“Alex. Did you hear the news?”
“What news?” I asked curiously. I was seated in the dining hall with Copperbane and Bixi, the gnome. They were the first two healers I interacted with when I joined the Healing Temple.
“The humans are finally being recognised by the Union. Although humans are not allowed to join the Union yet, they are not going to be hunted down as before.” The dwarf replied after downing an entire pint of beer.
I raised an eyebrow. “New laws have been passed?”
“Yeah. They should already be in effect. You won’t need someone from the temple to accompany you to shop now. Humans will be considered as partners of the Union and will be protected by the usual trade rules of the Union.” The dwarf nudged be roughly under the influence of alcohol. “Are you happy now?”
I scratched my head, not thinking much of Copperbane’s rowdy behaviour. “Did they say anything else?”
“Yeah. There’s a whole recording of it. I believe that it is being circulated between the organisations who sheltered the humans and all the guards also have it.” The gnome said. “You can probably ask to see it at the entrance.”
‘A recording? Sounds like what happened in my past life. Maybe things moved forward a little bit.’ I said to myself. I did not remember all the events that took place perfectly, but some things simply could not be forgotten. The recording in question had been a hot topic among the humans in my past life and it was one of the first things I saw when I climbed up to the first floor.
The recording showed several important figures on Earth signing a document with the Union. These representatives of the entire human race consisted of the former presidents and prime ministers of several countries. About thirty world leaders were featured in the recording which sparked some controversy.
First, many people did not like how these thirty world leaders decided the fate of the entire human race. Every human was essentially forced to pay three hundred points as an entry tax if they ever encountered a guard patrol. In exchange, they would be allowed to keep their life and climb up the tower. Three hundred points was not a large sum for the humans since points were abundant on the zeroth floor. It allowed many humans to pass safely while the unfortunate people who rushed to the first floor without collecting any points were hunted as before and sent to the various crafting organisations.
Second, people were suspicious of how so many world leaders managed to climb up to the first floor in less than two months. It was simply unusual to see people well past their prime successfully reach this place so early. It led to many theories and rumors about how the presidents might have known about the tower and made preparations to save their own skin while leaving everyone else to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, there was no evidence and no theory were ever confirmed in my past life as these political figures and everyone close to them simply disappeared from the tower. This recording was the only trace they left behind.
‘Things are going to get interesting. I guess I just have to wait for Robb to bring me to the Spatial Bank again.’
…
As I expected, merely a day after I learned about the new laws, Robb came knocking at my door early in the morning. He reeked of alcohol and the dark circles around his eyes were evident. The night must have been long for him as he worked on collecting information.
“A meeting is scheduled at the Spatial Bank in two days.” He said with a tired voice.
“Got it. Same people coming?”
“Probably. I don’t know. I already passed the message. It’s time for me to go to sleep. I worked my *ss off the entire night to get some information about what is happening on the frontline now.” Robb rubbed his sleepy eyes.
“Anything interesting?”
“Nah. I just wanted to know how much the guards are earning now. It looks like most people collect about four to five hundred points or so before climbing to the first floor. Enough to pay the passage fee but it leaves them with almost nothing. Most people don’t have great equipment and the amount of points they have is not enough to purchase anything here. I just thought that there might be a business opportunity there.”
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I smiled faintly. “Go back to your room. We’ll speak about it in two days.”
Two days later, I once again met with Richard Mackenzie and the other investors he invested. The same six people sat in the same meeting room of the Spatial Bank.
“We meet again.” Joey said, laughing heartily.
“Yes. It seems that the information of our friend, Robb was not wrong, simply a little bit delayed.” Richard acquiesced. “Since you have all accepted my invitation, I would like to hear about your intentions.”
Now that the laws have been passed, there was no more delaying the important question. Richard needed to know whether these people would join him or not.
We all remained silent. It was clear that no one wanted to be the first to speak. I had already made up my mind and therefore, decided to break this awkward silence. “As I said before, I’m in. I would like to give it a try, even though I believe that the idea of the business will need to be worked on a little bit.”
