Chapter 128: Dominion Holdings.
"Banks."
"Few fully understand the power they wield in the world of DO."
"At first look, the nobility has a massive advantage over. They had the military power to ensure their benefits were secure. They even helped commerce develop in the territories of these nobles, increasing the amount of money they made while being able to threaten the banks with expulsion if they did not cave into their demands."
"But as the economy develops and the banks get richer, the power balance changes."
"At first, it was only one bank owner that was so annoyed at a noble that he financed his enemies to attack him without even having the noble pay back the money."
"Then a second appeared."
"Then a third."
"By the third time this happened, these bankers realised the power they wielded."
"The power of money."
"The power of resources."
"With this power, they can buy weapons, armour, supplies, even soldiers."
"And never again would anyone underestimate the power of a bank."
"As even the most powerful of nations feared their power."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.
….
After the meeting between the crown prince of Nathia and the lord of Aurellion finished, the secret forces of both sides stood down, knowing there was no need for conflict between them. They had known for a while but still stayed around casually watching for any sign that something was wrong, but by the end of the conversation, nothing had happened, and both sides went their separate ways.
"You guys are not bad, especially that young guy who sensed Vice Commander Vale. If he were one level higher, I doubt that Vale would have been able to sneak up on him successfully."
The grandmaster, who was leisurely standing next to Aldorus, said, leaning on a nearby building; both men were released as they knew now that this confrontation would not end in violence.
This grandmaster was loyal to the royal family, though Aldorus never got the man's name, and he refused to tell him but just casually stood near enough to Aldorus to stop him if he tried anything.
The main reason these forces of the royal family had moved its forces was to prevent any misunderstandings between them and House Aurellion, as the 100 or so hidden men protecting the young lord in secret were especially vigilant and not to be underestimated.
These men could take on renowned Chavarian Imperial Guards and come out on top!
The entire world of DO recognised the power of the Chavarian Imperial Guards, and for House Aurellion's Pelican Guards to hold out while outnumbered for so long and even defeat them sent waves through those with the power it was this alongside House Aurellion's well-plotted escape from Chavaria that first made the crown prince of Nathia interested in them.
How could they allow their prince to meet with this vigilant, unknown noble alone if they were so skilled?
So men were sent out, and a small standoff happened between the secret forces of the royal family of Nathia and House Aurellion, though neither side unsheathed steel, for there was no need.
"Oh, excuse me for a second…."
This mysterious grandmaster suddenly said, disappearing before Aldorus could say anything and a few seconds later, Aldorus could hear the gargling sound of a man gargling blood with his throat slit, and by the time 10 seconds had passed, the grandmaster returned, sheathing his now bloodied blade as he yawned as if this was a daily occurrence for him.
Aldorus raised his eyebrows, interested, and asked.
"Spy?"
"Spy."
The grandmaster, loyal to the Nathian royal family, confirmed with a nod. Judging by the bloodied sword, there was no need to ask what had happened to the spy that was found. Because of the identity of the crown prince, many nobles within the kingdom and even other countries wanted to keep their eyes on him, so they sent many spies to look into where this genius crown prince went and why.
It was the job of this grandmaster to take them out. Aldorus knew from his experiences with Leon that a grandmaster had extraordinary senses. Unfortunately, not everyone was blessed enough to become a grandmaster, and many master fighters, even those who broke through to the master rank at a young age and had a greater chance of breaking through to this highest peak of mortal skill, remained masters their entire lives.
"I really don't envy your position….
"Seems like a lot of hassle."
Aldorus commented, knowing that as soon as Railius' identity was revealed, it would be his job to deal with these acts of sabotage that were perpetrated against his lord.
From spies to assassins, all manner of people and underhanded methods would be used to keep track of and kill their young lord, especially from their enemies in Chavaria. However, considering the constant wars and obvious ambition of the Chavarian Empire to take Nathia and proceed south, it is unlikely that Nathia would reject their house and accept their service and allegiance to help them stop this military juggernaut that was bearing down on them.
Just Leon's presence alone made the crown prince keep an eye on them, let alone the thousand men that Railius could call up at a moment's notice, and to make matters worse; each man would be willing to go into the fires of hell and back with him.
It was this that scared people so much.
