My Dear, You're Swallowed by Debt (3)
A moment later.
The villagers, who had been protesting outside the store without any success, swarmed around the overseer who had just come out.
Their faces full of worry, they began to bombard him with urgent questions.
"What happened inside?"
"Did the negotiations go well?"
"Is the problem solved? Can we exchange this for gold coins?"
"Please answer us! Why aren't you saying anything? You're making us worry..."
"Please don't tell us it's not possible."
As the barrage of questions became almost deafening, the overseer stopped in his tracks, and the villagers' attention focused on him.
But there was nothing he could say in this situation.
What message could he possibly deliver?
There was no ideal answer to be found here.
"..."
His silence was met with more complaints from the villagers, and they began to demand a solution from him, the overseer. At that moment, the door of Carter Bank suddenly opened, revealing Rockefeller, the true power behind the store.
As Rockefeller appeared, everyone's attention shifted from the overseer to him. Thinking of his safety, Rockefeller had been hiding among the priests. When the villagers turned their attention to him, he began to speak.
"Everyone, please calm down. I will explain everything about the background of today's chaos."
Despite his promise to explain, the villagers continued to shout and could not be easily calmed.
However, shouting alone wouldn't solve the problem, and they needed a reasonable explanation, so one of the villagers took the lead in quieting everyone down for a moment.
As the protesting villagers outside the store quieted down, Rockefeller continued to explain the situation.
It was similar to what he had explained to the overseer earlier.
Once he finished, Rockefeller spoke again.
"As I have explained so far, the Gold promissory notes you have brought have no obligation for our Carter Bank to exchange them for dalants."
At this, a few villagers became agitated and yelled, but Rockefeller continued unfazed.
"That doesn't mean we don't accept all promissory notes. The IOU promissory notes that our Carter Bank directly guarantees can still be exchanged for dalants! If you have an IOU promissory note, please come to me for confirmation, and then you can enter the store and exchange it for ducats."
Hearing this, the majority of villagers who had been checking their promissory notes began to sigh.
They had thought that the Gold promissory notes guaranteed by the lord would be safer and had exchanged their IOU promissory notes for Gold ones.
However, not everyone was the same.
"I have an IOU! I didn't change it because I was too lazy!"
Among them, there were villagers who had kept their IOU promissory notes out of laziness or thinking that it didn't matter which promissory note they had. They shouted as if they had received salvation.
"I survived! I'm telling you, I survived!"
As a few villagers yelled, the majority looked on enviously, and Rockefeller also showed them a friendly smile.
"Yes, those of you with IOU promissory notes can now enter our store and exchange them for as many dalants as you need."
Feeling ecstatic at being the only one saved, the minority of villagers didn't care about the surrounding glares and continued to celebrate.
"I knew it was a good idea not to change it back then! My gold coins are safe!"
Ignoring the cold stares of the villagers, one of them stepped forward and proudly displayed his IOU promissory note to Rockefeller, who responded with a smile.
"Please come inside. If you go further in, my brother Joshua will exchange it for as many ducats as you need."
As soon as he finished speaking, the villager let out a cheer and quickly entered the store. At the same time, Rockefeller's voice reached the protesting villagers.
"As you can see, our Carter Bank has never lost your trust, even to this day!"
All of this had been caused by the lord.
Rockefeller emphasized that the trust and credit of Carter Bank remained strong even amid this chaos.
"We will protect your gold coins even if the world splits in two, and this is clearly stated in the IOU promissory notes you have!"
Of course, some villagers disagreed with Rockefeller's statement.
"Then what about these Gold promissory notes! Why are you refusing to exchange them now when you used to do it before?"
At this, Rockefeller's expression turned cold, and he countered.
"I have already explained everything. We have no obligation to take responsibility for those promissory notes."
And all the blame should be directed at the lord, not at Rockefeller or Carter Bank.
The villainous debtor disguised as a lord was the one to blame.
"All the unpleasant events that happened tonight were caused by the lord himself, and I want to make it clear that we are completely unrelated to this!"
One of the villagers shouted.
"Then what are we supposed to do! Are you telling us to go die like this!"
"What about our gold coins!"
Despite their outcry, Rockefeller remained unfazed and quickly responded.
"I cannot take responsibility for your gold coins on your behalf. However, the Gold promissory notes you have brought are not just worthless pieces of paper!"
"Then what are they!"
"As stated on them, they are promissory notes written by the lord, and you can directly exchange them. If you need gold coins, you can take the promissory notes from our store and go directly to the lord to demand gold coins."
Then, sighs mixed with voices erupted from here and there.
"How can we go to the lord and ask for our gold coins..."
"You have to make sense."
"What power do we have!"
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Ohh..its the beginning of the end. Hhhhhh
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