I have a brief moment of illogical panic that perhaps my Inventory might have damaged the magic on the scroll before I remember that it was fine when I took it out to show Lord Softrain before. Fortunately, whatever magic preserves the scroll’s mana imprint seems to be able to survive the sapping qualities of my Inventory: the seal still glows as brightly as when Nicholas gave it to me. Then again, Nicholas should know the limits of our Inventory, so surely he would have warned me ahead of time not to put the scroll in there if it would be a problem.

  I hand the scroll over. Sera Meritus accepts it and breaks the seal. The golden lines resist for a moment but when they break, they remain in existence for a little longer, looking like dangling threads in a torn garment. A couple of seconds later, the lines fade and vanish entirely. Interesting.

  The bank manager unrolls the scroll. Her eyes flash across the page and she finishes reading more quickly than I was expecting her to, her expression showing a faint amount of surprise as she scans. A moment later, she stands up without a word and moves to one of the cabinets that line the wall behind her desk. They look much like the pictures of deposit boxes I’ve seen from Earth, though the colour scheme matches the rest of this place. She seems to know exactly where to go and touches her finger to one of the drawers, murmuring something inaudible.

  The drawer springs open and she pulls a piece of parchment out of it. As she returns to the desk, I see that the parchment contains something that looks rather similar to the magical ‘fingerprint’ that Nicholas left on the scroll. In fact, as she places it on the desk and I’m able to compare them, I realise that they’re identical to my eyes.

  I guess that that makes sense – how would the bank know that it’s a genuine signature from Nicholas unless they had some comparison? I wonder whether it’s possible to forge the magical signature, or copy it somehow. That it’s being used to replace the presence of a Great Lord makes me guess that it’s either impossible to forge or very difficult. I make a mental note to find out which – there is a gulf of difference between the two.

  Sera Meritus next takes something else out of a drawer in her desk – it looks like an eyedropper, but surely has to be magical. Under my fascinated gaze, she touches the eyedropper to the seal on the scroll I brought, and then touches it to the parchment she retrieved from the cabinet behind her. The parchment briefly flashes the same bronze colour as the seal embedded in it, and then goes quiescent again.

  “Well, that seems to be in order, Lord Markus,” she remarks briskly, glancing up at me. “And let me say, on behalf of the bank, that we remain deeply honoured that your House has chosen once again to come to us for your banking needs. Lord Titanbend has indicated that he wishes to officially and fully recognise you as his heir. Is that your wish?”

  “It is,” I confirm – if I hadn’t wanted that, I wouldn’t have come here. Still, I understand her need to check – for all she knows, I didn’t read the scroll before it was sealed closed. Though I’d personally never put my seal on something I haven’t read, just as much as I never signed any contracts before reading them carefully back on Earth.

  “Good,” she answers professionally, giving no indication as to whether she has any personal feelings about the matter. “To proceed, we must add your magical seal to our records along with Lord Titanbend’s.” She reaches into the drawer of her desk again and pulls out another piece of parchment. Placing it on the desk, she presses the palm of her right hand into the centre of it and stills. For a moment nothing happens, and then the parchment flashes white briefly before returning to its normal creamy colour. She removes her hand and nudges the piece of parchment over to me. “Please place your seal anywhere on this.”

  I don’t move to do so, not yet. Instead, I look at her curiously.

  “What did you just do to it?” She eyes me for a moment and then perhaps realises that I want to know before I put my mana anywhere near the doctored piece of parchment.

  “It is nothing to be concerned about, I assure you, my lord,” she tells me briskly. Her demeanour is as different from Goldmine’s as are chalk and cheese. I find that reassuring, frankly, especially in someone who manages money. “The bank must keep records of all of its clients’ mana seals – at least, as many as are capable of imbuing documents with them. It really is the best sort of security as no one has yet proven capable of perfectly imitating the mana seal of another. The Skill I used on the parchment merely makes it hold the imprint better and allows us to compare two imprints more easily – as you saw me do with Lord Titanbend’s seal. The Skill will not impact you in any way, I promise.”

  “Alright,” I answer, deciding to trust her. Sarran seems to, and Nicholas must have done something like this when he started an account too. And maybe this is why the bank manager needs to be someone with a Class – so they can use this Skill to prepare the parchment for absorbing mana seals. I suppose this answers my question earlier about whether it’s possible to forge a mana seal. Though, ‘not yet possible’ doesn’t necessarily mean impossible.

  I press my fingertip to the parchment and repeat the same process I did in the Genealogist’s office. Just as before, golden lines spool out from my finger and form the same intricate seal that is currently adorning the scroll alongside Nicholas’own. When the shape has finished creating itself, I remove my finger.

  “Thank you.” The bank manager withdraws the piece of parchment and then repeats the same process with the eyedropper and the two seals that she did earlier. I suppose that it makes sense – first they need to identify whether Nicholas’ seal is authentic, and then they have to verify that I’m the second person on the scroll. This time, the piece of parchment flashes gold rather than bronze – I can only guess that the colour is based on the seal. Certainly, Sera Meritus seems satisfied.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  It’s definitely magical biometric identification, I decide. I imagine that I’ll be required to produce this seal any time I come into the bank. I just hope that it won’t change at some point in the future. Finger-prints can be damaged or wiped, after all – can the ability to produce a magical seal be disrupted in some way? My thoughts are interrupted as Sera Meritus starts speaking again.

