Chương 27: Chapter Twenty-Seven

I didn't know what to do with either the blue-silver or white coins that Mr. Altoroth handed me. But apparently, I wasn't going to have to worry too much about it. Mom had cast a couple of spell before we left while I carried my jar of tea leaves. Not a small tin. A jar. With the promise to replace them when I ran out. One of the spells was apparently to summon a carriage from home. Not a wagon. A carriage.

One with comfortable seats and windows with curtains, driven by one of the employees with Faerie Fire orbs floating around the carriage and in front of the two horses to ensure they could see. The other was to a business associate of hers at the bank. Which turned out to be a huge building in the upper market district with two story tall pillars and to so many guards patrolling it's exterior that I couldn't guess at their number.

"He agreed to stay late to see us." Was Mom's only explanation as she got out and headed up to the closed double doors. They were more like a city gate than doors, there was even an iron… thing… hanging over them that they could drop to reinforce the doors if necessary. Intimidating. I think. I still didn't know what to do with myself or the two coins in my dresses pocket that felt heavier than anything I've ever carried. But even with the weight of them, and knowing that they were there, I kept checking on them.

Two coins. Both small. One a silver blue, the other whiter than silver. They were still there. A guard at the door approached Mom and me as we approached. Mom didn't wait for the guard to ask what we were doing there at this time.

"We have an appointment with Mr. Linsk." She stated. Then we waited for one of the other guards to confirm. Then we were let in, led by that other guard. The inside was dark outside of a small lamp the guard picked up near the door. Mom cast Faerie Fire and made a single ball that outstripped the lamp in light output. I couldn't tell if the guard was appreciative or not about the extra light.

"It's too bad we didn't come during the day. This place is really rather impressive." Mom commented.

"Really?" I asked looking around. The darkness didn't really stop me from seeing the ambient mana surrounding everything. But without light, everything was muted. Less defined. I shrugged and cast Faerie Fire myself sending a couple of dozen flying people-like whisps of fire throughout the building. The guard tensed.

"Hey…"

"It's fine." Mom interrupted.

"Lyra, please don't cast spells in the bank." I looked at the ball of fire floating near Mom.

"Okay." I said after a short pause. All my faeries vanished. But not before I got a look around. The room was mostly that white-black mix of polished stone and had counters on either side. It was way to tall. Two floors could easily be made from the space it took up, maybe three. The only real notable thing was the statue of someone on the far side taking up the entire height of the room. In one hand it held a stack of coins, in the other a sword. What a waste of space. But I kept that to myself.

Mom thought this was impressive. Maybe there was something that I was missing. We were led past the statues into a hallway with numerous rooms off of it. Only one still had light seeping through the cracks, and we were taken to it. Inside was an office about half the size of the room Mom and Dad gave me. There was a desk on one side with a large backed chair behind it and two chairs in front. A little deeper in there was a more informal area, with three plush seats surrounding a table.

The height of the room was much shorter than the entry hall before. So, whoever made it wasn't completely insane. But it still had room for a large candelabra that glowed in the same uniform warm light as the mana lights we had at home. A man wearing a strange matching set of clothes, all dark blues with an underlying layer of white and a cloth noose around his neck, stood from behind the desk.

"Miranda. I'm glad I could finally return that favor." The man smiled without a hint of self-doubt. The smile almost looked fake, but I saw it in his eyes, so I guess it's just his smile. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"Thank you Linsk. We need to set up Lyra's account, and with the amount…" Mom shook her head.

"It wouldn't do to wait."

"Of course. As you said. It won't take long. Does Miss Lyra understand what she's doing, or should I explain it?" Mom smiled a bit.

"Please explain it to her." Mom moved and sat down in front of the desk, which was empty save for a pair of parchment and a pen without an inkpot.

"Understood." Linsk turned to look at me.

"You're starting a bank account. We store your money, and provide access to it through a system upgrade, which you will receive today. You will be able to use this interface to pay at most, if not all, merchants outside of the slum area's." He folder his hand on his desk.

"The bank doesn't take any fees; however, the Kingdom takes ten percent of anything deposited as a tax. And there is a one-hundred gold minimal initial deposit. Our fees are paid for from within that ten percent. As an account holder, you won't have to worry about dealing with taxes yourself. Any questions?" Oh. I thought. Taxes. I wasn't even thinking about that. The tax collector had only come once to Hindor that I could remember, and it was a big deal. I remember a lot of people hiding in the woods then.

