Black Label Union #4(1)
When the monopoly of the banco business was granted to the Lyon Guild at the discretion of the Chancellor, the empire's soldiers swooped in on the Union's banco dealers in Ransadt City. They bluntly ordered the banco dealers to close their shops immediately, accusing them of breaking the law. Thus, the banco dealers hurriedly found their leader in the Union and started to discuss their plans.
"What does this mean? Only the Lyon Guild can do business in Black Label from now on?"
"But the imperial soldiers are telling us not to do business here! It's the Chancellor's order!"
"What on earth did we do to the Chancellor to make him do this to us?"
"It's you who has ruined everything! We've just been losing customers, because of the guys from the Lyon Guild! What are we going to do now?"
The Union leader was on the verge of losing his patience because of the uproarious Union banco dealers.
"No matter how much you hate me, is that the way you treat me like this? I won't leave this Chancellor just like that!"
He stood up abruptly and headed straight to where the Chancellor was, fending off the Union banco dealers who were frustrated that they couldn't tame him. As before, he slammed the soldiers following him with strength and raised his voice.
"What is this about! Why are we told to not do business! And what is this nonsense about only the Lyon Guild being allowed to do business?"
The Chancellor, who knew the Union leader would come with an angry face, welcomed him with a calm appearance.
"Nice to see you. I have been waiting for you to come like this."
"What? You've been waiting? Is that what you're saying right now!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I know everything."
The Chancellor struggled to calm the excited Union leader and informed him about the incident with Rockefeller.
Then, the Union leader's face turned red and he could not contain his anger.
"So you're saying you gave the monopoly to the Lyon Guild because of that guy? After all we've done for you! Who did you borrow money from when you needed it urgently!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I just granted them monopoly because they kept asking. But think differently."
The Chancellor's continuing smile was disgusting to even the Union leader.
"If someone proposes a lower interest rate, who do you think I would give that monopoly to?"
There was no need to think deeply rationally.
How can there be rationality when you can't even open your shop right now?
The slightly emotional Union leader shouted.
"Then we'll offer 2.5% interest! We'll lend you all the money you want at a 2.5% interest rate!"
Thus, the monopoly of Black Label's banco business was transferred back to the Union.
This time, the imperial soldiers visited bancos of the Lyon Guild operating in Holant and immediately issued a business suspension order.
Rockefeller, who heard the news, brought his secretary and went to see the Chancellor without any confusion.
The Chancellor, who anticipated Rockefeller's visit, already had a long smile on his face.
"Welcome. I knew you would offer a lower interest rate than that pirate. It is so predictable."
"The reason for your visit is predictable; just tell me your purpose simply."
Rockfel already anticipated this situation and got straight to the point. "This will be the last time. Even if they lower the interest rate over there, they probably won't have any money to lend anyway."
"If they propose 2.5 percent, we will propose 2 percent," Rockfeller said confidently. The chancellor a satisfied smile.
"Alright then I will the monopoly back to you."
The chancellor, who seemed to enjoying this situation, immediately ordered his soldiers to enforce business suspension on the Banco merchants in Ransadt. Meanwhile, Rockfeller returned to his own shop and gathered the nearby guild members to increase the deposit interest rate from the existing 1 percent to 2 percent. It was a deliberate move to raise the stakes.
As result, even the hidden money that had been sleeping in Black Label and the gold merchants who had not thought of moving from Union Banco to another were all gathering at the Lyon Guild's Banco shop.
There was no reason to leave their money at the Union Banco shop, which only charged a gold fee, when the deposit interest rate was a whopping 2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Union representative, was struggling with the reduced loan interest of 2, made up his mind when he saw Banco merchants screaming in front of him.
"Since it has come to this," he thought, devoid of any thinking. The logic of boldly proposing a 0 percent interest rate went like this: "Let's just kill them a 0 percent interest rate. We're 0 percent, so what can they do?"
A Banco merchant raises his concerns.
"Wait, then how are we supposed to make a living? If the rate is 0 percent, there will be no profit."
"Why would there be no profit? Do we only lend money to the chancellor? We also have the interest income from customers, as well as gold storage fees. Plus, there's a commission for converting gold into silver."
The Union representative spoke up. "Let's endure a little longer. What can those guys do?"
However, his thinking was too short-sighted. Due to the flood of customers who came to Banco and exchanged gold coins, Union-affiliated Banco merchants were practically on the verge of bankruptcy.
"The chancellor probably doesn't even want a small amount of money from us. Do you have confidence in being able to gather that much?"
The Union representative looked at the gathered banco merchants and spoke. "How many are people here? How much is the cost of building a warship?"
"That's all in the past. We don't have any money even if we go to exchange gold coins and there is no money left in the vault. How can we lend such a large sum of money?"
"That's right, even if I want to lend, I don't have any money."
The Union representative clicked tongue. "Tsk tsk, with promissory notes, it should be possible."
"Do you think promise notes can solve such a large sum of money? They probably still demand a certain amount of gold coins from over there."
"Then where can we borrow from? If we can just resolve this situation now, everything will be fine, just like before."
"What about before! They came here deliberately! Do you think they will go back unless they die?"
There was, however, a more realistic alternative.
"Wouldn't it be better to hire an assassin and kill the guild leader over there?"
All eyes were on him.
"That seems like a realistic option. If we are already spilling blood, our funds are already flowing to the other side, and a long-term war will be difficult. If it were the beginning, it might be a different story, but now we can't fight. Besides, we..."
His gaze turned towards the Union representative who had been staring at him intently.
"It’s because of this representative here that we not only take deposit interest, but also charge gold storage fees. Will we be able to fight against those who give deposit interest? Anyway, people would prefer the Lyon Guild over us."
Another Banco merchant echoed his words. "That's right, The previous guild leader of Lyon over there raised a fuss about the gold storage fees and ended up losing everything. We shouldn't be late either. Let's immediately follow their example and get rid of the gold storage and even give deposit interest."
At that moment, the watching Union representative’s expression grimaced and he spoke with a contorted face
"What the damn deposit interest! If we win this fight, we won't need to give deposit interest forever. We just need to get rid of him instead..."
As he was about to continue, a strong earthquake occurred in the Union representative's office, obscuring his words.
Someone's voice echoed clearly in his head.
‘Warren... Why are you suddenly acting like this?’
"Uh... Uh... No, it's not... No..."
The Union representative involuntarily grimaced.
'Is Ismail betraying us? They told us not to solve the matter like this...'
But that wasn't the only thing.
'And a warning... What’s this...'
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