Chapter 56 : Chapter 56
Chapter 56. A Message from the Past (4)
From the first vault, I obtained Ulrich's message and the immortal Phoenix's egg. From the first account Ulrich had prepared...
"It is 10,000 gold."
I obtained a massive amount of gold coins, a sum I had never even imagined.
"...In which kingdom's gold coins?"
I lost my composure for a brief moment at Ulrich's arrangement, which far exceeded my expectations. Perlman was also in a state where he had slightly lost his composure, much like me. It was the Iron Bank that had to pay the enormous sum of 10,000 gold, and he was the one who had to authorize it.
Of course, it was an amount the Iron Bank could sufficiently pay, but if I were to withdraw this entire amount at once from a branch other than this main office, various problems might arise.
"Strictly speaking, it is a promissory note. It is set to be paid in gold coins of the Kingdom of Anton."
I clenched my fist tightly. If it were gold coins from the Kingdom of Anton, the oldest kingdom, they had higher reliability than those of other kingdoms and were easier to trade with. In other words, they were gold coins that made it easy to contract with mercenary corps based in various places.
Until now, I had built my foundation under the wing of the Tolome family and gained wings through my marriage with Neudorf. And with Ulrich's arrangement this time, I had even obtained war funds amounting to 10,000 gold. If I were to burn this money relentlessly to gather mercenary corps or soldiers, I could gather troops capable of standing against the three families that destroyed the Cadmus family even now.
However, that was a poor move. It was true that 10,000 gold was a large sum of money, but war was a monster that consumed money. Even if I drove them out in a short-term decisive battle, I would eventually be unable to perfectly reclaim Norington if I did not establish a foundation. If that happened, I would be unable to perfectly blockade the Void Tree that would appear in Norington.
Therefore, I judged that it was not yet time to raise an army. Rather than using the 10,000 gold to raise soldiers, it was money that should currently be used to establish the foundation of the Cadmus family.
Thank you, Lord Ulrich.
I thanked Ulrich once again. With Ulrich's arrangement, I was able to significantly shorten the preparation period I had in mind. From now on, I would be able to carry out my will even without the financial help of Tolome or Neudorf.
"If you are thinking of withdrawing it all at once by any chance, do you have any intention of doing so here right now?"
I stepped out of my thoughts and looked at Perlman. I recognized a slight embarrassment dwelling within Perlman's expressionless face.
"I have no intention of withdrawing it all at once right now."
"If that is the case..."
Carrying 10,000 gold in cash was a burdensome act, even for me. Fortunately, since he said I could withdraw this money at any Iron Bank branch spread throughout the world, there was no reason for me to withdraw everything right now.
"I do not have many places to use it right now..."
I had no way to spend the money. More precisely, there was no person who could roll my money timely and appropriately. Weird Tolome might do so, but if that happened, the 10,000 gold would once again fall under the surveillance of the Tolome family.
I need that person.
I thought of the person I had been active with in the Liberation Front in my previous life. Currently, I was a person who severely lacked people. I decided on my next move while shining my eyes.
"I am curious about something. Is my account shared across any branch of the Iron Bank?"
"Of course."
For now, I decided to defer the use of the 10,000 gold.
"I will not suddenly withdraw all 10,000 gold."
"No. You may do so. However, I was trying to say that if you withdraw it all at once from branches other than this one, it may take time to provide the cash."
"Is that so."
After finishing the tea Perlman had prepared, I stood up from my seat and offered a handshake to Perlman.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the Iron Bank for keeping my account all this time."
"It is my honor instead, Baron Blanc."
Having found the first account Ulrich had prepared, I had no more business at the Iron Bank. Thus, it was time to leave. Before the biting winter wind could catch our ankles. As I was about to turn away, Perlman spoke to me.
"Do not forget that you are the owner of the very first account and a 'Golden' grade customer recognized by the Iron Bank. Our bank's doors are always open."
