Chapter 25: Twenty three

Entering the bank with Darius, I was reminded of my need for scales as I saw the dozens of counters with their enchanted scales and made a mental note to ask the person serving us if they knew where I could purchase a set. 

As we lined up at one of the three counters designated for those with guild accounts, I saw a familiar-looking dwarf behind the counter. Approaching the dwarf after several minutes of waiting for our turn, I was amused to see the guild leader and dwarf play out the exact same scene as the first time I’d visited the bank.

The dwarf, seeing Darius, purposely ignored us, turning his attention to his record book until the guild leader tossed three gold coins onto the counter with a snide remark about greed. As the gold disappeared, the dwarf was all smiles as he greeted us, until the moment Darius requested a gold withdrawal. 

“Come on Henric, we do this every other week. I’ve deposited thrice that amount this week with the sale of items farmed in Mõra.” Darius said, rolling his eyes at the dwarf who looked like a grumpy toddler as he slammed a rune inscribed box onto the counter. 

Once Darius finished putting away his gold, I stepped up to the counter, greeting the dwarf with a smile. 

“Hello Henric, I would also like to make a withdrawal.” 

“How much?” The dwarf grunted, scowling at me as I handed over my life token. 

“Five hundred gold from my personal account please. I would also like to ask if you know where I can purchase a set of scales?” I told him. 

“These scales are specially made for the bank, if you’re looking to buy normal scales with counter weights I suggest you visit Carmine’s curios.” The dwarf said, glancing down at something in his book with a frown. 

I watched in confusion as Henric didn’t immediately hand back my life token after pressing it to his book, and instead flipped to a new page where he pressed it down again. 

“Please wait here a moment,” he said, hopping down from the stool he sat on and walking away through the door, my life token still held in his hand. 

“That was strange,” Darius muttered, watching the dwarf leave with narrowed eyes. 

“Yeah, it was.” I agreed as the dwarf disappeared into a door. 

Henric returned within a few seconds, followed by another dwarf with dark hair who wore the closest thing to a business suit I’d seen since arriving in Kaledon. 

“Miss Greene, I am Mr. Gold a branch manager for the Hand of Midas bank. If you would come with me, we have some matters to discuss.” The dark haired dwarf said, opening a door that appeared beside the counter to allow me to access the rear section. 

“Mr. Gold, can I ask what it is you need to discuss? We were about to leave for the auction.” 

“Did Mr. Davis not inform you that a representative would contact you?” Mr. Gold asked, frowning slightly. 

Mr. Davis? That’s right, Markion said someone was supposed to contact me about the settlement. Things moved faster than I thought they would.

“Kadia? Is everything alright?” Darius murmured, giving me a concern look, and I hesitated before nodding. 

“I think so,” I told him, biting my lip, and widening my eyes before looking at the suit wearing dwarf with what I hoped was a nervous expression. “How long will this take?” 

“That depends on you. This is a confidential matter, so I ask that your companion wait here.” The bank manger said, his expression losing some of it’s previous frigidness as he looked at me.

“Darius, if you want to go ahead to the auction I can meet you there? I don’t want you to miss it waiting for me.” I said, looking up at the guild leader who glanced at the dark hair dwarf before shaking his head. 

“I will wait for you over there, it won’t matter if we miss the first half of the auction.” The guild leader said, gesturing to some benches at the far side of the lobby. 

  Following the bank manager back to the door he’d entered through earlier, I found myself in a long hall with doors on each side. Entering a door directly to the right, we entered what looked to be an unused office with a wooden desk that had a single plush looking chair on the far side and two less comfortable looking chairs on the other. As Mr. Gold moved around the desk to sit in the nicer of the chairs, I sat opposite him, trying to keep my expression from showing any signs of the multitude of emotions I felt. 

“Now then, firstly on behalf of Gaia corp I would like to offer you our deepest sympathies for the situation that has befallen you.” 

Sympathies won’t change anything, so why bother offering any? They’re just empty words. I thought as the dwarf continued speaking.

