Chapter 303: The Baron’s Debt Ledger

While the six villages were still gathering discussing with each other down there, up at the City Hall, Sane had begun making his move following exactly the way he often did.

He did not demand land from the Voss family but went buying back his debts.

That morning, Sane called Brian along with the two most veteran staff members of the Accounting division up to the small meeting room. He handed them a piece of paper writing exactly a few lines. That paper wrote the names of four places in Crossford town, comprising two usurers, a horse merchant and a wine shop.

"These four places are all holding Baron Voss’s debt papers." Sane spoke clearly: "You all go down there, buy back entirely all of them for me."

A staff member timidly asked: "Lord, at what price will we buy them back?"

"For the usurers you just pay seven-tenths of the face value, they definitely will sell immediately." Sane answered: "While for the horse merchant and wine shop owner then pay in full. Do not bargain with people coin by coin for what, those types of people are very prone to gossiping, you bargain too fiercely then exactly the next day the whole market will know the news."

Brian diligently took notes, finishing noting then looked up asking one more question having an extremely professional nature: "Lord Divine Envoy, will we buy back using cash or using bills of exchange?"

"Cash. Counting gold hand to hand." Sane tapped his finger lightly on the table: "They are all nervously afraid of losing everything, only when seeing real gold will they sell quickly."

The three people of the Accounting division departed going to Crossford right that very day. They rode a two-horse carriage, dressed simply like ordinary provincial petty clerks, absolutely no one brought along the City Hall’s badge.

That seemingly difficult task turned out to be easy to an astonishing extent.

The first usurer was an old man with bleary eyes sitting nestled in a pitch-black room full of ink smell. Hearing someone wanted to buy back Baron Voss’s debt papers, he almost jumped up from his chair because of being too happy. That debt amount he had dispatched people going collecting for three years but could not collect a single coin, these past few months hearing rumors the Voss family’s tenant farmers left completely, he had secretly considered himself losing everything. Now suddenly someone was willing to pay seven-tenths then what else did he have to hesitate. He signed selling immediately, finishing signing even personally brewed tea inviting the guests to drink.

The second usurer was more careful, kept pressing asking repeatedly seeing what power the buying side was. Brian’s people acted exactly according to the script, only saying they worked as hired hands for a merchant in the North, the boss liked buying aristocrats’ debts because aristocrats valued face so they did not dare to default on debts. The creditor old man hearing that nodded seemingly very satisfied, also selling immediately.

The horse merchant was the most straightforward in temperament. He spread out three debt papers, pointing his finger straight into the horse stable cursing loudly that that old Baron bought horses fast but paid money as slowly as a crawling turtle. Receiving fully the gold money he even advised adding one sincere sentence: "You guys buying this paper pile back then just set your minds first, going collecting aristocrats’ debts is even harder than plucking feathers off a burned-to-death chicken."

Only the wine shop owner sold it in the saddest way. He sorrowfully said the Voss family was his family’s regular customer for three generations, every year taking dozens of good wine barrels. Finishing selling the final debt paper, he even went out standing at the door looking following the buyer’s horse carriage, sighing heavily like having just seen off a relative to the cemetery.

Four days later, the three people returned to Lyra along with a small wooden chest stuffed full of debt papers.

On the way back, their horse carriage even passed by the large market located in the middle of Crossford town. There, an observant Accounting staff member recognized several familiar Merchant Guild stalls displaying selling soap. Looking at the packaging style it was exactly standardly the soap made by the Lyra workshop, only differing in one thing that people had peeled off the paper layer printing the brand name. The selling price was twice as expensive as the original price.

He carefully recorded that matter into his notebook, finishing recording even muttered cursing a very ugly-sounding sentence. The ban on selling Lyra goods to the villages along the canal, turned out only to ban the poor citizens from buying, while the Merchant Guild still quietly gathered Lyra’s goods bringing back selling for profit as usual.

Brian sat stubbornly an entire night in the Accounting room to tally the ledger. Nearing morning, the boy hugged the ledger going up to the small meeting room, placing it down with a thud onto the table before Kaelen and Sane. His baby face was still serious as usual, however his two eyes had dark circles. Kaelen unconsciously frowned.

"My two Lords, there are a total of seventeen debt papers bearing Baron Harlan Voss’s name." The boy flipped the ledger reading clearly: "Totaling both principal and interest up to today is one thousand two hundred and forty gold coins. We spent nine hundred and sixty-eight gold coins to buy back all."

Elric sitting beside hearing that number almost choked.

"One thousand two hundred gold coins?" He exclaimed in shock: "His entire manor bringing out selling would not even fetch eight hundred coins!"

"That is exactly the truth." Brian nodded confirming: "Therefore even if we foreclose his entire fortune he still owes us more than four hundred gold coins."

Sane lazily picked up a debt paper, brought it out before the candlelight examining back and forth, admiring Voss’s scrawled signature at the end of the page for a long time before dropping it down onto the table.

"Very good." He said: "So he has completely nothing to pay."

Elric blinked bewilderedly: "Lord, if he cannot pay then will we lose almost one thousand gold coins cleanly?"

