"Well, they say that a young assistant working there led an operation to capture a local lord."
"Capture the lord?"
"Yes, they turned the lord into a complete debtor and put him under their control."
The candid expression was pleasing to Rockefeller.
"So, how much do you know about this?"
"I only know that much. It's unbelievable that a powerless banker like us could capture a lord. I thought it was a lie when I first heard it."
"But has the story already spread this far?"
"Of course! A simple banker captured a lord, so it would be even stranger if the rumor didn't spread."
Until now, bankers had been nothing more than powerless subjects.
But one of them suddenly captured a lord, so it would have been strange if the rumor hadn't spread.
"The young assistant, who is said to have just come of age, fearlessly carried out such a feat."
The shop owner, who had been talking excitedly, began to notice that the rumored assistant's appearance overlapped with the young man standing before him.
"Where are you from?"
Faced with the question about his identity, Rockefeller hesitated for a moment.
'Should I tell him?'
His identity would be revealed soon at the guild meeting in two weeks anyway.
But there was no need to reveal it here, so he decided to listen to the objective evaluations of himself circulating among the bankers first.
"I'm just a passerby. I was interested in the rumor and happened to stop by your shop. I wanted to confirm if the rumor was true."
"I see. There are quite a few people like you. Although the territory is located in the outskirts, people are curious about how a simple banker captured the lord, so they come here to ask. Anyway, it's a story about a banker, so it spreads quickly among us."
He continued.
"Our circle is quite small. We are just a few connections away from knowing each other. Well, we're all in the same guild, so it's possible."
Rockefeller asked him what he had been curious about.
"So, what do you think?"
"What do I think?"
"I'm curious about your thoughts on the assistant."
"Well, I can only say that he's incredible. I don't know exactly how it was possible, but now that bank is in a great position. They don't have to worry about anything anymore, and unless a sudden group of thieves attacks, what big problems could they have? We, the other bankers, are just envious."
"I see."
The banker suddenly opened his mouth as if he had remembered something.
"Oh, there was that incident too."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's not a recent event, but... there are quite a lot of rumors about it."
Rockefeller roughly guessed what he was trying to say, but decided to pretend he didn't know for now.
"What is it?"
"Well... this is more of an internal issue among us."
"Can you not tell me?"
The story of paying interest to the person who entrusted the gold coins.
The banker seemed to consider it quite sensitive and tried to hold back his words.
"This is a rather sensitive issue, so it's not appropriate to discuss here. It's a very sensitive matter that could potentially affect our business and other businesses."
"Is that so?"
"It's difficult to say what it is here, but our opinions are divided among the bankers. Some believe it's right, others are fighting over it."
It seemed to be a story about paying interest.
Rockefeller, pretending to know nothing, asked him again.
"What do you think about that issue?"
"Ha ha, are you asking me without even knowing what it is?"
As he asked with a smile, Rockefeller responded with a gentle smile.
"I'm just curious."
"Well... I'm not sure yet. It would be crazy if it was just a crazy act, but the result is good. So I'm in a dilemma."
"Is that all?"
At this point, the shop owner frowned.
"Why are you so persistent in asking? Did someone send you? You don't look like an ordinary person."
When he became suspicious, Rockefeller decided to be honest.
After all, his identity would be revealed when he saw the guild meeting.
"I am his assistant."
"What? What did you just say?"
"I am the rumored assistant."
At this, the shop owner showed a quite surprised expression.
"So... you are that..."
Rockefeller, still smiling, pointed to himself.
"Yes, that's right."
"But why did you come all the way from the remote territory?"
"I briefly visited Lyon to become a goldsmith. I've already met the guild master, and I'm curious about how the story of my business is being heard by the existing bankers, so I came to visit."
"Oh... Oh, I see. You were his assistant. The one who caught that lord..."
The shop owner, who was rambling in surprise, regained his composure and began to treat Rockefeller.
He was also interested in the rumored assistant.
"First, have a seat here. Do you need tea?"
When he met the guild master, he was beaten with a cane instead of tea.
But here, he was treated fairly well, and Rockefeller felt a strange feeling.
"No, I'm fine."
"No, I'll feel bad if you don't. Do you want black tea? Or I also have herbal tea. Both are delicious. We only use the highest quality in this store."
"Then I'll have the herbal tea."
After a while, the shop owner brought the herbal tea and sat down comfortably opposite Rockefeller.
"You were the rumored assistant."
The shop owner's gaze changed 180 degrees as he learned Rockefeller's identity.
"Yes, I happened to come to Lyon. But the guild master seems to have a lot of complaints about me."
At that, the shop owner began to nod vigorously.
"It's natural. The losses caused by you must be significant."
Rockefeller, who thought there was no need to be too cautious with the friendly shop owner, continued.
"What do you think about the business I started? I'm curious whether you or other bankers think the same as the guild master here."
"To be honest, I'm fifty-fifty. As I mentioned earlier, I really don't know. Plus, wasn't there a precedent where you caught a lord? So I'm even more unsure."
Rockefeller nodded alone.
'It seems that the rumor of me catching a lord is working quite positively here. It's natural since there's already a successful case.'
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