At the same time as I woke the first account that had been sleeping in the deepest part of the Iron Bank, I had naturally obtained the certification of the highest customer grade, the 'Golden' grade. Ordinarily, to obtain the Iron Bank's highest 'Golden' grade, an immense level of deposit along with a long period of transaction history was required.
In other words, it meant that a large amount of cash reserves along with trust built over a long period was necessary. It was a condition that could not be achieved by the efforts of a single person. For an ordinary noble family, it was the highest credit rating that could only be obtained by working over generations.
From now on, I had become a person under the protection of the Iron Bank in financial transactions. In the future, the Iron Bank would not be able to help me directly, but at least in financial matters, they would provide a certain amount of help out of simple goodwill.
"It is reassuring, Bank Manager. I am glad our meeting could end desirably."
The fifteen-year-old man with deep eyes turned around with those words and grabbed the door of the Bank Manager's office.
"I hope to see you again someday."
"I will be waiting, Baron Blanc."
The knights and I left the Iron Bank while facing the winter wind that was gradually becoming biting. As soon as I exited the entrance of the Iron Bank, I felt a vibration TREMBLE against my chest.
It's going to get busy from now on.
When I first entered the Iron Bank, I was a penniless boy with nothing in my hands, but now I held the Phoenix's egg, Ulrich's message, and my father's traces in my heart. They were telling the direction made of a single beam of light to me, a traveler walking through a dark desert. From now on, they would no longer leave me alone.
***
After my group left the Iron Bank. Perlman was once again examining the newly revealed first vault and the first account. On the far right of Perlman, who was glaring at the central control device with fierce eyes, a golden-shining magic circle was floating.
"102, 273, 320, 404..."
Perlman confirmed the numbers floating above the control device, took off his glasses, and pressed his eyelids with both hands. He was a man who had never shown a flustered or tired appearance in any situation. However, Perlman currently stood before the control device and contemplated with a haggard appearance that anyone could see.
That there are linked accounts...
The first account was not entirely alone. There were such accounts in the Iron Bank. Accounts that had disappeared from memory and records because there was no heir or they were not properly passed down. Accounts that were abandoned because no one looked for them anymore. The employees working at the Iron Bank called them 'dead accounts'.
And Perlman noticed that several of those dead accounts were connected to the first account. He could not be certain that I was the owner, but at least they were accounts that were definitely connected to the first account. Those accounts, woven with the first account like supports, were disguised as dead accounts and were waiting breathlessly until the owner of the first account appeared.
They began to come alive again along with the first account that an existence named Blanc had woken up. Perlman fell into deep thought while looking at the linked accounts. Several account numbers floating in the magic circle were intertwined like a spider web. They were designed and hidden so sophisticatedly that they could not be recognized unless one had the authority of someone like Perlman, the head of the Iron Bank.
In other words, it meant that a figure with authority similar to Perlman's had hidden these. Perlman, who was looking at the hidden accounts, looked at the golden magic circle floating on his right. That magic circle had suddenly appeared when Perlman recorded on the control device that I had safely taken over the items from the first vault.
A text was written in the magic circle along with the first Bank Manager's signature.
-When all accounts are opened, Iron shall open its doors and follow the natural order according to the golden guidance.
Reading the text written in the golden magic circle, Perlman remembered his first conversation with me.
-I am sitting here now according to a certain flow of fate, not just by my own will.
The fifteen-year-old man with the first account had said that he was sitting before Perlman according to the flow of fate.
Have I also been swept away? By the thing called the flow of fate that Baron Blanc speaks of.
Staring blankly at the text written by the first Bank Manager, Perlman looked at the accounts he had found as if he had made some kind of decision.
SNAP.
Then he snapped his fingers. At the same time Perlman snapped his fingers, the account numbers that had been floating on the central control device disappeared.
"I have no choice but to simply watch."
Perlman decided not to measure Blanc. He decided not to judge.
Simply watch. Like the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range that is said to have stood since the beginning of the world.
He decided to simply watch.
***
"I see the Continental Lighthouse over there!"
