Blackstone Code-Chapter 468: All for the Children
In Nagaryll, the High Priests were by far the wealthiest, yet also the most low-key group.
Every year, during numerous religious festivals, people prepared gold utensils and sent them to nearby temples for blessings.
Poor families couldn’t afford fine gold items but still had to offer something—if they wanted a good reincarnation, these festivals were their chance to show devotion. They might be poor, but they had to present something, even if it was just gold-painted vessels.
Sometimes priests would guide people, explaining why the wealthy grew richer and the powerful remained secure: because their sacrifices of gold items pleased the gods more.
This created a phenomenon foreign outsiders could never understand. At major religious festivals, some fanatical families would sell their children, wives, or homes to gather enough gold for offerings, proving their devotion.
This happened less often in recent years; the arrival of foreigners brought some changes. Still, the practice persisted, especially among the elderly, who, when losing family power, sold everything they could for gold offerings and then became wanderers. Many homeless elders on the streets were like this, not just those cast out by their children.
They did this to please the gods, hoping for a good reincarnation after death.
The widespread religious fervor turned temples into massive gold collection centers. From gold paint to gold-plated items and pure gold utensils, vast quantities flowed into temples annually.
Temples entrusted these items to others or processed them themselves, refining the gold into bars or ingots.
Due to limited tools, imperfect procedures, and some unscrupulous merchants mixing metals into the gold, the purity was generally low.
Copper was the most common additive; if processed carefully, priests untrained in chemistry rarely noticed.
Lynch shook his head, tossing the gold ingot back onto the pile. He walked alongside the mound, staring at the bars and ingots full of holes and imperfections, momentarily dazed.
The Federation’s gold price was stable but not high, thanks to years of economic decline. Precious metals like silver and gold steadily rose, with gold now at 37 Federation Sol per ounce and silver unexpectedly at 1.71 Sol per ounce, excluding smaller units.
One ton equals over 32,500 ounces. A ton of pure gold was worth over 1.3 million Sol.
Lynch silently calculated the gold before him—it amounted to at least tens of millions in wealth.
Gold had more visual impact than cash. Since its discovery, it had held people’s attention fiercely.
Lynch gave an estimate he found reasonable: “Between 10 to 15 million Federation Sol.”
He expected the High Priest to modestly confirm his wealth, but to Lynch’s surprise, the priest was stunned.
“This… so much?” The High Priest seemed bewildered. “The number I had in mind was a bit less than that.”
He had intended to say far less, thinking the pile was worth only three to five million. This was partly because the Preyton Trading Company’s gold buyback prices hadn’t matched international gold prices.
Nagaryll also had rich gold deposits, which made the High Priest believe the gold wasn’t that valuable.
Lynch nodded and casually picked up a bar. Due to unclean molds and impurities in the molten gold, the back had a ring of air pockets—some as small as soybeans, others big enough to fit a finger—lowering its apparent value.
“Transportation, refining, labor costs—these all reduce the value. Plus security expenses and bank insurance.”
“So much gold in private hands is risky; it has to be stored in bank vaults. That adds cost too.”
With a clatter, Lynch dropped the bar back onto the pile. He was amazed—these people were insanely rich.
But it made sense. This was typical of a backward country, where wealth and power were concentrated far more than in developed nations, a sign of social imbalance. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
The more mature and advanced a society’s structure and systems, the more evenly wealth is distributed across classes. Ideally, top and bottom layers share equal wealth and social obligations, with power weighted by division of labor.
The closer a society gets to this ideal, the more advanced its system.
Nagaryll was different. The concentration of wealth and power only slowly drove society toward decay. Rulers tightly controlled both, effectively stripping ordinary people of desire.
When ordinary people cannot gain wealth, power, or status through work or other means, they lose motivation to strive.
They’d rather lie in filth waiting for death than stand up and find a job to fill their stomachs—though jobs were scarce anyway.
Still, surrounded by so much gold, Lynch’s thoughts pulled back from the ragged people hoping for good reincarnations.
“Are you sure you want to hand all this to me?” Lynch asked again.
The High Priest hesitated. He hadn’t realized the gold was worth so much but nodded firmly after a brief pause. “Yes, it’s all yours to handle.”
Lynch nodded. “I’ll arrange for people to process it quickly. And I’ll keep my promises, for our friendship and this money.”
He said it bluntly, but the High Priest accepted the tone.
“I heard the Federation values contracts. Maybe we should sign agreements to handle this perfectly?”
Lynch hadn’t planned that. If the gold only converted to a few million Sol, splitting it between him and his sons meant each son might get only about a million Sol.
But this was too much gold, so restrictions were necessary. Too much money could also cost lives.
After leaving the High Priest’s garden, Lynch and he reached a rough agreement: Lynch would use the money to create a foundation. Lynch and the High Priest’s children would hold shares, effectively gifting Lynch part of the wealth.
The foundation would be managed by Blackstone Capital. Sixty percent of annual earnings would be reinvested, and the remaining 40 percent distributed as dividends according to shareholding.
The agreement’s term was ten years—no cashing out allowed before then. After ten years, the management would end.
This gave the High Priest’s children ten years to adapt to Federation society. After fully integrating and becoming Federation citizens, they’d receive full control of their money.
Until then, they had to obey Lynch.
After Lynch left, the High Priest gathered his children and announced his decision.
His children, including Rika, voiced opposition, arguing it was unnecessary.
The more they argued for autonomy, the more determined the High Priest became.
When they quieted down, he smiled, shaking his head, replacing the incense in the burner, and softly asked, “All done talking?”
His long-held authority silenced them. They lowered their heads, unwilling to speak.
After arranging the incense, the High Priest sat cross-legged on the bed and shared his views.
“Preyton is powerful. He knows a large group of strong pirates, who are said to be backed by Gephra’s Royal Navy. It’s this force that allows him to firmly control Nagaryll’s import and export trade.”
“We all hate him, but we can’t do without him. It’s a sad situation, children.”
“Whether it’s me, Drag, or the idiots in the central government, none of us can touch Preyton. If he ever turns against us, it would only take a few months for us to slip back into a primitive state.”
“But this powerful man, someone we can’t fight, was easily taken down by the Federation!”
When a seemingly eccentric High Priest suddenly spoke so seriously, it felt absurd to outsiders, but no one in the room thought that way.
“You don’t understand the Federation. They can take everything you have for any reason and make you disappear without a trace. No one cares about you barbarians from a savage society. You must have someone to shelter you if you want to survive.”
“Lynch is a good choice. I’ve heard he has a good relationship with the Federation’s king… the president. That’s enough to guarantee your safety. No one will kill you just to covet your wealth.”
The High Priest sighed quietly as he looked at his children. In truth, he had given them one more layer of protection: himself.
He chose not to go with them to the Federation for two reasons.
First, he wanted to use his power to gain more benefits. As High Priest, when the temples below him became frenzied during his succession, vast amounts of gold would flow to him. He’d secure a second fortune.
Second, as long as he remained High Priest and held influence, he was useful.
To better leverage his power and influence, the Federation would look after him and his family until they deemed him worthless, then discard him.
All of this was for the children.
