The One Closest to God (3)
While riding in a carriage with Rockefeller on their way to Banco, she expressed her doubts about the conversation he had with Bishop Verkis earlier, as she sat in the seat in front of him.
"Lord Rockefeller, you must have your own thoughts, but I wonder how you're going to help Bishop Verkis."
It was a subject that she, as a secretary, shouldn't dare to ask.
However, Rockefeller, who didn't mind, smiled and accepted her question.
'She's not an ordinary secretary. She could be Ricardo himself, or this woman could be the real one. I can't know the answer. This isn't even mentioned in the novel.'
"You looked uncomfortable throughout, were you curious about that?"
She nodded her head lightly, affirming her curiosity.
"Yes, it's generally a difficult task. So I kept thinking about it, but I couldn't find an answer."
Just as the Ismail family was shunned by the church.
Bishop Verkis was also a figure whose influence had greatly diminished within the church in relation to Banco's affairs.
"There probably aren't many churchgoers in the church who support Banco. If there are any, Bishop Verkis would be the only one."
"I think so too."
"Moreover, Bishop Verkis was critical of Banco's operators, and it eventually turned out bad for him, right? As far as I know, he was demoted from Archbishop to Bishop."
"Yes, that's correct."
"Considering the situation, I'm curious about what Lord Rockefeller has in mind."
Before answering, Rockefeller asked her another question.
It was a question that could naturally arise if one did not know her identity.
"You know quite a lot. Women of your age usually aren't very interested in these matters."
"I just picked it up here and there."
Picked up here and there...
It was a convenient excuse.
'Well, I can make good use of it too.'
"I see. It's understandable since you have an older brother who's interested in worldly affairs. It's natural for you to be curious since you know a lot."
Rockefeller answered the question she was curious about.
"I see. You must be wondering how I will help the bishop?"
"Yes, I can't figure it out no matter how much I think about it. I can't see the answer."
Rockefeller nodded his head, as if he understood her completely.
"That's because I haven't shown my actions yet. So it's natural for you to be doubtful."
"Do you have a good plan?"
"Rather than a good plan, it's just... something that everyone naturally has."
Before continuing, a broad smile spread across Rockefeller's face.
"I plan to exploit their primal desires."
"Primal desires?"
"Yes, their greed for money."
Greed for money was something that churchgoers should definitely avoid.
However, it was not easy for those born as humans to stay away from it.
"Greed for money... But isn't that something devout churchgoers should definitely avoid?"
"Yes, that's true. But there's no one who hates money. Even if they are devout churchgoers."
She pondered over what Rockefeller had said.
Indeed...
'Even if they try to stay away from it, they must know that money is needed to run the church.'
Even if they hated money, it was a contradiction that churchgoers needed it.
Rockefeller continued speaking.
"Not only Bishop Verkis but also some churchgoers have started to show interest in the interest provided by Banco."
It was the churchgoers who detested interest the most, but recently, they had started to show interest in it within the church.
She asked with a surprised expression.
"Really?"
"Yes, honestly, even from a believer's perspective, if interest is good for them, that's all that matters. It used to be different, but now it's just good."
Recently, there had been high-ranking priests from the church among the guests who came to visit Rockefeller.
"How did that happen?"
"It's simple. In the past, interest was only beneficial to loan sharks running Banco businesses. So, from the church's point of view, they must have seen them as an eyesore, daring to do business with God's power. But times have changed. Interest is not just a bad thing, it also has a good side, like deposit interest."
"So the church's opinion changed because of deposit interest?"
"Not entirely. Some believers still have negative thoughts about interest. But some believers have begun to show interest in running the church with interest income."
Rockefeller continued.
"Do you know about Archbishop Haman, who came to see me when I was in Black Label?"
"Archbishop Haman... Yes, I know he visited at that time."
"Archbishop Haman was very interested in the deposit interest I offered. If I hadn't convinced him with deposit interest at that time, the church's power would have been a huge obstacle in the integration with the Union. There's nothing more annoying and difficult than the church's intervention."
From the past to the present, the amount of money donated to the Black Label Diocese by the Union must have been enormous.
Yet, Archbishop Haman supported the guild instead of the Union, which meant that the power of deposit interest offered by Rockefeller was tremendous.
"And there are more and more people like that. Honestly, who would refuse free money? Even I would want to entrust the church's property from a distance. Trust has already been verified, so it's best to entrust it as soon as possible."
She expressed concern at his words.
The church was such a stubborn place.
"But won't there be any talk in the church? They used to hate interest, even terribly so."
"Who would say anything when it comes to helping the church with God's power?"
"..."
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