"If it weren't for the Fiat Family's Archmage workshops being so well managed, and for our family members across the foundation's various departments working together in concert, the foundation would have stopped functioning long ago, and the entire Gallop Family would never have maintained its current prosperity. And if you continue transferring personnel from the foundation's Executive Committee and Secretariat, while also applying to withdraw one hundred thousand gold coins, I fear the Gallop Foundation truly will grind to a halt!"
Landen listened as Jenny Gallop described her family's circumstances without interrupting. Combined with the fragmented accounts he had heard from Redbird, Ben Kaul, and Sherman, the details roughly matched up.
The Fiat Family had become the leading force of the Gallop Family not merely through bloodline or territorial advantages. When the war ended in the 725th year of the God Emperor, their High-Rank members, like most of their mid-rank members, had been spent in battle. Their family had merely escaped the Gallop Plains' war against the beastmen.
Yet the Fiat Family's ancestors of that era had possessed keen business instincts. They seized upon Water Heal Spell scrolls and magical algae as two flagship products, then used gold coins secretly hoarded and looted across various islands to invest in some of the earliest postwar industries, establishing more than a dozen Magic Workshops in one stroke.
Only after Jenny had finished did Landen slowly say, "The funds I applied for from the Gallop Foundation were all for legitimate business."
Hearing Landen's words, Jenny nodded. "I mean no disrespect toward you, but the Gallop Foundation truly cannot disburse one hundred thousand gold coins right now."
Landen waved his hand. "It's fine. I'm no longer short of that little money. Your family can keep that foundation and play with it yourselves. Starting next