“As your lawyer Mr. Davis will have informed you, a settlement has been paid to Gaia corp to be transferred to you in gold. This settlement amounted to twenty-nine million after your lawyers fees.” 

Markion said it was twenty nine million, but I’m still surprised Davis actually settled for this pittance. I was expecting a lot more. I thought as I listened to the banker drone on about how I’d been granted a tax waiver on the settlement, 

“In regard to the transfer of dollars to gold the standard exchange rate is a ten dollars to one gold, with an exchange restriction of fifteen thousand gold per month. This restriction is in place to prevent an influx of gold, that could upset the world balance as not everyone is able to purchase gold in this manner. At this exchange rate the settlement you would receive is greatly diminished. Which is why we would like to offer you an alternate exchange that would allow you to make use of your full settlement.” 

“You just said Gaia corp doesn’t want an influx of gold, and now you’re saying they are going to give me twenty-nine million in gold?” I asked, in response to the managers contradictory statement. I can already think of ways to get around that little restriction, and I’m sure others have as well. So why even bother? Guild’s like Eternia could just send money to their members, and have each of them transfer it to gold. I’m sure there’s also gold seller’s who sell gold for real world currency outside of the official exchange method. 

“As opposed to a transfer of gold, we are willing to allow you to spend your full settlement on items, with some restrictions of course. We will make it so that any items which are currently being offered for sale, anywhere in Kaledon at this moment, can be purchased by you. The exception to this, is grimoires or unique items.” 

“So you will let me buy twenty-nine million gold worth of items? What is stopping me from just selling the items for gold.” I questioned, as the dwarf placed a thick book on the desk. 

“The items you purchase here today will be bound to you, they can not be sold, given away or stolen. All items will be inscribed with a recall enchantment which will see them return to your person if they enter another's possession.” 

“What if the items are damaged or destroyed?” 

“That depends on the nature of the item. Consumables will not be able to be restored, but non consumable items bound to a person can be restored at a cost. Hmm, let's see what can I use as an example? When a tamer loses a bound creature, that creature can be reborn by the tamer sacrificing a portion of their power or that of a mana crystal to recreate the creatures body. This is the same for bound items, if a bound sword is damaged in battle you can restore it through power, however the amount of power needed will vary depending on the item itself.” The dwarf explained and pushed the thick book across the desk towards me. 

“This is?” I asked, eyeing the book. 

“This book contains a list of all the items you may choose from and their price in gold.” 

“Do I have to spend all my settlement on items? Can I have some gold, and the remainder in items?” I questioned not liking how this dwarf seemed to be pushing me to accept these items in place of gold. 

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“How much of your settlement would you want in gold,” the dwarf asked, his voice losing some of the friendly tone. 

“I’m not sure, can I buy things first, and have what is left over in gold?” I queried, not wanting to jump into a decision to quickly. Why doesn’t he want me to have the gold, it’s not like making a bunch of gold is difficult.

“Take a look at what is available, and we can discuss the transfer of any remaining money into gold after.” Mr. Gold coaxed, nudging the book closer to me again. 

Giving the manager a look that I hoped conveyed that I was a nervous teenager being bullied into compliance, I picked up the book. The first page I saw was an index which ran over three pages and was split into different categories. Seeing a category for professions, I found alchemy and turned to the six hundred and thirtieth page. 

Every instrument I could ever want was listed on the page, made in every kind of material. From vials, to retorts and other distilling instruments. Burners, caldrons, and so much more. There was even something called a portable alchemy lab, with three available options from basic, intermediate and advanced. 

“What about things I make using items here? Can they be sold? What about the potion vials?” 

“Items made by you using things purchased here can be sold, the vials are an item purchased and thus can not be sold even if containing a crafted item.”

“How to I select what I want? Do I just tell you?” I asked, swallowing back the saliva which was starting to pool in my mouth as I gazed at the items listed. 

“You may use this quill to mark your selections in the check box, simply write how many of each item you wish. The top left-hand corner of the page will keep track of how much you have spent.” The dwarf said with a smile as he handed me a gold fountain pen. 

“If you press the tip of the pen to an item, you will see an image of the item along with a basic description.” 

