Chapter 223: Debt, You Say!?
Chapter 223: Debt, You Say!?
"Just how much debt is there?"At my question that was almost a mutter Rudolf held out a single document.
"This is the list of the debts created by the previous ambassador."
Looking at the document that was held out, names and amounts are recorded in order of the largest amounts. Achim Kirchhoff 550 gold coins, next Klaus Meine 400 gold coins, and after that they continue in a long line, the total being 3,100 gold coins!? In places the writing is blurred.
"Th-this Achim Kirchhoff is who?"
"A count, my lord."
"A count... and this Klaus Meine?"
"The next head of a baronial house, my lord."
"Then all the names written in this register are...?"
"Just as Robin-sama surmises, they are all the heads of noble houses or next heads, and members of their families."
"Are there no money-lenders?"
"There are none. In this country there exist no money-lenders who deal with nobles. It is ordinary for nobles to borrow and lend money among themselves. However, because the act of borrowing money is an act that damages one’s honor, lending and borrowing of money among nobles rarely appears on the surface. That said, regarding the previous ambassador, all the nobles of the Mainz Kingdom are aware."
Haa—, is that so... What should I do? Or rather, I only need to repay the money, right? That means,
"You mean repay that debt with the money sent from the country?"
There is nothing else, is there.
"Yes, exactly so. After the previous ambassador took his own life, the people written on that document came to this residence, presented promissory notes bearing the previous ambassador’s handwritten signature, and pressed for repayment. Thus, in difficulty, I wrote out the amounts and consulted Chancellor Richelieu. It took time, yet it could not be helped. The lenders said that as long as the money was returned they would wait.
Thus it was decided to repay with the money sent from the home country, and the noble personages who had lent the money gave their consent. In order to repay, I dismissed most of the people who had been working at this residence and left only those who were the absolute minimum necessary. Previously there had been carriages, coachmen, horses, gardeners and so on, yet I dismissed them all. The money that floated from that was allocated to the repayment of the debt."
Rudolf spoke without emotion, in a flat tone. When one hears it one thinks "I see," yet Rudolf must have handled this alone. Did he visit each noble house one by one and negotiate? I believe the previous ambassador was a prince, was he not? I have a memory of hearing that, though I do not know the name.
"Was the previous ambassador not a prince?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Rudolf bows his head.
"I am sorry. It must have been hard to do this much. As a fellow fragment of a prince I both thank you and apologize."