Bonus chapter thanks to @Shadeshlasher on kofi
The Birth of Deposits (3)
Carter started pacing anxiously inside the store.
Today, countless mercenaries had visited his store, exchanging their promissory notes for gold coins. He couldn't even remember how many had come and gone.
"Already 1,000 Dalants have left the store today. Are you aware of this?"
Rockefeller, who was nearby, nodded subtly in agreement.
"Yes, I've been keeping an eye on the ledger. It's not an immediate problem, but it does seem like it might be dangerous in the future."
"We might really be in trouble at this rate. We don't have nearly enough gold coins to give to these mercenaries. We've even loaned out gold coins we don't actually have."
Inside the territory and the mercenary camp, promissory notes backed by non-existent gold coins were circulating, issued by Carter Bank.
These fake coins were created by Carter Bank to earn interest.
If all those promissory notes were to be returned to Carter Bank at once, the bank would have no choice but to close its doors.
This was because they didn't actually have that amount of gold coins in the bank.
"What if people find out we don't have enough gold coins? Wouldn't that be a real disaster?"
Unlike the visibly worried Carter, Rockefeller's expression remained calm.
"Of course, it would be."
"No, shouldn't we have some kind of plan to deal with this?"
"Well, of course, we have a plan."
Only then did Rockefeller reveal a smile, causing Carter to look baffled.
"You have a plan?"
"Yes."
"What kind of plan? Are you saying you can prepare enough gold coins for all these mercenaries right away? We can't even get the gold coins we lent to the lord back immediately."
"Carter, I'm going to step outside with Joshua for a bit."
"Going outside? At a time like this? Where are you going?"
"We're short on gold coins, so we need to go somewhere we can get them, right?"
Rockefeller, grinning, called Joshua, who had been minting gold coins inside the store.
"Joshua, let's go somewhere with your brother."
"Where? Where are we going all of a sudden?"
"You'll know when we get there."
At Rockefeller's call, Joshua left everything behind and followed him.
Carter, watching them leave, sighed deeply, feeling cold sweat at the thought of the possible situation.
'Where on earth are they getting gold coins from? Are they going to borrow them from somewhere? But do we really need to borrow gold coins...'
At that moment, Carter imagined the angry territory residents and mercenaries, throwing down their now-worthless promissory notes and staging noisy protests in front of his store.
It would truly be a nightmarish moment.
'Please, let nothing happen.'
As Joshua followed Rockefeller out of the store, he asked where they were going.
"Rockefeller, where are we going right now?"
"To the church."
"The church? Why?"
Carter Bank's interest business had been running smoothly up until today.
However, the lord, who could be considered their biggest debtor, had been paying off his interest debt with his own promissory notes instead of gold coins. Moreover, the beer business with the dwarves had not been as profitable as before due to the end of the Totem War, leaving Carter Bank somewhat short on operational gold coins.
'I need to make sure the store keeps running smoothly. The problem is getting through this crisis.'
If the lord had diligently paid off his interest debt in gold coins, Rockefeller would not have needed to visit the church today.
The lord had a lot of debt to pay off, and his cunning tactics had become a problem.
'A considerable amount of gold coins will be needed. It's not just one or two people; many will want to exchange our promissory notes for gold coins.'
Even a rough calculation showed that Carter Bank didn't have enough gold coins to give to their clients.
So, to solve this problem, Rockefeller considered using the gold coins the church had.
If they could get those gold coins, they could easily resolve the immediate issue.
'That's the idea.'
Upon arriving at the church, Rockefeller and Joshua saw the barley and hop fields, which had lost their vitality compared to before.
'The war seems to be over. It's surprising how quiet such a busy place has become.'
As they went further into the church, they were able to easily meet Leo, the fourth child of the Rosmedichi family.
"Leo."
"Rockefeller hyung, and Joshua, too. What brings you here?"
As they visited the church every weekend, meeting Leo wasn't a novelty, but seeing their younger brother who lived separately was always a joyful occasion for them.
After exchanging light greetings, they were guided by Leo to the place where Priest Peter was.
"So, you guys have such a problem."
"That's why we want to see Priest Peter. He will probably be satisfied with our proposal."
"I'm sure he will be. Priest Peter likes Rockefeller and Carter Bank."
Leo could recall Priest Peter's increasingly somber expression in recent times.
'His expression has darkened lately. The beer business with the dwarves isn't going as well as before.'
In Leo's view, the reason for Peter's darkened expression was his concern that the church's finances would become difficult again due to the decline in the beer business.
'Hopefully, everything will work out for everyone.'
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