Porthau walked slowly. His caravan to the Irryn Republic had once again been raided by bandits. He sighed again, he didn't have enough money for guards in the first place, but in addition to owing the lost cargo to the Yuseum house of the Glass Maker's guild, he also had to pay the loanshark he borrowed from because of soothsayers warning of a 'Big Storage room of money, whose agents rent out and save money from all.' He sighed again as he realized they where talking of the Loan Sharks, and not the Money Lenders. He walked infront of a Kiosk near the warehouses, and stopped himself from stubbing his boots. He needs money, but didn't have any credit under his name. But he took a deep breath and went into the shop.
It was a small, cosy shop, but when he saw the Certificates that where renewed every six years, and with signatures on them, he felt that he was at least in a Government facility. He then saw the Money Lender, he was a thin man, but with a joyous look upon his face as he handed 16 thousand Yuseaics to a worker. "Sir Jornai, you have made your deposit. Remember to send guards with those caravans: the few unrestive abdolians are starting Bandit hives now, and you would need them."
Porthau walked up. "Hello, I am Porthau, I need to borrow 2500 Yuseaics to pay back a loanshark as well as rent a cart: I lost all of my business."
"There, there," said the moneylender, "Seems like you were in a bad situation: what happened?"
Porthau thought about it, then decided to speak the truth: it was a government official after all! "I inhiereted a small merchant business from an uncle, who owned five inter-city carts and two caravans. Recently I lost one caravan and had to sell the carts in order to borrow from the Loan Shark. Alas I lost the other one in a bloody raid, and I need to fix it all up."
"Ah," said the moneylender, "Well, we can lend you 5 thousand Yuseaics, in the form of a Government Caravan. We will let you run it and as long as you pay the rent, you keep the profits: however, if you wish you can join the army or the Marines."
"Yes, I will take the 5 Grand: why would I join the Army?"
"The Federation is going to fix the Bandits once and for all: it came because of Abdonian's war with Creul, and so we will help end it. However, if you still wanted to lend, we ask for 100 Yuseaics per month, and 1000 Yuseaics at the end of this year: not hard as the simplest shipment of whisky brings over three thousand on a well-placed caravan."
"Thank you!" cried Porthau, "I will consider it!"
"Sign it here, and I will show you your team," said the moneylender, and he sighed: another successful merchant saved from proverty. He certainly loved his job.
