Chapter 164 The Deposit of the Fox-eared Girl
The bank was located in the middle of the commercial street, a two-story building. Before its construction, Henry had already designed it to be a bank, so the walls and other structures were reinforced.
Of course, the design was a simplified version from Earth, without features like surveillance cameras or electronic locks.
Ellie, Emily, and Tess arrived at the bank's entrance. Looking up, they saw a plaque above the door with a few characters. 'Eldoria's Bank.'
"So, this is the bank? It seems quite deserted," Emily remarked, noticing the lack of activity.
"Well, it hasn't been open for long," Ellie replied. She understood why it was quiet. Henry had mentioned that the merchants were still skeptical about the bank's credibility and capabilities.
"Really?" Emily was puzzled. Based on her experiences in the castle, anything that Lord Henry introduced usually became popular, like the hamburger shop or the salt shop.
"Let's go in. Otherwise, the hamburgers might sell out," Ellie suggested, not wanting to explain further.
Henry had told her that it would take time to earn everyone's trust. When people were willing to store their coins in the bank, that would be the ultimate sign of trust in Henry.
In reality, the bank's role in Eldoria's current development stage was limited. It mainly served as a place to exchange steel coins.
After all, the commoners didn't have many copper coins to spare. The bank would truly come into play when every commoner had hundreds or thousands of copper coins.
"Hey, it's chief!"
As the three approached the entrance, Ellie heard a familiar voice. She turned and saw Gabriel, a minotaur, standing in front of the door in light armor.
"Hey, I told you not to call me that!" Ellie shouted at Gabriel. "You're one of Henry's soldiers now. Don't be so careless, or Audrey might lose interest..."
"Stop, Ellie, please!" Gabriel interrupted, his face contorted in a plea. "Audrey is working inside right now!"
Ellie smirked mischievously. "You big, clumsy minotaur, you still haven't won Audrey over?"
"No, not yet..." Gabriel scratched his head, his face turning red. "I'm just happy to be able to talk to her."
"You're really..." Ellie rolled her eyes. "You're so clueless!"
"Today, it's your turn to guard the bank again? Don't you have any training?" Ellie asked, remembering seeing Gabriel on duty at the bank recently.
Eldoria's defense forces were still a bit short-handed. Henry would assign soldiers to guard important places like the bank, on a rotational basis.
Henry was already preparing to recruit a second round of new soldiers. Once the new recruits were ready, many security plans in Eldoria would be put into action.
"Well..." Gabriel awkwardly scratched his cheek, glancing in the direction of the bank counter before whispering, "I exchanged points for this task, so I can guard here for many days."
"What?" Ellie burst into laughter. "You used points to get this task? Does love really make people foolish? If just having a crush can make someone like this, then what about being in a real relationship?"
"You're really..." Ellie turned and walked into the bank. She hoped that foolish people would have some good fortune.
"You're quite short!" Tess looked at the horns on Gabriel's head. He was the shortest minotaur she had seen, at least among those of the same age group.
Gabriel felt as if his heart had been stabbed by an invisible knife, especially coming from another minotaur. It was a feeling of being looked down upon by one's own kind.
After more than twenty days in the military camp, Gabriel had grown a bit taller, barely reaching 5.6 feet. Compared to the average height of 5.9 feet for male minotaur, he was indeed much shorter.
Before Gabriel could respond, Tess caught up with Ellie, and Emily politely nodded her head and followed them.
Elisa peeked outside the door, and Gabriel composed himself, quickly saying, "Are you also here to exchange steel coins?"
"Yes!" Elisa didn't know what steel coins were, but she nodded anyway.
"Please come in. You can exchange steel coins at the counter over there," Gabriel said, using the unfamiliar term that he had memorized.
"Okay!" Elisa scanned the area cautiously, seeing no immediate danger, and then stepped into the bank.
She immediately noticed the three female orcs sitting at a counter with an iron grille, where there were many chairs and several small square windows, each occupied by a girl.
Elisa went to sit in a chair behind Ellie and the others, listening attentively to the conversation in front.
"Miss Ellie, you're here," said the girl behind the counter.
It was Audrey, the ordinary girl with freckles, the one who had fed Gabriel porridge after he fainted.
"Yes! I'm here to get some copper coins today," Ellie said, bringing the small backpack from behind to the front and unzipping it to reveal a notebook.
Emily, who was taller and more observant, noticed that the backpack contained a bunch of lollipops and a notebook, among other things.
She knew that anything Ellie carried with her was valuable, like the lollipops given by Lord Henry and the notebook.
The notebook Ellie took out now was her personal one, not the one she usually used for work. She opened it, revealing a delicate piece of paper inside.
"Here's the banknote!" Ellie handed the exquisite paper to Audrey and said, "I'd like to exchange it for thirty copper coins."
"Sure, please wait a moment," Audrey said, taking the banknote and getting busy.
"What's this?" Emily, with her light red eyes, asked in disbelief, "You can get copper coins with just a piece of paper?"
"That's a banknote, used for deposits. I put my copper coins and silver coins in this bank, and the bank gives me that piece of paper, which is a deposit certificate. In the future, if you want copper coins or anything else, you can use the banknote to withdraw the copper coins you deposited here," Ellie explained simply.
"Really? Can you really exchange a piece of paper for copper coins?" Emily still found it unbelievable.
"Of course, this bank is owned by Henry. I trust that my coins are safe here," Ellie said proudly.
"Miss Ellie, you're actually the first person to make a deposit in our bank," Audrey said, holding a cylinder wrapped in paper and placing it in front of Ellie. "Here are your thirty copper coins and the banknote."
Emily, with her sharp eyes, noticed a string of numbers written on the banknote, three silver coins; seven hundred and thirty-three copper coins.
She thought, 'So wealthy!'
