The Lyon Guild (2)
As soon as the overseer left after their conversation, Rockefeller went straight to Joshua and suddenly threw something at him.
"Joshua."
Joshua barely caught the object and looked puzzled.
"What's this?"
"Gold ore. We need to hurry with this job."
Joshua looked down at the gold ore he caught.
There were spots of shining gold embedded in it.
"This is gold ore? You mean the gold ore that dwarves mine in their mines?"
"Right. It could be an alloy ore, or it could be silver mixed with gold ore. Anyway, it's an ore containing gold."
Upon closer inspection, there was a sparkle visible in the gaps of the ore.
"Where did you get this? There's no way you mined it yourself, right?"
"Of course I didn't mine it. The overseer brought it. Apparently, some village kids found it while playing near a stream."
Joshua looked puzzled.
"Is that possible? This is... gold ore, right? Why was it near a stream?"
"There were quite a few earthquakes recently, right? It must have washed out during that time."
Rockefeller continued.
"If kids can find it while playing, the frequency of gold ore discoveries in this area will gradually increase. Then people will start to wonder. They'll suspect that there's a gold vein here again since this place used to be the Azrak Gold Mine."
Joshua naturally bit his thumbnail and immediately reacted.
"This is a big problem. If rumors spread that there might be a living gold vein here, wouldn't that be bad? So far, only we knew about this fact, right?"
"It's going to be hard to keep that a secret any longer. People aren't fools."
"So what's going to happen?"
"Those who can claim some rights will start eyeing this land like hungry wild animals."
"What about the local lord? Will the lord change his mind at that time, claiming that this land was originally his?"
"No, we don't have to worry about the local lord."
Rockefeller seemed quite confident.
"Anyway, it seems like Andrew and Stella have half given up on their political marriage. And of course, we have the rights to this land. Even if he gets greedy, there's no chance of winning, so he'll give up easily."
"But the royal family hasn't acknowledged our rights to this land yet, right?"
"It's easy to get that acknowledgement. We just need to bribe them."
"I see."
"That's why I made a deal with the lord. Even if that becomes a problem, the lord can't claim the rights to this land. He already made a promise in front of his followers."
"Then... who's the problem?"
Rockefeller spoke in a rather serious tone.
"Rather, we should be on guard against His Majesty the Emperor and the lords located in nearby areas. Since this land is not yet in a normal state, they will forcibly claim the rights to this land and rush in. They'll want to gain something from it."
"Ah..."
Joshua sighed softly.
"But this is our land, right? Of course, we have the rights."
"That's true. But to firmly claim the rights to this land, it's better for us to quickly gain the qualifications to do so. That way, we can shake off any unwanted people."
What were those qualifications?
Joshua knew right away.
"We need to become at least a noble family. At least one with influence over other noble families..."
"Of course, that's necessary. That's why we need to hurry. We don't even have the bank under our family name yet, do we?"
"So what does Rockefeller plan to do? It's not like we can get it right now just because we want one, right?"
"That's why I'm going to Lyon."
Upon hearing about becoming a goldsmith, Joshua also learned from Carter.
"So, you're going to Lyon to meet the Lyon Guild leader, not Leo?"
"I'll see Leo while I'm in Lyon, but my real goal is to meet the Lyon Guild leader. That's the only way I can become a goldsmith most easily."
Simply mastering gold coin engraving didn't make one a goldsmith.
There was a faction among goldsmiths.
There were two major factions in the empire, one was the Lyon Guild located in Lyon, and the other was the Black Label Union located in the port city of Black Label.
One had to belong to one of these two factions to become a goldsmith, and if one didn't belong to either faction, the royal family wouldn't acknowledge them, and they couldn't become a goldsmith.
"If the royal family were to select goldsmiths directly, it would be different. But since that's not the case, you have to have a connection with one of the two factions."
Joshua was well aware of this.
He had heard it from Carter whenever he was bored.
"I heard a lot from Uncle Carter that to become a goldsmith, it's more important to have a relationship with the Lyon Guild or the Black Label Union than to learn gold coin engraving."
While speaking, Joshua remembered something and expressed his concern.
"More than that, have you heard this? Uncle Carter told me that the Lyon Guild leader there is quite picky. I heard it's difficult to become one of their people if you don't suit their taste."
Rockefeller already knew this.
That's why he had been putting off becoming a goldsmith.
"I'll have to meet him first. I'll leave tomorrow, so I'll leave this place to you for a while."
Joshua was doing his job as well as Rockefeller.
"Got it. Don't worry too much about this side, I'll handle it well on my own."
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