“That was… obviously just talk. I’m not an outsider; I pay taxes and do business here. Do you think it's easy to do as you say? It was a statement made to prepare for the worst-case scenario. I had no intention of getting on the lord's bad side at all.”
"Why did you even bother to take this promissory note if you're not going to trade with others? It's completely useless if you have no use for it,"
Carter retorted with a frown.
"That's why I hate these scraps of paper. They're not gold or money, just simple pieces of paper that rely solely on my credit," Carter explained.
"Plus, no one even accepts this promissory note. Who would dare to go to the lord and ask for gold outright? Of course, from the perspective of the person holding the promissory note, it's their rightful privilege, but the other party is the lord. It's a difficult situation. So if things go wrong, we could end up being the target of their frustration," Carter continued.
"It's ridiculous. Are you saying they take out their frustration on us as if we've done something wrong?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Powerless people like us can't say a word against the lord, but that's not the case for us. Not only are we already under scrutiny from the church for engaging in usury, but if public sentiment turns against us, we could unjustly become the victims of witch-hunts. Who knows if we'll be labeled as the devil's children and dragged to the square to be burned alive? So we have to be careful."
After pondering for a moment, Rockefeller lightly snapped his fingers.
"I've come up with a good idea. It would be better to do it this way."
"Do you have a good idea?"
"Lend me your ear for a moment."
Rockefeller whispered his just-thought idea to Carter.
Carter, after listening to Rockefeller's explanation for a while, started nodding his head.
"That's brilliant indeed. How did you come up with such an idea?"
Rockefeller smiled faintly.
'Money is usually born that way.'
"How so?"
Money and Currency.
Rockefeller knew precisely the difference that most people are unaware of.
'Currency is usually a deception. And the ultimate world I envision starts from such deception.'
"If that's the case, even the lord will have no choice."
The idea that he thought was brilliant was fleeting.
Due to his timid personality, Carter inadvertently revealed his suddenly rising worries.
"But I wonder, won't this cause a problem? I can't seem to get a handle on it."
Rockefeller spoke with confidence.
"If there is a problem, it's naturally not ours but the lord's. What wrong have we done? We've only used the promissory note provided by the lord."
"Well, that's true but..."
"Ultimately, it wasn't us who wrote this promissory note, but the lord himself. If a problem arises, it's only natural to take it up with the lord."
That did make sense.
However, he was too timid to put it into action.
"I don't really know... I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do."
Rockefeller was not unaware of his timid nature.
"But if you follow my advice, you can make a lot of money. The more a debtor with good credit borrows, the more interest we earn."
Still hesitating, Rockefeller shared the most memorable advice of his life.
"Mr. Carter. This is the motto of our family."
Of course, there was no such family motto in the Rosmedici household. It was a hastily concocted statement.
"To gain something, you ultimately have to stake something. So, you can't make a fortune without risking anything."
It was a statement with some substance.
After some hesitation, Carter reluctantly agreed with Rockefeller's idea.
However, he was unwilling to take the lead himself.
"Fine. But let's make it so that you're entirely responsible for this. As far as this matter is concerned, I know nothing about it."
Since it was all within Rockefeller's expectations, he wasn't too upset.
However, he had no intention of taking all the risks himself.
"Alright. Let's do that. But promise me this one thing."
"What are you talking about?"
Rockefeller thought about what the best outcome he could achieve in this situation was.
'I can't hope for too much. Probably, this is the best realistic outcome.'
"Give me half of the profits from this venture. Until now, I've only been receiving incentives, but from now on, I want half of the profits."
Had anyone ever seen such a bold assistant?
No matter how well the job is done, it's absurd to ask for half of the profits when you've only just started working!
“That seems like a lot of money. What exactly does a young guy like you want with so much cash?”
Faced with a clumsy rebuttal, Rockefeller gave a faint smile, like his own trademark.
“Have you forgotten? I may be young, but I’m the head of a household. That amount of money isn’t too excessive for me.”
