Abandoned in the mountains, I was adopted by a lizard ~I mastered magic and surpassed my parents, but I didn't know they were legendary ancient dragons~ - Chapter 25 & 26

Chapter 25   TUFG Bank

The next day.

When I arrived at the classroom, there was an envelope on my desk.

Upon opening it, I found a note asking me to visit the reception room during lunch break as someone wanted to meet with me.

Could it be another message from Jason & Jason? Maybe they wanted to discuss something like the expansion of molecular separation magic tools.

Since the Abyss Lizard is technically the property of its slayer, they said they’d return it to me after inspection. If it’s about that, I could use the magic stone to craft something. With these thoughts in mind, I waited for lunchtime.

◇

When lunchtime came, I went to the reception room. However, the person waiting there was someone completely different from President Robert.

It was someone I had never met before. I wondered what he wanted. As I was thinking, the person introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you. I am Plentine, president of Tridia United Financial Group, also known as TUFG Bank.”

He handed me his business card.

“You’re Hadar, correct?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I want to thank you for saving my son’s life.”

He continued and bowed his head.

…Hmm?

What does he mean by saving his son’s life?

“Sorry, but I don’t recall doing such a thing…”

“That can’t be. The dungeon training instructor told me that you neutralized the Abyss Lizard.”

Hearing that, I finally understood what he was talking about.

Ah, right. There was another party that encountered the Abyss Lizard. His son must have been in that party.

“Oh, that incident. I did defeat the Abyss Lizard, but I didn’t realize it meant I saved the other party too.”

“I see, so an Abyss Lizard is just a trivial matter to you. I’ve heard rumors about you…”

As we were having this conversation, the dungeon training instructor entered the room and placed some tea on the table. With that, we shifted to discussing the main topic.

“So… the reason I’m here today,” President Plentine said, placing a stack of documents on the table, “is to propose a special financial product as a token of my gratitude for saving my son’s life.”

He then moved the documents towards me.

“First, take a look at how our regular deposits work.”

Prompted by him, I skimmed through the documents. Here’s a summary of what I read:

The business of TUFG Bank essentially involves lending money received from wealthy clients at an interest rate of 15%, and returning 4% of the profit to the depositors. The larger interest margin is because they occasionally lend to somewhat risky borrowers. Though rarely, unforeseen circumstances like debt relief edicts can cause significant losses. However, in such cases, the principal is guaranteed up to 10 million kururu. Notably, the last debt relief edict was 52 years ago, and the one before that was 453 years ago, so it’s not a frequent concern.

“…I’ve skimmed through it.”

“Good. Now let me explain the financial product I’m proposing to you,” Plentine said, beginning his explanation.

“Instead of the usual 4% annual return, I propose giving you a 12% annual return. Additionally… the principal guarantee in case of an emergency will be up to 10 billion kururu.”

The conditions President Plentine offered were extraordinarily generous.

Wow. So, if I deposited 8.9 billion kururu, I could withdraw 1.1 billion kururu annually without risking the principal. That’s an incredibly high return for a safe asset.

Moreover, that scenario assumes the principal remains below the guaranteed amount to prepare for unprecedented circumstances. If I were to leave the money deposited continuously, it would grow exponentially due to compound interest. Assuming no debt relief edict occurs for the next 50 years, a principal of 10 billion kururuwould grow to 2.89 trillion kururu.

“Is this really okay? With such conditions?” I asked.

“Of course. You saved my son’s life; this is the least I can do. Besides, no one else has a deposit with such terms. If we offered this to everyone, it would be financially disastrous,” Plentine replied, laughing heartily.

Though it seemed excessively generous, Plentine’s response was firm and accompanied by a hearty laugh.

“That said, as a student, you probably don’t have a large amount to deposit right now. However, as long as our bank exists, your deposit will always enjoy these conditions. I’ll ensure this agreement is put in writing, so whenever you have extra funds, feel free to deposit them.”