And the people who where caught… It's best not to think about that.

"What's to stop me from not depositing my money to avoid the tax?" I asked thinking.

"Convenience." Linsk stated simply.

"A chest full of gold makes for good fiction, but it's horribly difficult to lug around to pay for things with. And you have to worry about theft, and everything else that comes from having an obvious large amount of money on hand. The bank alleviates that. Besides." His smile turned a bit off.

"The less reason people give the tax collectors to pay attention to them the better." My thoughts went to the people who tried to hide, but we caught. I shuddered.

"Are you ready to create your account?" I looked at Mom who nodded. I nodded at Mr. Linsk.

"Great! Take this pen, and mark these two papers. The pen will pull from your mana and form the link. All you have to do is put your mark on them." I steady my hand and wrote my name twice in cyan marks that could be described as letters. If you were generous. I haven't had much practice actually writing. Mom frowned at the penmanship but it didn't last. Probably filing it away as another lesson she would have to arrange. With the marks made, Linsk pulled something out from his desk and pressed it into both papers.

A multi-colored symbol appeared in mana on the papers. He put one in his desk, and began to hand me one but deviated and handed it to Mom.

"That's your proof of account. You will want to keep it, but you probably won't have a need for it during your lifetime. For now, it's best in your parents' hands." He clapped his hands.

"That just leaves the system upgrade, and initial deposit." He opened another drawer of his desk and pulled out a vial about half full with clear liquid.

"Would you prefer to do it?" He asked looking at Mom who nodded.

"It would be best." Mom agreed taking the vial and examining it. After a moment she nodded and stood up, standing over me.

"This is going to feel… weird. I need you to look up." I tilted my head and watches as she opened the vial and gook out an eye-dropper from the bottle.

"A drop in both eyes." She said and moved it over me. I glanced at Linsk who had sat back in his chair, then back at Mom. I'm not sure I like… The drop hit my eye and the vision in my left eye whited out as it burned. Dear heavens it's burning. Mom pried my other eye open as I whimpered, and then my other eye was on fire.

"It'll only be a moment more." I think Mom muttered. I still couldn't see anything when a notification arrived. Training system A27-S integration successful. Banking System 230Z3 integrated. Those words burning in my vision for a moment before fading. And with them, that pain started to recede. I was suddenly aware of the tears a snot staining my face. I frantically started looking for a handkerchief, but Mom handed me one first.

"You said it would feel weird. That wasn't weird. It burned!" I complained as I wiped my face.

"Which is weird. Your eyes don't normally burn do they?" Mom asked with a small smile.

"And with that, you should see your account on your status page. Why don't you look." I did so as I finished cleaning my face then frowned.

"Why does it say I owe ten gold?" I asked looking at Linsk. Was he trying to rob me?

"The taxes for the initial minimal deposit." He said simply.

"How about we get that out of the way so you can stop looking at me like that." He said holding out his hand. I looked at Mom who nodded encouragingly so I took out the two coins from my pocket. I was somehow strong enough to do so. Mr. Linsk looked surprised for only a moment before taking out a book from his desk and writing something down. When he was done, he put the book away and slid the coins into a slot build into his desk.

"Try looking at your balance now," he said. I did. Ninety platinum and ninety gold. I tried to swallow, but my throat had gone dry. I could do nothing for the rest of my life and still not spend it all. I was speechless. Mr. Linsk nodded.

"You'll be able to use that interface to transfer money and pay for goods and services. And vice versa. From now on, you can use anyone at the counters to deposit physical currency in the future. Also, know that the banking systems between the kingdoms are integrated. You'll be able to pay for goods in other kingdoms with this, but everyone has a large tax for such transfers. It would be best if you opened an account in the countries, you do business in." He looked over at Mom.

"Is there anything I'm forgetting?"

"No, I think you covered it all."

"Then with that, goodnight." He said standing up. He walked out of the office without further interaction and the guard that led us in stepped into the room waiting on us.

"Well, it's time to go. We have to get you ready for school." Why did I have a bad feeling about that? Mom never said anything like that before.