Chương 24: Chapter 16 : The Banker Dragons

The bank's automatic doors slid shut behind them as they stepped back into the bustle of the Paris streets. The sun was already high in the sky, and the sidewalks were gradually filling with hurried pedestrians, bicycle couriers, and office workers taking their lunch break to grab a sandwich or enjoy a coffee at a café terrace. Emma walked with her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket, still a little disappointed by the outcome of their meeting.

She had genuinely hoped there would be a solution, even a temporary one, that would allow Aldric to begin the necessary steps. Instead, the rules had proven just as inflexible as those of the landlords they had met over the previous days. After a few dozen meters, Aldric slowed his pace. He took out his small leather notebook, found the page devoted to the Five Sacred Relics, and carefully reread the notes he had just added.

His eyes lingered several times on the words Identity and Address, then he gently closed the notebook before looking up at Emma.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why does that guild refuse to keep my gold?"

"Which guild?"

"The one we just left."

"The bank?"

"Exactly."

"Well... that isn't exactly its purpose."

"But a bank is a place where wealth is kept."

"Yes... but that's only part of what it does. In our world," she began, "most people work for a company or a government administration. At the end of every month, they receive a salary."

"A reward granted after completing their daily quests."

"If that helps you understand, then yes. But that money usually isn't handed to them directly. It's transferred into their bank account."

"So they never actually receive their gold?"

"Not in that form." The idea seemed to contradict everything he knew. In his world, every reward had weight, shape, and sound. A leather pouch filled with gold coins clinked when it was set down on a table. A treasure chest literally overflowed with riches. Even the most powerful rulers kept their treasure in vaults secured behind multiple iron doors.

"Then where is this money?" he finally asked. Emma took her phone from her pocket. She unlocked the screen and opened her banking app.

"Here." She showed him the number displayed in the center of the screen.

"This is how much money I have left in my account." Aldric studied the numbers for a long moment. Then he looked back up.

"I don't see any coins."

"Because they aren't there."

"But you just told me that gold belongs to you."

"It does."

"And yet it's invisible."

"In a way." They resumed walking. Emma slipped her phone back into her pocket, then took her bank card from her wallet and handed it to Aldric.

"And this is what lets me pay in most stores." The knight took the small piece of plastic. He turned it over several times. No runes. No magical symbols. No precious gemstones.

"This object replaces a coin purse?"

"Exactly."

"Without holding a single coin?"

"Yes." Emma took the card back before continuing.

"Every month, my employer deposits my salary directly into my account. I don't have to do anything. The money simply appears."

"It appears?"

"Yes."

"Without a treasure chest."

"Yes."

"Without a messenger."

"Yes."

"Without a caravan carrying the treasure." Emma burst out laughing.

"No." The knight spent a few moments looking at the buildings surrounding them. This capital grew stranger with every passing day. Chests dispensed money automatically. Cards allowed people to buy things without carrying a single coin, and entire fortunes seemed to travel without horses, wagons, or guards. The more he discovered this civilization, the more some of its inventions seemed to rely on a form of magic far more mysterious than anything practiced by the mages of his own kingdom.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. He took out his notebook once again. After turning several pages, he found a blank one. In the middle of the page, he carefully wrote a new heading. Modern Currency. He thought for a few seconds before adding another line beneath it. Invisible Gold. He studied the words with satisfaction before gently closing the notebook. Emma couldn't hold back a quiet laugh.

"So that's what you're going to call our banking system?"

"Your gold exists. It belongs to its owner. Yet no one can see it."

"All right..." she admitted.

"I think I'm going to keep that expression." They resumed their walk through the streets of Paris. Without Emma fully realizing it yet, their conversations were gradually changing. She was no longer simply answering the questions of a man lost in the modern world. At the same time, she was discovering an entirely new way of looking at things she had always taken for granted. They continued along a wide avenue lined with Haussmann buildings.

The pale stone facades looked almost identical, yet Aldric kept studying them with an attention that Emma found increasingly amusing. Ever since they had met, she had noticed that he examined every building as though he were assessing a fortress. His gaze traveled up to the rooftops, back down along the windows, lingered on the entrance doors, then moved on to the next building.

Sometimes it felt less like she was showing the city to a man searching for an apartment and more like she was accompanying a general inspecting the defenses of a capital. Emma eventually followed his gaze.

"Still thinking about housing?" Aldric nodded.

