Banking

Unlike yesterday, the cat girl did not get down on all four paws and race out of the common room. Instead, she continued to stay upright and walked at my pace.

"Thank you for following me home last night," I said quietly.

Kalistra's ears and tail twitched at my comment. "I don't know what you're talking about." She pointedly looked away from me while making this denial.

"You may be a master swordswoman but you're a lousy stalker," I continued.

The cat girl immediately stopped in her tracks and turned to face me. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I'm NOT a stalker." She huffed and started walking faster.

I graciously allowed her to have the last word and continued walking behind her. Just a few minutes later, we stood in front of the bank. It was a large, stand-alone building made of stone. A large, iron door was opened inward. Standing guard in front of the bank were two heavily armored members of the Watch, each wearing a hauberk and carrying halberd; each guard also wore a scabbard holding a sword at the belt.

When I approached the entrance, the two men watched me closely with their hawk-like eyes. As I passed by the duo I saw that their equipment was sparkling and I briefly felt the heat emanating from them. Suddenly, I received a pop-up that read, "Innate Ability ACQUIRED: Magic Sense, Level 1. +100 XP." I looked more closely at the guards and saw a light blue hue surrounding their chest armor while their swords discharged a faint red hue. "Are the guards wearing magical equipment?" I whispered to my guide.

Kalistra's eyes gleamed at my question. "How do you know they're wearing magical gear?" she whispered back.

"I sensed it somehow," I replied with a shrug.

The cat girl stared at me for a moment and then continued walking. Her tail whiplashed angrily. There was NO WAY an unprofessional human could innately sense magic! Only mages who trained for years may acquire this rare and invaluable ability; supposedly only one in a thousand will eventually develop this ability. This stupid human must be lying or playing another stupid game!

When we entered the bank, I saw a few teller windows on the left side. On the right side were rows upon rows of lock boxes of various sizes. In the middle of the room were over a dozen tables where some customers were sorting out their valued possessions or coins. Further back were stairs leading up to the next floor. I also noticed a number of guards patrolling the room. Frankly, the setup wasn't very different from the retail banks back home aside from the guards.

Kalistra elbowed me in the ribs. "If you're done gawking at this place, let's go to the teller window and make your deposit. I will NOT be late returning to the dojo today!" she scolded.

I briefly felt a sharp pain on the left side of my rib cage and a pop-up appeared. I ignored the pop-up, which will probably show "-1 Health." I followed my master's order and walked up to the next available window. The window had a glass panel at face level. Underneath the panel, at chest level, there was a slot with a hole at the bottom of the slot. Beneath that was a numeric panel and next to the numbers was a smooth, white stone on the right side. And beneath the panel was another slot; this last slot was at around my knees.

Behind the glass panel, I saw a wizened looking non-human wearing thick glasses. He had a very big nose and round jaw. He didn't look like a dwarf. Perhaps, he was a gnome.

After a moment, the impatient bank teller looked back at me and sighed. "Sir, you're holding up the line. You put your deposit into the slot at your chest. The bank's coins counter will show your deposit. You put your right palm against the identifier stone on the right. It will read your name and our bank ledger will automatically update your account," he explained.

"What if I want to make a withdrawal?" I asked.

"You tell me how much you want and put your hand on the stone. If your account has enough money to cover your request, you will receive the money from the last slot," the teller replied. "Are you making a deposit or withdrawal?" he asked.

"I'm making a deposit," I replied. I dumped the borrowed sack full of silver and copper pieces into the slot. I then took out all the coins from my waistband. I kept twenty silver, twenty copper, and four platinum pieces; the rest were dumped into the slot. Once I put the remaining coins back in my waist pouch, I then removed my left shoe and deposited the five platinum coins as well.

I watched as the slot greedily devoured my coins like a hungry monster and the numeric counter started moving. When the counter stopped moving, it read: "5:4:79:87." I then put my right palm against the white stone.

The teller nodded. "Lawrence Eugene Mulligan now has a current balance of five platinum, four gold, seventy-nine silver, and eighty-seven copper pieces," he announced.

"I would like to withdraw twenty gold pieces," I requested as I kept my hand on the store.

The counter started moving again. When it stopped, it read: "0:20:0:0."

"Your updated balance is four platinum, nine hundred eighty-four gold, seventy-nine silver, and eighty-seven copper pieces," the bank employee confirmed.

