-I welcome all of you here.-
The lower-ranking aristocrats who came to visit during the war had been shocked by the noble’s warm welcome. He was the one who was controlling the world. At first, it seemed like he was teasing them, but he was not. He was definitely greeting them from the bottom of his heart. Lord Joonbum was an admirable man.
-I request some of you to return to Toria and live normally. That will be very helpful for now. I don’t want Toria to fall right now. It will not be beneficial. Will anyone volunteer to do that?-
This was Jackson’s request, which was followed by Joonbum’s deep bow. Baron Jenobi returned to his home. It meant that he was going to act as a spy, but he did not regret volunteering for it. It was a shameful thing to do as a noble, but he couldn’t stop himself from doing it.
“I can’t believe Toria will end in my time!”
“Your Majesty! We can still save our land!”
“Yes, Your Majesty. He offers to keep the royal blood!”
Nobles emphasized the promise of keeping the royals as they wanted to show off that it was they who received such an offer. However, those who knew that Joonbum offered it first frowned in disgust.
“We, we should move to a new place tomorrow.”
“Won’t, won’t it be too quick?”
The king turned to Marquis Atua with teary eyes. The marquis, however, looked stern.
“Yes, your… We never know when he will change the promise. You must… remember that you are not the king anymore.”
The king looked at the marquis who stood proudly on his feet. The king looked at him in despair and regretted not fighting to the end. He now had no kingdom. He had no people. He was no longer a king.
*
“It’s a good offer, milord.”
“What? NO WAY!”
The lord in the room shouted as two groups of men were glaring at each other.
“You have over seven trillion gold in debt to pay. You should pay at least three billion a month, but it has been three months since you can’t even pay the interest. We are left with no choice, milord.”
“Ugh. Maybe we can borrow…”
Lord Rodric turned grim as his advisor Horumdal spoke, but he couldn’t continue as Bimonson Fullova, the Director of West Region of Ress Merchant Group, shook his head.
“We have found that you have no assets to take out a loan. Your castle, land, and all your assets are being secured by us on your previous loans. Our request was to pay the interest, which was five percent, much lower than that of any other competitor.”
It was as he said. The offer was too good to be true, and that in turn made them borrow to the point where they could not pay it back. They tried to make it right by borrowing more money to start up a business, but that failed, resulting in more debt.
“You should consider our offer carefully, milord.”
Bimonson calmly explained to Rodric who turned pale from despair.
“Give… give us three days.”
The merchants turned to Bimonson at the unexpected request.
‘Three days? What can that change?’
Bimonson began thinking about the reports that he heard about Lord Rodric and his land.
‘There’s nothing he can use to take another loan. Is he trying to interfere with our plans?’
But there was no power left for him to do such a thing. The Ress Merchant Group was in fact, too strong now that it was almost untouchable. They were so close to acquiring the land. It would’ve been impossible to do such a thing in the past, but with Khalodian on their back, no noble dared to oppose the Ress Merchant Group.
‘Then what is he up to? Hidden treasure? Just buy some time?’
Bimonson grew cold at the thought. He couldn’t find a way for Rodric to avoid his fate. There was no use in resisting anymore.
“Sure. I will give you three days to think about it. Boys, let’s return.”
Bimonson stood up and bowed respectfully, followed by the other merchants around him. After they left, all people in the room turned to Rodric.
“What are you up to! He was going to shave off our interest! We should take his offer!”
Beilt Kreta, brother of Rodric Kreta and the second most powerful man of the land, shouted to Rodric. Rodric opened his mouth grimly.
“I will open the catacombs.”
“WHAT!”
“NO!”
Many gasped in shock and became silent. The older people found it hard to remove themselves from such shock that they fell to the cold stone floor.
“We can’t…”
“We will not give this land up. If you have another way, then tell me. I will listen to you.”
Rodric spoke to the people in a low but firm voice. No one could respond.
-Lord Rodric Kreta has dug up his ancestral catacomb to pay back the debt to the Ress Merchant Group!-
It was huge gossip that spread quickly. But it did not last long as a bigger issue came about.