Chapter 66: The Goblin Bank Contract

The Goblin village was easy to spot even from afar.

Strange iron structures were set up here and there among the trees, and bizarre metallic clanking noises echoed from every direction.

There was no need to even mention the dark look on Tina’s face as she took it all in.

“Chwik—If you don’t stick to the designated path here, it’s all traps everywhere. These people are obsessed with explosions.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

The whole place gave off a post-apocalyptic vibe—it wouldn’t be surprising if someone had spikes on their shoulders.

“Chwi, we’re here.”

“…Is this the place?”

The spot they stood in was before an iron door, wedged awkwardly between the trees.

The chieftain stepped forward and pressed a large button attached to the door.

Beeeep—

A grating noise rang in their ears, and after a short moment—

—“Who goes there!”

“?!”

Jaeho was genuinely startled.

He never expected to see a doorbell in the New World.

“Chwi—I’ve brought guests.”

—“What is it? Another new customer?”

Chiiii—

Clank—

Steam puffed out from chimney-like protrusions on both sides of the door, and the door opened on its own.

From the distance, a Goblin a little over a meter tall approached and greeted the chieftain.

One eye was covered by a round pair of glasses, giving him the air of the president of some famous old-school nuclear power plant from classic animation.

In other words, he didn’t exactly make a good impression.

“So it’s not a post-apocalyptic fashion after all.”

Jaeho felt an odd sense of disappointment.

“So, our sucker—no, esteemed customer, what brings you here again?”

“……?!”

There was no mistaking the word ‘sucker’ he just heard.

“Chwik—Not me today, it’s the elf behind me.”

“Elf? An elf?!”

Finally, the goblin noticed Jaeho and Tina standing behind and leapt in surprise.

“You—have you finally lost it?! Bringing an elf here?!”

“Chwi, chwi! Like I said, they’re guests!! These people came to use your bank!”

“…What?”

Suspicion filled his tone.

“That’s right. I’m just looking to store some items for a bit. The chieftain here said this place is the safest in the area.”

Jaeho explained for them.

“Hmm… That much I can guarantee. Still, it’s suspicious. Why would an elf use the Goblin Bank?”

“Why? Is there a problem with that?”

“?”

The goblin eyed Jaeho as if he was the strange one.

“The greatest enemy of our business has always been elves. We’ve always lived our lives on the run from their attacks.”

Jaeho sneaked a glance at Tina.

“I heard from the elders… that goblins are a race that destroys and ruins pure nature.”

Flinch—

Hearing Tina’s words, the goblin’s body trembled slightly.

“But for now, Alicia is overseeing things here.”

In other words, she was holding herself back.

“True… You caused quite a ruckus in Embay Forest, too… Wait a second.”

Suddenly, a thought struck Jaeho.

If manipulating nature was what enraged the elves, what about Elysia Garden?

“The spirits are happy there. That means it’s an ideal natural environment.”

Tina answered simply.

Relieved, Jaeho turned back to the goblin.

“Don’t worry, we have no intention of attacking you.”

“…You almost sound like you’re not an elf.”

“Ah, I’m not an elf.”

“What?”

“Come to think of it, I should be able to undo this now, right?”

Jaeho asked Tina.

“It really does suit you…”

“Not at all.”

“Are you crazy? You think that suits her?”

Both Jaeho and Wansik protested at the same time.

Eventually, Tina released Jaeho’s magic disguise.

“Hm? A demon?! An elf and a demon together?”

“…I’m human.”

“Wha? Human?!”

The goblin scanned Jaeho up and down, then nodded.

“Yeah, looks like a human to me. Hah! Humans are alright! Cunning and sly—just like us goblins!”

The goblin extended his hand toward Jaeho with a remark that sounded both like praise and insult.

“I’m Slur, branch manager of Goblin Bank, Shuar Branch.”

“Alicia.”

“Alright, Alicia. You said you want to store something? Deposit? Collateral?”