As I went to press the pen to the page, I noticed the pleased look on the dwarfs face, and hesitated. Should I really be jumping into this without properly thinking it over? 

“How long do I have to choose? Can I spend a few days looking over the items?” 

“I’m sorry, but we would prefer this be settled today.” Mr. Gold said, his apologetic expression showing no true emotion. 

“Can I get someone to help me look at the items on offer? To help me choose?” I asked. 

“We would prefer this matter stay confidential, and would ask you not speak publicly about your settlement. It may cause issues with other players and citizens who may feel it is unfair you have these things.” 

“I do not think I can make a choice regarding spending my settlement on items, I don’t know this world well enough. So I’ll just take the gold.” I told the dwarf, closing the book and placing it back on the desk. 

“There is no need to be so hasty, miss Greene. So long as the person you ask to help you is willing to sign a non disclosure agreement, then they may assist you with your purchases. We would also ask that you sign one as well.” Mr. Gold conceded, and I narrowed my eyes. They really don’t want me getting gold do they? 

“Please ask Darius, the man who was with me earlier, to join us.” 

“Please wait a moment.” Mr. Gold said, rising from his seat and leaving the room. 

Not long after, the bank manager returned with Darius who took the seat next to me with a questioning look. 

“Mr. Gold, can we please have some time to discuss this alone?” I asked, looking at the bank manager who was about to retake his seat. 

“Very well, I shall give you some time to speak. When you have finished talking, and have made your selections please ring this bell.” The dark haired dwarf said, pulling a silver bell out of his pocket and placing it on the desk. 

Once the bank manager left, I began explaining the settlement offer to the guild leader, who seemed to find it just as suspicious as I did. 

“It is clear they don’t want you to ask for the gold, and while I am tempted to tell you to push for it to see what they do, I do not think treading on Gaia corp’s toes to see how they react is a good idea. They do control the world we reside in after all. I don’t think you should change all the settlement to gold for Kaledon, or items, keep some in real world currency.” 

“That was my thought as well, but I can’t help but feel-.” I hesitated, trying to find the right words to explain how I felt. 

“Like they're about to rip you off? Everything in that book can be acquired somewhere in this world, but then again so can gold. We can make gold through selling items and farming dungeons. Can we make everything in that book? Probably not anytime soon. The restrictions are annoying, but I think even with Gaia clearly trying to pull something underhanded, you are better off with the items.” Darius advised, and I sighed. That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but I can’t exactly tell Darius that there is something more going on with the settlement. 

“So, I guess we have some shopping to do. I want pretty much everything alchemy related, but I don’t know what else to get.” 

“Are you sure you want to transfer all twenty nine million to Kaledon? It might be smart to keep some as real world currency, you can always transfer it gold later.” 

“Lets see what I can get first.” I murmured, looking down at the cover of the items book. “I’m not exactly short on funds, to be honest, the twenty nine million won’t really make much of a difference to my personal finances.” 

Add together what my mother left for me from her personal finances, her shares in the company, plus the money that was still paid to me from the various patents, and my trust was significantly more than the twenty nine million. This little settlement, didn’t even amount to quarter of my personal worth, and that was after the money I donated to various charities in my mothers name each year. 

“Considering what I know of your families position, I’m inclined to believe that. Let’s start off with your alchemy stuff, and then look at things like a quality mount, weapons, armor, books, items with enchantments like bags, rings.” Darius listed off. 

Opening the book and turning back to the alchemy section, I began looking over the items intently, trying to decide what to get and how many of each item I wanted. 

“I definitely want one of each retort, actually make it two of each and two of each set of equipment. Let's get at least a few hundred glass jars for storage, and some vials as well. There are different types, so I should get a bunch of each as they are considered a consumable. Even if I can’t sell them, I can use them in my lab for personal use and as a sample for someone to recreate.”

“The equipment is a consumable, so it can’t be restored if broken. Get more so you have spares.” Darius suggested.

Somehow, I don’t think we are going to make it to the auction tonight. I mused as I continued slowly working my way through the list of alchemy items with Darius’s help. 

 

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