I thought you would have given up on this phase a long time ago. But you haven't. If not giving you an allowance is what it will take to discourage you, then I am willing to bear the burden."
He said sarcastically, "It must be difficult for you to have a son who likes helping people."
She folded her arms across her chest and said, "It truly is."
"Anyway, you're too young to have an allowance."
"Didn't you say I should find a girl earlier? Why am I mature enough for that but too young for an allowance?"
She huffed in dissatisfaction. "You've always been good with your words. But you won't convince me otherwise."
He huffed too and folded his arms against his chest. "Maybe I should find a girl then. Maybe you will be willing to spend money when I impregnate her."
She turned to him and said, "Don't you dare."
He smiled smugly and said, "I won't if you give me an allowance."
Lady Vena frowned. Then she laughed.
She said, "I know what you're doing. You're trying to threaten me the way you threatened the neighbors and forced them into giving you what you want. But it can't work on me because I know you're too smart to do something so foolish."
He spent the rest of the ride trying to convince her to give him an allowance. Unfortunately, she didn't budge at all.
He had to consider other options. He thought to himself with confidence, "I'm sure I can earn money on my own. There are a lot of ways to do so. And there are also servants to help me. So I already have manpower."
As a CEO of a company he created himself in his last life, he felt that he should be able to start something in this world too.
He has actually given it a lot of thought. The main problems he encountered in bringing some of the business of Earth to Ethera are a difference in technology and demand.
He couldn't fix both problems at all. The first problem stumped him because he doesn't know how most of the technology works and how to recreate it.
For example, he doesn't know how to produce electricity. He is not even sure that electricity can be produced or if it will work in Ethera because of the presence of mana.
As for the second problem, the two worlds have different cultures and tastes, so their demands are different. Some of the things that are relevant on Earth, like computers, are not relevant here.
However, he has found some things that are relevant here in Ethera, and he can do. Those things are mainly in the service industry, like food, drinks, transportation, delivery, hospitality, and work.
Not all services in the service sector work. Things like education, telecommunications, information technology, entertainment, and banking don't work.
He has determined that as long as it relates to the basic needs of life, then people will be interested in it. Unfortunately, he faces one big problem that he would have also faced back on earth. He lacks capital to start a business.
"I need something that I can do at home with the resources at hand and the servants in the house. Anymore and I won't even be able to start it."
He has some ideas, but there will be some difficulties, such as the location to run the business.
He sighed and thought to himself, "This is a tough problem."
He was thinking about this problem when he dropped from the carriage and approached the training facility.
There were other carriages around that had dropped off guests. He saw these carriages and coaches and noticed something peculiar about them.
He noticed that the carriages were nice. They were the high-quality carriages that he had only seen on a few occasions.
Two such occasions were during his father's wedding and during his stepbrother's ceremony.
Now that he is seeing these high-quality carriages again, the reason why his mother wanted to attend the graduation ceremony suddenly became clear.
It clicked in his mind like lightning. He stopped walking, and his eyes widened in realization.
Then he turned back to Lady Vena. He found that she was looking at him. She smiled and put her finger to her lips and shushed him.
He pointed at her, unable to say what he wanted to say.
She laughed and said, "My smart boy. Sometimes, being smart is not good. But this time is good since you already know my intentions. You will be able to work together with me."
His mind moved quickly, so he came up with an idea. He smiled and threatened, "If you don't give me an allowance, I won't work with you."
She scoffed. "Again? When will you give up on the allowance issue?"