With that, Plentine produced a contract.

…Honestly, I happen to have just the right amount of cash on hand. The reward from constructing Bamboo Inside and the magic usage fee from the saintess.

“Then, I’ll deposit this now,” I said, using my storage magic to produce 10 billion kururu worth of large platinum coins.

“Oh, I see… wait, what!?” Plentine’s eyes widened at the sight of the large platinum coin mountain.

“Where… where did all this money come from?” he stammered.

“From an internship,” I replied.

“What kind of internship pays such a fortune…?” Plentine trailed off, stunned.

And so, the deposit was completed. It was good to find a use for all that idle money.

◇◇◇

Chapter 26   Side: Vale Valley Family Gathering

The evening of the same day Hadar made his deposit at TUFG Bank, a conversation was unfolding at the dinner table of the Vale Valley family, who owns Bamboo Inside Construction.

“How are you finding school? Getting used to it?” asked Wright, the father.

“Hmm, I guess I’m getting used to it, but also not really,” replied his daughter, Jasmine.

“That’s a vague answer,” Wright remarked.

“I’m used to the school itself, but there’s this unbelievable prodigy in my class who keeps surprising me,” Jasmine explained.

“Really? What kind of person?” Wright’s curiosity was piqued.

“He’s a scholarship student, but he’s unbelievably skilled in every way. He can shoot down a griffin with magic like it’s nothing, and during potion-making class, he even developed a new potion,” Jasmine elaborated.

“He developed a new potion in class?!” Wright was now fully invested in the conversation, his interest shifting from that of a father to that of a businessman.

“That’s a coincidence. I had dinner with the president of Jason & Jason two days ago. He mentioned buying a patent for a new potion-making device from a first-year student at the Zelgius Royal Academy of Magic,” Wright said.

“A new potion-making device… Oh, yes, that student was asked to develop a device that automates the separation of ingredients,” Jasmine confirmed.

“It’s probably the same person. Has he done anything else impressive?” Wright’s interest had now fully shifted from Jasmine’s school experiences to this versatile scholarship student.

While the student’s abilities hadn’t yet shown a direct connection to the construction industry, Wright hoped to hear of some related skills, given the student’s versatility.

However, it was Jasmine’s next statement that made Wright realize he knew the student well.

“There’s so much that I can’t recall everything, but I do remember him teaching the alchemy class—he was showing the professor how to create Orichalcum.”

“He knows how to make Orichalcum?!”

Even in the middle of dinner, Wright couldn’t help but stand up from his chair.

“…What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Jasmine asked.

“Jasmine, that student, does he happen to have black hair and go by the name Hadar?” Light inquired.

“Yes… How do you know that?” Jasmine responded, puzzled.

Of course, Wright knew him well.

“He interned with us once. He delivered a massive amount of mithril-orichalcum alloy and orichalcum-adamantite alloy. That kid is undoubtedly a strong pillar of revenue as long as he continues to support us!” Wright explained passionately.

“I see… I didn’t know that,” Jasmine said, though she felt a bit miffed.

Why hadn’t he talked to her even once, despite his deep connection to their family business? Maybe she should start working out to get one of those dumbbells. But no, that’s a feat only the muscle-brained prince could achieve. If she got an adamantite dumbbell, she’d probably end up hurting her back.

“So, that kid is a genius not only in alchemy but also in magical combat…” Wright muttered, sinking back into his chair, deep in thought.

After a while, he seemed to come to a realization and clapped his hands suddenly.

“That’s it!” he exclaimed.

“What now?” Jasmine asked, exasperated.

“There’s a project that might not fail if we could leverage that kid’s abilities!” Wright declared.

In truth, Bamboo Inside Construction had a national project that had to be halted due to the inability to ensure safety from monster attacks. Despite having ample budget, the project was on the verge of collapse due to a lack of personnel for safety management.

To Wright, Hadar appeared as the key to restarting that stalled project.