I bent down and removed the twenty gold coins from the last slot. I then straightened my back and put the coins in my waist pouch. "Thank you," I told the teller and left the window. I walked over to an available table and waited for Kalistra. When she reached me I passed the emptied pouch back to her. "Thank you," I said. I then took out five silver coins and passed them to her as well. "This is payment for today's lesson," I noted.

My teacher nodded as she put the coins into her pouch.

"How do we know that the coins counter is accurate?" I asked her. Back on Earth, one particular bank got in trouble for having defective coins counting machines that miscounted coins and often resulted in undercounting customer deposits.

"Honestly, we don't," she replied and quickly held up a paw. "But, if that were to happen, customers can complain to the Watch and ask them to investigate such allegations. And it would very simple to confirm the accuracy of the coins counters. Remember, the Watch have access to truth stones; any bank teller who tampers with the coins counter and then lies under oath will die. Very few people, even humans, would be foolish enough to risk an investigation under oath."

I quickly thought of another question. "If I go to a bank in another town, would I be able to get access to my money?"

"Of course," Kalistra replied. "We are standing inside the Bank of Britannia. There is a member branch of this bank in every town or city on this continent. However, a small village wouldn't have a bank; frankly, villagers are usually too poor to have many coins saved up."

"But how would one branch be informed of the deposit made at another branch?" I asked.

"The ledger that keeps your account updated is accessible to all branches," she answered.

"Oh! So the ledger is connected to some kind of magical database or the ledger could even act like a string under string theory!" I exclaimed in understanding. Magic is starting to make sense now!

"Huh?" the cat girl looked at me in confusion.

"Just something from back home," I grinned. "It's not important." I pointed at the lock boxes on the right side of the room. "What about those boxes? Would I be able to get access to my stuff at other branches if I store them here?" I asked.

Kalistra hissed. "I don't know if you're playing a stupid game or being serious. If you leave something here, you will need to return to this particular branch to pick up your item. The lock boxes are rentals and if you don't pay the rental fee then your access to the lock box is canceled; the contents will be placed on the auction block and whatever is received from selling the items will be credited to your account in the ledger," she explained.

"That is . . . disappointing," I said quietly. Whoever created this gaming world apparently wanted to inject some degree of realism into the environment. Would it hurt that much to not worry about storage of coins and gear?

I walked over to a lock box and examined it more closely. There was a small handle to pull it out of the drawer. Underneath the handle was a small white stone; there was no keyhole. "How come there's no key?" I asked.

"You see that small white stone? It's an identifier stone just like the one over at the bank teller window. You push your thumb or another finger against it to confirm you are the owner of the lock box, and then the lock will be released," my teacher explained. She pointed at the desk with a clerk at the back, next to the stairs. "If you wish to rent a lock box you talk to that employee to arrange it and choose the size of the box that you wish to rent. Once you have taken possession of the lock box, you can make your rental payment over at the teller window," she continued.

Seeing no further question from me, the cat girl said, ""It's time to go!" She grabbed my right arm and started dragging me out of the bank.

When we left the bank, I said, "Stop!"

Kalistra released my arm and folded her arms across her chest. "What now? Do you really want papa to punish us for being late?"

I shook my head. "No, I just want to try to locate the dojo on my own. I need to practice my Navigation-Sense. Please allow me to lead," I explained.

My teacher's eyes gleamed. "You don't have that ability," she said. "Or, at least you didn't have it when I last looked at your player status yesterday," she corrected herself. "Please party with me," she requested.

I quickly hit "Yes" on the ensuing pop-up.

When Kalistra read my player screen, her eyes bulged. "What in the name of Kallimon happened to you since you left the dojo?" she demanded to know. She looked me up and down intently as if seeing me in a different light.

"Huh?" I looked at her in surprise. "I went straight home and ate dinner in my room. Amelica took me to visit the Lucky Shrine this morning before work. I gave a big donation and the priestess gave me a simple blessing," I recounted my recent activities.

Kalistra muttered, "Stupid human," under her breath. She looked around and saw that the streets were starting to fill up with pedestrians. "Okay, we'll talk more about it when we get to the dojo. I'll let you lead and practice your innate ability. With any luck, you may be able to raise your ability and gain experience, too."

"Thank you," I said and started proceeding southward.