After finishing the business at the Iron Bank, the group was passing through the Iateho Plain where we had parted with Tarania.
...I won't be able to stop by right now.
If I went in the direction Tarania had headed, I could reach the Holy City Moirai, but it was a journey that would take more than a month even on horseback. Moreover, various preparations were necessary to visit Moirai officially. First, it was the proper order to state the intention to visit through Cardinal Julio in Baltimere.
I was a knight currently receiving attention in the three kingdoms of humans. Especially in the Holy City Moirai, they were sending favorable gazes toward the knight who killed the fear of the era. If I were to visit Moirai directly without going through Cardinal Julio, who was exercising influence in Baltimere, it would be an act of ignoring the Cardinal.
Furthermore, crossing the Iateho Plain in winter without any preparation was practically a suicidal act. Since the plain, where bitter winds blew, had no proper structures or forests to hide from the wind, the current period was not appropriate for crossing the Iateho Plain in many ways.
I will have to create an opportunity.
However, it was only that the current period was inappropriate; it was true that it was a place I must definitely visit someday. As I was lost in thought for a moment while looking at the Continental Lighthouse, the Phoenix's egg inside my chest began to TREMBLE. It felt as if it didn't like the current cold, as if it were telling me to move quickly.
It won't be a gentle fellow.
At first, I tried to move it by putting it in a well-made box like a jewelry box, but the Phoenix's egg TREMBLED and refused it. It showed a movement as if expressing anger whenever it was put in any place other than my bosom. Because of that, I was currently returning to Baltimere while playing the role of a mother bird, which was not even in my destiny.
"Since we cannot cut through the plain, from now on, we should move following the villages near the plain."
"Can I trust Sir Hansen?"
Hansen smiled GRIN after hearing my words and answered.
"Is there not a saying to follow an old horse when you do not know the way?"
Hansen said while THUMP THUMP pounding his chest.
"By the way, Sir Hansen, both last time and now, you seem to know many proverbs related to old horses. Are those words that people actually use?"
"To reach a village before the sun drops, we must move busily, Baron."
Hansen glossed over my question and hurriedly turned his horse to take the lead. Like an experienced knight, Hansen led the group by moving along the nearby villages. Following his memory and the guidance of the local territory people, he found the road heading toward Baltimere.
There were times we camped out, but at those times, Rakshar stepped forward to create a campsite and did his best to make the group comfortable. Rakshar was the gamekeeper that the Cadmus family took pride in. He was a person whose utility was maximized when he was in the forest.
With the active performance of the two, the Cadmus Knight Corps was able to head toward Baltimere without any major problems. It was a distance that was sufficient in only a week when coming, but now that it was winter, it took three weeks, triple that time, to return to Baltimere. It was a relief that Hansen found the way well; otherwise, we might have been trapped in the dead of winter and only moved when spring began.
Fortunately, the group was able to enter Baltimere, the capital of the Felix Kingdom, before it snowed. As we passed through the gates of Baltimere, the Phoenix's egg kept in my bosom began to TREMBLE once again.
I get it, you rascal.
By unintentionally cradling the Phoenix's egg for two weeks, I became able to roughly guess what the egg wanted to say just by the simple vibrations.
I'll go home quickly as you said.
The Phoenix's egg was telling me to quickly place it in a safe and warm nest. And that place would be the two-story white mansion prepared in Baltimere. The Phoenix's egg SHIVERED as if cold and burrowed deep into my chest. Fearing that Perlman's letter of introduction, which I had kept in my inner pocket, might get crumpled, I took it out and properly adjusted the egg's position.
It's a coincidence.
I fell into thought while looking at the letter of introduction I had taken out.
-You can process the deposit in the Cadmus family account here as well, but to open the vault, you must go to the branch where it is located.
-Where is that place?
-It is Bigrove in the Felix Kingdom.
Bigrove, a territory located between Baltimere and Norington. The Cadmus family's vault was waiting for me there.
I'll be able to handle two things in one place.
There was a person I had to find.