Rockefeller immediately went inside the store to see Carter, who had the keys to the safe.
He was there to retrieve the dalant to give to the lord.
At that moment, Carter was sitting quietly with an unhappy expression.
Rockefeller, seeing the bundle of promissory notes he was holding, could roughly guess the reason.
'So many uncollected debts. Given the lord's credit, it's a trivial amount, but enough to upset him.'
In a typical case, these bonds should have returned to the lord and been converted back into gold coins.
With interest, no less.
However, at some point, the lord began to only write IOUs and take the store's gold coins.
That was why Carter's expression had turned so grim, holding nothing but pieces of paper instead of gold coins.
"Excuse me, sir? The lord is here. He's asking for 100 dalants. What should we do?"
At Rockefeller's question, Carter, who had been scowling, nodded his head in agreement.
The counterpart was the owner of this domain.
Even if he didn't like it, he had no choice but to comply with his demands.
'I really would have made a scene if it weren't for this lord here.'
As soon as the lord who borrowed 100 dalants from the bank left, Carter came to Rockefeller and started pouring out his complaints.
It was a complaint about the lord.
"Seriously, it feels like it was just yesterday that he borrowed money. Why is he borrowing again? Doesn't the lord have any money?"
"Why are you suddenly like this, sir? Isn't it naturally good for us if the lord, who has good credit, borrows a lot of money?"
Carter, holding a bundle of the lord's promissory notes in his hand, raised his voice to Rockefeller.
"You can't just keep borrowing without limits! How can it be good if you only borrow without repaying! Rockefeller, this is just worthless paper."
Rockefeller deeply agreed with this.
'Right. Just as you said, they're nothing but worthless pieces of paper.'
Carter then took out a gold coin from his pocket and showed it to Rockefeller, continuing his speech.
"Real money is this, not those flimsy pieces of paper."
Rockefeller opened his mouth with a gentle smile to calm him down.
"Still, as long as the lord's credit remains intact, it doesn't seem like there will be a problem, right? He's paying the interest on time, and there's no immediate risk of default, so it's better for us to lend more. The money we lend can be recovered without an issue, right?"
Carter was a goldsmith with quite a bit of experience.
Therefore, he was very familiar with the process of how a prime debtor turns into a subprime debtor.
"Rockefeller, you don't fully understand how a bad debtor is created. Not all bad debtors were terrible from the start. Most of them were once good debtors like the lord who just visited, with good credit and paying interest on time."
He continued with a displeased expression.
"But when such good debtors start failing to repay on time and just sell their credit for gold, that's when they become the bad debtors that make both you and me shiver."
Carter's intuition was telling him something.
That the lord was emanating the scent of a subprime, a bad debtor.
'If he starts delaying the principal repayment and then the interest payments, there's a good chance he'll end up like those guys. Especially those with power tend to do so. They are the worst kind of debtors.'
"From now on, even if it's a lord, don't lend money recklessly. First, you have to claim you don't have any money. And only when they start repaying the borrowed money, consider lending again. We're not digging up land to do business, nor can we keep lending to someone who doesn't repay."
Rockefeller also knew Carter's worries, but his thoughts were different.
While Carter was concerned about the lord's default on debt, Rockefeller saw it as an 'opportunity' to take advantage of.
‘Why be wary of such a bonanza already? If it were me, I would set things up and take a bite.’
Carter was fretting because he feared not being able to recover the money from the lord, the debtor, in case of a future default.
The lord was an omnipotent ruler in this land.
How could a mere goldsmith, who pays taxes to such a ruler, dare to challenge him?
But Rockefeller was different.
"Didn't I intentionally not restrict the promissory note so it could be traded with others?"
The promissory note written by the lord wasn't limited to being traded only here.
It could very well be traded with other places, other powers.
Therefore, it was more than just a simple piece of paper.
It was akin to a death trap that could rob him of everything in an instant.
‘I've been wondering for a while how to take over this land, and now I'm starting to get a rough picture.’
Buying a perfectly good domain with one's own money was a fool's errand.
"In fact, there's a better way. And it's not just about getting a fair price, it's about getting it dirt cheap and smashing it properly."
Banks sometimes lend money excessively, not because they are kind, but for other reasons.
Behind the masks they wear, there lies a more sinister devil, and Rockefeller knew all too well the methods they employed.
‘Killing someone with a sword is primitive and somewhat low-grade.’
Those who are educated kill in a different manner.
‘To kill with more dignity, you crush them with debt.’
