Chapter 104: I'll Pay for This

However, it seemed that Doctor Tivac was determined to shock everyone to the very end. After stating that astronomical sum, he added, “Apart from the one million gold coins, there will be an annual cost of one hundred thousand gold coins for corrective surgeries. But even so, your brother only has a few years left to live.”

Everyone in the room couldn't help but gasp. Setting aside the annual hundred thousand gold coins, just the one million was a figure so vast it was almost unimaginable. For an impoverished family like the Rawlins, their yearly expenses as a family of four barely amounted to a few dozen gold coins. One million gold coins could support them for tens of thousands of years!

Though most present, aside from the Rawlins, came from relatively affluent backgrounds—Karina’s family, for example, was the wealthiest nobility in Borsan Town—even if they sold everything, they couldn’t gather more than a fraction of that sum. Gebaz, Bill, and Victoria hailed from prominent families, but they were too young to access family funds, and their clans were far away; even if money could be sent, it might arrive too late.

Of those present, the most financially powerful was Mallet, but even he dared not guarantee such an amount. When he had asked earlier about ten thousand gold coins, he thought he could manage by pooling family resources, but one million was another matter altogether. Though his father was the Imperial Minister of Finance, he didn’t indulge in any shadowy dealings, so he was like a worker in a gold coin factory—plenty of money passed through his hands, but none belonged to him.

After pondering for a moment, Mallet stepped forward. “Fourth Brother, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll go home right now and speak to my father, see if he can find a way to raise the funds. If it comes to it, I can sell my spatial ring for about two hundred thousand. But you’ll have to wait a few days, since my father isn’t the only decision-maker in the family—I’ll need to convince the old guard as well.”

“We have a few thousand gold coins with us,” Gebaz and Bill added. “It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Rawlin, I’ll return to Potter Academy and speak to the Headmaster about this. Maybe we can organize a school-wide fundraiser, and raise a decent amount!” Victoria proposed.

“Rawlin, perhaps I should return to Borsan Town and ask my father for help. He might be able to contribute some,” Karina offered.

As everyone was preparing to act, Rawlin’s voice suddenly rang out, “I don’t think anyone needs to go through all this trouble!”

Everyone stopped, gazing at Rawlin where he stood.

At that moment, Isa and Gegil grew anxious. They had been deeply moved by Rawlin’s classmates rallying funds, and wondered if the money for their youngest son’s treatment could be gathered. But now Rawlin was stopping everyone—did he not want to trouble his friends, or had he decided against treating Little Hawk? But Rawlin and his brother shared the closest bond; he would never let Little Hawk slip away before his eyes. What did he mean by this?

Even Doctor Tivac turned his attention to Rawlin. Rawlin exhaled softly and said, “Perhaps I can pay for Little Hawk’s treatment myself.”

The room fell utterly silent. Even Mallet, normally wealthy and confident, could not imagine anyone single-handedly producing such a vast sum. Everyone knew Rawlin’s family situation—he was so poor he could barely scrape by. He hadn’t even wanted to join the inter-grade tournament until Gebaz mentioned the champion’s prize was a thousand gold coins, at which point Rawlin signed up without hesitation. Yet now he claimed he could produce a million gold coins at once?

“Fourth Brother, can you really get that money?” Mallet hesitated but finally asked, not out of disbelief in Rawlin but because the amount was so enormous. The ‘pauper’ Fourth Brother claiming he could provide it alone was almost absurd.

His question echoed everyone’s thoughts. All listened intently for Rawlin’s reply, and his parents, Gegil and Isa, looked at their son—who had never lied—with puzzled eyes.

“Mallet, how much could you sell your spatial ring for?” Rawlin suddenly asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

Mallet answered, “Probably about two hundred thousand gold coins.”

“How large is the space inside your ring?” Rawlin pressed.

Mallet scratched his broad forehead. “I remember telling you all before—it’s two or three cubic units.”

With a sudden flash of darkness, Rawlin produced a black ring in his hand. “I have a spatial ring with ten cubic units. How much could it sell for?”

Mallet was stunned. “Ten cubic units! Fourth Brother, could I see it?”

Rawlin handed over the black ring. “It hasn’t been bonded to anyone yet. You can use magical energy to temporarily refine and inspect it.”

Spatial rings required bonding before their contents and space could be accessed. There were permanent and temporary methods—using magical energy or battle aura for temporary bonding, which lasted only until the energy was withdrawn, after which the ring reverted to being ownerless. Permanent bonding required a drop of blood, allowing the owner to access the space at any time.

Mallet took the ring and infused it with a trace of magical energy, temporarily refining it. He explored the interior and sensed a vast space nearly four times larger than his own ring. With a thought, he could transfer non-living objects into it.

“Whew... It really is a ten cubic unit ring!” Mallet withdrew his magical energy and exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. “Fourth Brother, as far as I know, the largest ring at Master Cervantes’s alchemy shop is five cubic units and costs fifty thousand gold coins. It’s rarely sold and always through connections. Your ten cubic unit ring could easily fetch a hundred thousand gold coins!”

Excited voices erupted throughout the room. No one expected Rawlin to possess such a treasure worth a million gold coins—now there was hope for the surgery.

“Doctor Tivac, can my brother’s operation begin now?” Rawlin asked.

The experienced physician had just recovered from his shock. He had not expected such a commonplace family to possess a spatial ring. He had thought they would certainly abandon the operation, but now Rawlin insisted. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “This surgery is complicated. We need some time to prepare. We can begin in three days.”

Rawlin nodded. “Very well. Please begin preparations, Doctor Tivac. I’ll have the gold coins ready within three days.” Then he turned to Gegil and Isa. “Father, Mother, I’m going to the alchemy shop to sell the ring. That should cover the surgical costs.”

Afterward, Mallet, Gebaz, and Bill followed Rawlin out of the chapel toward Cervantes’s Alchemy Shop, while Victoria and Karina volunteered to stay and keep Rawlin’s parents company.

Isa remained composed, but Gegil’s weathered face was still somewhat dazed. He muttered, “Is this real? That little black thing is worth a million gold coins?”