  “That all seems to be in order. An official welcome to Goldman’s bank, Heir Titanbend,” she says with a professional smile. “Has Lord Titanbend explained what all the traditional benefits of an heir are?”

  “No.”

  Sera Meritus nods, taking that in stride.

  “As you may already know, all members of a family who are in good standing with that family are given some access to the House accounts for their work on behalf of the House. An heir traditionally has access to the House accounts second only to the Head of the House because they are expected to be working on behalf of the House at all times. This means that the heir is allowed to withdraw as much money as desired unless previous limits have been set, though they are not allowed to completely close any accounts without agreement from the Head. For House Titanbend’s accounts, the only limit which I know of ensures that enough money remains in the accounts to pay the next tax to the crown. However, be aware that you must always provide a reason for why you are withdrawing money, and Lord Titanbend may consult your transactions at any time.”

  “I see,” I answer, fighting to keep my voice level. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting this level of trust from a man I’ve only known for a couple of days. For all Nicholas knows, I could choose to withdraw everything and disappear into the underbelly of the city with my current Bound, leaving the rest of my companions at Nicholas’ manor to face the music. Or wait until we’re back at the manor and then do it at the closest branch to that. He hasn’t struck me as someone that trusting.

  Then again, I suppose that doing so would go against the contract we agreed and swore before the goddess of Binding – perhaps he’s relying on that to keep me on the straight and narrow. Or perhaps he’s just that good of a judge of character – I wouldn’t betray someone’s trust like that. Not unless it was my life or the life of someone I cared about at stake, anyway.

  Still, it’s clear that he’s at least going to keep some sort of eye on me – since he can consult my transactions at any time. Though how would he know where I’ve used the money if I just take out cash?

  After giving me a little time to process her previous revelation, Sera Meritus continues.

  “Another benefit of being the heir is a regular monthly stipend. We recommend that you open a personal account with us into which your stipend can be paid. You would have full control and discretion over this account and even Lord Titanbend would not be allowed to ask for information about it.”

  “Is there anyone else who would be allowed to ask for information?” I ask curiously, knowing that where I come from, banks are obliged to pass certain details on in cases of money laundering or similar crimes.

  Sera Meritus hesitates for a brief moment.

  “If you are accused of a crime and there is sufficient other evidence that you committed it, a warrant might be issued by one of the king’s inquisitors to look through your transaction history in case it provides more evidence.” She eyes me as if wondering whether this revelation is enough to scare me away. I just take it in stride – I suppose it makes sense.

  “So, apart from being an easy way to collect my stipend, what are the other benefits of creating a personal account with you?” I’m curious as to whether she’ll give me the same information as Nicholas did, or perhaps even more to try to convince me to go forward with opening an account. I remind myself to ask about whether they have something similar to a debit card. Though, thinking about it, in a way even that is less attractive than it was on Earth – here, I have an Inventory that can store my money as safely as any bank and be on hand whenever I want it. Unless there are Classes which can access the Inventory of someone else, that is.

  Sera Meritus straightens and I see her inner saleswoman coming into play as she starts to detail the benefits of making an account with her bank. I absorb her words without comment, hearing about the safety of their bank, the mana-locked money pouch which offers access to the account from a distance, the personal loans which they offer. But what really catches my attention is when she talks about being able to manage investments in local businesses to make my money work for me – it’s the same thing Nicholas was talking about.

  The fact is that, if I’m understanding the competition correctly, I’m about to spend the greater part of five years – or even a full, uninterrupted five years – on a completely different continent. Money might still be used there, but I suspect that it won’t be the only currency. Cores seem to be just as useful here as they were with the samurans so, in a place where there are lots of beasts, I suspect that they may become another form of currency again. Which means that, great as the stipend is, it will probably just be going into my bank account and doing nothing.

  But if I could use it to start building something for myself when I come back – to start building power and influence even beyond House Titanbend…. It would certainly give me more options. And maybe I could even build something lasting. That would be new.

  The last year has been spent with the knowledge that it would end, and that I would be able to take little of what I had built with me. Before then, in the period after Lucy left, I was floundering, my reason for building something gone. But now I have another reason to build something that will last. In fact, as I think about all of my Bound, and the eggs which are growing inside Hunter, Happy, and River, I have many reasons to do so. And building anything requires money. Why not make my gold work for me?

  In the end, I decide to create the account. Apparently, members of House Titanbend get to have free accounts where most people have to pay a small fee monthly to have access to its benefits. Fortunately for me.

  Opening an account turns out to be simple enough. A few Skill uses later and I receive a magical logbook that will apparently update with transactions made on the account. I guess it will only do that when out of my Inventory, though – I’ll have to test it. I also take the magical pouch option – if I’m going to leave the money in my account instead of putting it in my Inventory, I want to have access to it.

  Thinking about money in my Inventory, a question comes to mind. I look at Sera Meritus speculatively.

  “Tell me – do you convert gold and raw gems to currency, and if so, what rates do you offer?”

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