Chapter 29: Greed
The prelude to the Rainbow Festival brought huge business opportunities to Shalin City, and it just happened to be the busiest time for bank operations.
The captain, merchants, or their confidants came in person to withdraw money, filling the entire bank with people.
There were so many people that the crowd stretched from the entrance to the counters, forming three long lines. The pleasant sounds of gold coins clinking came from behind the metal railings. Short dwarves wearing glasses weighed gold and silver on scales, handing out gold tickets and bags of coins.
Most of the employees at the Fren Brothers Bank were dwarves. People believed that dwarves kept their promises, making them more trustworthy for storing gold in their vaults.
Jima stood aside, raising her finger to count and estimating the length and speed of the line. Compared to banks on Earth, the processing speed here was truly snail-like; if she patiently queued, she would likely run into George when she got back, and her backside would be in trouble.
She didn’t think a group of sewer-dwelling goblins could hold up George for long.
“Hey, kid, this isn’t a place for you to play.”
Jima put her hand down and turned her head to look at the source of the voice.
A man stood behind her, his complexion dark, tall with a muscular build, wearing a short jacket, with bare arms covered in muscles, exuding a scent of the sea. He wore a small, delicate pair of gold-framed glasses perched on his nose, giving off an impression of an orc trying to be refined.
He looked anxious, pointing impatiently at the space next to Jima. Following his finger, Jima saw—
The bank had opened another window, and the newly formed line happened to trap her. Jima was just blocking the muscular glasses man’s way to the counter, where he impatiently fidgeted with a gold card in his palm.
“Be patient.”
Jima said, turning back to the counter.
Queueing? What a joke; Jima didn’t want to get spanked. She planned to speak directly to the bank employee behind the counter.
Well, she wasn’t quite sure about the bank’s rules.
She didn’t know if cutting in line was allowed, but anyway, her account was the highest level; when she opened it, the banker from Fren Brothers Bank had laughed like a 400-pound child.
Approaching the counter, Jima placed her hands on the chilly marble surface and stood on tiptoe. She noticed a dwarf behind the black iron bars slowly sorting through a pile of promissory notes, his beard reaching down to his thighs, fluffy and white like a clump of cotton.
Inevitably, his sluggish movements made one anxious.
“Hey, you can’t cut in line; otherwise, I’ll call the guards to throw you out.”
The young merchant who was cut in front of frowned at her in warning.
Jima turned her head, flashed him a smile, and sweetly said, “Hello, big brother. I’m here to help my master with his business. He has a gold account; I just want to consult the staff for a bit.”
The young merchant felt a warmth in his heart, as if the whole bank had brightened, and he couldn’t help but smile, “Well, go ahead, say a few words.”
At that moment, the slow-moving bearded dwarf slowly raised his head and asked, “What gold account? Do you have a card?”
“My master uses an anonymous account; I only need to provide the account name and password.”
“Ah? Is that allowed?”
Just as Jima was about to speak, a muscular dark arm pushed her hand aside and roughly nudged her out of the way. Throwing a gold card into the “mouse hole,” he said, “I’m the gold account.”
“VIP cards have priority,” the bearded dwarf took out the young merchant’s card from the “mouse hole,” threw it out, and waved his hand to Jima, “Others should queue.”
Jima, infuriated, squeezed past and shouted at the window, “My master has an enchanted vault at your bank; if you don’t believe me, check the account.”
“This isn’t a place for kids,” the muscular glasses man easily pushed Jima aside, and she almost fell into another person, “Guards, guards? How could you let a child in here, holding up urgent matters for customers? Are you going to compensate for this?”
A guard dressed in shiny armor pushed through the crowd and approached, a wooden stick hanging at his waist. Seeing Jima, he said, “Don’t play in the bank unless you have something important.”
“She doesn’t even have a card,” the muscular glasses man said.
“Get out, either walk out yourself or I’ll drag you out.”
“I really have business to attend to.”
Jima glared angrily at the muscular glasses man.
The guard reached for Jima, intending to drag her away, “This isn’t a place to play.”
“Wait, wait,” the bearded dwarf’s voice came through, “I just checked; there does appear to be something. What’s the account name?”
Saying this, the bearded dwarf slowly bent down, pulled out a drawer, and began to search through a thick stack of documents at a tortoise pace.
“Hey, can’t you just help me first? I have priority as a gold account holder,” the muscular glasses man seemed nearly ready to explode.
“Her priority is higher than yours,” the bearded dwarf pulled out a thick stack of documents, arranged them, and organized them.
“Make way.” Jima pushed the muscular glasses man with her small hand. He shot her an unfriendly look, pretending he didn’t hear.
“Little sister, come over here.” The young merchant gave up his spot for Jima, and she stepped forward, standing on tiptoe to tell the bearded dwarf, “The account name is: nishishabi250.”
“Oh, let me check.”