“Hmm… I guess it’s a deposit. I can’t move it right now.”

“Haha! Is it dirty money?”

It was, indeed, dirty money.

“But I heard from the orc chieftain… there are some issues with your trustworthiness.”

“What nonsense! Without credibility, we’re nothing!”

[The other party is lying.]

The lie was so natural, Jaeho almost doubted his own system.

“But it’s not a trick if you know, right?”

He decided to let that part slide for now.

“Well, let’s move somewhere else. I need to see what you’re storing first, right?”

“Sure! Let’s go!”

Jaeho led Slur to where the treasures were piled up.

***

Thud—

Slur collapsed in shock.

“H-hey, what’s wrong with him?”

“Chwik—He’s always had a bad heart. I think he was just overwhelmed by the sight of all that gold.”

Startled awake, Slur quickly regained his senses.

“A-all this?! I’ve never seen so much treasure in any bank vault!”

Slur’s trembling eyes turned toward Jaeho.

Within them, Jaeho could feel the burning desire.

“He’s definitely thinking of making me a sucker no matter what…”

Jaeho wisely interpreted his gaze.

“A-are you depositing all of this?!”

“For now, yeah. As you can see, it’s impossible for me to carry it all.”

“Then how did you bring it here?”

“…Too much hassle to explain, so let’s skip that.”

This time, Jaeho introduced Piso.

“This guy used to be a prince of the Kingdom of Deran.”

“He’s still a prince, isn’t he?”

“Deran? The place that got destroyed by the Bear Kingdom?”

“That’s right. You know your history.”

“Khuk…”

Piso shed tears at Jaeho and Slur’s indifferent conversation.

It was the truth, after all.

“All these treasures came from there. I managed to move them this far, but any more is just too much.”

“Hm. Truly human. Whether the country falls or not, making sure to grab the treasure! Admirable!”

“That’s not it! This is all because that human—”

“I’m planning to store them under both mine and Piso’s names for now.”

Piso tried to protest, pointing at Jaeho, but was quickly cut off by his words.

“Later, it’ll be easy to retrieve them. With this much, you should be able to help with anything! But before that, you’ll need to check the items, right?”

Slur approached the treasures, picked up the nearest gold bar, and examined it closely.

“Hm… Very impressive. Boasts an extremely high purity. A true masterpiece! But… I sense something strange.”

Narrowing his eyes, Slur focused, trying to find the cause.

“Don’t try to nitpick.”

Jaeho quickly blocked any attempts at haggling.

But Slur’s issue wasn’t that.

“Wait… there’s a strange metallic stench… Gah!!!”

As he flared his nostrils, his eyes widened in shock.

He started to tremble all over, even breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Wh-where did you get this?!”

Slur’s voice was full of fear.

“Hm? I took it from the Deran royal treasury.”

“L-lies!!! Then why… why does this have the stench of those cursed lizards?!”

“?”

Jaeho stared at him, bewildered.

He realized what Slur was talking about.

“T-these are treasures humans should never touch! Dragon’s treasure!!!”

“Huh?!”

“So, there really was a dragon under the royal palace?!”

“Haa.”

Tina sighed deeply at the commotion and the shocked murmurs around her.

“Ahem—Well, I don’t know about all that. Is it really a problem?”

“Of course it is! Who in their right mind would dare touch a dragon’s hoard?!”

[The other party is lying.]

Though he said that, Slur’s true intentions were different.

Even amidst his exaggerated acting, his eyes still burned with desire…

“He’s baiting me.”

Jaeho could guess that touching a dragon’s hoard was indeed extremely risky.

If Slur was overreacting this much, he must have another reason.

“We can’t take this! We can’t risk a dragon’s wrath!”

Despite saying that, Slur still couldn’t let go of the gold bar.

Seeing that, Jaeho smiled slyly and spoke.

“Well, if that’s the case, I guess we’ll have to give up.”

“Huh?”

Slur, caught off guard, looked flustered.