Even an army of five to ten thousand men was not as scary as 1000 elite men fighting to the death.
It was usually not the combat itself that led to considerable casualties in medieval wars but the casualties sustained from cutting down a routed opponent.
The Chavarian Imperial Guard lost double the men House Aurellion did when it attacked them, and this had to do with the fact that they fought doggedly to the death. Even when injured or looking dead on the floor, they still tried their best to deal as much damage as they could, taking away the life of one more enemy for embracing the cold hands of death.
"It is, but that is the way things are. It is not gaining power that is hard. It is maintaining it, and that's where people like me come in."
The grandmaster said as he watched the crown prince's figure blend into a crowd and head back to the palace; sensing him getting further and further away, he left Aldorus as quickly as he appeared.
It took only one look for Aldorus to know that this man was on Leon's level but not better, which was a small comfort for the Pelican Guard Commander as it was not uncommon for one grandmaster to be far more skilled than another due to experience or even because their style counters their opponents.
The grandmaster rank was something only grandmasters understood completely and was a complete mystery for everyone else. Even masters like Aldorus had no idea why some grandmasters could take on two people of the same level while others couldn't.
He imagined that, like with master fighters, there were many levels among grandmasters, which is why some can accomplish incredible feats that seem out of this world.
If masters were the top 1-5% of people, then grandmasters were the top 0.1% of those who have managed to attain the highest skill level a mortal is known to be able to do in recent times. The divine abilities of the people in the distant past remain nothing but myths and legends to the people of DO nowadays.
Despite remaining seemingly inactive, Leon was not like his lazy lord and kept up with his training. While he may be able to get far better at fighting if he spent his time roaming the battlefields, he still made steady progress over the last eight years, becoming more powerful than he was during the escape from Chavaria even with time ravaging his body and slowly sapping his physical strength.
If Leon was put into the same situation that he was in 8 years ago, then he would not have been injured and able to kill all three masters who came after him, even a talented one like Scorpius, who was close to the grandmaster level which is why he was the hardest out of the three to deal with and why Leon almost died to his old combat until Aldorus arrived to save his ass.
After seeing his minder leave, Aldorus quickly returned to watching over Railius from a distance, only focusing on the secret movements of other large powers as he knew that Railius and his friends were more than capable of dealing with any thugs they may come across while navigating through the vast capital city of Nathia.
….
Railius and his young friends, wearing hooded cloaks to conceal their identity, accompanied Flintorus, unaware of the constant secret wars that came with the battle for influence and power, something that, in the future, the young player would deal with extensively and become intimately familiar with.
Luckily, Railius had the Pelican Guards to help fight these wars and protect him, knowing the moment he chose to be noble, there would be no escaping from these secret bloody battles left unknown by commoners and those without significant influence.
They walked through the large medieval city that looked as large as the imperial capital of Chavaria, its ancient walls and houses denoting its vast history as a nation's capital for over 1000 years.
Unlike other nations, which usually had one distinct culture and architectural style, what can be found in Nathia were houses that seemed to come from all countries on earth. From houses of sandstone to wooden houses built during the dark and early medieval ages to large Roman-like villas whose masonry astounded the world for generations.
Even the paper-walled houses of the medieval far east places like ancient China and Japan could be found by the river's edge as a fleet of fishermen rows their boats out to catch within the bountiful waters of the Narth River.
Above the city were grand arches made by aqueducts that helped to keep the water supply clean and sanitary, an innovation that many capitals of nations in the world constructed, though not every country could afford such extensive infrastructure or have the building techniques to achieve such a grand architectural masterpiece.
The diversity of the races that occupied Nathia, combined with the wise rule of past kings, had helped the ancient kingdom to remain a major power for a thousand years as each race that lived in it helped to offset the problems of another.
The dwarves in the Duchy of Norfin help to supply the Nathians with the craftsmanship and skill found only within that innovative race, while many other races, from Beastmen to Iraviens to Gnomes and even Orcs, Goblins and Giants, call this place home though only here in the melting pot that was the capital can such a mismatch of buildings be found.
Even though the races within Nathia live mostly in harmony, many still prefer to live along tribalistic lines, and the territories of the nobles are nowhere near as diverse in architecture as the capital.
