Chapter 114
"Fortunately...?"
"Yes."
To Louryl"s confused question, Clerivan answered neatly and succinctly.
"I don"t quite understand what you"re saying. How can you say it is fortunate...?"
"Of course, it"s not a good thing that Viese can exercise the same rights as the Lord for a moment."
Clerivan frowned for a moment, he was bothered by Louryl calling him "brother", then he said.
"But the important thing is that Viese is going to do a terrible job of acting as the householder. It’s probably hard to see with your eyes open.”
Clerivan smiled with one corner of his mouth as if it were funny just to imagine.
"So there"s nothing to worry about."
"I"m glad to hear that."
Louryl sighed again at the end of the sentence.
It wasn"t as if she didn"t believe what Clerivan said.
However, she"s worried that Viese has become a householder temporarily.
It was a great thing in a way.
I can"t believe everyone in the family is worried about Lombardy.
"I agree with Clerivan."
Louryl looked at me with her eyes wide open at my words.
As much as I secretly showed my dislike for Viese, I thought I"d be as angry as she was.
Of course, Louryl is right.
No one in Lombardy hates Viese more than I do.
I can a.s.sure you of that.
But at the same time, like Clerivan, I believed in my grandfather"s judgment.
Although he has a strong affection for blood ties, he was not a person who could not think about public affairs separately.
In addition,
"Maybe it"s a good opportunity."
"A good... opportunity?"
There"s a big question mark on Louryl"s head.
Viese and the word "good opportunity" seemed to be irrelevant in her head.
"This time, everyone will know."
I smiled and explained kindly to Louryl.
"Everyone will know how short of a householder Viese is."
People will see a little bit of the future that only I know now.
It"s kind of like a rehearsal.
This is a preview of what happens when Viese becomes a householder.
"Perfect timing."
In my previous life, my grandfather was seriously ill at this time of year, and to make matters worse, "it happened".
Of course, Viese was acting as an a.s.sistant householder at that time.
However, Viese was not aware of the seriousness of what was happening in front of him.
Lombardy, who missed the golden time to respond and deal with the situation, had to suffer a huge loss.
Eventually, my grandfather, who had barely recovered himself, received a report from the bank chief at his bedside and even took care of the matter himself."What do you mean when the time is right?"
Then Clerivan tilted his head and asked.
"I"m just saying, my grandfather, is not seriously ill. I don"t think he"s the one who"s just gonna leave everything to Viese."
"Right, you"re right. He"s not the kind of person."
Clerivan nodded when I talked around.
I smiled at Louryl not to worry.
Obviously, there is a similarity between this life and the previous life.
For now, in my previous life, Viese was the only one left to act as acting householder at this time of year.
Like the household leader, there was no other option.
Also, this time, grandfather could not do his job properly, and Viese became a temporary householder.
But there was a big difference between last life and this life.
It was me.
There"s me in this life who knows the future.1
* * *
It"s been a few days since Viese started working as a household.
The position as a Patriarch was just as Viese had dreamed of.
He came to have power and authority that no one envies.1
Thanks to this, Viese was very satisfied every day.
The work that he was nervous about was getting better day by day, so it couldn"t be better.
To be honest, it was so easy that he kept thinking, "Did my father have a hard time doing this?"
"Well, that"s enough, right?"
Viese asked as he looked at the young household Devons in front of him.
"Why aren"t you answering me?"
Clang Devons were one of Lombardy"s many va.s.sal families and were in charge of Lombardy"s transportation projects.
Lombardy was also an important family that brought together the family"s many businesses, as it had tops, banks, and agricultural plantations throughout the continent.
However, the Devons family"s sublease had deteriorated and his son had just taken over the post.
Therefore, even if he is young, he should respect the owner and use honorifics with each other.
However, Viese, who is still the eldest son of the household owner, is temporarily acting as a householder and was talking informally to the young householder of the Devons family.
"...Yes, it"s done."
The Householder Devons, replied, holding back his rising anger.
It was a waste of time explaining to Viese who didn"t understand the report properly.
It was decided that it would be better to report back then when the householder returns later.
As the heir to the va.s.sal family, he had seen Viese all the time, so he knew Viese was stupid.
He didn"t expect it to be this much.
The head of the va.s.sal family were very busy people.
There were also many Lombardy businesses in charge and had to take care of each family.
That"s why the householders didn"t move directly on most things.
Except for regular meetings that were held about once a month, Lulak"s approval was obtained by sending an agent or posting doc.u.ments.
In just a few days, however, the va.s.sals realized that they should not work with Viese in this way.