Saying this, the bearded dwarf bowed his head, licking his finger and slowly searching through the thick documents, “There are quite a few.”
The muscular glasses man scoffed in anger, “What a dog bank, letting a child call out a few times while completely ignoring the gold accounts.”
“This is our rule.” Perhaps due to his slow movements, the bearded dwarf’s voice even sounded half as slow as others.
“Wait until tomorrow; I’ll hire a hundred little brats to come by daily saying they have some anonymous gold account that doesn’t need a card. Let’s see if you will pay attention,” the muscular glasses man said, “I’ve never heard of such an account; if it exists, I’ll just throw my gold card to the dogs.”
“I found it,” the bearded dwarf said as he pulled out a document, “There are too few people handling this service; I can hardly remember. You have the highest priority, so come here and write down the password for verification.”
As he spoke, the bearded dwarf slowly pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. He tossed the gold card from the “hole” back out.
The young merchant picked up his gold card with malicious glee, handing it to the muscular glasses man, saying with a smile, “Here, your dog food gold card.”
The muscular glasses man clenched his fist, snatching his gold card back, and angrily stomped a meter away.
The young merchant shook his head with a smile and walked a meter away himself.
Jima quickly wrote down the password and handed it in. The bearded dwarf placed the password paper and a document in a paper bag and handed it to another assistant.
After a while, a woman came down from the second floor, sporting a standard smile and dressed in a form-fitting long dress. She found Jima.
“Hello, please follow me to the second floor.”
“Okay.”
Jima sighed with relief; as long as she could withdraw her money, she’d be fine. Days without money were truly difficult. At that moment, the bearded dwarf at the counter was just putting documents into the drawer. His sluggish movements greatly tested the customers’ patience.
If it weren’t for the password verification being handled by someone else, Jima herself would also be getting a bit impatient.
Jima followed the woman towards the staircase.
“Your secret account hasn’t been touched in a long time and has been kept safely in our vault. It would be much more convenient if your master were to come in person,” the woman said as she walked alongside Jima.
At that moment, a furious roar erupted from behind them: “You’re slower than my pet snail! Hurry up! Did you hear me? What on earth are you pushing the glasses for?! You think I can’t see through it? Damn you!”
They turned to see the muscular glasses man raising his fist, ready to pound the counter. The guard rushed over with his wooden stick.
“I’m very sorry for disturbing you; some customers can be very impatient. The second floor will be very quiet.”
The woman seemed to notice Jima’s little finger twitching.
“Patience is a good quality.”
Jima pulled her entire hand back into her cloak, looking at the woman as she stepped onto the stairs, “What were you saying just now?”
“If your master came in person, it would be very convenient,” the woman smiled.
“Why?”
Jima felt a bit cautious; they had agreed on this. Even a dog could withdraw money as long as it knew the password.
“This isn’t a good place to discuss,” the woman replied with a smile.
They ascended to the second floor.
Jima enjoyed VIP treatment in a quiet room with one-on-one business handling. If the tea on the table hadn’t been bitter enough to make her entire tongue tremble, that would have been even better.
Jima set down the white porcelain cup and muttered to herself, “What kind of tea is this in a Western fantasy style? Isn’t coffee better?”
“Would you like coffee? It will be here shortly,” the woman smiled.
Jima glanced at her. She was wearing a gray long skirt and gray jacket with a high gray collar that covered her neck, wearing gray gloves. She was dressed entirely in gray, revealing only her head, her figure tapering from top to bottom like a lead bottle.
The second regret was that Fren Brothers Bank should promote black lace bras and jackets that reveal a bit of cleavage.
“I want to ask, why do I need my master to come in person? If he was available, I wouldn’t be here.”
Jima stared at Miss Lead Bottle’s chest. She wasn’t desperate enough to attempt to pierce through the lead bottle’s exterior with her gaze, but she was observing the seven swirling vortices on her chest, especially the blue one.
Jima noticed that from the beginning to now, the blue vortex symbolizing greed on Miss Lead Bottle’s chest was gradually growing larger, the color becoming deeper.
“Because it has been a long time, and the vault requires a real person to open it with a password. If incorrect, the valuables inside will be destroyed,” Miss Lead Bottle said with a smile.
“Worried about my memory?” Jima increasingly felt something was off.
“If you go alone, it’s easy to encounter accidents along the way,” Miss Lead Bottle explained, “It would be better if your master came along. Moreover, for such an old account, the bank has feelings for it. I heard it was opened by an old friend of Mr. Fren; if your master could come, Mr. Fren would personally wait for him. Of course, this is just a suggestion; if you want to withdraw, we can’t stop you.”
Jima could already sense a faint prickling sensation; the other party’s greedy target was herself!
“You make a good point; I’ll take my leave first. Goodbye.”
As soon as Jima finished speaking, she saw an expression of surprise flash across the other woman’s face.
