A panicked young man dressed in simple commoner clothes was running down a corridor.

Grabbing an envelope tightly, beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

He panted heavily as he ran, before finally stopping before a large door.

The door was simple, but had a golden embossment, with a discrete rectangular tag placed right at eye level.

The door was clean, exceptionally so since no one ever exerted much force when opening it.

However, at this moment the young man pushed open the door harshly, creating a loud bang.

He caught his breath, before saying to the man inside, “S-Sir, another 4 of our branches have been closed!”, as he passed the envelope to the man inside respectfully.

The man inside was not well built. In fact, it seemed like a gust of wind would blow him away. However, few within the Kingdom would dare to underestimate him.

When he was young, he was but a cobbler’s son. He lost his mother to disease from a young age and lived with only his cobbler father ever since. While he was only 6, he remembered his mother’s last words.

“Live well, my son…I would have loved to see you grow up to greatness.”

She said it, while digging her nails into her skin, as if lamenting her fate.

He understood, that she felt regret, endless regret at her fate, her powerlessness, and their circumstances.

She died to disease at the age of 36.

Not an incurable one.

It wasn’t even a hard disease to cure.

They just couldn’t afford it.

Her disease required the use of a precious herb, regulated by the government due to its scarcity. As a poor family barely getting by, even if he sold himself, he would never get it.

Nevertheless, the young boy tried. He went out to the most influential noble street, and begged. He begged with all he could, his eyes watery but filled with determination.

He didn’t mind getting chased and beaten by the guards. He didn’t mind that he had to purposely fracture his leg to garner more sympathy. He didn’t mind the scornful gazes he got form the passing nobles.

What he minded… was that no one helped him.

He even offered to sell himself, but no one helped. It only ended with him getting kidnapped by a small slave merchant, only to escape due to his negligence.

He lost precious time with his mother thanks to the kidnapping.

When he came back to see the assortment of emotions within his mother’s eyes before she died, his heart wrenched.

It was like someone took a knife and stabbed it, then twisted it over and over and over again.

His childhood flashed before his eyes when she died, of her taking care of him, while he happily proclaimed that he would buy his mother that huge building across the street when he grow up and she would never have to worry about money ever again.

The young boy used every ounce of effort and time he had, doing odd jobs and studying, before one day, he got his break, a mysterious man came to his part of town, and needed a guide.

He did the job well, and was given a gold coin.

That gold coin started it all.

He would never have been able to gain it even with his stacks of odd jobs in his lifetime.

He used it carefully, investing in certain goods and selling them.

He predicted a drought, and bought bulks of water stones.

He slowly grinded his way to the top.

His business stabilised, he got married, he had a son.

He was sitting on the top floor of the building that he had promised to buy for his mother.

However, at this time, his mother was not here.

Neither was his father.

His father died a few years after his mother while he was out selling goods, leaving only a letter for him, telling him not to blame himself, that he would be watching over his road to success from heaven.

All this happened in the span of 20 years, and he now had astounding wealth, and the influence to match it.

His parents were no longer with him, but he completed his vow to himself.

That he would never be poor again.

This time he offended a Marquis’s son. The man had strutted arrogantly into his shops, and demanded compensation after claiming he was scammed.

He naturally knew this wasn’t the case, he always upheld strict standards for his shops.

However, only he knew this.

The Marquis’s son sent a messenger the following day, demanding 60% of his business and his support for his succession.

He would use his own influence to cripple his business otherwise.

Naturally he didn’t agree.

However, after repeated attempts at coercion didn’t work, a kidnapping attempt happened.

Luckily, he had a group of highly trained guards to guard his wife and child, which barely prevented the attempt.

He immediately made the decision following the incident, asking his wife and child to hide out secretly for a while, without leaving room for any further talk.

As such, under the commotion, they quickly left the city unnoticed.

This had touched his bottomline, and for the first time in years, the man showed anger.

The same anger that he showed when he faced his parents deaths.

He sent several letters, using his influence to damage the Marquis’s son’s businesses, without caring for the consequences.

As for the Marquis’s son closing down his branches through the local city lord, he simply ignored them.

This was an act of mutual harm.

He was aware of that.

It wouldn’t gain him any money.

However, he could not afford to lose anyone anymore.

And anyone that tried…

He would destroy even if the cost was his life.

Merchant Si took the letter from the young man’s hands.

He ripped it open and read it quickly.

It was a letter from the wife of the Marquis, saying that there was no need to continue this conflict, they would still win in the end, just at a cost. She wanted to put an end to this, and as long as he compensated for the losses he caused, they would step back.

He merely smiled, before tossing the letter into the furnace.

The young man, shivered at the sight of the Merchant’s expression.

He passed a prepared letter to the young man, saying, “Send this to the Left Duke’s house now.”

The young man widened his eyes, before agreeing with serious eyes.

As the young man left the room, the Merchant thought to himself.

For the sake of money, he had bent over so many times, even grovelling at times, he was known to never get angry. His friends were always amazed at his lack of temper, and his consistent light smile.

They even attributed his success to that smile at times.

At this moment, he thought he was going crazy to do this. The wise business decision would be to simply back down now. However, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy coming up from the deepest recesses of his heart.

That young beggar from years ago, could finally protect his family.