In the meeting room, Annan, Olmedo, Idelia, Ingrid, Francois, Martin, and the others sat around a table, listening to Annan lay out his grand vision.
"...People can deposit their money in a bank. One person's means are limited, but what about ten thousand people? A hundred thousand? If each person deposits ten Gold Narls, we'd need only a million people to reach ten million Gold Narls in deposits."
In fact, Annan was surprised that the Allen Continent had no banks. In Wilhelm, sums of hundreds of thousands or even millions of Gold Narls changed hands all the time. Where did the nobles keep their money? Surely they didn't go out with a carriage full of cash following them?
After a quick crash course, though, Annan learned that while Wilhelm had no Gold Depository, practically everyone owned a Magic Ring.
If a Magic Ring with enough space to hold a room's worth of things was cheap enough, there was little need for banks.
"How do we get people to deposit their money with us willingly?" Olmedo asked. Then he remembered who was sitting across from him. "Oh. I suppose that was a silly question."
"Not at all. You mean, why should people trust us with their money?" Annan knew perfectly well that not everyone loved him. "So we'll pay interest to customers who deposit money with us."
"They'll pay us interest? That's a good idea," Francois muttered.
"No. We'll pay them interest."
Ingrid spoke up. "We'll safeguard their wealth and pay them for it?"
"Why would they deposit their money with us if there's nothing in it for them? Enthusiasm fades. Only self-interest lasts."
Olmedo was pleased to see how much Annan had grown. "I'm glad you see it that way, but have you considered that the more people deposit money,