After hearing that, the representative of the envoy, Orin, had another question in mind.
What on earth did the lord here do to have so much money?
It should be a remote area that is marginalized even within the empire.
"Come to think of it, the lord here even had a wyvern..."
Where could that money have come from?
Could it be?
"And he built a huge fortress near the border. Where did all that money come from?"
Rockefeller's answer was very simple and clear.
"It's all loans."
"Loans? It was all loans?"
"Yes, what kind of skill would the lord here, in such a remote place, have to have that kind of money?"
Rockefeller quickly spoke so that the dwarves present wouldn't harbor any other suspicions.
"It's all money borrowed from our Carter Bank. It's a debt that has to be paid back someday."
"Heh, it was all debt."
"This lord here. He was a very foolish man. We wouldn't even have invaded, so why did he go to such lengths?"
"The lord probably had no other choice because you and the orcs were making so much noise outside his territory. And even if the dwarves don't cause trouble, we don't know about the orcs. They're a race that loots as a daily routine, so it's possible that they could have crossed over here and caused problems. It was a precaution, so we can't say the lord's choice was necessarily bad."
"Well... whatever."
During the conversation, Orin changed his mind.
The lord they were talking about was the owner of this land.
In that sense, there could be no problem for the lord who borrowed money from a bank.
"No, I was wrong. The foolish one was not the lord, but you."
Orin smiled maliciously.
"How could you lend so much money and think you could get it back normally? You're not even a goblin bank, what kind of trick do you have to get the money back from the lord?"
Rockefeller scratched his cheek with one finger.
'I'm tired of hearing this. How are you going to get the money back from the lord?'
"We have a plan."
Rockefeller continued.
"Just as you had no choice but to be ripped off by us. We also have a plan."
Orin's expression soured.
He couldn't know what their plan was, but he thought it might be possible, considering how he had ripped them off.
"Hmph, you better know you're lucky."
Orin roughly put a handful of sovereigns on the table between them.
"If we didn't have this much gold, this deal would have been impossible!"
Even the grumpy dwarves couldn't help themselves in front of the precious beer.
Rockefeller and the nearby Priest Peter had satisfied smiles on their faces.
"Thank you for the deal. I hope this deal continues, even after whatever happens in the future."
He had the Gold Vein War in mind, but Orin couldn't know the hidden meaning.
Orin glared at Rockefeller with a contemptuous gaze.
"You dirty, disgusting human. Do you really like money that much?"
Despite the insulting words, Rockefeller showed no sign of caring.
"Anyway, I look forward to working with you."
"Hmph."
Orin suddenly became curious about his name.
Although the opponent was still a young human boy, he felt that he needed to know for some reason.
"Alright, let me hear your name. I am Orin of the Thunder Mountain, following the one who breathes thunder."
In the dwarven world, the one who breathes thunder refers to Gold King Grom Stark.
He was a dwarven ruler who literally breathed lightning and was described as quite a threatening ruler by everyone.
"My name?"
If he wanted to establish a family that was recognized in the empire's society, it was good to spread his name widely, like other noble families.
Even if it was a bad reputation.
"Rockefeller Rothsmedici."
"Rothsmedici? I've been around too, but it's the first time I've heard of such a family."
Although he was a dwarf, he knew about several families that were famous in the empire.
However, the name Rothsmedici, which he heard at this place today, was the first time he heard of it.
"It's not a family yet. I'm a commoner."
"A commoner? What does that have to do with it?"
"We have a hierarchy. Commoners are below nobles. So we can't have a family. Instead, we can have a family name."
"Ah, that's what it was. No wonder what you're doing is disgusting."
The hierarchy of the empire was not that important to him, a dwarf.
What was important was the name of the person who had tricked them here today.
"Remember that name, and your family name too."
It wasn't a good memory, but it was still an interesting thing that his family name was known.
At this moment, Rockefeller was able to reflect on the family motto that he had forgotten for a while.
'It said there's no need to be respected by everyone. Rather, become a devil and be a fearful existence to everyone.'
"You don't have to remember it."
Rockefeller's following words were quite meaningful.
"Because you'll hear it again someday."
"Hearing that unlucky name again? Hmph, I'll wake up with a start."
"You won't have much chance to hear my name or our family name in a battlefield that smells of blood. We hate such places because we are cowards. But in this area, you'll hear our family name quite a lot."
That's because the path Rockefeller wanted to take was this one.
"We specialize in this area."
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