Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 99: Debt to the Family

CH99 Debt to the Family

***

Earl Drake kept his eyes locked on the map for a full five minutes, not uttering a word.

Alex stood silently on the opposite side of the table, examining the map alongside him.

His gaze drifted to the region around the castle and valley his father’s forces were now mobilising to capture.

From the topography alone, Alex quickly deduced the area was likely to contain significant mineral deposits.

Possibly rich enough to include more common rare materials like Mithril, Orichalcum, and Adamantine... but even more importantly, there was a strong chance of finding extremely rare resources like Pyronite (also known as Scarlet Iron), Tempered Silver and Gold, or even Palladium.

Alex was just about to voice a question regarding the plane and its resources when Earl Drake spoke first.

”This is a partial map of the Marblebrook Plane,” the Earl said.

”It’s a private plane. I’ve led my men in campaigns here for nearly a decade. So far, I’ve only conquered about a quarter of the territory we know of. We haven’t even reached the edges of the continent yet, so I don’t know the plane’s exact size—but the portion we’ve explored already spans tens of millions of square kilometres.”

Alex nodded slightly, his mind already racing.

From the geography displayed, this continent on the Marblebrook Plane bore striking resemblance to the continent of Arun back on the Pangea Plane. Mountain ranges, rivers, expansive grasslands... the topographical patterns followed familiar environmental templates.

By the scale and markings, Alex estimated the known section of this continent to be between twenty and thirty million square kilometres—already rivalling the second and third largest continents from his previous life on Earth.

Such a massive landmass practically guaranteed immense, untapped natural resources.

The map itself already highlighted several lush green patches, indicating zones rich in flora and fauna—valuable for potion crafting, alchemy, beast taming, and more.

Even better, because the plane mirrored Pangea so closely, the tools and technology used to mine, refine, and process its resources would also be compatible. No need to develop brand-new techniques. Just collect the materials and send them back.

So long as the expedition teams could retrieve them, the industries already present in the Earl’s fiefdom could process and profit from them—significantly cutting costs while maximising margins.

Even if the Earl only controlled a quarter of the continent, that would still amount to five million square kilometres of territory.

To put that into perspective, aside from the top six largest nations Alex remembered from his former life, no other single country held that much land—especially not land so dense in natural wealth.

’He has to be raking in millions of gold annually... at the very least,’ Alex thought, impressed.

Earl Drake’s lips curled into a faint smile.

”Boy, do you know why I wanted you to see this map?”

Alex shook his head.

”It’s because the entirety of my earnings from the plane went into paying for your education at the DragonHold Enclave,” Earl Drake said flatly. ”Even now, despite your graduation, I still have to continue paying Merlin my earnings from the plane for the next five years.”

He paused, then added:

”Once my current inroads on the plane succeed, I’ll be making well over six million gold a year in pure profit—and all of it will continue going into Merlin’s pockets.”

Alex felt his throat go dry.

He had always known that training under Merlin, and at a premier institute like DragonHold Enclave, was expensive.

But this expensive?

Even if the Earl’s profits stagnated at six million gold annually, that would still amount to thirty million over five years. That didn’t even include the payments already made. A rough estimate would place the full cost of his education somewhere near fifty million gold.

In a world where an ordinary family of four could comfortably survive on a single gold coin for a month, the magnitude of that sum was staggering.

Even with Alex’s growing stake in the continent-wide telecommunication company, there was still a massive gulf between what he could afford and what had been paid.

He couldn’t help but stare at his father with disbelief.

This man—Earl Drake Fury—had willingly paid the price for a child once deemed talentless by almost everyone.

”While you snagging away Merlin’s darling daughter has reduced the amount I have to pay each year by half...” A faint smile tugged at the corners of the Earl’s lips. ”I still want you to understand the price that had to be paid... and would have been paid to make you the mage you are today.”

He tapped the map lightly and continued.

”Our family tries to run as fairly as possible. Under my reign, there are forty-six members of your generation who have come—or will soon come—of age. Five are my direct children, you and your half-siblings. There are also eighty-one who are still too young.”

”Among all of them, you have received the greatest investment. In fact, the total sunk into you far exceeds the total investment into all your brothers and sisters combined.”

Alex felt his heart tighten as the Earl’s voice lowered.

”And more will continue to be invested in you in the future. Not just by me. Now that you’ve taken Merlin’s daughter’s heart, I expect he will do the same.”

Alex frowned.

Intentional or not, his father’s words struck deeply.

He could no longer compare himself to his siblings.

Any pride he’d felt from subduing Kurt with a single glance...

Any satisfaction at seeing Ulfman and the twins withdraw from the heirship competition...

Any sense of superiority from his rapid progress in cultivation, magic, and invention...

All of it vanished in that moment.

The vast world of magic that had opened to him since his arrival...

The privileges granted by his position as Merlin’s official disciple...

The resources, opportunities, and freedom to experiment and innovate...

The personalised instruction, rare spell scrolls, and runic materials...

All of it came at a cost. A monumental cost.

A cost one man bore without complaint.

A cost paid entirely by this man standing before him.

Drake Fury, his father...

**