They wonder if he didn"t understand the doc.u.ment they uploaded properly, and the returned approval doc.u.ment said something wrong instead of a stamp.
In some cases, they were forced to do new things out of the blue instead of the ones they had prepared for a long time ago.
It was only a month-long proxy position, where the owner was recuperating, but Viese acted as if he were the next complete master.
"Whoa..."
Clang Devon, who sighed out of the office, encountered Grodic Bray, Bray"s first son, who was waiting at the door just like him.
He, who is in charge of and manages Lombardy Bank on behalf of the older Bray owner, apparently came running to find out the situation and report his work.
"How is it?"
"....go ahead and get in. Get your mind ready."
"Oh, my..."
Grodic, who drooled when he saw Clang Devon"s face, went into the office with a short cough.
He had to discuss something with the Patriarch, but he can"t believe Viese became the acting Patriarch.
The timing was not good.
Instead of Viese, who doesn"t even greet properly, John the butler approached.
It was John who was a.s.sisting Viese"s work according to Lulak"s order.
"Which tea would you like..."
But even before the question was over, Viese blurted out at Grodic.
"How"s the loan I introduced you to last time?"
A few weeks ago, Viese brokered loan applications from several acquaintances.
"Oh, that"s..."
"You"ve decided to trust me and get a loan from the Lombardy bank, but you keep saying that the approval is being delayed."
In the first place, there was no bank in the Empire as reliable as Lombardy"s.
So they"re lucky if they can borrow money from the Lombardy bank even if Viese doesn"t broker.
And it was natural for a large loan to go through months of screening.
Furthermore, Grodic looked at some of them, lacking credit and poor business plans, were not fit to take out loans.
Viese is rather throwing troublesome trash at the Lombardy bank.
"...I"m looking at the application myself, so sooner or later..."
"I would have introduced only healthy people on my own! They"re going to pay interest for another month only if we deal with it quickly."
Then there"s a case where you lose all your loans and you don"t get it back, you idiot!1
Grodic wanted to shout in the face of Viese.
"...Yes, sir."
Let"s just hang in there for a month.
Grodic put up with his anger thinking so.
And for some time there were reports of Lombardy banks as a whole.
The process, which normally would not have taken long, has been indefinitely prolonged.
It was because of Viese who insisted on nonsense, not to mention that he could not understand it at once.
"Oh, and one more thing..."
"What else is there?"
Viese, who was yawning, retorted as if he was tired.
"A forgery check was found yesterday."
"Forgery?"
"Yes, it"s a deposit check to be exact."
When an individual or business has to make a payment, it is paid using a check that has been set aside from the bank in advance instead of cash.
Then the recipient of the check came to the Lombardy bank and took as much money as it said.
"How can you be fooled??"
"It"s so much the same that you can"t see the difference with the naked eye. The paper is meticulous enough to use the same material."
Grodic explained calmly.
"When a check comes in, we pay for it and collect checks from all over the country once a week to check against the books. If it looks the same, it"s hard to spot the counterfeit goods."
While speaking, Grodic doubted that Viese understood everything he said.
"Hmm... How many counterfeit checks do you have?"
"One sheet."
"What? One? Just one? I thought there were about ten more!"
"Lord Viese, this is not an easy matter to turn over. Once they confirm that their counterfeit checks work..."
"Oh, that"s fine!"1
Viese shook his hands as if he was bothered and cut off Grodic"s words.
"Tell me when you get one or ten counterfeit checks!"
Grodic was speechless.
He thought he"d go to the Patriarch"s bedroom right now, but he held it in.
It was because he was blaming himself for Lulak"s fall.
It wasn"t just Grodic.
That was the case with all the va.s.sals.
They think they have not properly a.s.sisted themselves.
Grodic, who swallowed a bundle of things to say, greeted him and left the office.
"If you have time to mind a check, just settle the loan!"
Viese shouted at the back of it.
Click.
The door closed and left alone, Viese continued to grumble.
Then butler John approached quietly and said.
"Then I"ll go down to the restaurant to cook dinner."
"Huh? Yeah, sure."
John, who left the office like that, did not head to the restaurant.
With neat and quiet steps, he headed leisurely to the bedroom of the Patriarch.
Knock, Knock.
"Come in."
As if waiting, Lulak answered in the bedroom.
Lulak, who was sitting in bed and reading as Estira told him to, welcomed John.
"How was it?"
"It was hard."1
"Huh, it"s a big deal that you said you were having a hard time."
Lulak smirked.
"So get well soon and come back to your office."
"Yes, I should."+
Now the idle chat is over.
Lulak asked butler John with a smile on his face.
"So, what did Viese do today and what decisions did he make?"