Chapter 182 - Loans

Author Note: The next few chapters is focused on the economic restoration of the South Sector by the Seven Snakes. Hopefully this fleshes out the side characters and the city even more!

The reconstruction of the South Sector was moving accordingly, but as with any plan, there were bound to be hiccups. Keith crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair, checking the updated development plan of the area.

It had only been three days since Kyle had left them to their own devices, and Keith was not about to let him down nor give up the immense potential wealth that he could accumulate by following Kyle. While he had started out as a poor scrawny member of the Seven Snakes under Ulon, his life now was drastically different.

His body had not changed much – still scrawny as ever, but his demeanour and countenance had all been developed to emulate Kyle, a look of dominance and confidence that was a far cry from the meek scholar attitude he had before. With a single word, he could order hundreds of workers and men to complete a task: such power was intoxicating, especially for an eighteen-year-old boy.

Right now, he had more than fifty clerks in front of him, recruited over the last few months through a series of stringent tests that he himself had set up. His table overlooked all of them in an open office configuration, allowing him to walk through easily and observe their work.

The lifestyle he led now was extravagant as well: the best food, servants and wagons reserved for him on his business trips, even when the destination was just around the corner. Keith rationalised it to himself as making a statement of the prosperity and strength of the Seven Snakes: displays of wealth were an easy way to impress one’s status into others.

I was so naive back then: wanting to go to university. This is way better! Keith was cognizant that not everyone could attain such a position as he could, and it was only by following Kyle that he was able to still enjoy this life, though it came with its twists and turns. It was easy to adapt to luxury but far harder to adapt to mediocrity.

He trawled through the plan once more, marking down the various movements of construction teams in the nearby districts and going through the allocated budget. The value of the rakel was fluctuating rapidly. Still, Keith had decided to fix it to an arcite ore standard that could be floated, grounding the rakel slightly and preventing speculation or hyperinflation from wrecking the recovery program.

He checked each item that every team had requested, tallying the orders and invoices as well as the payment made to other businesses. While the Golden Snake Construction Company were the ones doing the construction, the raw materials did not all stem from the Culdao Peaks, and even if they did, they would have to pay for it to create a booming economy and provide jobs.

While Keith was still reading, a clerk brought a stack of paper up to Keith’s table. “Sir, the shortlisted loan applicants are here for your approval.”

Keith eyed the number of papers in the stack. “This many made it past the vetting process?”

The clerk nodded, causing Keith to be slightly suspicious. The Seven Snakes could not build an economy alone, and they did not have the requisite manpower to truly monopolize everything and anything. Keith had come up with a simple plan to act as a moneylender, loaning out money to former business owners who were returning to the district. Of course, the interest rates were competitive – far more than the East District.

It was a battle of who could accumulate the most business, and Keith wasn’t planning on backing down. However, he needed to ensure that the applicants would not default on the loan before the economy stabilized, as ‘rich’ as they were. Arcite ore was still limited, and so were rakels.

“Fine, leave it over there.” Keith motioned with his hand, dismissing the clerk. Despite the clerk being nearly fifteen years older than Keith, the clerk still meekly bowed, afraid of antagonising Keith. As much as this was an office environment, it was still a brutal hierarchical gang at heart, and torture was always just around the corner.

Keith completed his audit of the supplies requested by the various construction teams. “Have Monica oversee the entire logistics. I don’t want any hijackings to happen, you hear me?” He ordered three clerks to have it done, signing off with his approval before returning to the stack of loan applications.

He thumbed through the list of applicants, flicking quickly to get a quick overview of who applied. Most of them were former business owners or refugees from other districts, allured by the low-interest rates and additional benefits provided by the Seven Snakes, which was by far the most important thing.

Keith filtered them quickly, selecting half of them and stashing the rest. He brought the shortlisted ones to the clerks. “Have the loan applicants gather for a ten minutes interview. I’ll handle the interviewing. The other half will be withheld for the second round.”

The clerks complied, setting up the appointments and sending out invitation letters to arrange the interview. However, many of them noticed the financial details of the applicants, noticing something wrong. One of the clerks mustered up the courage to ask Keith about the discrepancy. “Sir, about applicant 182. Her financial background is… not the best. If she defaults on the loan…”

“I’ve made my decision.” Keith waved his hand dismissively.

As they went for their tea break, the clerks gossiped with each other with a fervor not unlike when a new clerk passed Keith’s stringent tests.

“Is Keith off his rockers? One of the applicants I handle is clearly in no financial shape to run any business. I don’t even think he went to school! How could he be successful in a business loan application when he hasn’t ran a business before?!”

“Wait, it’s the same for you? I thought I just got the bad batch.”

As the clerks exchanged information, they soon realised that Keith had selected nearly every applicant with a terrible financial background.

“Is this a marketing ploy? Something to show others that we’re nice and willing to compromise?”

“Maybe all the power is rushing to his head.”

The day of the interviews soon came, with a wagon pulling up to the hypermall. Out from the wagon was a shabbily dressed lady, her dress slightly torn and tattered in certain places, her movement obviously intending to hide as much as she could from the general public.

Her makeup was gaudy, over the top to try and mask the blemishes on her skin. Even the orphans lingering around the hypermall could tell that she was trying to act far richer than what she actually was.

But instead of spurning her, Keith had two bodyguards escort her up to the interview room as he would a noble, with one of Keith’s clerk serving her tea and snacks with the proper decorum.

