Spending my way to Godhood: I am the heir to a fortune.

The Price of a Crown

Barnaby floated over Lucian's shoulder, his spectral eyes flickering toward the glowing blue window that hovered in the air.

[Remaining Temporary Credit Limit: 650,000 Gold.]

[Time Remaining: 11 Minutes.]

"Young master," Barnaby said softly, his phantom hand hovering just above Lucian's trembling shoulder. "If you want to protect your home, if you want to ensure no one ever treats you like a helpless child again, we must strike at the heart of their power, the Royal Bank."

Lucian wiped his nose with his coat sleeve, his chest still heaving from the adrenaline. "The bank?"

"Lord Robert put up his personal manor and all his assets as collateral to borrow money from the Crown," Barnaby explained, a cold edge entering his ghostly voice. "He intended to pay off those loans using your family's stolen guild funds tonight. If we buy those mortgage deeds directly from the bank's registry right now..."

"He won't have a home either," Lucian whispered. He looked down at the wooden toy dragon clutched tightly in his fist, the memory of his uncle standing over him in the vault, sneering at his dead parents, flashed through his mind. "He tried to throw me out into the street."

"Then let us show him what the street feels like," Barnaby said gently. "Run, Lucian."

Lucian didn't wait, he sprinted down the cobblestone street, his small boots splashing through rain puddles. 

The bank was filled with wealthy aristocrats, royal guards, and high-ranking clerks, near the central dais stood Auditor Kael alongside a dozen imperial guards, holding a stack of formal eviction papers, standing next to him was Lord Robert, who had just rushed into the bank, red-faced and sweating after finding the iron-bloom market completely emptied.

"Kael! Something is horribly wrong!" Robert was shouting, waving his arms wildly. "Someone bought out the entire city's herb stock! Search the ledgers! Check the vaults!"

Auditor Kael raised a hand to calm him, but stopped dead as he spotted the small, soot-stained boy standing at the entrance. A cruel, arrogant smile spread across Kael's face.

"Well, well, look who came crawling back early," Kael mocked, his voice echoing across the silent marble hall. The surrounding nobles turned, chuckling softly at the sight of the disheveled ten-year-old. "Did you bring your pocket money, little Vance? Or did you come to beg Lord Robert for a scrap of bread before we march you to the workhouses?"

Robert turned, his eyes narrowing in fury as he glared down at his nephew. "You miserable brat! Did you come here to embarrass the Vance name one last time?"

Lucian stood alone in the center of the grand room, dozens of powerful adults were staring at him, laughing, judging him, waiting for him to break down and cry.

Lucian's small hands shook, for a second, the overwhelming urge to shrink away almost pulled him back but then he felt the faint, warm hum of the black cube in his palm, and Barnaby's ghost whispered in his ear: Stand tall, young master.

Lucian took a deep breath, stepped forward, and raised the black cube directly toward the head clerk's golden ledger desk.

[Target Identified: Royal Debt Registry & Personal Holdings — Lord Robert Vance.]

[Execute Direct System Purchase via Credit Limit?]

"I want to buy everything Uncle Robert owns!" Lucian screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking with all the anger, grief, and fear he had bottled up since his parents died. "Buy his house! Buy his debt! Buy all of it!"

Auditor Kael burst into loud, hysterical laughter. "The orphan's lost his mind! Guards, throw this crazy child out into the…"

[Purchase Confirmed: 650,000 Gold Deducted.]

[Temporary Credit Limit Spent: 1,000,000 / 1,000,000 Gold.]

[Permanent Class Unlocked: Merchant God (S-Rank).]

[Mana Core Status: Upgraded from A-Rank \rightarrow S-Rank (Grandmaster Arch-Mage).]

BOOM!

A blinding, violent pillar of golden mana shattered the stained-glass ceiling of the Royal Bank, crashing down straight onto Lucian.

The sheer force of the shockwave blasted the imperial guards off their feet, glass chandeliers exploded into shimmering dust, powerful nobles screamed, scrambling across the polished floor as a suffocating, terrifying pressure filled the entire building.

Inside the golden storm, Lucian levitated a foot off the ground. The cold, empty void in his chest the missing mana core that everyone had mocked him for was violently flooded with roaring, liquid gold energy. His dark hair whipped in the wind, and when he opened his eyes, they burned with a terrifying, radiant violet light.

On the central desk, the bank's enchanted ledger burst into white flames. The golden ink reorganized itself in real-time, flashing brightly before settling.

The floating blue window in front of Lucian turned a solid, triumphant green:

[All Vance Guild Debts: CLEARED.]

[Acquired: 100% Ownership of Lord Robert Vance's Personal Manor, Estate Charters, and Noble Assets.]

The pressure subsided, and Lucian's small boots touched the cracked marble floor.

Silence fell over the destroyed hall, nobles were cowering behind pillars. Auditor Kael was flat on his stomach, trembling in pure horror, unable to comprehend the S-Rank aura radiating from a child.

Lord Robert stumbled backward, hitting the clerk's counter, his face completely drained of color. "What... what did you do?! How do you have magic?! Where is my estate charter?!"

Lucian walked forward slowly. He looked small standing in the middle of the ruined bank, holding his wooden toy dragon in one hand, but the magic humming around his skin made the room freeze.

"The ledger belongs to me now, Uncle," Lucian said, his voice small, steady, and terrifyingly clear. "You said I had until midnight to pay fifty thousand gold but I paid more."

Robert collapsed onto his knees, staring at his ten-year-old nephew as if looking at a ghost. "A... a more...?"

"You tried to take my mother and father's house," Lucian whispered, stepping right up to his kneeling uncle. "So I bought yours, Barnaby says you have until midnight to get your things and leave."

Barnaby floated right next to Lucian, folding his spectral arms with a triumphant grin as Robert buried his face in his hands, breaking down into desperate, ruined sobs in front of the entire capital noble court.

Lucian turned away from his uncle, looking up at the ceiling where the night sky showed through the broken roof.

[System Announcement: First-Time Bonus Complete.]

[Main Quest Initialized: Expand the Vance Merchant Empire.]

[Reward for Next Tier: Sovereign Domain Rights.]

Lucian squeezed his toy dragon tight, a tiny, genuine smile finally touching his face. He had saved his home and this was only the beginning.