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The Lyon Guild (5)
Bishop Verkis's face showed doubt.
"Help?"
"Yes. If I continue to hold the church's property, pressure from the guild will begin in some way. First, I would be expelled from the guild."
"I can't stop you from being expelled from the guild. That's not something I can do."
"I'm not asking you to stop me from being expelled from the guild. I know very well that you can't stop it."
"Then how do you want me to help?"
Rockefeller had thought about it earlier.
If he were to join hands with one of the two, he might have to wage war with the other one.
'Maybe this was the path I should have taken.'
As a result of giving up the path to becoming a remote lord, Rockefeller's current status was neither more nor less than that of a commoner.
However, the position of the Lyon Guild Master, which held one of the two alliances in Banco, was not overlooked by the Empire.
In any case, they could provide a large amount of money to the empire and the royal family, and for that reason, they had a deep connection with the royal family. The empire also gave some courtesy to the Lyon Guild Master.
That was the treatment of nobility.
'There are different ranks among the nobility. The Lyon Guild Master is equivalent to the fourth-ranked baron among the five ranks of the empire.'
In the hereditary noble class, the highest was the Duke, and the lowest was the Earl. The baron's position was not bad compared to the expectations.
'A commoner can't become a duke overnight. It might be the most realistic rise in status.'
If Rockefeller had driven out Lord Chester and become the lord of the Montefeltro territory, he would have probably had the status of an Earl.
'Even if you are a lord, if the position of the territory is low, the class must be low as well.'
In most cases, when a territory was acquired, one would become a viscount, the third of the five ranks, but that was only possible if the territory had a certain status. In the case of a very insignificant territory located on the outskirts of the empire, which could be lost at any time, it stayed in a lower position than the baron.
However, not all remote lords received the same treatment.
In some cases, the remote territory was considered very important, and it was called a change-back and received treatment higher than a viscount.
This meant that the treatment of the ruler of the land varied depending on the value of the land, even though it was the land on the outskirts of the empire.
'That's why the saying, "The land is the lord, and the lord is the land," was born.'
In other words, the Montefeltro territory had a significantly lower importance in the empire, and for that reason, the Montefeltro lord had to remain an earl.
In fact, the Montefeltro lord had the status of an earl, higher than a knight.
'If you break down the noble class further, there is the knight class lower than the earl and the grand duke higher than the duke, but there is no need to think that much.'
Anyway.
If he became the Lyon Guild Master, he could become a higher-ranking noble than a remote lord, and Rockefeller began to think about taking the position.
'I didn't think about it, but this was a position I had to take eventually if I wanted to control the empire's finances.'
Fortunately, the position of the Lyon Guild Master was not hereditary.
Traditionally, the Lyon Guild Master was chosen by gathering all the Banco operators belonging to the Lyon Guild, holding a meeting, and voting.
So, if several Banco operators belonging to the Lyon Guild strongly supported him, it would be no problem for Rockefeller to take the position of the Guild Master.
'And I can't work properly under such a guy. How can I make money if he's so tight? I can't make it.'
With that in mind, Rockefeller continued.
"In order to make the interest payment on the gold deposit a matter of course, I have no choice but to change the thinking of the Guild Master here. However, after talking with Guild Master Benjamin, I concluded that interest payment on gold deposits is absolutely impossible as long as he exists. You probably know this as well. You know more about the Guild Master here than I do."
"You're right. The guy is too greedy for money and will try to rip off the gold storage fee. He's not the kind of person to give interest."
"Then what do you think is the right thing to do in this situation?"
Bishop Verkis's face tightened slightly.
"So... what do you want to say?"
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