The Founder of the Great Financial Family

“Three talents – then at 32 Shillings a piece, your total exchange will be at 96 shillings. 12 Shillings will be deducted from that as the exchange fee, is that okay?” 

“What? 12 shillings?” The mercenary facing Rockefeller looked flustered, and the mercenaries standing behind him looked taken aback as well. It seemed their fee was high compared to other places. 

“What kind of exchange fee is four shillings per Talent? Isn’t that just robbery?” 

“No, is this the only place I can exchange money? You’ve got a lot of nerve,”

At the response that was pretty much expected at this point, Rockefeller held a smile around his mouth, 

“We have to make a living too, after all,”

The mercenary that had been facing Rockefeller looked at him with a crumpled frown, 

“Hey, little kid, you know why we’re here, don’t you?” 

“Weren’t you hired by the lord due to the trouble with the Orcs?” 

“You’re well aware, then do you know where we’re from?” 

“Of course, you are mercenaries from Hound, aren’t you?” 

Montefeltro was looking for a fairly reputable mercenary unit to ensure the orcs were dealt with in one blow. So he had commissioned the Hound mercenaries who’s name was well-known around the continent. 

“You’re aware of that too, then do you know how rough the Hound mercenaries are?”

“Rough?” Rockefeller tilted his head innocently, 

“I don’t know about that, but I heard you’re very credible. Once you take on a job, I heard that you finish it thoroughly. That’s why the lord hired you this time to exterminate the orcs,” 

When the young boy smiled boldly at him, the mercenary looked like he had lost momentum and turned back to his colleagues for help. Still, the two mercenaries behind him seemed to find his position funny and were hurriedly trying to hold back their laughter. 

“Ahh, I heard that even children would hold back their tears if they heard the Hound mercenaries passing,” he sighed, 

“I’m already past that age though,” Rockefeller smiled, 

“Are you going to keep smiling like that? It’s annoying!” 

“I apologise if my smiling was offensive. In that case, I’ll take just 10 shillings for the exchange fee. That’s enough, right?” 

“What 10 shillings?!” Sett’s expression looked even worse, 

“Why is it 10 shillings out of the blue! It’s usually one shilling for every Talent at most!” 

“It depends on the circumstances of the estate, and since we’re in the outskirts, You have to take into account the high marginal costs.”

“Do you think this is the only place to exchange money! I can just go out to some rich guy and get him to exchange some gold with me!” 

“Then you’re free to do that. However, if you come back wanting to deal with me again, it’ll be 12 shillings then, I’ll take back the discount,” 

“This punk!”

As Sett increased his voice, one of the mercenaries watching the exchange from behind yelled out in caution,

It was the signal to remind him that they could not disturb the store because the Seer barracks were next to the store. 

“Ahem,” the mercenary, Sett, immediately coughed, clearing his throat and glared at Rockefeller, 

“Okay, let’s do 8 shillings,”

“No, I can’t accept 8 shillings. I’ll let you exchange for 9,” 

“Oh my god… 9 shillings doesn’t make sense in the first place!” 

When the sharply frowning Sett returned his gaze to his colleagues, one of them, who was keeping an eye on what was going on outside, nodded,

As the boy said, it meant to trade because there was nothing they could do about it. They had to bear some damage since it was territory on the outskirts of the Empire and had only one Banco to trade with. 

“This is driving me crazy! What kind of exchange fee is 3 shillings for a Talent?” 

Rockefeller just waited silently without saying a word, they needed a place to exchange money, and this was the only place – they were just unwilling to accept it without complaining first, 

“If you love money that much, you’ll end up in hell like a goblin, you know,” 

Sett, who had been forced to pay the currency exchange fee of three shillings per Talent, grumbled at him, but Rockefeller smiled at him as if the words didn’t affect him at all, 

“That’ll be something to think about after I die, right?” 

“Would you look at that boldness,” the mercenary scoffed. 

Rockefeller received three talents from him and checked the authenticity of the talents the way Carter had taught him. 

They were bastard talents, but that was acceptable. 

All three talents given by the mercenaries were copper-mixed bastard talents, but they were all acceptable, so Rockefeller handed him 87 shillings – with the fee deducted. 

“There you go, it’s 87 shillings in total with the exchange fee deducted,”

The mercenary was still very unhappy with Rockefeller, who still had that mask-like customer service smile on his face. 

“You’ve got a lot of goods. If you carry on like this, this shop will go down, you know,”

“If we go down, then who would be there to exchange your gold coins, ajusshi? So we can’t go bust, can we?” 

“My god, you should know how lucky you are. We’re normally not this easy-going – do you even know how tough Hound mercenaries are?” 

Rockefeller was still smiling brightly, 

“Please use our shop next time as well. We’ll be good to you then too,” 

The three mercenaries, who thought there probably wouldn’t be a reason to see him again, left the store and Carter. They had been quietly waiting inside, listening to the conversation, and came out to speak to Rockefeller.