War Makes Someone Fat (2)
"Brother? Who?"
"Andrew here!"
"Hey, be quiet!"
Andrew, who had been quiet, snapped at Joshua for his unnecessary comment, causing Stella to cover her mouth and laugh.
"Hey, Andrew. Are you coming to become a knight too?"
Andrew couldn't help but feel something stir within him as he looked at her, since she had called him out directly.
"Uh? Uh... Yeah. I've already told my family."
"Why do you want to become a trainee? Life there is strict and physically demanding. But you still want to come?"
Although Stella was the lord's daughter, they had been informal with each other since they first met. Stella had told Andrew to be comfortable with her a long time ago, so he replied without hesitation.
"Hey! You think I can't handle that? It's nothing!"
"Good. Your confidence is overflowing. But that place isn't as easygoing as you think."
"Even so."
"Then I'll be your senior there, and don't pretend not to know each other, okay? That's a violation of discipline."
"Uh? Yeah..."
As Stella finished the conversation and left, Joshua, who had been watching, waved goodbye to her.
"Miss Stella! Take care! And see you next time!"
"Joshua, you too."
Stella glanced back at Andrew, who had been flustered earlier, and then looked away.
The two siblings had met without any burden, but her expression was not bright.
'Rothsmedici...'
Rothsmedici.
In the Montefeltro territory, it was just one of many insignificant commoner families, but that was only a year ago.
Her father, Lord Chester, had been looking after the commoner family of Rothsmedici for some time, and she later learned that it was because of the money he had loaned for the defense of the territory.
The image of her father, who had been wracking his brain over the interest to be paid this month while sitting in the study, still lingered in her eyes.
'That eldest brother, he was quite a difficult person. He wasn't as easygoing as he seemed.'
Due to the debt problem of the territory, she had visited the bank and had a consultation with the bank owner, Carter. In the process, she learned that the real power in the store was not the owner, Carter, but the young assistant he had hired.
Rockefeller Rothsmedici.
He was the same age as Andrew and, on the surface, appeared to be a young assistant helping out at the bank, but upon talking with him, he proved to be quite mature.
She had exchanged several conversations with Rockefeller about her father's debt problem but had not achieved much.
No matter what she said, the answer always came back the same.
"If the interest due this time is too burdensome, we can cut it down a bit for this time. But repaying only the principal without interest is absolutely not allowed."
"Considering the interest we've paid so far, it seems like we'll soon reach the principal. Isn't this a bit too much?"
At her dissatisfaction, Rockefeller only replied with a smile.
"Miss Stella. I understand your concern, but since Lord Chester has used the land as collateral, there shouldn't be any big problems. Isn't that why we have collateral?"
She knew it couldn't be helped, but the opponent was a bank assistant with airtight defenses.
That's when she realized why people despised banks so much.
When borrowing money, they were like angels, but when it came time to repay, they turned into devils.
'If there's a problem, can I talk to Andrew?'
She was worried, but when she heard that Andrew would be coming to the Knight School someday, she thought that maybe if she got closer to Andrew, she could plead her case to his eldest brother, Rockefeller.
She thought about it while talking.
As soon as Stella disappeared from view, Joshua, who had been watching, started talking to Andrew beside him.
"But Andrew hyung."
"Huh? What?"
"Do you like Miss Stella?"
At the sudden question, Andrew replied with a surprised expression.
"What? What kind of nonsense is that? No, absolutely not."
"Hey, I already noticed. Andrew hyung, you like Miss Stella, right? That's why you suddenly want to go to Knight School?"
"I said no. And you be quiet. You'll get hit."
"Again, again, you'll hit me!"
"I haven't hit you yet."
"Anyway, Andrew hyung, I know everything. From now on, I'll be quiet when Miss Stella comes. Even if she calls me, I won't talk."
It was all thanks to Joshua that Stella had come over and talked to them earlier.
If it weren't for Joshua's friendliness, she would have just passed by like strangers.
Knowing that, Andrew said with regret.
"Hey, that's not it."
"What's not?"
"I mean, it's not like that. Don't make her feel bad and say hello to Stella."
"But why do you speak informally to Miss Stella?"
"What do you mean informally? She just told me to do that from the beginning. She doesn't care. That's why I thought she was just a commoner."
"Didn't she seem too aristocratic to be a commoner?"
"Not all commoners are poor! There are people with money like us."
"Anyway, are you really going to Knight School?"
Andrew didn't hesitate for long when asked.
"Yeah, I want to become a brave soldier. Even if I can't use magic, the empire has gunpowder, right? I want to trust that."
The reason he had made up his mind was a secret kept by Andrew.
"If it really doesn't work out, I can come back. Anyway, it seems like Rockefeller hyung wants me to work at the bank like him."
At those words, Joshua's expression changed.
"Andrew hyung, if you think it's not going to work, come back quickly. By the time you come back, I'll already be a wealthy metalworker."
Joshua said confidently.
"I'm going to make a lot of money, like Rockefeller hyung. I'll make so much money that our family will be the richest in the continent."
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Hey Joshua you just have to put your belt your hyung is already handling the steering wheel.
ReplyDeleteIt never hurts to help hyung add a turbo engine to his car. They will just go their destination faster 😁
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