Vol 1 Chapter 3 (1/2)
VOLUME 1: A Whisper, an Aria, a Prayer, an Awakening
Chapter 3: Yorozu
Yorozu’s Bank Or at least that’s what the sign said, outside of the thick-walled, warehouse-like stone building The letters ritten in gold relief, grand yet at the saarish Haruhiro had reached Yorozu’s without losing his hich made him feel a little better about the whole situation Now the only problem was his empty stomach
He was going to starve to death if he didn’t hurry and get his ed, return to Dory’s, and scarf down one of those kebabs
The main entranceway led into a hallway and above a series of stone steps was a counter Haruhiro stepped into the end of the short line Before long, his turn was called with a “Next!” Across the counter sat a little girl, quiet and dignified, in an enormous leather chair She looked no more than ten years old
Her clothes were a flashy red and white with gold highlights She wore a golden olden tobacco pipe in one hand Her attitude also seerand as her appearance
“Hirl took a puff on the pipe as she scrutinized Haruhiro “I’ve never seen you before First time?”
“…Yes,” Haruhiro replied, suddenly tiirl? He cleared his throat and continued “Yes, first time”
“From your appearance, you’re a Criirl stood up on the chair and slapped her knee “I’eneration I flawlessly memorize the first and last names, facial appearance, deposits and balances, and all transaction records of all clients However, I also keep paper records for the sake of those whose h of the introductions; let’s open your account Your name?”
“Um… It’s… It’s Haruhiro”
“I see,” Yorozu leaned forward, opened an account book that had been lying on the counter, and began to scribble soin to do business with Yorozu’s Bank”
Haruhiro stole a quick glance at the book and indeed, on a brand new page “Haruhiro” ritten in elegant handwriting When Haruhiro looked up again, Yorozu’s face was right in front of his own She may have had a snificantly older than ten
Ignoring her height and looking more closely, he noticed she had very distinct features Blue eyes as delicate as finely crafted glass, soft pink lips—she was quite a beauty, actually
“What?” Yorozu puckered her lips and suddenly turned her head to the side with a huff “My face isn’t so at, Mr Lack-of-Manners”
“S-sorry”
“Let’s ht in front of Haruhiro’s nose “This fourth generation Yorozu rave it on your skull and don’tme Also, Haruhiro, I have you perfectly memorized as rude and impolite”
“…Can you please forget about that?”
“Not possible A Yorozu is a Yorozu, so she doesn’t forget If a Yorozu forgets, she overning all Yorozus”
“That’s pretty harsh…” Haruhiro glanced around the room He was the only customer at the moment No other bank employees were to be seen either “Would you happen to be the only employee at Yorozu’s Bank?”
“Inconceivable I’m the bank’s representative President and CEO Transportation of oods, various areas of specialty, warehouse e number of clerks, workers, and apprentices ork here Do you knohat kind of business we run?”
“Err,money, and stuff like that”
“Not just e a deposit fee of 1 of the total aoods, the fee is 2 the value of the object as determined by our professional appraisers”
“One percent…” So for every one hundred capas deposited, one would be taken as a fee “Isn’t that just plain expensive?”
“If that’s your opinion”—Yorozu drew on her pipe—“then don’t deposit your money here It’s no skin off my nose But allow me to say that a reserve force soldier like you will eventually see the value of our services So then, Mr Lack-of-Manners, what business brings you here today?”
“Mr Lack-of-Manners…” Haruhiro repeated Was he going to be called that from now on?
He took out one—no, he had better make it two—silver coins froed to capas”
“He Two silvers is two hundred capas, but you do realize how cumbersome that is to carry, Mr Lack-of-Manners?”
“Ah,” Haruhiro recalled the bronze coins shown to him by Dory Kebab’s potbellied man They were pretty small, but two hundred coins probably added up to a pretty hefty weight “I see And walking around with this erous So that’s why people pay the fee to store their money here”
“Indeed I can instantly calculate amounts down to one hundredth of a capa, so the fee for depositing one capa is one hundredth of a capa I memorize that and record it in your account book When the total reaches one capa, we deduct it fros like depositing 99 capa, one capa at a time”
“In other words, don’t try to cheat the systeet it,” Haruhiro said, and placed one silver coin on the counter “Can you just change this into capas then?”
“Certainly” Yorozu struck a bell that was on the counter using her tobacco pipe
A young boy dressed in silver-lined clothing eed from a door in the back of the roo with her hand The boy bowed silently once then disappeared through the door again In a fewa black tray On the tray were bronze coins He placed them on the counter, then withdrew once more
“One hundred capas You may take them now, Mr Lack-of-Manners”
“Can you stop callingthem inside the leather pouch The bronze coins were only about the size of the tip of one’s pinky, but a hundred of the “Pretty heavy considering the size; this ht not fit in my pocket”
Yorozu snorted “You ht away if you wish You may lack manners, but our motto is to value each and every customer”
“I’m fine for now Kind of inconvenient, but I’ll just hold on to it”
“I see,” Yorozu took another puff from her pipe “Please feel free to come back whenever you need our services, Mr Lack-of-Manners Our business hours are fro and we are open all year round Whatever you need, whenever you need it, this fourth-generation Yorozu is ready to process your requests at the service counter”
“Whenever? What about lunch breaks?”
“No such thing I’overning Yorozus”
“…Have a good day then”
It was a tough job, Haruhiro thought as he left Yorozu’s Bank, but taking into consideration her srowled again Meat Meat kebabs aiting for him Haruhiro rushed back to Dory’s Kebabs in the s with the s a kebab Not able to suppress his hunger a ht there and then The explosion of flavor and juiciness hit him immediately
“DELICIOUS!”
He devoured the first kebab and was seriously te period of indecision, he finally decided to restrain hi shi+horu and Yuether As for Ranta, Haruhiro didn’t really care either way
Feeling much better, he left the marketplace only to be jolted as he re kebabs Need to see what information I can find…”
Looking around, he noticed a street that had ‘Kaen Road’ written on an arched signboard A young lookinga little ways down beyond the sign Under the surcoat he was dressed inover his back Some sort of sas fastened to his belt However, he didn’t look like one of the guards froht have been a Crimson Moon member
Haruhiro placed a hand over his chest and exhaled Sue, he yelled, “Excuse me!”
The man stopped and turned to face Haruhiro “Yes?”
“Sorry if I’m mistaken, but are you a Crimson Moon member?”