Establishment of the Currency Finance Department (2)
It was difficult to maintain a calm expression, but recalling the humiliation that Tepez had suffered earlier, he managed to suppress his anger.
'I must endure. I cannot fall for such low provocations.'
As he consciously looked around at the nearby Tepez family head, he noticed the discreet sneer directed at him.
Well, of course.
If he were to be humiliated in this place, the person who would be most delighted was none other than him.
'I will never let them see me like that.'
"What lies? Do you have any evidence?"
Rockefeller then pulled out a fake Goblin Dollar that he had prepared in advance.
"This is a counterfeit Goblin Dollar that Prince Calman had made, thinking that he would not be able to win the Crown War and wanting to turn the situation around."
Next, he took out a real one.
"And this is the Goblin Dollar that we made. Some of you may not know, but the real Goblin Dollar has a magic power that can distinguish it from the counterfeit. If it's real, it turns blue, and if it meets a fake, it turns red."
Rockefeller then held the real and fake Goblin Dollars close together for them to see.
At that moment, the real Goblin Dollar began to emit a red light.
"Did you see? Our issued Goblin Dollar is impossible to counterfeit, and even if a fake is made, it can be easily distinguished. It is impossible to counterfeit, no matter how clever or resourceful the people who think themselves awake may be."
After organizing the Goblin Dollars in his hand, Rockefeller turned to address the Sinclair family head, who was present at the scene.
"Evidence that the Sinclair family tried to counterfeit the Goblin Dollar? There is a living witness."
The nobles present at the gathering stirred at the mention of a living witness.
"Do you know who it is? It is none other than Prince Calman, who ordered the act."
The nobles began discussing Calman.
It was a long-standing custom to kill the defeated emperor in the Crown War.
However, Christian had spared Emperor Calman to maintain friendly relations with the Sinclair family, and now that act had become the Sinclair family's disgrace.
"If you knew that Prince Calman was still alive, you would know how foolish it would be to lie in this place. Now, let's hear the excuse of the noble person. I'm curious about what you have to say."
"......"
Unable to answer, Sinclair looked around for cues and soon began to make an unconvincing excuse.
"If it was Calman's order, I might not have known."
The nobles stirred once more at his words, and Sinclair, who knew this, shamelessly continued his speech with an impervious face.
"Being a family head doesn't mean I know everything about the family. But if a mistake was made by someone in the family, I would like to apologize to Lord Rockefeller."
It was an insincere apology.
So, Rockefeller also accepted it insincerely.
"It's because the family head is incompetent that such things happen."
The extremely provocative statement made Sinclair's forehead tense, but he quickly controlled his anger and returned with a pleasant expression.
"I am deeply sorry if my incompetence has caused you any trouble."
Although he bowed his head while speaking, it was inevitable that he would feel incredibly bitter.
And Tepez, who had been watching from afar, chuckled briefly.
He had felt terrible when it happened to him, but seeing the detestable Sinclair admitting his mistake and bowing his head was too delightful.
"It is true that in the past, there were cases where banks belonging to the guild issued loan certificates backed by non-existent gold coins. However, that was never acceptable, and as Duke Austin of Sinclair mentioned earlier, it was a clear criminal act."
As Rockefeller raised his voice, everyone stirred once again.
Then, one noble, driven by curiosity, opened his mouth to question Rockefeller.
One of the nobles, curious about Rockefeller, opened his mouth to speak.
"Rockefeller... Your Grace."
Seemingly unfamiliar with the title, the noble hesitated for a moment before smoothly starting to speak.
"I have a question because I really don't know. If not only our promissory notes but also those held by other commoners all go back to the guild, can we get back the gold coins we entrusted without any problems?"
It was a genuine question.
Rockefeller then lied to them without batting an eye.
"Of course. Your promissory notes are absolutely safe. Everyone here must know that our Lyon Guild is involved in various businesses. We have given you promissory notes backed by as many gold coins as we have. So you can rest assured."
At this, the majority of the nobles who did not know the situation well, like the ignorant commoners, began to feel greatly relieved.
"After all, it's the place with the most gold coins in the empire."
"It's the Lyon Guild. They've merged with the Union and gotten bigger. Our gold coins must be safe there."
"Of course. If there is a problem, we just have to quickly go and exchange them before the problem explodes. I don't have any plans to do that now because of the interest, but who knows what will happen later?"
However, not all nobles thought that way.
A few of them doubted Rockefeller's words.
That's because they knew to some extent about the deceptive practices the bank had been involved in.
And the person who knew this best was none other than Austin, the head of the Sinclair family.
"Hahaha, this time, Your Grace Rockefeller is quite good at lying."
Thinking that this was the right moment, he chuckled and began to speak confidently to everyone.
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