Chapter 445 Money is the Least of our Concerns!
“The Buffett Family?” Mag was a little surprised as he looked at Hydle. Mag had been involved in some conflict with two board members of the Chamber of Commerce, and was quite opposed to the Chamber of Commerce"s discrimination toward mixed-race beings, so he had done some research into their organization. As such, he had a rough understanding toward the Moreton Family, which had founded the colossus that was the Chamber of Commerce.
The Buffett Family owned the most renowned banks on the entire Norland Continent. Buffett Banks branches could be found everywhere on the continent, even on the dragon island and Demon Islands. Deposit slips stamped with the bank"s anti-counterfeit codes could be used to withdraw money from any of their branches, and that eliminated the risk and inconvenience of having to constantly carry around large sums of money. As such, they were heavily endorsed by merchants, and received protection from all types of official organizations.
On the back of its countless banks, the Buffett Family created an enormous empire of wealth. No one knew just how much money went through Buffet Banks every year, but what was certain was that the Buffett Family was the most influential family in the Norland Continent"s business sector, one that even the Moreton Family couldn"t compare
to.
Furthermore, in recent years, Scheer Buffett had brought on a series of revolutionary changes, expanding the amount of current and fixed-term deposits, as well as lending out more loans, thereby drastically increasing Buffett Banks" trade volume and methods of securing income. All of those changes were made with a lot of foresight, and even Mag was a little stunned by her brilliant business mind.
He didn"t think that the Buffett Family had also invested in Hydle"s research. In that case, Mag felt like the Buffett Family wasn"t as simple as they appeared to be. Aside from their banks, they most likely had many other sources of income through different types of investment.
At the very least, Mag could see the Buffett Family"s astute judgment and foresight in their decision to invest in researching the steam engine. A sharp business sense was something that all successful businessmen had to possess.
The Chamber of Commerce is currently being run by the Moreton Family, and they"re largely responsible for the discrimination against multiracial beings in Chaos City. I heard that Buffett Family withdrew from the contention for the role of president of the Chamber of Commerce 25 years ago. The Buffett Family also just so happens to be interested in the steam engine, and is very powerful financially… Perhaps this will be something that I can use against the Chamber of Commerce. Mag"s eyes gradually lit up as a plan slowly began to appear in his mind.
His declaration to Goodenia, stating that he was going to overthrow the Chamber of Commerce, seemed like the words of a madman to others, but Mag was quite serious about that
On the Norland Continent, it was very common for mixed-race beings to be discriminated against. Chaos City was already quite a hospitable and friendly place for them, but that was not the case in the Roth Empire and among the orcs. In fact, biracial creatures were essentially slaves to them.
Amy was a half-elf, so Mag wanted to rid the world of discrimination against beings of mixed race. He wanted Amy to be seen as a normal being someday.
In doing so, he would have to change the entire world, and perhaps it would be a good starting point to overthrow the Chamber of Commerce. Mag had never been able to find a way to do this, but an option had finally been presented to him.
“The Buffett Family has given me a lot of financial aid, but the progress of my research has remained stagnant, and we"re trying everything we can think of, but to no avail. If we can"t produce a finished product in three years, the Buffett Family could also withdraw their funding. In that case, our research would become even more difficult.” Hydle sighed with a resigned expression.
“I trust that Princ.i.p.al Hydle will succeed very soon. This is going to be a monumental achievement that will be recorded in the history books of the Norland Continent,” Mag encouraged with a smile.
“I hope so. If we do succeed, I"ll be sure to put your name forward as one of the main contributors, Mr. Mag.” A smile reappeared on Hydle"s face.
“Then I wish us good luck,” Mag responded with a smile. After chatting for a while longer, Hydle got up to leave.
Perhaps I can find an opportunity to approach the Buffett Family. I don"t have the power to negotiate with the city lord"s castle at the moment, but if I can get the Buffett Family on my side, then the city lord"s castle will be forced to take me more seriously. Mag stood in front of his restaurant, and looked on as Hydle departed. His gaze then fell on the neighboring forge, upon which a smile appeared on his face. Perhaps I can get Mobai onboard as well. We"ll use the blueprint for a cannon to exchange for a finished steam engine; that shouldn"t be too bad a deal.
Buffett Banks main branch, central conference chamber.
Scheer Buffett wore a red dress as she sat at the head of the table. She looked at the higher-ups of the bank sitting on either side of the table, and wore a confident expression on her pretty face as she said, “Our Buffett Family must succeed in the election in two months. Even though we haven"t contended for the role of president for over 20 years, over 80% of the members in the Chamber of Commerce have dealings with our bank. Many of them have also taken out loans with us, and as long as we can get more than 50% of them to support us, we"ll be able to come out on top in this election.”
The balding middle-aged man sitting on Scheer"s right turned to her with a grave expression, and said, “Young Mistress, from the past few elections, it"s apparent that the Moreton Family still holds an absolute advantage. The Dodges and Marquis Families weren"t even able to secure a third of the votes in the past elections, so they posed no threat at all to Jeffree. Jeffree is an extremely influential figure in the Chamber of Commerce, and even though our Buffett Family has financial dealings with many businesses, we have to realize that those dealings are mutually beneficial. Our Buffett Banks was able to rise so quickly thanks to investment from the members of the Chamber of Commerce, so we can"t extort and force them to support us in the election. As such, I don"t think we have great chances in the election this time unless we offer conditions that are irresistible to other businesses. Otherwise, we would most likely end up in the same
situation that the Dodges Family found itself in.”
“I agree with the treasurer"s opinion. Our Buffett Banks hasn"t partic.i.p.ated in the election for 25 years. During that time, we"ve been focusing entirely on developing the bank, so we"ve very rarely partic.i.p.ated in the management of the Chamber of Commerce. In fact, some of the newer members aren"t even aware that the Buffett Family is one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce. If we suddenly enter the election without any preparation beforehand, we could end up with an even worse result than what the Dodges and Marquis Families achieved.” The red-haired middle-aged man sitting on Scheer"s left nodded in agreement.
“This conference today is being held with the sole purpose of brainstorming for strategies to maximize our chances in the upcoming election. As I said, my goal is to win the election two months from now.” Scheer looked at everyone, and a confident smile appeared on her face as she said, “Remember, money is the least of our concerns, and to acc.u.mulate wealth is the ultimate goal of all businessmen.”