The Founder of the Great Financial Family

Carter pondered for a moment as he considered Rockefeller’s suggestion;

‘Smuggling is risky, but as long as we keep discreet about it, it won’t be a big problem – and how would the lord know anything anyway? He’s a bastard with blackened eyes that can’t even read the store ledger,’

Although Carter was a timid merchant who wasn’t good at making sales – the risk he had to take this time was negligible. 

‘It’s safer than trying to do it on Lyon since it’s less noticeable.’ 

“By the way, do you understand how dangerous this is, kid?” he asked, 

Rockefeller showed a bit of fear on his face and faithfully carried out his performance, 

“Yes, sir, I know for sure that this isn’t a good thing…it is smuggling after all… if the lord catches us, something bad will happen, right?” 

“If – on the small chance that this is discovered, I will tell the lord that this is something I know nothing about. No matter what, it’s you who brought this deal to me, so don’t drag me into your hardship.”

“Yes, I am aware of that, sir. So that person also said he would give me money while entrusting me with this job,”

“Yeah, you seem to understand that very well,” Carter acted as if he was genuinely understanding and sympathetic to Rockefeller’s situation as he tried to satisfy his greed. 

‘It would be nice if work like this came in more – why do I have so little luck with money?’

“Although I don’t like things like this either, because it’ll be painful if we get caught – your circumstances are pitiful, so I’ll close my eyes to this just once,” 

Like the fictional smuggler he had scoffed at earlier, Carter tried to win Rockefeller’s goodwill with a blatant lie. 

“As a matter of fact, I didn’t say anything before, but I have also received help from your father previously,”

In reality, as a tax collector, Rockefeller’s father had been an object of hatred, especially among the poorer villages – so what Carter had just said was a blatant lie. 

But he thought that the person he was speaking to was young and could be easily deceived.

“If such a thing had not happened, I probably would have either just rejected your offer, or I would have reported this to the lord since that’s the natural thing to do,” 

Rockefeller didn’t show his reaction on his face, but Carter’s blatant lies were too heinous. ‘If you’re going to lie, at least make it a little believable. Who is going to be deceived by that?’

Carter had no idea what Rockefeller was thinking and continued to say what he had to say, 

“This is something that no matter what happens, the lord can never know about. It’s smuggling after all – the lord may be generous with other things, but when it comes to money matters, he can be quite sharp.” 

As soon as he finished speaking, he put a smile on his face and asked, 

“Okay, let’s have a look at the item first, shall we? How much did you bring with you?”

The amount of Placer Gold that Rockefeller had brought was quite small, so he decided to add some packing around it, 

“He said that it was unreasonable to trade in large quantities from the very beginning – as this is the first trade I didn’t bring much,” 

“I’ll have a look anyway,” 

Although the amount that Rockefeller bought out was indeed small, Carter was quite satisfied. 

‘At first glance, it looks like the highest quality among placer gold. I think it should be quite pure. In terms of quantity, there isn’t enough to make a gold coin but even so – this is better than nothing.’

Carter shook his head to himself and wondered if there was any continent where such high quality gold placer could be found? 

“By the way, where did you say this Placer Gold came from? Did you hear anything?” 

Rockefeller just replied with a look of ignorance, 

“I’ve not heard of anything about that. He seems to be quite careful when talking – even when he was talking to me… wouldn’t he have brought it from somewhere far away to make sure no one noticed?” 

“Is that so? Hmm…. rather than that, the item is rather….” 

“He said that if you don’t like the item, he will deal with another goldsmith instead,” 

Carter was taken aback.

He was so caught up with the idea of smuggling and getting the best prince of the gold that he hadn’t realised he wasn’t the one who had the initiative for the deal. 

‘I can’t let go of this opportunity.’ 

“I think you misunderstood something, but this item is excellent. If you keep trading, just tell me, I’ll keep paying a good price for it.” 

“Is it really such a good placer?” Rockefeller asked again, just to confirm. 

“Yes, it’s great. It’s top-notch quality. The purity also looks good. Amazing,” 

Why did the Gold Vein War break out?

If it were an awkward gold vein, the dwarves wouldn’t have fought so desperately with the Empire in the name of reclaiming their old land. 

‘Okay, just as I thought, this land is still alive.’

It was located on the outskirts of the Empire, and no one paid any attention to this place. 

‘Yeah, that would be my next goal.’

Rockefeller, who was able to solve the immediate problem of making a living by smuggling placer gold with the goldsmith, set a new goal now. 

‘A reasonable person should always have a big goal because even if you can’t achieve the goal, the halfway point is still okay.’

Although he came to be the eldest son of a poor commoner family, Rockefeller was not complacent with his life. 

‘You can’t die as a commoner in the playing field where you know about every major future event,’

It wasn’t just goldsmiths who ran after money, Rockefeller too, thought money was the best. 

‘If I can earn a lot, I can buy that land,’

His new goal to resolve his hunger was to own the land of Montefeltro – the most undervalued land on the continent. 

‘This is where the Rothmedici Clan will be founded – the richest family in the world.’