“If you’re refusing because it’s dangerous, I can’t force you, right?”

“Y-yeah, but you don’t seem to have enough people to move all this. What will you do?”

“I have my ways.”

Jaeho wasn’t lying.

Why?

Because he could just use a golem.

Even if he only received half of the value in return, it was still a tremendous amount.

Besides, from Jaeho’s point of view, just a single gold bar would bring profit.

It was a bit of a loss, but he only needed to let go of a little greed.

But for Slur, it was the opposite.

Opportunities to handle this much treasure at once were rare.

He suspected it was dragon’s treasure, but… as long as it was laundered first, what was the problem?

To maximize his profit, he tried to pull a trick on Jaeho, but if the deal fell through, it would all be meaningless.

“A-anyway, I guess we should just take it, even if it’s risky…”

“No, I can’t push the responsibility onto you. With a bit of effort, I can move it all myself.”

As he spoke, Jaeho took out an hourglass.

Actions speak louder than words, after all.

He then fed the treasures to the golem for material.

At first, only a little disappeared at a time, but the amount started to increase steadily.

“?”

Realizing that Jaeho wasn’t bluffing, Slur’s insides burned black with anxiety.

He didn’t know what Jaeho was doing, but the treasure was actually decreasing.

“Kh, khm! I don’t know what you’re doing, but go ahead and try.”

Still pretending, Slur turned and walked away… carrying a gold bar.

Regardless, Jaeho continued to feed treasures into the golem.

“This is reaching the limit.”

If he kept going, another rampaging golem would be born.

Unless Slur gave in soon…

“Wa-wait! Stop right there!!!”

Finally, Slur surrendered.

“Alright! Fine! I don’t know what trick you have up your sleeve to move all this, but since you got it here, you must have a way!”

“Smart.”

If he weren’t clever, he’d have problems running machines or money.

“Fine! We goblins don’t fear dragons or demons when it comes to gold! We’ll take care of this treasure!”

At last, Slur said the words Jaeho wanted to hear.

“But! It’s true that this is risky. So I want a definite price in return!”

“You should’ve just said that from the start.”

At Jaeho’s words, cold sweat ran down Slur’s back.

“So shrewd! As expected of a human…”

Jaeho’s psychological warfare to steer the deal in his favor was almost terrifying from Slur’s perspective.

“I guess I’ve gotten rusty dealing with orcs all the time…”

With a pang of regret, Slur steeled himself.

He would definitely get the better of Jaeho!

[You have signed a contract with Goblin Bank, Shuar Branch.]

[You have become a member of Goblin Bank.]

[Goblin Bank is an untrustworthy institution. Please be cautious.]

Just how low was their trustworthiness for even the system to issue a warning?

But on the other hand, it was reassuring to know that the goblins’ fear of dragons was genuine.

Dragons were terrifying, but even so, it was hard for them to ignore such a pile of treasure.

“If a problem arises, I might be able to use that.”

Of course, the simplest method would be to bring the elves, but… it was much better to handle it with words (or threats) if possible.

While the goblins moved the treasure, Jaeho and his party followed Slur to tour the vault where the treasure would be kept.

“This is the most secure of all our vaults. The pinnacle of modern engineering is all here.”

He boasted proudly.

“If anyone tries to break in here, thirty different traps will instantly erase them from existence.”

“Even a dragon?”

“Dr-dragons, well…”

Slur answered more honestly than expected.

“But no other being could ever break into this vault!”

“Well, I’ll trust it then. Ah, not you—just the technology of the vault itself.”

Jaeho smiled, patting Slur’s shoulder.

A silent warning: Don’t even think about pulling anything funny!

Glare—

And from behind Jaeho, Tina shot a cold look.

“Ha, hahaha! O-of course!”

[The other party is telling the truth.]

Wansik, who had been watching the whole exchange, shook his head.

“He’s just as slippery as he looks.”

Jaeho fit right in—maybe even better than at the flower shop.