"This city is immense. Yet very few of its inhabitants seem to possess a fortress of their own." A faint smile crossed her face.

"That's normal. Very few people buy a home outright." The knight immediately turned toward her.

"How do they manage?" Emma answered naturally, without the slightest idea of the reaction her words were about to provoke.

"They borrow."

"They borrow gold?"

"You could put it that way." The knight came to a complete stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Around them, pedestrians continued on their way without paying them any attention, but Aldric seemed to have completely forgotten the street around him. His mind was trying to make sense of this new information.

"The bank lends you the money you need to buy your home," Emma explained.

"Then you repay that amount little by little over several years. Every month, part of your salary goes toward paying back what the bank lent you." The knight nodded slowly. That part still made sense to him. After all, lords in his world sometimes lent weapons, horses, or supplies before a military campaign.

"Of course, you also have to pay interest," Emma added.

"Interest? What is that?"

"The bank lends you its money. In return, it expects you to give back a little more than it originally lent you." He looked for a few moments at the buildings lining the avenue, then at the bank they could still see farther down the street before turning back to Emma.

"Wait..." She recognized that tone immediately. Since meeting him, she had learned that he spoke like this whenever he was piecing together several pieces of information before reaching a conclusion.

"So, if I understand correctly... you must persuade a keeper of treasure to entrust you with its gold."

"Yes."

"Use that gold to purchase a home."

"Exactly."

"And then return more than it entrusted to you."

"That's exactly right."

"The dragons were less demanding." She pictured an enormous dragon lying atop a mountain of gold, negotiating with far more generosity than a modern bank. She burst out laughing. She immediately pressed a hand against her stomach, trying to catch her breath, but every time she looked back at Aldric, she pictured that dragon lending out its treasure with more generosity than a bank advisor. The laughter came rushing back. Emma wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Sorry…"

"Have I made an error in my reasoning?" Emma shook her head.

"No..." She had to catch her breath once more before she could continue.

"That's exactly the problem..." She burst out laughing again.

"You understood it perfectly." His gaze drifted across the buildings surrounding them, then to the bank behind them, before returning to Emma, who was still trying to regain her composure. This kingdom's way of doing things sometimes seemed far more mysterious than the ancient laws of magic. Her laughter gradually faded, replaced by a smile she still couldn't get rid of. She took several deep breaths before shaking her head.

Every time she thought about comparing dragons to banks, another smile threatened to appear.

"All right," Emma finally said, discreetly wiping another tear from the corner of her eye.

"There's one more thing you need to know about loans."

"What is it?" They resumed walking at an unhurried pace. The streets remained lively around them, yet their conversation seemed to separate them from the rest of the city.

"When someone borrows money to buy a house, they don't pay it back in just a few weeks."

"That seems reasonable."

"Or even a few months. A mortgage usually lasts around twenty years. Sometimes twenty-five. And some people spend thirty years paying one off." Aldric stopped dead.

"Thirty years?"

"Many people start making payments when they're young," she explained.

"Then they keep paying every month for most of their working lives. Some only finish a few years before they retire." In his world, even a promise made for a few weeks was difficult to guarantee when war threatened to break out. The changing seasons could decide the fate of an entire kingdom. A single failed harvest was enough to bring famine. An enemy army could appear at the borders without warning. Dragons could change the fate of an entire region in a single night.

How could anyone promise to pay the same amount for thirty years when no one could possibly know what the world would look like by then?

"In my kingdom, no one would ever have accepted such a promise."

"Why not?"

"Because no man can guarantee thirty years of peace."

"A kingdom could fall. A war could break out without warning. A plague could wipe out an entire province. Trade routes could remain cut off for months. Even the mightiest lords never knew what the following year would bring. Yet here, people seem willing to build their entire lives on a promise that will last nearly a generation. That is a quest far longer than defeating the Demon King."

"Welcome to adulthood."

"Your trials are certainly very different from ours."

"They are."

"And yet they seem every bit as demanding." They continued their walk. Buildings passed slowly on either side of the avenue while several families enjoyed the pleasant weather in a nearby park. At last, Aldric took out his small leather notebook. Emma watched discreetly as he flipped through several pages until he reached the one titled Modern Economy. He quickly reread the notes he had written earlier, then picked up his pencil. Beneath the heading, he carefully added two new lines.

The greatest treasure is not gold. It is stable income. △ KNOWLEDGE UPDATED △ Modern Economy Progress +12%