As Railius was enjoying taking in the sights of such a beautiful city gawking at it, he was led towards a large building. The stone of the smooth road soon turned into marble that reflected the sun's rays as the stone walls and red-tiled roof building dominated the others around it. Boasting nearly seven floors, the large building had double ironwood doors, and above the doorway was a crest, a crimson-red shield with gold coins emblazoned on it. Looking closer, it seemed to glitter with a golden light, making Railius realise that the crest had actual gold coins embedded in it.
A silver sign read 'Dominion Holdings', each letter elegantly carved showing the power and prestige of this particular bank as Kodjis, the crown prince of Nathia, would not recommend a bad bank to Railius, who he wanted to bring over to his side.
Entering, they lined up like everyone else, no one wanting to reveal their identity, so they just stood in line in their suspicious clothing. Some bank employees and guards even prepared for these people to make trouble, having their maces and other weapons ready, but they never needed them as these people just stood in line patiently waiting their turn.
Behind the large barred bank counter, they were greeted by a woman.
"Hello, my name is Carol. How can I help you?"
The woman asked suspiciously as she looked at the hooded men, though it was also apparent from her sarcastic and depressed tone that she was not the biggest fan of her job.
"I wish to create a bank account."
Railius said, at which point the woman was surprised for a second.
"I see. Please wait while I see who is available."
She said in a rather bored tone. This was not the modern world where you could create bank accounts on the Internet; instead, it required you to set it up in person with some form of identification to prove who you are.
In DO, that was quite hard, and it was common for people to use false identities to make them. One reason was that the nobles controlled the laws and had immense influence to the point where if they wanted to create a bank account under a fake name, who were these bankers to refuse? If they did so, the lord would just find another bank and even kick them out of his territory.
But there was a second reason, and that was because of the presence of anti-magic crystals present in almost every city and town. This meant that any magical way of telling was off the table as these were the only places with the security to hold such large amounts of wealth without them being stolen, as only the king or the lord of a castle or city could easily enter them with an army so as long as you are on their good side then there is no way an army could take over the bank in a few hours unless it was the lord who ordered it seized.
This had happened before as one bank decided to set up in a village, only for a lord to lead an army of over 1000 men to take the bank within a few hours, stealing all the gold within. Of course, on paper, these were not the army of that lord at all. Oh no, there was no way a respectable noble lord would ever do such a dastardly thing for something as lowly as money.
That would be slander!
Terrible slander!
Instead, they were bandits or mercenaries who saw a quick payday and stole it because it was not protected well enough, as even banks would struggle to pay for and supply an army to protect their banks around the clock.
Of course, people asked about it as many people had been stolen as this was a bank that held thousands if not tens of thousands of gold, but because all the landed nobles had a bank in a city they could use, they did not care so much. Eventually, it was found that the Marquis of Kwortor had suddenly managed to afford some costly projects around a month after this money disappeared for no apparent reason. Many put two and two together, realising who had stolen the money, but the response that came from the marquis made everyone spit blood!
"I killed a large group of bandits and took it as spoils of war. Why is it not mine?"
That is what the nobleman said, and he was not entirely wrong because he really had taken out the biggest bandit group within his territory a few days prior. He even went so far as to arrest and execute some suspicious and corrupt sellswords in his territory to sell the story better.
And because no landed nobles lost anything, the upper classes decided not to do anything about it and would let it slide as no one could go up against a marquis, which was the third highest landed noble rank in the kingdom only below duke and grand duke.
After all, it was not their money that was lost, and they, like the marquis, blamed the loss on the bank for not choosing to set itself up somewhere safe as it would even force these banks to rely on them for protection.
The marquis also stressed how this money was being used to improve his people's lives by investing in jobs, agriculture, and infrastructure. He even made enough money to allow his subjects a year-long tax break.
This benevolent use of funds, alongside the inaction of the royal court thanks in part to the marquis' influence and meddling there, made it almost impossible for anyone to blame the Marquis for his greed, so the anger shifted towards that unfortunate bank that was stolen from in the first place.
While being told this by Flintorus, who seemed surprisingly educated on the subject, they were told to follow a worker to a private room to sort out the details.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
LaziestDragon
LaziestDragon Thank you for reading and for your continued support.
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