Jason coughed briefly before asking Lord Chester a question.
"Ahem! I apologize if this is a sudden and rude question, but is the financial situation here alright?"
It was indeed a sudden question.
"Why do you ask?"
"It seems that there are many expenses for territorial defense, and I'm curious if there's enough funding in such a remote place."
Jason was suspicious.
Although it was a territory, it was located in a remote area with a small population, and there seemed to be no significant business going on.
There was no gold mine here, nor were there any magic stone or silver mines.
"As far as I know, you don't seem to have any major business within the territory… and you're not doing any big business with the dwarves like the church does either."
"Ahem!"
When the church was mentioned, Lord Chester coughed.
It was an uncomfortable topic for him.
'I should have done that.'
"I am well aware of the business conducted by the church. It's a shame for me as well, but since it's the church's work, I decided to think of it in a positive light."
Jason asked again.
"In addition to the many mercenary groups you've hired, maintaining such a large force requires supplies and provisions, among other things, that cost money. Is there really no problem with the territory's finances in this situation? That's what I'm wondering."
Who wouldn't know that?
Lord Chester's expression stiffened slightly.
"Actually... there were financial problems, of course. Our expenses were much higher than our income. I struggled for a while, trying to figure out how to handle the interest payments."
There was a limit to repaying the bank's interest with the taxes collected from the territory.
So, Lord Chester had been indiscriminately issuing debt certificates in his name to replace the interest payments.
It didn't take long for Lord Chester's expression to relax again.
Instead, he began to speak excitedly, as if he had found a solution.
"But you see,"
A smile appeared on Lord Chester's face.
"Am I not the master of this land? I am deceiving those foolish bankers, so you don't need to worry too much about it."
At that, Jason expressed strong doubt.
"What do you mean? You're deceiving the bankers?"
"The interest I have to repay the bank every month is quite significant. At the time, I spent a lot of money in a hurry, and now the interest is even bigger than the principal. But later, I realized that repaying that enormous interest with taxes from the territory was a foolish thing to do."
Jason didn't respond, but listened quietly to what Lord Chester had to say.
"Why should I give them real money when just giving them debt certificates in my name is enough to repay the interest?"
Lord Chester grinned.
"As I create money out of thin air to repay them, how is this not deceiving them?"
There was considerable confidence in the smile he wore.
"Even if they were to question it, I am the rightful owner of this land. What could those moneylenders from the bank do?"
Rather, Lord Chester asked a question.
"Would those two men at the bank dare to come to me and demand repayment?"
Lord Chester shook his head.
"Absolutely not. If they had any sense, they would come to me on bended knees and beg me to repay the interest."
Having heard Lord Chester's answer, Jason and Isabella couldn't say anything.
His words weren't completely wrong, but something about it felt off and uncomfortable.
"Moreover, the debt certificates I issued can currently be exchanged for gold coins without any problems. You can go to the bank with those debt certificates and exchange them for gold coins."
Although they weren't entirely convinced, if the debt certificates issued by Lord Chester could be exchanged for gold coins at the bank without any problems, there was no reason for the two mages to make a fuss.
However, Jason, who was still not satisfied, asked Lord Chester another question.
"Are you aware that the people of this territory are using the debt certificates you issued as collateral for another set of debt certificates, as if they were money? From what I remember, they're called 'Gold' instead of 'IOU'."
At that question, Lord Chester showed a brief smile.
"I am aware of that matter. As someone who has spent their entire life on the battlefield, I don't know what the bankers' intentions are, but I can't touch every single one of those matters since I'm the one issuing debt certificates without hesitation. If I stopped them and the bank stopped accepting my debt certificates, wouldn't that be a bigger problem?"
"Is that all you're thinking about?"
"Yes, and I've come to accept the use of debt certificates as money instead of gold coins. In fact, I can't understand why people would carry heavy gold coins around. They can simply exchange them for gold coins at the bank whenever they need them. Why would they carry around inconvenient gold coins? I didn't used to, but now I only carry debt certificates instead of gold coins."
Lord Chester, having run out of things to say to the two mages, sent them off with a smile.
"Anyway, thank you for your help. If you ever need my help, please don't hesitate to contact me. Isn't it right to repay a favor? Especially since it's a connection with the Sinclair family. You can't buy that with money."
After finishing their conversation with Lord Chester, the two mages left the lord's castle and took their places.
"..."
Jason held his tongue as he thought about various things, and Isabella wanted to know the answer.
She was curious about the situation.
"How will this turn out?"
"That... I'm not sure. How this will proceed..."
"You don't know, Jason?"
"Such a field is not only outside of my interests, but it's also quite low-ranking. I doubt anyone in the empire could predict this, as there has never been such a situation in the history of the empire."
However, Isabella had a different thought.
"No, I don't think so."
"Yes?"
Of course, she wasn't sure either.
It was just a feeling.
"It's just... I feel like that person might know how things will turn out here."
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