Black Label Union (2)
Inside the carriage heading to the Black Label.
Rockefeller took in the sight of the harbor city through the carriage window.
Numerous ships filled the harbor, which was the home base of the Black Label Union and the largest harbor city in the empire.
'There are a lot of ships indeed.'
Most of the ships docked in the harbor were trade ships built for commerce.
'If you make a good profit in one trip, it's said that you can not only recover the cost of building the ship but also sit on a money cushion.'
For this reason, many people were investing their all in trade ships.
'I heard there's a big fuss because there's no money to lend here.'
Despite this, there had been a reason why the Lyon Guild had not been able to step in until now.
'If it weren't for Ismail, we would have taken over long ago.'
The Black Label Union, another bank alliance, had been monopolizing the profits of Black Label alone without any competitors, relying solely on the power of the Ismail family, whom they had as their backers.
But that was only until today.
'From the beginning, it's not going to work. With such an old-fashioned method, they can't help but be caught by our professional interest-utilizing approach.'
With that thought, Rockefeller went to the Black Label and met up with Ricardo, who had been sent ahead.
"You've arrived. I've been waiting for you."
Ricardo had arrived a few days earlier and had already checked out the store where they would do business.
The fact that the head of the Ismail family had looked for a store for the Lyon Guild leader had its own significance.
'The decision seems to have been made for sure.'
Rockefeller realized that Ricardo had made a decision to some extent after meeting him.
If he had no intention of cutting off his family's money source, he wouldn't have done as he was told.
"Where did you find the store?"
"To avoid friction with existing bank operators, I found a store in Holant."
"Holant? If it's Holant..."
"It's quite close to the harbor. It's a place with a particularly large floating population, so the location won't be too bad."
The place where the people of Black Label went to borrow money was called Ranstadt, a bank street.
This place was similar to the Lyon's Ghetto Nuovo, where numerous bank operators were actively running lending businesses.
"Well, it might be better not to see each other's faces."
When Rockefeller seemed to agree, Ricardo led him to the store he had found.
"Here it is."
Rockefeller got out of the carriage and inspected the store Ricardo had found for himself.
It was of a moderate size and in a good location.
After looking around the store, Rockefeller asked,
"I heard that the Black Label is all involved with the Ismail family. Did you get their permission?"
"There was no particular difficulty in obtaining it. Perhaps... it was an implicit approval?"
"Implicit approval..."
"And when I was asked about the purpose of the store and said I would do banking business here, they openly scoffed. It seems to be because the location is different."
"Usually, they do business in Ranstadt, so that makes sense."
Rockefeller finished speaking and looked at the street above, which was closely connected to the harbor and had many people coming and going.
From merchants and sailors to ordinary people.
As Ricardo had said, it was an area with a considerable floating population.
And he noticed general stores, clothing stores, and shoe repair shops doing business nearby.
"There are many people on the street, so there should be no difficulty in doing business. It's actually a good thing. We don't need to insist on being in the bank street when we're not criminals."
Rockefeller's words were met with silence and a slight nod from Ricardo.
"Then let's put up the store sign and start our business."
At this, Ricardo expressed his concern.
He was flustered, as it seemed like they were suddenly starting a business when they weren't even prepared yet.
"Do you want to start the business before the other guild members arrive?"
"Yes, we can't wait for them forever. And once I start the business and establish my place, they'll feel more comfortable doing business by my side, won't they?"
Ricardo looked at the carriage Rockefeller had ridden in.
There was only one carriage they had brought, and it seemed they had not brought much from Lyon.
"Isn't the capital you brought too small to do banking business here?"
Usually, you needed a lot of capital to start a money business.
"Do we really need to go through the trouble of bringing a lot? After all, people like us do business with other people's money, relying on credit."
Ricardo also felt a lot from those words.
'Doing business with other people's money... how should I interpret this?'
Rockefeller smiled and continued speaking to Ricardo.
"First, let's trust the guild leader title and give it a push. If we really need money, we can borrow it from the guild members who will come soon, or we can bring it from Lyon. But I have a feeling that we won't even need to do that. This place has so much money rolling around that I think we can do business with that money?"
Thus, the sign 'Bank of Rosmedici' was raised, and Rockefeller and Ricardo started their bank business in a completely new place called Black Label.
People began to become curious when the bank, which played with money, suddenly opened its doors in a place where there were only everyday stores like general stores and clothing stores.
Moreover, when it was said that the person who opened the store was a fairly well-known guild leader in Lyon, the rumor could spread throughout the entire Holant region in no time.
"Hey, have you heard that story?"
Bel, who was running a clothing store in Holant, heard a strange rumor and went to Bob, who was running a shoe store nearby, to talk about the rumor he had heard.
"What story? What are you making a fuss about?"
"You know, the bank that opened here instead of Ranstadt."
"Ah, there? What about it?"
"Well, it seems that they give interest if you deposit money there."
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