“Thank you for applying to the loan program. This interview allows me to get to know you better, so I can understand your doubts and concerns. Opening a business is a tricky path and I’m here to help you all of the way.”

The lady beamed and nodded vigorously, though her hands were clamped down tight to prevent herself from gobbling all the free luxurious snacks placed in front of her. “Yes sir, thank you so much! Every other lender has turned me away, despite my years of experience…”

“Not a problem, we are more than willing to work with someone of your caliber. However, I do note that you never had any experience working as an official director nor shareholder of a business?”

“No, sir. But I have worked as a restaurant manager for quite some years before the fighting began.”

“Any education?”

“No sir, I never had the option of attending school proper. I can still read and write, however.” The lady quickly added on, trying to prop herself up. Keith examined her for a few seconds in silence, before glancing back at the resume. A tinge of disappointment left his lips for the briefest of moments, but the lady caught onto it, her nerves wracked with anxiety.

Keith continued sighing as he thumbed through the paper, his face in contemplation. “Opening a restaurant is quite difficult nowadays, especially in the South Sector. As you do not have the prerequisite education, I’m sorry to say…”

The lady gulped, hanging on every word Keith was saying, her heart already trembling at what was going to come next. After all this, I’m even going to get rejected at an interview? Is it the makeup? Or the dress?

“… that you will be accepted as a loan applicant, though with additional requirements necessary.”

The lady let out a sigh of relief, but the last part of the sentence stuck with her. “Additional requirements? Does that mean the interest rate will be higher?”

“No! Of course not!” Keith smiled. “Here, let me explain. We have a separate program for those who are just starting out in business. Our subsidiaries and partner companies have formed a complete ecosystem that can assist you in every part of the business to make sure that your restaurant is a roaring success. We want to earn back the interest, not make you bankrupt!”

“Oh, thank Yual!” The lady was more than relieved, thinking that she would have been fleeced.

Keith pulled out a few more wordy contracts and documents, explaining to the lady the process. “Our Golden Snake Company will be the main contractors for the job: a percentage of the loan will be used to pay for their renovation services of the store. We also provide an accounting service so you can properly file for taxes under the Yual Dominion. Don’t want to be getting caught, don’t we? Furthermore, we will also help with the supply of ingredients to your restaurant.”

The lady’s eyes squinted at the wordy contract, unable to fully comprehend each of the clauses there, but what Keith was saying sounded like a real dream come true. “This is too good to be true; it’s like the whole package!” She had not thought about most of these things, having never truly ran a business from the top before.

“Not for free, of course,” Keith warned. “You will have to pay back your loan eventually, so you must still work hard to make sales! If you ever run into financial troubles, you can always take out an additional loan with us for financing, and we’ll give you a preferential rate for being a repeat customer! Sounds good?”

It wasn’t long before the lady was out of the question, happily signing the contract. “Please follow my guards to the next room to collect your loan.”

“What? Now?”

“Of course! Don’t you want to start your business right away? Best to choose the more popular slots we have planned in the future and start planning now!”

“Yes, yes of course!” The lady scrambled to grab her things and her copy of the signed contract, rushing off with clear excitement in her gait as she followed the bodyguards.

Keith let out a sigh before turning to face the clerk that had also been in the room taking notes. “Ask away. I can see from your face you have questions.”

The clerk was taken aback, patting her face slightly to figure out what gave it away. “How did you know?”

“I’ve been working with you for close to three months now, Lucetta. I can tell when you doubt me.”

“Well… why are we only targeting people who obviously can’t run a business?”

Keith smirked. “Say we give a loan to an experienced entrepreneur with no conditions apart from the interest rates. He will attempt to run the business as best as he can. If he succeeds, money will be drawn away from our monetary system, potentially moving elsewhere along with him. If he fails, then a smart one would reduce the amount of assets that we can claim back.”

“Giving a loan to someone like that lady who could barely read is already a reduction of the assets that we can claim back.”

“And that’s where you’re not thinking far enough. See, a smart entrepreneur would never accept the additional conditions I’ve given, but the desperate and oblivious will. In fact, the loan never even leaves our grasp in this case.”

“But we’re giving cash to the lady directly right now? Isn’t that leaving our grasp?” Lucetta questioned, confused.

“And who will she pay it to first and foremost?”

“The Golden Snakes Construction Company for… I get it now.” Lucetta nodded her head in understanding, a small smile appearing on her face.

“Every single rakel in that loan will come back to us, and the lady will be saddled with the debt. I only choose the honest and the desperate ones. Right now, the lady is feeling gratitude to us, and she would work her ass off to make her business successful, while we never even spent a rakel. All we did was circulate it. And furthermore, if her business succeeds, we will be able to earn for the other companies: the logistics, the utilities and marketing as she relies more on us. We’re even doing her accounting for her!”

“And there’s nothing stopping us from using that company for ourselves,” Lucetta concluded. She wasn’t dumb: she knew she was a clerk for a criminal organisation first and foremost, not that she was against the idea of making even more money. The Seven Snakes could now utilise the lady’s new business as a front for laundering and fraud anytime they wanted. If it failed, they got the remaining assets. If it succeeded, they got a new income stream.

“Good, now bring in the next applicant.” Keith had it all sorted out. With this, he would first establish a network of businesses that could be potentially utilised by the Seven Snakes if they ever needed. How would the enforcers ever catch onto what they were doing, even in the future, when everything was done in cold hard rakels?