Became an Assistant at the Bank #2(2)
"Ugh, you really think you're lucky. We're not usually this easygoing. You know how rough we Hound mercenaries can be."
Rockefeller still smirked at them, showing his back teeth subtly.
"Please use our services again next time. We'll do well for you then too."
As the three mercenaries, confidently saying they probably won't meet again, left the shop, Carter, who had been quietly listening to their conversation from inside, approached Rockefeller.
"You did well. If it were me, I would have charged one shilling per dalant for the exchange. That's what I did for the Hound mercenary group a few years back."
But Rockefeller shook his head.
"You shouldn't do that. We're not in a position to be needy, so there's no need to go that far."
Sometimes, audacity was necessary in business.
"Anyway, those guys probably had no other place to exchange their money. Plus, dalants are so big that other shops won't accept them."
One dalant was equivalent to about a month's salary for a rural worker.
"So it must have been somewhat burdensome to go to the market and buy goods with such a large amount of money."
"The merchants probably weren't in a position to give large change either."
"That's why I could afford to be this bold."
"What if they decided to leave?"
"Just haggle gently. You saw that they didn’t leave right away because they were reluctant, didn’t you?"
"What would you have done if they had acted aggressively? They seemed like people who have been through rough times."
"There's a seer barracks right next to the store. Do you think they would have done that? Earlier, it looked like they were cautious about causing a commotion among themselves."
"True, a foreigner causing trouble in another's territory won’t end well. Now that I think about it, you’re right, the seer barracks are right next door. Well done."
In Carter’s eyes, Rockefeller definitely did a good job.
Better than himself.
"You seem to do the job better than me. I don't have that kind of courage. I'm a born coward."
"Thank you for seeing it that way."
"Ugh, it seems you need some boldness to make money in this business. I definitely feel it more now when you're not around."
"Thank you."
Carter suddenly remembered the recent decline in the secret gold trading.
"But lately, it seems like the arrival of gold has been really scarce. Is there something going on that I don't know about?"
Rockefeller, who couldn't bring nonexistent gold and for whom secret gold trading wasn't important anymore, lied without changing his expression.
"I'm not really sure either? It seems like the contacts have suddenly stopped recently……."
"Have you heard nothing from that person?"
"No, there's been no particular news."
Carter, whose only benefit from the secret gold trading was the profit, seemed inwardly disappointed.
"Hmm... It was small but quite profitable. It's a pity that the smuggler suddenly disappeared... But it's not too regrettable since you're doing your job well."
"It was a minor deal anyway, right? Maybe they've found another route since the contact has been scarce. It's not like this is the only place for smuggling, right?"
"True, I should have bargained harder. What was so lacking that they ended the deal?"
"Forget it. Instead, I'm working hard, aren't I?"
"Yes, it's good that at least you're here. Had I known you had such skills, I would have made you my assistant earlier."
Still, the desire for more money was in his nature.
Carter, deeply sighing, suddenly started to show his regret about the gold coins quietly sleeping in the warehouse.
"Now that I've done as you said, I finally have enough money to lend out..."
In the past, he would have only lent his own gold coins, but now he was secretly lending out even the gold coins entrusted to him by his clients. However, this also came with its own worries.
"The problem is, there's no one to lend all these gold coins to. It doesn't seem right to lend to just anyone; they might just turn their backs on me. I wish someone as creditworthy as a lord would come and borrow some gold..."
Rockefeller, watching him swallow his regret, also fell into thought.
'The orc subjugation is just the beginning.'
The frequent orc sightings near the Montefeltro territory were just the beginning.
The full-scale war between dwarves and orcs, instigated by goblin trickery, had yet to begin.
If the friction between these two forces indirectly affected the territory, there was much for Rockefeller, who was engaged in financial maneuvers, to look forward to.
‘I bet things will get even more chaotic than now. War always brings that friend called money.’