novelraw Chapter 233: Hidden wealth
Chapter 233: Hidden wealth
On Yuel’s light brain screen, the conversation with the anonymous poster was still open. Rory glanced at the advice he’d been giving—and then looked up at him, puzzled.
"Is this person your friend?"
As expected of Yuel... everything he explained was so clear, so thorough.
"No," Yuel shook his head. "Just someone anonymous who posted online."
As he spoke, he pulled up the original post and showed it to her.
Rory had seen it before. What surprised her, however, was something else entirely—she hadn’t expected Yuel to take on this kind of job.
She tilted her head, studying him. "Yuel... are you short on beast cores?"
"No," he replied, a faint smile touching his lips. "Why would you think that?"
Terry had fallen asleep atop his head.
Taking advantage of that, Yuel gently drew Rory into his arms, guiding her to sit on his lap, his fingers idly tracing slow circles at her waist.
Rory slipped her arms around his neck. "If you’re not short on cores, then why take on something like this?"
He was already overwhelmed with work every day. If not for a shortage, why would he spare the time?
Yuel leaned closer, his voice low against her ear. "Nix wants those two tenth-rank beast cores. I’m just helping him."
He didn’t mention the mech squad Nix was secretly preparing for her.
That was a surprise—and he wouldn’t ruin it.
Hearing that it was for Nix, Rory immediately understood.
"Of course... if Nix wants beast cores, it must be for building mechas."
She smiled and leaned in, pressing a light kiss to Yuel’s cheek. Then she reached into her storage ring and placed several tenth-rank beast cores on the table.
Lowering her head, she gently nipped his ear.
"These were given to me by the dragon elders—as thanks for helping Paros stabilize. Keep them. Use them. And if it’s not enough, just tell me."
Rory was no longer the girl she used to be.
No longer poor.
Vincent, Yuel, and the others had all entrusted their assets to her. There was simply too much—far more than she could manage alone.
In the end, she had decided to let them handle their own finances.
Each month, their star coins were transferred into her account and then automatically sent back, mostly intact.
She knew they all had people depending on them. Expenses everywhere.
As for beast cores, they were piled high in the household storage.
She had told them clearly: take what you need.
And yet... after hearing Yuel mention Nix wanting just two tenth-rank cores—it suddenly struck her.
...They hadn’t taken anything at all.
A realization hit her.
If she didn’t give anything, were they simply too polite to take?
If not for today, she might never have noticed.
Without hesitation, she took out an empty storage ring and began transferring a large quantity of beast cores and crystals into it.
She was just about to hand it to Yuel when his light brain chimed.
A message from Xarion popped up.
Xarion:Jasper and I teamed up to mess with Nix earlier. Female Master is upset and told me to "perform." How do I do that? Teach me. One tenth-rank beast core.
Yuel froze on the spot.
Rory looked at him. "Yuel?"
A bead of cold sweat formed at his temple.
He immediately spoke, "I didn’t ask Xarion for any beast cores—he insisted on giving them to me."
Without hesitation, he sold Xarion out. At a time like this, there was no other choice.
"I told him I didn’t want them, but he wouldn’t listen. Every time he asks for advice, he just leaves one behind. I swear to the Beast God—I haven’t kept a single one for myself. They’re all in storage."
These days, his pockets were practically empty. He had too many people to support.
If not for Rory returning most of his monthly income, he might have ended up selling his own leaves and flowers just to stay afloat.
Rory took his raised hand, stopping his oath midway.
"Why are you so nervous? Even if you had kept some, I wouldn’t be upset."
She slipped the storage ring into his hand. "I know you have a lot of people to support. Your expenses are high. From now on, I’ll give you more each month—credits, beast cores, crystals... whatever you need."
If they wouldn’t take from the storage themselves, then she would give it to them directly. She couldn’t have them living like paupers every month. Not when so many depended on them.
As for Xarion secretly asking Yuel for help—Rory had already heard about it from Nix.
What she hadn’t known was that Xarion paid him every time.
Her gaze drifted back to the screen. "For something this simple, he offers a tenth-rank core each time..."
She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Yuel, do you think Xarion has a hidden stash?"
Yuel knew the answer. Of course he did. But he wasn’t about to say that out loud.
"...I’m not sure," he replied calmly. "...but every time he comes to ask me something, he gives me a beast core."
That settled it. Not only had Xarion been hiding resources, but he also had a lot of them.
Rory’s eyes narrowed slightly as another thought struck her.
"What about Vincent?" She looked at Yuel. "Has he been hiding anything?"
In her mind, Jasper and Nix definitely wouldn’t. Yuel had already sworn to the Beast God—so he was clean too.
That left the truly wealthy ones... Vincent and Xarion.
Now she was certain Xarion had a private stash.
But Vincent?
"...Did he hide anything?"
Yuel sighed faintly, a helpless smile tugging at his lips. "Rory, don’t make this difficult for me. I don’t know whether Vincent has hidden anything. I only know... he maintains several private battle squads."
At Vincent’s level, cultivating personal forces was perfectly normal.
Yuel himself had influence, but he had never built battle squads. He simply wasn’t as ambitious.
Rory watched his reaction... and understood.
If he wouldn’t say it outright, then the answer was already clear.
Vincent, just like Xarion, had his own hidden reserves.
She clicked her tongue softly, then looked back at Yuel. "Reply to Xarion for me. Tell him... your price has gone up. To five tenth-rank beast cores."
Yuelbit his lower lip. For a brief moment, he almost laughed.
So this was her plan—to test just how deep Xarion’s hidden stash really went.
"...Alright." Suppressing his amusement, he quickly typed out the reply.
After all, this wasn’t his idea. He was merely following Rory’s instructions.
MoonGathersHearts:I can help you—but I’ve run into some trouble on my end. I’ll need five tenth-rank beast cores.
A perfectly professional response.
The reply came almost instantly.
Xarion:Deal.
No hesitation.
Five tenth-rank beast cores—just like that.
Across the entire interstellar realm... there were probably very few who could spend so freely.
Rory stared at the screen, stunned.
Then she shot to her feet. "I’m going to see exactly how much he’s been hiding. And Vincent too. He must have quite a stash as well."
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"I trusted him so much... and he’s been hiding private funds from me?"