In the pond inside the cave that the water spirits had told him about, Andvari hunted the giant pike known as the lord of the river.
When he slit open the giant pike’s belly, a ring emitting a bewitchingly beautiful golden light appeared.
Andvari was utterly captivated by its brilliant glow.
Then the water spirits revealed themselves once more.
This time they appeared not as girls but as seductive women.
Their bodies were made of jet-black liquid, like ink.
The water spirits whispered in sweet voices.
[That ring is a power bestowed by Him.]
[It is a ring imbued with the purest wish that has existed since the dawn of time.]
[Andvari, may your wish come true. May you grasp what is most precious to you.]
Andvari could not tear his eyes away from the ring.
“I can feel a strange power from this ring. Is it some kind of magic ring?”
[With the power of the golden ring, you can create gold.]
[However, the only things you can turn into gold are people.]
[One more thing. A human who has been turned to gold can be restored to their original form by offering another human’s soul.]
Laughter from the spirits echoed through the cave.
Then everything before Andvari’s eyes went dark.
[……Only one who is not human may wield the power of the golden ring.]
The spirits’ voices overlapped.
Darkness descended.
***
“Huk!?”
Andvari jolted upright.
The familiar sight before him was his own bedroom.
“Was that just now…… a dream?”
Andvari wiped his face.
The bed was soaked through with sweat.
He couldn’t tell if it had been a dream or reality.
The wriggling sensation of the pike still lingered at his fingertips.
Even the foul stench of the mushy intestines that had spilled when he cut it open felt vividly real.
Then.
“This is……”
Something was inside the pocket of Andvari’s pants.
It was the golden ring he had seen in the dream.
“It wasn’t…… a dream.”
Andvari stared blankly at the ring’s beautiful glow.
A magic ring that could create gold.
And right now he was desperately searching for funds.
To pioneer new business ventures,
To climb even higher,
To reform this outdated kingdom.
To fulfill his ambitions, he needed vast amounts of capital.
‘With this ring, I could achieve everything.’
The words the water spirits had spoken circled in his mind.
[With the power of the golden ring, you can create gold.]
[However, the only things you can turn into gold are people.]
[One more thing. A human who has been turned to gold can be restored to their original form by offering another human’s soul.]
In short, wearing the ring would turn any human he touched into gold.
‘The remaining conditions…… don’t seem like something I need to worry about.’
The ability to turn humans into gold.
It was dangerous to use recklessly.
In any era, murder had always been punished as a serious crime.
But this world was overflowing with villains who deserved to die.
‘If I turn that kind of trash into gold……’
Andvari fell silent, lost in thought.
At that moment.
Knock knock—
Someone rapped on the door.
A familiar voice followed.
“Andvari-nim. It is the head maid.”
“……What is it?”
“The Second Princess has sent a message.”
“My sister?”
The head maid entered the room.
She frowned at the sight of Andvari lying on the bed.
But only for a moment.
The head maid spoke in a flat tone.
“It concerns the payment from last time. She says the family cannot invest capital in an uncertain and high-risk venture.”
“What?”
“The Dvergr family must solidify its position within the kingdom, so she orders you to refrain from any actions that might tarnish the family’s prestige.”
Uncertain and high-risk venture.
Business by nature meant taking risks and planting a flag in uncharted territory.
The head maid turned to leave.
“Wait. I have something to tell my sister, so listen and relay it.”
“I am merely a servant. I have no confidence I can remember difficult instructions properly. There is training for the new maids starting this afternoon, so please excuse me.”
“My words are not finished yet! Act like a servant should!”
Andvari grabbed the head maid’s shoulder.
In that instant.
Crack—!
Something astonishing happened.
The head maid had turned into a golden statue.
It was completely unintentional.
The head maid had frozen solid as gold in the exact posture of heading for the door.
Then.
Crash—!
The golden statue toppled, causing a commotion.
Footsteps of maids echoed from the corridor.
If things continued like this, he would be in trouble.
“Kuh!”
Andvari stomped hard on the head maid’s face.
Crunch—
The golden statue distorted, leaving a footprint.
Because it was high-purity gold, even light pressure changed its shape.
At the same time, the maids knocked on the door.
“Andvari-nim? Are you all right?”
“Could a thief have broken in?”
“What are you doing! Open the door first instead of asking!”
Creak—
The door swung wide open and the maids rushed in.
They were holding brooms, mops, and dusters.
The maids looked back and forth between Andvari and the golden statue.
Andvari spoke quietly.
“I made a racket. I accidentally knocked over the new golden statue I purchased.”
The maids let out sighs of relief.
“Thank goodness. We heard a loud noise all of a sudden……”
“You carried such a heavy object yourself?”
“Please call us next time, Andvari-nim.”
“By the way, the golden statue seems damaged. What should we do?”
The maids chattered while looking at the golden statue.
Andvari sent them away and closed the door.
The room was filled with heavy silence.
Andvari stared at the golden statue the maids had left behind…… the one that had once been the head maid.
He fiddled with the golden ring and muttered.
“What was the price of gold lately?”
Ten years had passed.
The Lavianglily Kingdom, having abolished its closed trade policy, had begun to make a name for itself as a new trade powerhouse.
The greatest contributor to that achievement was none other than the Dvergr family.
A grand banquet was underway in the Dvergr mansion to commemorate the opening of new trade routes.
The interior was filled with the scents of lavender and acacia.
