The Rise of the Black Plain

After finishing explaining that to the two alchemists in front of him, that official observed those two who were silent at the moment and asked. "Any other questions, gentlemen? If you don't have any, we can move on to whether or not to open your accounts."

After hearing this, those two that had been thinking about the positive and negative sides that would come with the rule they had ignored put such a thing aside and returned to reality.

Davis then asked. "In that paper before it says that an account holder can sell his investment bonds. But is this only valid for the bank? And what happens if the account holder dies?"

"Good questions." Edric nodded as he paid attention to that official, who was very well-dressed and had a manner of speaking and acting typical of confident people with many crystals...

But this man's impression was not for less. After all, those who deal with the crystals of others needed to have good wages so that some problems would not happen.

That is what Minos thought.

That official then began to speak. "Selling them to us will be the fastest option to get the crystals back to do whatever you want. But yes, there will be the possibility for you to sell those bonds to a third party."

"But there will be various fees and limitations on who you can sell them to..."

"Anyway, it's a more complicated procedure, and that has to be done directly here with us, with the account holder who owns the bonds and the buyer."

"As for the death of our account holders, when that happens, the investment bonds expire and will no longer generate income for that person."

"But whatever that account holder has in his account will be duly passed on to someone previously chosen. Or a first-degree relative who proves such a thing. Or a spouse, who proves to have been officially married to that person by Black Plain rules."

"We chose that path for the safety of our clients." He said as he made a severe expression.

That decision was basically to prevent family members, or spouses, from killing the account holders of that bank to obtain that person's investment bonds.

That's because this opportunity created by the Bank of the Black Plain was genuinely tempting!

Suppose a person invests 40,000 low-grade crystals, never sells his investment bonds, and lives for another thousand years after the asset. That person could have directly collected millions of low-grade crystals from this investment alone at the end of his life!

That was something that very few people could do in this region, and anyone who had millions of low-grade crystals in these areas would be considered rich!

But suppose such a person was smart enough to keep investing the profits generated by his investment bonds. In that case, eventually, he could multiply his total earnings by dozens of times!

Hence, such investment bonds could become very tempting when considering their long-term profitability, bringing troubles for investors.

However, a reputable company does not only protect its customers while they are using its services inside certain establishments. The opposite of this, a good company ensures that its customers are not intimidated by consuming its products.

And for that, rules that could be considered negative, like that one, needed to exist.

"I see..." Edric commented in appreciation. "It makes sense."

"And frankly, I wouldn't mind if my descendants eventually don't have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of my investments."

"They will already receive good sums when I depart this world, so let them learn to use their own crystals!"

"Hahaha, poor your descendants, old Edric!" Davis commented in good humor but agreed with this man in his mind.

Even in the Spiritual World, people, especially from weaker regions, worried about the fate of their families after their deaths.

But this had its limits. Most people thought that their children had to grow up on their own after a certain point in their lives.

As such, many, like Edric, had no interest in making sure that their family members were guaranteed good lives because of their life efforts.

Instead, they would create the opportunities at their disposal to give their families the chance to rise economically. But whether this would happen would depend exclusively on each of their family members left in this world after their death!

So, those two saw no problem in that rule of the local bank, even considering Davis' joke.

"But, Taylor," Edric said as he quoted that individual's name. "Let's suppose I have an investment bond and decide to sell it to my friend Davis." He nodded to the side, indicating that other alchemist.

"Would I have to sell the bond for the same price that I invested at first?"

"No." He said, smiling. "That is precisely the advantage of being a pre-independence Dry City inhabitant."

The local government was mainly working with the scenario that they would win the war of independence. Naturally, therefore, the plans of this financial institution took into consideration the certainty of Minos' victory.

But of course, things could be different, as none of them could see the future clearly. After all, even the oracles of this region had difficulty making detailed revelations.

That official then continued. "The value of these bonds will depend on the profitability of the investment. That is, if the project hasn't even gotten off the drawing board yet, with no guaranteed profits, then your investment is worth only what you put in crystals at first. But if the project is already making a profit, then the price can be quite different."

"That's obviously hard to analyze since prices like that depend on demand. But the Bank of the Black Plain expects a high appreciation of the bonds after about ten years from independence."

"Depending on the type of bond, the profitability of that project, demand, some of them could appreciate even more than ten times in that short period!" He said

"On the other hand, the service fees that I quoted earlier, they will be kept fixed for the pre-independence inhabitants as long as they are alive."

"But when eventually local income tax collection begins, the amounts will be different between pre-independence and post-independence inhabitants."

"The nowadays inhabitants who invest up to independence will pay a lower income tax on those profits from investments than those who invest post-independence." He finished as he added that information.

That was all an effort by Minos to enrich the current population of Dry City, which would be crucial in raising the level of these individuals later on.

He wanted to value these inhabitants who came to this place while things were difficult, people who might lose their loved ones to war, give their blood for the Black Plain.

Therefore he offered more advantageous conditions for these current inhabitants of his city, those who would be crucial when mass migrations happened in the future.

That is, in the scenario where he would win the war, Minos knew that there would be mass migrations into his territory. And even though he liked the idea of having more inhabitants, it was very problematic to deal with so many people at once!

But if he had a population that respected his rules and had the strength to protect the laws of the Black Plain, the local way of life, this would be easier to accomplish.

On the other hand, eventually, the very people or institutions that were right now fighting against him might invest in his territory in the future.

But he did not want those who did not strive for his cause to have the same chances as his citizens!

As such, he had created all these opportunities for the inhabitants of the current Dry City.

But these opportunities would only be valid for those who joined this organization and made investments before the independence. Once the regional royal families recognized his state, all the inhabitants of the Black Plain would have the same tax-related conditions.

Anyway, none of this harmed or pressured the Black Plains to spend more of their crystals. After all, every project with investment funds in this bank would be carried out with only the funds collected among account holders.

That is, without the local government investing its funds!

With this, the government of Minos would profit from the projects financed by its population, increasing the speed of development of the Black Plain. At the same time, it would allow many financially insignificant people to rise in the future.

That was good for both sides, especially for young Stuart himself!

So, these opportunities would not burden the Black Plain. On the contrary, they would even solve future problems!

...