Chapter 220 Bank
The center of Tivian is the Royal City of Tivian. The Moonstream River runs through the huge city, but makes a U-shaped bend here. It is said that more than 500 years ago, King Edward the Builder of Putt took a fancy to the terrain here, and planned to use the Moonstream River surrounded on three sides as a natural moat to build a great castle to protect his royal power. In this way, the Royal City of Tivian rose from the ground and became the beginning of Tivian.
In the years that followed, Tivian gradually became an urban area with a constant influx of residents. With the royal city as its center, Tivian's urban area expanded rapidly. Today, it has reached a considerable scale and has become one of the most prosperous metropolises in the world.
Today, Tivian, including the central royal city, is divided into five districts, each with different functions. The central royal city is where the royal family lives, and many traditional nobles live around the royal city. North Tivian is home to many government agencies such as courts, parliaments, and municipalities, as well as many higher education institutions and religious institutions including the church district.
Unlike North Tivian, East Tivian is close to the sea and has a huge port area and commercial area. The financial center of Tivian is also here, and many emerging capital aristocrats also choose to live in East Tivian.
The later Stivian and Southtivian are much worse than before. Stivian is an industrial area, and Southtivian has the largest slums. These places are quite bad in terms of public security and pollution.
It was midday in East Tivian.
There was still a thin layer of haze in the sky. At a busy street corner somewhere in East Tivian, countless pedestrians and carriages were traveling back and forth. Shops were lined up on the street. Workers were carrying heavy goods with difficulty on the sidewalks. Gentlemen with canes and wearing top hats were strolling and chatting with each other.
A carriage stopped by the roadside. Nephthys, wearing a long dress with long sleeves, a headscarf, veil and gloves, got off the carriage. After paying the driver the fare, she walked on the sidewalk and looked at the bustling streets around her.
"Is this the address Sister Vanya mentioned? Then where is the base of the alliance?"
Thinking of this, Nephnis began to look around carefully. After just a quick glance, she locked onto her target.
It was at the intersection of two roads, where stood a tall building. This stone building was seven or eight stories high, with walls decorated with various stone carvings. There were rows of stone pillars in front of the porch, which looked simple and elegant.
Above the door of this building, there is a big sign with "Jinqi Bank" spelled out in large characters. Below the large characters are small characters, which list many businesses, such as "savings", "credit", "consultant", "article storage", "certificate"... and so on.
"Bank... Is this the headquarters of the Stonemasons Guild? Are they using the bank as a disguise?"
Looking at the building in front of her, Nephnis thought so in her heart, and then she slowly walked to the door of the bank with a large storefront.
Because of other matters in the church, Vanya was unable to come here with Nefernis. Faced with this unfamiliar environment, Nefernis could only muster up her courage.
'As long as you do what Sister Vanya says, there shouldn't be any problems.
'But she also said that she usually comes here to do things for the church and has a certain degree of convenience. She has not gone through the normal process of an individual conducting extraordinary transactions... I hope the difference is not big.'
Nephnis thought so, then she took a deep breath and walked into the bank. What came into her sight was a spacious hall paved with marble tiles. At the end of the hall was a row of counters separated by iron fences. Many people were doing business in front of the counters and with the tellers behind the fences.
While looking around, Vanya walked forward. After a while, she walked to an empty counter and sat down. The teller at the counter looked up at Vanya and said, "Okay."
"Miss, how can I help you?"
"I need to exchange some old coins."
Facing the teller in front of her, Nefnis spoke slowly. After hearing Nefnis' words, the teller was slightly startled, and then continued to ask.
"Excuse me, what year of old money do you want to exchange?"
"The Edwardian Era."
Nefernis answered the code that Vanya taught her, that there was no King Edward IV in the history of Portland. After hearing what Nefernis said, the teller froze, and after examining Nefernis twice, he nodded.
"I see. Coins were very rare at that time. Please ask this lady to talk to our people somewhere else. By the way, do you know the way?"
"Um... sorry, I don't know the way."
"I see...it seems like this is your first time here."
As he spoke, the bank teller behind the iron fence took a bell from under the cabinet and rang it gently. After a while, a door next to the iron fence was opened, and a young man dressed as a waiter walked out and came to Panifness's side.
"Miss, please follow me."
Listening to the waiter's words, Nephnis got down from her seat. With a nervous mood, she followed the waiter into the door, and then followed him through the building. After turning several corners, she came to a room.
This is a room that is slightly larger than an average living room and is luxuriously decorated. It has carpets, sofas, paintings, coffee tables, potted plants, and sculptures. At one end of the room is a tightly closed stone door, and on the sofa in the room are five people sitting quietly, as if they are waiting for something.
"Your number is 027. Please enter the stone door when I call you. Before that, please take a rest in this room."
"Yes, I see. Thank you."
Nefernis answered the waiter, who then turned around, closed the door and left. Nefernis then found a seat and sat down.
The scene of the waiter bringing her in just now was seen by a pair of eyes.
After sitting down on a sofa, Nephnis looked around curiously, especially at the people who were in the same room with her.
Through observation, Nephnis discovered that these people were both men and women. Some of them wore suits and masks, some wore cloaks with shadows on their faces, and some were wrapped tightly like herself, with veils covering their faces...
Each of them seemed unwilling to reveal their appearance. They all sat in their own seats, silent and not saying a word, unwilling to communicate with others. Everyone sat like this silently, without moving their heads, eyes turning away, or looking around, just sitting like this in silence, which made the atmosphere around them become very depressing.
Occasionally, a steady voice of calling a number would come from inside the stone door of the room. The person whose number was called would immediately stand up, open the stone door and go inside. Then there would be another long period of silence, and then the next number would be called from behind the stone door, but the person who was called in before would never come out.
"Behind that stone gate... is the place for the exchange... Are these people also here for the extraordinary exchange like me? Are they also extraordinary stakeholders? But they don't talk at all to avoid gossip..."
Looking carefully at the scene in front of her, Nephnis thought in her heart, and just as she was about to wait silently with the others, a figure was slowly approaching her.
Suddenly, a figure sat down next to Nephnis. Nephnis was startled and turned around to see a young man with a smile on his face.
This young man was different from the others in the room. He was wearing ordinary casual clothes without deliberately covering any physical features. He had short yellow hair and looked to be in his twenties. Facing the somewhat surprised Nefernis, he showed a bright and cheerful smile.
"Hey, young lady, nice to meet you. You are here to seek extraordinary transactions, right? Are you also an extraordinary person?"
The young man smiled and asked Nefernis, but Nefernis just stood there in a daze.
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