"What I am proposing is this."
Rockefeller told the priest about the corner store monopoly he had thought of.
After hearing the whole story, the priest fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth again.
"Hmm... So you want to monopolize beer and its ingredients?"
"Yes, if we can just monopolize, we can make a lot of profit dealing with the dwarves."
Ahem!
After a cough, the priest spoke again.
"It's a good idea, but I know the gold coins used by the dwarves are different from ours. Are you still okay with that?"
"Ultimately, they're all gold coins. If we melt down sovereigns and change them into imperial dalants, there will be no problem. Or if there is a supply of sovereigns elsewhere, we can trade with them and exchange them for imperial dalants."
"That's true. It was a needless worry since you work at the bank."
"You don't need to worry about that part too much."
"It's not a good thing to monopolize something, but it's a different story if the other party is a dwarf."
The ensuing smile contained the cruel appearance of a believer who didn't care about the dwarves at all.
'Well, that's true. I knew they wouldn't refuse. After all, it's someone else's business, isn't it?'
Rockefeller continued to feed the priest's ego with his words.
"The war between the dwarves from Thunder Mountain and the Redskins won't end overnight. It will take at least a few months, if not several years. During that time, we can make a lot of profit dealing with the dwarves."
Rockefeller spoke confidently.
"In that sense, I want to not only monopolize the beer and its ingredients currently on the market but also look forward to growing barley and hops directly in this church for the next few years. Of course, it would be even better if a brewery was built and managed separately by the church."
"Ah, I see. If we can monopolize the supply of beer as well, we can make a lot of profit dealing with those gold-stackers, the dwarves."
Rockefeller subtly raised the corners of his mouth.
"That's definitely the case. As the war between the two factions drags on, the dwarves will need more beer, and they will try to secure the scarce supply from nearby areas. This is a guaranteed successful business."
"It's a good idea."
During the conversation, the priest suddenly had this thought.
How could such a young boy come up with such an idea?
"But how did you come up with such a thought?"
"I just saw an opportunity when I heard that the two factions were clashing outside the territory."
"Really? Wow, that's amazing. I never thought of that."
"Well, it is what it is."
"But there's one problem."
Rockefeller tensed up for a moment when the priest mentioned a problem.
'What's the problem? The church shouldn't be concerned about the lord's opinion.'
His nonchalance lasted only a moment.
The priest continued in silence.
"We don't have the money to monopolize."
Rockefeller was worried about something useless.
He quickly relaxed and smiled again.
"You don't have to worry about that part too much. I'll cover the money needed for the monopoly and the expenses for growing barley and hops or building a brewery in the future."
"You will?"
He was still an underage boy.
He looked to be about 15 years old.
But when such a boy said he would cover such a large amount of money, it was only natural for the priest to have doubts.
"How do you have the money?"
"Have you forgotten that I work at the bank? I have the money I've earned so far, and if necessary, I can borrow from the bank."
Rockefeller followed up with a thick smile for the priest.
"Since you despise interest, I'll bear that despicable burden myself. All you have to do is proceed with this matter using the money I offer."
The priest's eyes became even more serious.
"Without interest?"
"I wouldn't dare to think of taking interest from the church."
When lending money to others, interest was inevitably attached.
But when Rockefeller said he would lend money without interest, the priest couldn't help but be surprised.
"Are you really okay with that? Normally, when you lend money, you naturally receive interest."
Rockefeller was not entirely unaware of why the church hated usurers.
"Taking interest from the church is not something I would dare to do. Going to hell is enough for me alone, so please pray for me in this difficult situation."
"Hehe, I've never seen such an irresponsible person."
The priest spoke with a stern yet gentle smile.
"Hell! Do you think a benefactor of the church would fall so easily into hell? Hell is not an easy place to go. Even if you want to go, I won't let you, so remember that."
Rockefeller couldn't help but laugh inside at the unexpected response.
"Thank you for saying that."
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Usurers are truly one of the cancers of society... He (literally) planned to destroy the lord's family that was built through generations of blood and sweat thoroughly through interest alone and still think of it as just "earnings money".
ReplyDeleteThe Lord is choosing to borrow money without any intention of paying it back thinking that his position let's him breach the contract. His father taught him about the dangers of debt and he ignored those warnings.
DeleteUsurers are evil! Imagine borrowing money with 6% monthly interest loan. It's predatory how non-finance-savy can get hooked into interest.
DeleteBut borrowing with 6% per year instead is alright depending on situation. Interest is necessary evil like alcohol and entertainment; too much of any of these can corrupt anyone.