[58] Bare Bones

Hall and Ragnok stood in the cave, appearing as tiny miniature dolls against the backdrop of the cavern.

"What... what's going on?" Hall asked, pointing at the empty space.

Ragnok clearly knew the situation. His eyes burned with fervour. "The Slytherin vault has always been open. The annual protection fees have been paid on time. To date, they've been in arrears for thirty-two years."

Ragnok pulled out a large notebook, licked his fingers, flipped through several pages, and turned it around to face Hall. His long, sharp fingernails pointed to a line. "Look — we at Gringotts keep records."

It did record the vault's expenditures over the years. Hall raised an eyebrow. No wonder the goblins were happy to see him activate a vault that had been unclaimed for years. They'd already skimmed off everything inside. He flipped through more pages and noticed the protection fee had been adjusted over time — higher during wartime, lower during peacetime.

"So you want me to pay it off now?" Hall raised an eyebrow. "What if I don't?"

Ragnok's smile vanished instantly. "Once you activated this vault, all debts were automatically transferred to your name."

"You don't even know my name?" Hall sneered. This was robbery.

Ragnok smiled — a smile that seemed particularly unsettling on his ugly face. "We goblins have our own methods. We don't need to know your name. After all, many who come, like you, don't use their true identities."

"Then I won't give it to you. What can you do about it?" Hall almost laughed. He was always the one tricking others — now a goblin was trying to trick him?

"Then you must be prepared to be an enemy of the entire Gringotts." Ragnok was extremely arrogant. Goblin magic was different from wizarding magic — they didn't need wands and were very intelligent. Being an enemy of goblins was an unwise choice.

"Heh." Hall chuckled coldly. "Since Gringotts wants to reclaim its protection money from me, I think it's necessary to settle accounts first. How much compensation do you owe?"

"What compensation! Mr. Slytherin, you're being unreasonable!" Ragnok involuntarily stepped back under Hall's gaze, then shouted loudly as if that would restore his momentum.

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"Without the master's permission, you moved the treasure in the vault. Isn't that a violation of the protection laws you established? Since it's a violation, compensation is required."

Hall had seen the protection fee contract before coming. It stated that if the vault's owner paid protection fees in the future, Gringotts could collect them. In short, it was more of a justification for the goblins to collect fees. But this didn't stop Hall from using it as a pretext.

The goblins controlled the finances of so many wizarding families. How many vaults of declining or extinct families lay abandoned beneath Gringotts, probably embezzled under the guise of protection fees?

"We're acting legally and legitimately! Don't slander us!" Ragnok's face reddened. "When the Slytherin family opened the vault, they signed contracts. I can show you."

Hall didn't care about that. "You possess so much wealth, yet instead of thinking about how to make it grow, you're eyeing other people's property. Do you think Gringotts will still be trustworthy after I spread word of this?"

Ragnok gritted his teeth. He'd encountered someone difficult to fool. If this deal had gone through, he could have kept at least sixty percent. But when Hall mentioned making money grow, his eyes lit up.

"What does circulate mean? How can money grow?" Ragnok asked.

"Do we have to talk here? Can't we go somewhere more comfortable?"

The cave was large and spacious, but there wasn't even a place to sit. Ragnok glanced at Hall, considering whether to trust him, then nodded. He led Hall back to the cart. This time, their destination was his office on the surface.

"You said — please elaborate." Ragnok had never heard of the term Hall used. This was a member of the Slytherin family, missing for many years. Perhaps he really did have a way to make money generate more money. Like alchemy.

The office was simply furnished. Hall sat on the sofa and took a sip of tea. Then, under Ragnok's expectant gaze, he continued. "Have you heard of insurance?"

"What?" Ragnok was taken aback.

"Gringotts has a large amount of wealth stored up — even a lot unclaimed. Why not use it to make money? For example, let's start with the simplest method: insurance."

Ragnok was about to say it was other people's money and they had no right to touch it when he saw Hall's smile. He remembered the vault that had been stripped bare.

Hall continued. "For their own safety, wizards pay a small amount to the bank to buy insurance — to obtain protection. Insurance means that in the event of danger, the bank compensates them or their family with a large sum of money. Or it may cover medical expenses after an injury."

Ragnok frowned. "Isn't this just making us give money away?" Anger was already on his face. "No, no, we absolutely disagree!"

How could they make money by giving it away! He felt this wizard was a fraud — just trying to avoid paying the vault's outstanding fees.

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