"Did anyone tell you that I want him to pay the debt?" Sane smirked slightly.

Elric sat blankly for a moment before understanding the problem, finishing understanding his spine ran cold.

Buying outright the entire debt of an aristocrat without intending to collect money, meant that from now on the noose string hanging on Baron Voss’s neck had transferred lying neatly in Lyra City Hall’s hands. As long as Lyra wanted, at any moment they could bring those seventeen papers out before the kingdom’s court foreclosing completely cleanly his entire family clan.

The subsequent matter was done by Mr. Hollis and Beatrix.

The teacher and student sat an entire afternoon in the file storage room to draft a letter sending to Baron Voss. Finishing drafting then read back and forth every single word, correcting back and forth until the fourth draft before feeling satisfied.

The letter’s content was extremely concise and polite. The Lyra City Hall respectfully informs that currently the City Hall is the legal owner of seventeen debt papers bearing your name, totaling one thousand two hundred and forty gold coins, accompanied by copies of every single one. The City Hall completely has no intention of initiating a lawsuit collecting debt. Instead, the City Hall proposes you transfer the rent collection rights in four villages North of the territory, in exchange the entire debt amount will be wiped completely clean. You will receive back fully the seventeen original debt papers to personally burn if you want.

At the end of the letter was an additional noted line, that this proposal is only valid within sixty days.

Beatrix was exactly the person who thought of that final line. The young girl explained very casually that people only panic when knowing the door will close on a specific day, while leaving it open forever people will just sit hesitating pondering until getting old.

Hollis hearing finishing pushed his glasses frame, looking at his new student with a gaze both satisfied and somewhat slightly creepy.

The letter was sealed with wax, handed to an express City Hall postman bringing away. However the postman going to the Voss family’s manor was reported back that the master was still all the way in the Royal Capital, not seeing any returning news yet. Consequently the letter had to pack up hitting the road following the route up to the Royal Capital.

The person discovering the ominous matter earliest was actually butler Pym.

That week, he went down to Crossford to beg delaying debt payments following exactly the schedule he always did once every month. This time just stepping foot into the first usurer’s door, he already saw his attitude was somewhat different. He no longer grimaced cursing like every time, also did not bother keeping him back scolding a bout. He only waved his hand shooing him away like shooing flies:

"Your family’s debt matter now has nothing to do with me anymore. Go to another place speaking."

Pym was bewildered: "Sir, you speaking like that means what?"

"Means I sold it." The usurer answered curtly: "Sold the whole stack, gold money counted hand to hand, what do I keep holding that debt for inviting tiredness into my body."

Pym stood dead frozen in the middle of the door, taking forever to finally utter asking into words: "Sold... you sold to whom?"

The old man shrugged, his facial expression honest to the point of being hateful: "Whoever is willing to pay money then I sell to that person, why do I have spare breath going asking people’s names for what."

The butler hurriedly ran over to the three remaining places. Everywhere he also received exactly one identically similar answer.

By the time he dragged his footsteps out of the wine shop door the sky was already turning dusky. He stood blankly in the middle of Crossford street, his head spinning with all kinds of speculations, but every speculation ultimately led back to exactly one place.

The person having enough gold to hug all those debt papers at the same time in this region, the person having enough reasons to do that crazy deed, there was only exactly one place.

Pym urgently returned to the manor right that night, hurriedly gathered a few sets of clothes, early the next morning jumped onto a horse galloping straight up to the Royal Capital.

In Lyra, that evening, Brian hugged the accounting ledger lingering standing in the small meeting room after everyone had completely left.

The boy hesitated for a moment before daring to timidly raise his voice asking Kaelen: "Father, I have a matter wanting to ask."

"You just ask."

"Buying people’s debts like this..." The boy lowered his head looking down at his shoe tips: "Are we bullying people?"

Kaelen placed the pen down on the table, pondering for a very long time before answering.

"That debt amount he voluntarily went borrowing, not us forcing him to borrow. Do you remember those horse buying debt papers? When he bought horses his tenant farmers had to expend three labor days every week just to exchange for one water bucket." He slowly said: "We buy back that debt amount, then bring it exchanging for the rent collection right so the citizens of those four villages no longer have to bend their backs paying rent to him anymore. This matter then I see nothing having to feel guilty about."

Brian nodded, but still refused to leave immediately.

"Then what if he refuses to exchange?"

"Then we keep those seventeen papers into the safe." Kaelen answered: "And he will have to live in fear with the thought that they are lying inside our family’s safe."

The boy blinked blinking his eyes, ultimately also nodded understanding, bowed greeting then hugged the ledger walking outside.

The room door just closed, Sane from the darkness stepped over behind Kaelen’s back, leaning down close to his ear:

"Baby, you just taught a child badly you know."

"I am teaching him how to distinguish right and wrong." Kaelen looked up glaring at him once: "While the person currently smiling smugly over there is exactly the true person teaching him badly."

Sane burst out laughing loudly, conveniently lifting him up from the chair then carrying him straight back to the room.