On the table atop the antique carpet, champagne and an array of dishes were laid out in colorful abundance.
Masked nobles began chatting.
“The Dvergr family’s influence grows more impressive by the day.”
“More precisely, Andvari-nim’s influence stands alone.”
“He holds every trade route in his grasp.”
“No trade can be completed without Andvari-nim’s permission.”
“He truly deserves to be called a genius of investment and the god of commerce.”
“Did you hear the rumor? Count Gelrog met a miserable end.”
“They say Andvari-nim took all his bidding rights.”
“Wasn’t Count Gelrog the richest man in Lavianglily?”
“That’s old news. Andvari-nim now oversees all of the kingdom’s finances.”
“To think a man has risen to the position of Minister of Finance……”
“I heard he’s going to become a cabinet minister. With his gender, that’s unbelievable.”
“I wonder where he gets such financial power.”
“Ahem, does a gold vein run under the family basement?”
It was the first time since the founding of Lavianglily that a man had been appointed Minister of Finance.
Moreover, Andvari was currently serving as the commander of the Greed Knights within the Royal Knight Order.
He had become a figure who could be called one of the pillars of Lavianglily.
Soon the tone of the conversation shifted subtly.
“By the way, I’ve been hearing strange rumors about the Dvergr family lately.”
“I heard them too. Servants in the mansion occasionally go missing?”
“I heard the number of missing people isn’t just one or two.”
“How terrifying. A disappearance case involving someone with absolute power.”
“Maybe they just ran away? Young people these days have no backbone. Tsk tsk.”
“It reminds me of the Bluebeard legend. It said that people connected to the great magnate kept disappearing one by one, and a mountain of corpses was found in the warehouse.”
At that moment.
“Andvari-nim is entering!”
With the steward’s booming announcement, the banquet hall doors swung wide open.
As if on cue, applause poured out.
Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap~!
Andvari entered the hall wearing a splendid tailcoat.
A silver-haired beauty walked beside him.
Andvari’s only daughter, his sole child.
Ever since his wife had died during childbirth, she was the one Andvari cherished with all his heart.
Andvari stepped onto the dais.
“I thank all the esteemed guests who have come here today. Though the banquet is modest, I hope you enjoy yourselves to the fullest and have a peaceful night.”
After the brief greeting, Andvari descended from the dais.
Then.
“Andvari-nim—!”
The servants began calling his name.
Andvari smiled and scattered something.
Clatter—! Clatter clatter clatter~!
Golden light dyed the air.
Hundreds of gold fragments rolled across the banquet hall floor.
Andvari’s signature performance to flaunt his immense wealth.
The servants frantically began picking up the gold pieces.
At that moment,
“Oh? This one looks like a finger. It’s so delicately crafted. Why did you break it? What a waste.”
A maid who picked up the golden finger quickly slipped it into her pocket before anyone could see.
By then Andvari had already disappeared into the inner part of the mansion.
The hidden basement of the Dvergr family.
After descending countless stairs, a stone chamber filled with damp moisture appeared.
Andvari entered the chamber and smiled brightly as he greeted.
“I’ve come to pay my evening respects, Sister.”
The woman stood frozen with a distorted expression.
She had once been the first in line to inherit the Dvergr family—Andvari’s older sister.
“You’re cold today as well. I may be a worthless younger brother, but won’t you at least acknowledge my greeting?”
But the woman said nothing.
Because she had been turned entirely into gold from head to toe.
Andvari also greeted the golden statue beside his eldest sister.
“Have you been well, Second Sister? And Third Sister. Ah, Fourth Sister as well……”
Countless golden statues filled the underground stone chamber.
Then Andvari’s gaze turned to a corner of the chamber.
A woman wrapped in rags was trembling violently in terror.
“I’ll ask after your well-being while I’m here.”
“Hii— Hiiik—!”
The woman recoiled, face pale as if she had seen a monster.
Andvari looked at the dog bowl placed in front of the woman and sighed.
“Mother, have you not eaten? You need to gain weight so there will be more gold. You must eat plenty.”
“Y-you devil!”
“Devil, huh……”
The smile vanished from Andvari’s lips.
“I broke my bones and tore my muscles for this family, yet you parasites who only suck the blood out of it tried to kill me.”
“You made me into a devil? Who was it that—”
Andvari reached out toward his terrified mother.
“Parents are willing to sacrifice everything for their children, are they not? Let me help you make that final noble sacrifice, Mother.”
“N-no! Don’t come near me! Please spare me……!”
Craaaack—!
Another golden statue was born in the underground stone chamber.
Andvari stared at the golden statues with an expressionless face.
“Over the past ten years, the price of gold has risen quite a lot. Probably because wars have broken out across the continent, increasing the preference for safe assets.”
Andvari himself had orchestrated that situation.
“The kingdom cannot remain a neutral country forever. Through war, Lavianglily will shed its rotten stagnant water and be reborn as a just and righteous nation.”
In the process, the price of gold would skyrocket without limit.
A smile bloomed on Andvari’s lips once more.
At that moment.
Step step step—
Footsteps sounded from a corner of the basement.
A man in a black robe emerged from the shadows.
Orth stared at Andvari with a cold expression.
“Y-you look like you’re enjoying yourself, Andvari-nim.”
Black light flashed in Andvari’s eyes.
“You saw?”
The golden ring’s glow darkened the basement even further.