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Black Label Union(1)
Immediately after the 1st Prince and his army left Lyon.
A guild meeting hosted by the guild master was held in Ghetto Nuovo.
Attending the guild meeting was a natural duty for guild members, so the members who hurriedly came after hearing the news began to talk about Rockefeller, who had met the 1st Prince, from in front of the meeting hall.
"Hey, did you hear the news?"
"Of course, I did. The 1st Prince just left? Does it make any sense that Tepez left without any demands?"
"That's what I'm saying. I couldn't believe it at first either. It's not just anyone, the 1st Prince just left."
"There was an army outside the city, but what did he do? Does he have the heart of a beast or something?"
"This guild master seems to have no fear in the world. Otherwise, it's inexplicable."
"I thought he was just young, but he's actually quite gutsy."
"Having guts is a good thing. We could never do that because we're cowards."
"That's true."
"This guild master is the real deal. In my opinion, he was chosen very well. Don't you think?"
"Business is better than before, right? It's definitely better to make a profit by expanding the loan business with the money we've saved. It's strange, isn't it?"
"I'm the same. I've been having fun lately."
"Do you think it's just you? I've been enjoying doing business lately. In the past, I've had trouble not having enough money to lend. Now I can worry less about that, of course, it's good."
"More importantly, I heard that Benjamin Gong committed suicide."
"Well, that's possible. He could have hung himself out of embarrassment, right?"
"True. Business has been better since he left. If I were him, I would have hidden in a mouse hole. He insisted on the gold storage fee, tsk tsk."
"Honestly, it's good that he's dead. He was a guy who tried to eat everything on his own, relying on his family."
Among them, a guild member with a bulging belly shared a regret about the loan business.
"My business is doing well, but there's nowhere else to lend more money. It would be nice to do business in the area controlled by the Black Label Union. I heard there's a lot of chaos there due to the opening of new trade routes and trade with the new continent. If we make a big hit, we can make hundreds or thousands of times more."
Black Label.
It was the largest port city in the empire and a prosperous place due to trade with the new continent.
And it was also the base of another Banco Alliance called the Black Label Union.
"Well, no matter how much we want to, we can't touch that area. The Black Label Union has a tight grip on it."
"If we accidentally touched it, they wouldn't stay still, would they? They would definitely say something."
"Ismail would move for sure. Oh, it's scary. Would you dare to go near there? I wouldn't even go near there because I value my life."
"That's true. That's why it's a shame. I heard there's a real shortage of money to lend there. We need to do business in such a place...."
"That place is really a gold mine."
"There's no better place to do business with money. If there were no problems, I would want to go there and do business."
Bang, bang, bang!
As the bell rang loudly to signal the start of the meeting, the guild members who were bustling outside the meeting hall began to enter the Catacombs Guild Meeting Hall.
"Let's go in quickly. The mass will start soon."
"What's the reason for the summons?"
"I don't know. I heard there's a major announcement."
"A major announcement? What is it?"
"I don't know. Let's go in and see. We'll know when we listen."
Immediately after the mass held by the church priest before the start of the meeting.
Rockefeller opened his mouth for the guild meeting.
"I have called all of you busy people here because there is a major announcement."
What on earth is that major announcement?
What kind of announcement is he going to make, considering that the matter with the 1st Prince has been well resolved?
Everyone was harboring such doubts.
Rockefeller spoke up.
"From today, our Lyon Guild will."
Rockefeller paused briefly, then spoke in a slightly strong tone toward the guild members staring intently at him.
"Declare a full-scale war against the Black Label Union."
At Rockefeller's words, the entire meeting hall began to buzz loudly.
And amidst that, Rockefeller's speech continued.
"The imperial market doesn't seem that big. We have been sharing the market with them so far. Sharing this narrow market with them will ultimately weaken our power in the empire. Especially from the perspective of the cash-strapped imperial family, our dependence on them will inevitably decrease since they have other options besides us."
The buzzing in the conference room continued, and Rockefeller's words towards them were relentless.
"So, I intend to either kill them or absorb them into our side."
After finishing his statement, Rockefeller calmly stood and waited for questions to be directed at him.
A moment later.
Some guild members raised their hands, requesting the right to speak.
Rockefeller pointed to one of them.
"I will give you the opportunity to address everyone."
A nameless guild member stood up and began to address the crowd.
"Ahem! That's a good idea. I agree!"
Cheers and shouts erupted from various places at the mention of agreement.
"We've been fed up with them since before! Let's just crush them!"
"Let's completely crush them this time! The imperial market is ours!"
"No, what nonsense is this! If there's a problem, will you all take responsibility?!"
Towards them.
Rockefeller asked in an unusually loud voice.
"Is there anyone else with a different opinion?"
When another guild member hesitated, Rockefeller pointed to him and granted him the right to speak.
"I will give you the right to speak. Please feel free to speak."
"My name is Gibson, and I run a business in Brubong. Going to war with the Black Label Union means dragging the Ismail family into it."
As he turned his gaze to the conference room, most of the guild members seemed to nod in agreement.
"You all know that they are the best assassins in the empire, right? Despite this, do we really need to provoke the Black Label Union?"
He then asked Rockefeller.
"Or do you have any countermeasures?"
In response to the question directed at him.
Rockefeller silenced the noisy conference room and spoke.
"Of course, I do."
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