The Founder of the Great Financial Family

"Even if I hate you, I shouldn't hate the money,"

The lord's words immediately put a smile on the goldsmith's lips, 

"Thank you for thinking that way, my lord," 

"I'm just saying this because I hate you, but can you give me a discount on the interest for the money I'm borrowing this time?" 

"Our interest rate is always the same. No matter how much you borrow, a monthly interest rate of 6% applies. This is true for the lord and any other customer. There are no exceptions," 

After all, it was borrowed money, and it was enough to return with the tax collected from the people.

But the lord wasn't as ignorant as first thought; his father had left some wisdom for him. 

‘He told me not to borrow too much money while doing my work here. It's okay to borrow some, but if you borrow beyond your means, you can't afford to pay it back later.'

"Can something not be done about that? After all, this work would benefit you too. Imagine if things went wrong and the orcs managed to break into the estate, it wouldn't do you any good either," 

The Seers who followed the lord were quiet, but whether they were doing it on purpose or not, their gazes were fixed, glaring at the goldsmith, pressuring him. 

They, too, thought poorly of goldsmiths, but they also believed that the lord's words were correct. The goldsmith scratched his cheek and decided to take a step back here. 

After all, he was doing business with this land's lord – even he had to watch out for his mood a little. 

"Ahem! Well, just this time, I will make it especially cheap. We will lower it to 4% interest per month. After all, it's for the sake of the estate so I can make this much of a concession – that is the way people should live after all," 

The lord had to think about his own pride, so he didn't push to cut the interest down any further – he would look too cheap if he demanded to cut the interest further when the goldsmith had already given him a way. 

"Okay, let's do that then," 

With the deal settled, the goldsmith began to draw up some documents. 

"Will you be signing the contract then, my lord?" 

"I guess so. Would you lend me the money without it?" The lord asked sarcastically, 

"The lord is the best, after all," despite the goldsmith's bright smile, the lord's expression was not very bright. 

He had borrowed money because he needed it in an emergency. It's not like there was any reason for him to be particularly happy. 

‘These money-grubbing people….' 

Regardless of what the lord thought of him, there were some things he had to make sure was conveyed; it was related to the loan's contract. 

"I will just clarify some things in advance for the lord. You should know that this contract to recover the borrowed money from the lord can be sold to other places. There's no need to concern yourself too much about this, but it's just so you know that the person you may pay the money back to might not be me directly as I may sell that right to someone else," 

"Would that change the interest rate?" 

"The interest would remain the same," 

"Well, the interest rate would not be changing, so do whatever you want. It's not like I'm someone who would run away with the money, so why would I care? At the end of the day, whether it's to you or someone else, I just need to pay back the appropriate amount of money," 

"Then that's great. First, let me finish off this contract, and I will immediately prepare the amount of gold needed," 

The lord signed the contract, received the loan and left the shop. 

Banco was located near the markets, and so the area was crowded with the locals,

‘I feel it every time, but visiting this place always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.' 

It was then that the lord found a familiar face; it was the commoner child he had seen a few days ago.

‘That kid is….' 

While the lord was still trying to remember his name, Rockefeller happened to meet the lord in front of Banco and greeted him politely, 

"Greetings to the lord, I am Rockefeller Rothmedici,"

"Yeah, you're Hans' son, right? Did the funeral wrap up well then?"

At those words, Rockefeller bowed his head more deeply than before, 

"Yes, my lord, thanks to your help, my father's funeral was completed well," 

"And have you given any thought about what I said? I told you about keeping your manners and knowing your place, correct?" 

"I am still thinking about it, my lord," 

Looking at him, the lord didn't see much difference to Rockefeller than what he had seen before, and he wasn't so leisurely that he could spend a long time chatting with the children of commoners that he met by chance.

"Anyway, the answer is fixed, so don't agonise over it too much," With these final words, the lord lost interest in Rockefeller and left. 

Rockefeller simply bowed his head to the lord and shifted his gaze away to Banco, from where he had come out. 

‘Did he borrow money?'

As Rockefeller entered the store, Carter, who had been delighted with his loan to the lord, looked started. He carefully looked outside of the store before looking to Rockefeller with a relieved expression, 

"Right, have you come about the business from last time?" 

"Yes, sir," 

"Then let's have a look at the item," as Carter lead him into the back of the shop, Rockefeller asked, 

"I think the lord just came by. Did something happen?" 

"It's no big deal, just ignore it," 

"In that case, can't you just tell me?"

"You're a curious one – because of the orcs appearing near the estate, the Lord came to borrow some money to hire mercenaries," 

"Orcs?" 

"A person encountered one, and more recently, two more people got caught," 

This situation with the orcs; Rockefeller couldn't act like it was someone else's business.