Excluding the dwarves, everyone's gaze simultaneously fell upon the Sovereigns scattered on the table.
Sovereigns.
Just as the Empire's gold coins were called dalants, Sovereigns were a collective term for gold coins made by various dwarves.
For reference, while the Empire's dalants had only one type, the dwarves' Sovereigns had various types.
"You've seen our gold coins before, haven't you? We never engage in deceitful practices like mixing copper, like they do here in the Empire. These can be considered the genuine currency of this world, made purely from gold!"
Orin's words continued.
"So, these are the most trustworthy gold coins on this continent. They're incomparable to the ducats produced by goblins."
As Orin proudly boasted about the gold coins they made, Rockefeller looked at the Sovereigns thrown on the table and asked.
"May I take a closer look?"
"Do you think you'll know anything from just looking?"
Despite Orin's subtly dismissive tone, Rockefeller still wore a smiling face.
"I work as an assistant at a bank, so I handle gold coins often. Seeing that the size of your gold coins is roughly similar to our dalants, I'd like to see what's different."
"Bank?"
The term "bank" was only used within the Empire.
Dwarves mostly borrowed gold coins from kings or great lords, not from loan sharks like banks, as humans did.
"Is that 'bank' similar to Goblin Bank?"
"It's somewhat similar."
"So, you're a person who plays with interest rates, like those cunning goblins."
Orin's expression hardened.
He didn't know much about human banks, but he was well aware of the goblins who revitalized their race through loan sharking.
"Looking at their actions, humans are no different from goblins."
"At least they're better than those smelly goblins."
"True, humans are better. Goblins are on the same level as elves. Trash."
As the conversation shifted towards goblins, the dwarves became noisy for a moment. In the meantime, Orin threw a Sovereign to Rockefeller.
"Take a good look. It's definitely made of pure gold. It's on a different level than your gold coins."
Rockefeller was not unaware that the dwarves' gold coins were made of pure gold.
Nevertheless, he wanted to check them out of simple curiosity.
'This is a gold coin made purely of gold... Indeed, when compared to the Empire's dalant, the weight and texture are different.'
Due to the aftermath of the Flame War, the Empire's gold coins increasingly contained a subtle amount of copper.
There were many places where gold coins were used, and there were few gold coins available, so it was a natural result of their cunning.
In that sense...
'Maybe, as they said, there might not be much difference between humans and goblins. No, maybe we are an even more terrible race than goblins. So far, only humans have mixed copper into gold coins.'
"It's a good gold coin. It's subtly different from our dalants."
Hearing that, Orin slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
"Of course. It's incomparable to the Empire's gold coins. We never mixed lies into our gold coins, unlike you."
Orin quickly continued.
"We'll buy the beer here with gold coins that are better than the ones you use."
Orin's expression, which was grinning from ear to ear, revealed his pride and confidence in this transaction.
"Since this isn't a one-time deal, the longer the transaction goes on, the more likely you'll be sitting on a pile of money."
Rockefeller completely agreed that the quality of human gold coins was inferior to those produced by other races.
However, that didn't mean the value of Sovereigns was superior.
At least not here, in the Empire's territory.
"Excuse me, but there's one thing you're misunderstanding."
At his words, Orin showed doubt.
"What do you mean? Our gold coin quality is obviously superior."
"Of course, if you look at the quality of the gold coins themselves, your Sovereigns are more excellent and better than the Empire's dalants, as you said. But you should know this."
The once innocently smiling boy had disappeared, and in his place sat a cold-blooded negotiator with no hint of a smile on his face.
Rockefeller looked straight at Orin and continued.
"This is the Empire. Only dalants are accepted in the Empire. So, the beer here can only be bought with dalants."
In other words, he declared that he wouldn't accept the dwarves' gold coins.
Whether the Empire's dalants were of better or worse quality, or anything else, what they needed was the Empire's dalants, and he informed the dwarf delegation of this fact.
At Rockefeller's words, the entire delegation that had arrived began to stir greatly.
"You want dalants?"
"We don't have dalants, do we?"
"Our gold coins are better, so why do we need dalants?"
"But as he said, this is the Empire's land. They might not need Sovereigns."
"What kind of trick is this? Usually, people go crazy for Sovereigns."
As the noisy dwarves continued their chatter, Orin stepped forward again.
"We only have Sovereigns, so how do you expect us to buy the beer here with dalants?"
At that, Rockefeller subtly revealed a smile and answered him.
"You don't have to worry too much about exchanging gold coins. The Carter Bank I work at also handles gold coin exchange services."
Rockefeller's words continued.
"Of course, we do charge a nominal fee."
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Evil, soooo evil.
ReplyDeleteIn five years a poor adolescent gets isekaied into this world and in his first trial he faces Kingpin Rockfeller who drowns him in debt, will our hero be able to escape the grasp of this villainous scum.
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