"Highway robbery!"
When the black cat heard that last number, it was instantly startled. "Borrow ten and repay twenty-two... Even robbery isn't this fast! You just said the three-month interest rate was high!"
"The three-month interest rate is high!"
Fox Mask fiddled with his abacus, speaking with perfect confidence. "Do the math, sir. At the three-month rate, Nine Out, Thirteen Return—if you borrow ten Gold Beans for a year, the annualized interest rate is 177.8%... But the one-year loan I just calculated for you has an annualized interest rate of only 120%! That's a difference of more than five Gold Beans!"
"But I don't actually need to borrow money." The black cat gave him a gloomy look. Though it had not fully understood Mammon's calculations, that did not mean it had failed to realize the fellow was trying to fleece it.
As expected of the representative of "Greed."
"I was merely laying out the cheapest plan in the long run for you." Mammon spoke as if he had never lied, making his fox mask appear even more detestable.
"Ahem, sorry for hitting you with Cat Jade earlier." The black cat turned toward the Sin Eater, looking apologetic. "It definitely won't happen again..."
"Don't worry. Once you pass the assessment, there won't be a next time anyway." The Sin Eater's tone was full of disdain.
"Then..." Mammon interrupted the exchange between cat and man and reminded the black cat, "If you have no other objections, shouldn't you sign, dear customer?"
He pushed the parchment wreathed in golden flames forward while putting away the other two sheets.
This time, the black cat carefully checked the loan amount and total repayment. There was no mistake: borrow ten, for three months, Nine Out, Thirteen Return, and repay thirteen at maturity.
Only then did it