Money is Faith (2)
The quiet girl suddenly raised her voice, causing the man with her to be momentarily flustered, but he quickly composed himself.
Such incidents had happened before.
"Show respect, commoner. She is a person of high standing," the man said sternly.
Rockefeller, unfazed, respectfully greeted the girl, having experienced similar situations before.
'Is she nobility?'
Rockefeller had sensed it from the start, but what he hadn't anticipated was that among the two, the girl was the superior.
She appeared to be a young lady from a noble family.
And the man accompanying her seemed to be her attendant.
Rockefeller made this guess.
'But which family do they belong to? They seem unfamiliar.'
In the Montefeltro territory, where the nobility and affluent reside, there were hardly any people unknown to Rockefeller.
Having worked in the bank, he had seen almost everyone at least once or twice.
'So, are they from outside the region?'
"I am sorry for not recognizing you. I am new to this job and still struggle to recognize important figures. Please forgive me."
Rockefeller politely asked for forgiveness, and the man, satisfied, closed his mouth.
As the atmosphere for conversation was somewhat set, the man gave a signal, and the girl spoke to Rockefeller.
"What is your name, to begin with?"
Names weren't important in this place.
What mattered was the family and the house he belonged to.
So, the girl's inquiry about his name was to find out where Rockefeller came from.
Knowing about someone's family or house allowed one to roughly guess what kind of person they were.
"My name is Rockefeller Rothsmedici."
"Rothsmedici?"
It was the first time she had heard of such a place.
Still, just to be sure, she looked at the man, who signaled that there was no issue.
"You may speak freely with this individual."
The man's words implied that it was acceptable to do anything to the boy, whether it was slapping his cheek on a whim or even killing him.
However, she was merely driven by curiosity and had no intention of causing harm to Rockefeller.
"Rothsmedici... This is the first time I'm hearing of it. I have something I'd like to ask you, a commoner."
"Yes, I'll answer whatever you ask."
"Didn't you feel anything wrong with the promissory note we traded earlier?"
Rockefeller inadvertently raised his head to make eye contact with the girl but hurriedly lowered it again.
It was just for a moment, but the eye contact they made felt quite cold.
'It's my first time having a conversation like this, so it feels very unfamiliar. Besides, I think I just made a mistake.'
Even when the lord visited, he had never had such a conversation.
Thus, he unintentionally made a mistake, but the girl seemed not to mind it much.
"I'd like us to talk while looking at each other, if that's okay? I prefer a relaxed conversation."
Upon the girl's request, the man quietly nodded.
Rockefeller's presence was deemed so insignificant that it wouldn't be a problem even if the boy saw her face.
As soon as the man gave his permission, the girl who had taken off her hood herself continued speaking.
"Lift your head and look at me comfortably. I want to have a relaxed conversation."
As Rockefeller lifted his head, a girl with maroon hair was staring intently at him.
'I don't think I've ever seen a noble young lady before.'
She definitely felt different from the naive peasant girls of the same age, perhaps because she was a noble young lady.
Was it a feeling of being difficult to approach?
This was not only because the girl was a noble young lady, but the intimidation came more from her superior appearance.
'But in the end, she's just a green kid.'
Realizing that he possessed the mind of an adult, Rockefeller relaxed his mind, and the girl facing him asked again.
"Now answer me. Did you not sense any problem there?"
Since he was told to be comfortable, he had no choice but to respond comfortably.
"Yes, I didn't sense any problem there. In fact, I would like to ask you why you are asking that."
Despite making the atmosphere comfortable, the man's attitude changed subtly, prompting another man to slightly furrow his brow.
'Is he not afraid?'
Normally, a serf wouldn't dare step on the shadow of a noble, and it was not much different for a commoner.
In situations where those of lower status converse with nobility, it's commonplace for them to be nervous and uneasy. Yet, astonishingly, a mere commoner, whose family background isn't even well-known, could speak so composedly to a lady of a high-ranking family.
The man, slightly displeased, soon guessed the reason behind it.
'Is it because he's still a child and knows no fear? Or perhaps... working continuously at the bank has made him view the nobility as somewhat approachable?'
Even the high-nosed nobles occasionally softened their overbearing attitudes at the bank.
Having to entrust their precious money or borrow some, they inevitably had to do so, and the boy working at the bank might be the reason, the man surmised.
'How can he look at me like that? Normally, they can't even make proper eye contact.'
This was also true for the girl facing Rockefeller.
While she had hoped for an easy conversation, she never imagined it would be this relaxed.
Indeed, the boy named Rockefeller was the most daring and upright among the commoners she had encountered.
‘He's a strange man.’
It was the girl herself who felt discomfort at a gathering she had willingly attended.
