The Founder of the Great Financial Family

Chapter 17: Becoming an Assistant at the Bank (6)

"Why are you here?"

"It's been a while, Lord."

Rockefeller bowed politely to the lord who had come to the store, leaving the lord unable to hide his perplexed expression.

It had been only a month since the lord had proposed Rockefeller become a serf.

Yet, there was Rockefeller, unexpectedly working under a goldsmith, busily attending to the store's affairs.

"I've been employed here as an assistant."

"An assistant? You've become an assistant here?"

"Yes."

"Carter, has this store been so busy that you needed an assistant?"

The lord asked Carter, who was seated nearby, and Carter responded with an awkward smile.

"Yes, things have been getting busier lately."

"Busy enough to need an assistant?"

"Yes, that's correct."

This was a small bank located on the outskirts of the empire, neither in the imperial capital of Empire nor a place of special commercial significance.

It seemed unlikely that the bank would be so busy as to require an assistant.

The lord felt a sudden suspicion, but since Carter had answered thus, he found himself without a retort.

After a long moment of pondering, the lord reluctantly smiled bitterly.

Just a month ago, he had ridiculed Rockefeller, who was in dire straits following the death of his parents, for talking about propriety and status. Now, he found himself the butt of the joke.

'He's... lucky. Very lucky indeed. To think he'd end up working at the bank.'

The lord, swallowing his regret, made a disingenuous remark.

"So you got a job here... Good for you. It's proper for a commoner to live as a commoner, after all. A serf couldn't possibly work here."

He tried to rationalize why the boy had gotten a job at the bank, and the picture he formed wasn't too bad.

"If you were a tax collector's son, this kind of job would suit you. You know how to read and write, right? Did your father teach you arithmetic?"

"Yes."

"Ah, so you understand complex calculations. This job does seem to suit you then. Didn't I tell you before? People should know their manners and their place."

Was that really what he meant?

"Yes, you did say that to me."

"Right, just as I said. It seems you've found your rightful place. Congratulations. Now that you're employed at the bank, it seems unlikely that you'll need to come under my care for the sake of your younger siblings. You'll earn a decent income. The wages here are higher than most places."

The lord glanced at Carter, who misunderstood the look and offered an off-base comment.

"Yes, I'm taking good care of everything without neglect. And I'm providing incentives as well."

"...Is that so? Keep up the good work. It's tough for someone so young to have to look after his siblings."

"Of course. I'm taking care of them well."

The lord, who had spoken insincerely, received an equally soulless response from Rockefeller.

"I will always appreciate your grace, my lord, and live diligently."