Lesser inheritance

The moment Michael's Supreme Talent was mentioned, the elders sat up straight.

Their eyes gleamed with interest as they studied the ten-year-old boy before them.

It was rare for them to see such promise in one so young.

The mere fact that he was extremely talented in magic was enough to make him the most important grandchild in the entire Vanderbilt lineage!

But a bearer of Supreme Talent? That was another thing entirely.

The Board of Directors all looked at each other, sending silent signals with just their eyes.

They were the people who had helped build the Vanderbilt business to the behemoth it was now. They had more than enough insight to know how much of an asset Michael could become for the Vanderbilt family.

They would have probably already asked Bart to let Michael live in the Vanderbilt Kingdom so that they could nurture the kid using all of their resources.

However, when they remembered something, they quickly got disheartened, and their enthusiasm faded.

"Your child's talent is truly one in a million," said one of the old guys seated closest to the throne. "We would like nothing more than to increase the inheritance given to your son that will reflect the value we place on his future."

Upon hearing this, Bart and Lylia's expressions lit up with joy and anticipation. This had been their very goal from the very beginning.

"We are glad to hear that! Anything that helps in nurturing Michael to his full potential is welcome," Bart said respectfully, a hint of excitement in his voice.

But as he raised his head, he noticed something amiss.

"By the way… where is my father?" he asked.

The absence in the throne room was glaring. The main seat—reserved only for the legendary Vanderbilt—was empty. The most important man in the room was missing.

The old man sighed. "That is precisely the problem, Bart. Even though we advised him to stay in his room, he decided to leave and pursue some trivial matter."

Michael and Bart were both disappointed to hear that Yze Vanderbilt was absent from today's meeting.

Bart had been eager to introduce his pride and joy to his father, but it seemed the old man was too busy with something else. It was a bit disheartening.

"Is there some kind of problem?" Michael asked out loud.

From the way the old man had phrased his words, he made it seem like there was some kind of complication that they couldn't solve without the main Vanderbilt man himself.

"Your child is very astute," the old man sighed. "There is indeed a problem. Although we would like to give young Michael a lot more monetary funding and assistance, without Yze here himself, it will not be possible."

Bart stood up, indignation painted on his face. "What do you mean? I thought you said my son deserves all the help from the family?"

The old man raised his hand and tried to calm Bart down. "Truthfully, none of us were expecting little Michael to be this talented. We only heard that he was good at magic, and so, we only decided to allocate a lesser inheritance for him."

"Had we known that Michael would receive a Supreme Skill, we would have planned to endow him with a far greater inheritance—perhaps even letting him study abroad under the best care possible."

Bart ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Can't you change that?"

"That is the problem. If Yze were here, he could have certainly overturned the decision. But unfortunately, he is unavailable at this time."

Lylia stood up as well. "Should we reschedule this meeting, then?"

But the old man shook his head. "Unfortunately, that won't be possible. After today, the remaining inheritance will be divided among the entire lineage. By the time Yze returns, there will be nothing left for Michael to receive."

Bart clenched his fists, but the old man continued before he could protest.

"Do not worry. It's not as if the inheritance Michael will receive is something to scoff at."

"We have decided to give the entire territory of the Parched Lands to Michael, the youngest son of the Vanderbilt Family."

Upon hearing this, Bart couldn't help but sigh in relief.

The elder Board of Directors had made it seem like Michael wasn't going to receive anything good. But Bart knew that although the Parched Lands was a barren wasteland, it was still a large enough estate that Michael could sell for a lot of money.

"Parched Lands? Dad, what's that?" Michael asked.

Bart glanced at his son. "The Parched Lands is a large territory south of our continent, son. Most of it is uninhabitable, so there are only monsters and demi-humans living there."

"Oh, right. You asked me earlier where we can get that 'petroleum oil' that you've been asking about for your 'engine' project, right? Well, most of it can be found in the Parched Lands."

Michael's eyes widened.

Once Michael heard that, an idea suddenly popped up in his mind. It was so crazy that he almost felt goosebumps from the sheer potential of it.

In his previous world, wars had been waged solely for the reason of oil acquisition.

Yet this world treated petroleum oil as nothing useful other than lighting fires.

But Michael knew its true potential.

Since he had already invented the engine, he could finally harness electrical energy using petroleum as fuel!

So many things flashed through his mind.

Light bulbs, trains, heating, cars… everything would become possible with petroleum!

What if I move there? I could build my own house that works entirely on electricity!

And in the future, if he started selling his inventions to the world, they would finally realize the true value of petroleum.

Now, who would be the one to provide oil for them?

It would be the guy who owned the Parched Lands!

The potential for this business was too tempting to pass up.

"Michael, this is good," Bart and Lylia said to their son with excitement. "If you sell the Parched Lands, you can have more than a hundred million gold coins! This is already a sizable inheritance!"

"Ha…haha…" Michael could only laugh for now.

Inwardly, he was already preparing himself for the moment he revealed his plans to move there.

His mother was surely going to have a fit.