Richard smiled at me gratefully. I was the first to speak and to get the ball rolling.
“I will join as well.” Robb declared shortly after. “I have a hunch that this business will be quite successful and if that guy if willing to risk it, I am even more confident in myself.” He pointed at me jokingly.
“What about you three?” Richard asked.
“I consulted my ancestors about the decision to take. According to them, this is a great opportunity for me. Therefore, like this youngster, regardless of your decision, I am willing to trust you and invest.” Choumka was the next person to give his approval.
Richard smiled excitedly. Three out of five investors he invited had already agreed. Regardless of whether the other two agreed, he would have enough capital to get started.
“Mmmm.” Tesha scratched the table lightly with her absurdly long nails. “I don’t understand how you guys think. However, I also think that there is some opportunity to earn a lot. But the idea of selling insurance simply does not feels right to me. As long as we change this, I will join as well.”
“I agree with this lady. Let us move on from the insurance business. We can still offer this service, but we’ll need something else.” Joey said.
“What do you have in mind then?”
“A loaning business.” Tesha said victoriously.
“Loaning?”
“Yes. As you know from the laws, everyone is required to pay a considerable amount of points. Chances are, they won’t be left with enough to purchase decent equipment or consumables from the peddlers. This is where we come into play. As you already know, the Spatial Bank allows any human to create a bank account and make a deposit. But humans are not allowed to take a loan yet. The reason is simply that the chances of a human dying are way too high. This is a gap in the market, and we can be the one to provide this opportunity.”
“Are you telling us to be the equivalent of loan sharks?” Robb asked with a thoughtful expression.
“Something like this. We can give short term loans with high interest rates. Because of the effect of contracts in the tower, we are guaranteed to be paid back unless the person in question dies when exploring the tower. The only challenge we will face will be to pick the right person.” Tesha explained.
“Are you sure that the Spatial Bank will stay out of this though?” Joey asked, unconvinced.
“Don’t know. We’ll have to ask our insider here.” The lady said while looking at Richard.
The latter shook his head. “I don’t know in the future but for now, there is no conflict of interest if we start a loaning business.”
I let the ‘adults’ speak as they made the necessary arrangements. I only made brief comments but steered the venture in the right direction. “Add a clause to the contract that the person signing should only got to the eleventh floor when using the teleportation portal.”
“Why?”
“Because that is where the easiest hunting ground is located. I asked my mentor about it and she said that the first ten floors have already been cleared by the Union. There is nothing to hunt there and they may mistake some of the races living there for monsters.” I gave a vague explanation, using Eliss to justify my knowledge.
“I see. I guess we can say that we support and guide the hunters who sign up with us.” Tesha said with a laugh.
“A loan shark business… I never thought I would run one in my life. But I guess it will be a good start to get some customers and start to network with people. Maybe in the future, we will be able to sell the equipment and consumables ourselves instead of loaning the points to buy them.” Richard said as his eyes shone brightly.
As the discussion reached its peak, Choumka opened his mouth for the second time since the start of the meeting. “May I make a pertinent request?”
“What is it?”
“Since you will be getting into contact with many people, can you be on the lookout for the people of my tribe? I think that it is a great opportunity to look for the people we care about.” Choumka said.
“Oh!” Everyone’s eyes focused on the tribesman. They have never expected such a good idea to come out of that person’s mouth.
“That is indeed another thing we can provide. Since we will be interacting with as many people as possible, we can simply ask the employees to record their names. People should be looking for their loved ones and we can be the medium to facilitate that.”
I leaned back against the backrest of my chair as I listened to the conversation. Choumka’s request sparked yet another discussion for this new business idea. I got bored rather quickly. The business was starting to take shape but the endless discussions about the small details were simply not for me.
When the discussion came to an end, we all wrote down a small list of names of the people we would like to find. We would be immediately alerted if our future employees ever came into contact with these people. I personally only wrote down the names of my parents and a few people I would consider as comrades in my past life.
“Let us meet again tomorrow.” Richard said. “I will go and purchase a contract as soon as this meeting is over. We can then write down the terms we discussed and start our business venture.”