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Guild Meeting #2 (10)
Ismail.
Well-known as one of the three great houses in the novel, was quite famous for its clean assassinations and murder.
It was also a strong supporter of the Black Label Union, one of the two bank coalitions in the empire.
'I didn't expect the head of the family to come in person.'
In the past, Ismail, which had a notorious reputation as an assassination family, was incredibly powerful, enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other two famous families for their swordsmanship and magic. However, due to their relationship with the heretics called the Blind Order, they had been severely suppressed by the alliance of the two families and had lost their former prestige.
'If it's Ricardo, he became the head of the family at a young age when the previous head died.'
Rockefeller, who is sure that the person who came to see him is the head of the assassination house, speaks with a hidden expression.
"Seeing you smile, it's not that bad."
If he is indeed the head of the Ismail family, why did he come to see me?
Rockefeller could easily guess the reason.
'It must be because the Black Label Union was damaged by the interest payments.'
Many people have been coming to Lyon in search of interest income from gold deposits.
Among them, there must have been people who had been trading with the Black Label Union in the past.
But the problem is that they took out the gold they had entrusted and went to the banks in Lyon, so it seemed that the Ismail family, who were their sponsors, intervened directly.
'Is there any other reason why they would come to me? I don't know, but if he is the head of the family, I must be right.'
On top of that, the head of the family moved directly.
This meant that the matter was more sensitive than expected.
'Either way, being cautious wouldn't hurt.'
"Do you know about goldsmithing or other things?"
Ricardo Ismail.
He was the owner of an assassination house far from goldsmithing.
However, as befitting his nickname of "A Man of Thousand Faces," he was very talented and could easily learn and imitate any task.
The work of a goldsmith?
It wasn't a difficult task for him.
It wasn't perfect, but he can easily imitate it to some extent.
"Yes."
To his short answer, Rockefeller asked again.
"How skilled are you?"
"I'm not perfect, but I don't think you'll be too disappointed."
Rockefeller, who had been nodding lightly, stopped what he was doing and began to move to greet him.
'For now, let's pretend to be fooled. After all, he didn't come here thinking of becoming a real assistant.'
"Let's go upstairs first. What kind of tea do you prefer?"
To his question, the unidentified guest replied with a fake smile.
"Whatever you feel comfortable serving."
"Then herb tea would be nice. Please wait a moment."
Even though he knew that he would not drink it.
Rockefeller served tea as a courtesy and sat face to face with him.
"Now, let's drink. It's best to drink tea before it cools."
As Rockefeller had expected, he didn't seem to want to drink the tea he had served.
The probability of poisoning the tea would be slim, but it's still a precaution.
"I'll drink the tea slowly."
Rockefeller had no intention of forcing it on such an opponent.
'I bet he has poisoned many opponents like this. Well, even if he's done it all along, can he really drink the tea someone else serves?'
Instead, he threw a formal question at him.
"I didn't ask your name. What is your name?"
"Thomas Martel. I'm a commoner."
"Thomas... Is there a background to your involvement in this matter?"
"Not much. I needed money, and I heard people were needed, so I applied for this job."
"I see. Do you really need a big reason? If you need money, you can do this job."
After that, very formal questions and answers about assistant recruitment began to go back and forth.
In fact, since they had little meaning to both of them, Rockefeller did not attach much importance to asking.
During that time.
The first strike came from the other party.
"I heard that you pay interest income to those who deposit gold."
"Yes, it is now mandatory by the guild's charter for all banks belonging to the Lyon Guild to pay interest income."
At Rockefeller's answer, the other party narrowed his eyes and continued.
"Have you ever thought it was wrong?"
"Wrong? In what way?"
"I also agree with the idea of generating income through it. The results prove it. But if people are harmed by it, will they really stay still? I'm asking about that part."
At his words, Rockefeller pretended to think.
"People who are harmed will not stay still... Are you talking about the bankers belonging to the Black Label Union, by any chance?"
"Yes. I said that because I thought they wouldn't stay still since they were harmed."
Rockefeller pretended to think for a moment and then answered with a kind smile.
"Aren't we all living in a world of competition? If there is a good side, the bad side will naturally be eliminated. This is the law of nature."
After hearing Rockefeller's answer, the other party seemed to think for a moment and immediately threw the next question.
"Even if it's the law of nature, wouldn't there be cases where those who have suffered hire thugs to make things difficult for you? Depending on the situation, they could even hire assassins from Ismail, as the Black Label Union has a good relationship with them."
What he just said was a kind of warning.
A warning to be cautious as they had a close relationship with the assassination family.
However, Rockefeller showed no sign of backing down.
He knew that things would go his way anyway.
"That's a dangerous statement. Of course, I think it's entirely possible. After all, the power struggles of adults are different from children's games, and there may be bloodshed."
Rockefeller emphasized his point by raising one index finger.
"But the tide of change has already begun. Regardless of what happens to me, the interest payment method has already shown its results, and it can never go back to the way it was before."
Rockefeller smiled again.
"Can the guild members here, who have tasted the money, really go back to the way things were? I think it's difficult."
Rockefeller's words had a point.
Just looking at the current atmosphere, the effect of interest payments from gold coin deposits was truly tremendous.
Almost all the gold coins in the empire were being sucked into Lyon.
So, it seemed very difficult for guild members who had experienced the effect to return to the past when there were no interest payments on deposits.
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