Chapter 68: "Draco's Duty: A Tale of Responsibility and Consequences"

You reap what you sow. Buddhism, one of the world's three major religions, preaches the theory of cause and effect. Yesterday's cause leads to today's result.

Draco, who was now a receptionist, could only grumble a little. Although all of this could be considered as him reaping what he sowed.

On the day of the Sealed Gringrott's inventory, other than the most trusted sprite who had to personally go to the vault to check, the other staff members couldn't be idle either. They had to cooperate with the sprite's work, such as checking the items after the inventory or other business. So, Draco was also doing his own thing in his small office.

However, when he heard the dragon's roar that reverberated through Diagon Alley, he knew things weren't going according to his plan. The world's strongest fortress is always breached from the inside, so he chose to bribe the pull ring. But it seemed the spy didn't manage to complete his mission silently, even though he had created sufficient conditions for him to do so.

Soon, Draco knew what had happened. The president had urgently gathered all the employees in their positions. A sprite was seriously injured, with large areas of his body scalded, and was immediately sent to the Saint Mungo Magic Hospital's equipment accident department.

The rest of the sprites, due to their panic, accidentally tripped. Some even fell from their trolleys, causing their heads to bleed and adding a few more names to the hospital's list. Most of the sprites were simply frightened. Gringotts, known as the safest place in the UK, had never had such a big incident before.

This led to a strike by the sprites. At this moment, if the leader had run out and said it was all the workers' mistakes that caused this to happen, it might have enraged them and led to something unexpected.

The Gringotts branch president made a prompt decision, giving most of the sprites a holiday. Those who were willing could take a holiday and those who weren't willing could also receive double the salary. This appeased most of the sprites.

The relationship between supply and demand is always relative. In a country in the far east, the ruler of capital might only say, "Work if you want to, get lost if you don't." But there is still a large amount of cheap labor there because it is the world's most populous country.

However, Gringotts was different. Most of its members were fairies, and only a few of them were human Magi. The Fairy Rebellion had caused a sharp decline in their population, and due to their low fertility rate, every single Fairy labor force was extremely precious.

To sum up, Draco, who seemed relatively idle, was dragged into the role of "able-bodied."

"Hello, guest. Your vault is recorded as number 423. Please follow this guide," Draco said to one customer.

"Hello, dear guest. The vault you're using has been temporarily suspended due to some minor problems that occurred in the pavilion a few days ago. We're trying our best to repair it," Draco said to another.

"What? Can't I withdraw my money whenever I want?"

"This is the only magic bank in Europe? What kind of joke is this? Call your president over," another customer said.

If Draco was lucky and met reasonable customers, he would be fine. But if he was unlucky, he might meet troublemakers like these. If they still didn't listen after he explained, then …

"I heard that in order to prevent the invasion of a wanted criminal, the president has hired many combat Magi. It's time for them to prove themselves," Draco pretended to be talking to himself, revealing a faint threat.

No matter how small a business was, once it became a monopoly, it would greatly change the relationship between buyer and seller. A bank, especially, held a lot of power because not every family had their own private vault. Under normal circumstances, these customers would give up. But today seemed to be an unlucky day.

"England's Gringotts Bank actually treats their customers so rudely. How disappointing," a young lady's voice said from the back of the group.

It was a melodious and light voice, like the song of a morning lark. However, the words she spoke didn't make anyone happy. Her speech wasn't smooth and had a strange accent mixed in, but it was still elegant and moving. Using simple logic, one could tell she wasn't from England.

People started to gather around to watch, not only because there was a show to watch, but also because the focus of the dispute was a beauty. Disputes and beauties always attract the eyes of ordinary people.

She had shoulder-length silver hair, large azure eyes, and a set of neat white teeth. Aside from a certain alien, most people in the world should have a normal sense of beauty, so no matter where this girl was from, she would be considered conventionally beautiful. Not to mention, her faintly discernible exotic charm and noble temperament only added to her charm.

Conquering an arrogant woman is a matter of great accomplishment for any man. However, Draco continued to take notes and didn't even raise his head as he spoke. "I apologize, but the courteous sprite receptionist who was checking the assets of a customer found a prohibited item. Due to the disappearance of the protective magic, it caused a huge accident. In order to protect the assets of other customers, many sprites in Gringotts were injured. One of them almost lost his life and is currently being treated in Saint Mungo's hospital. Therefore, I don't have the mood to face this group of so-called customers who might go against the agreement. At this point, maintaining the most basic courtesy is already my greatest restraint. I really don't want to think about my colleagues, whose lives are in danger in the blink of an eye."

While speaking, Draco cast a charm magic on his voice, making it more infectious. In addition to his acting skills, a large portion of the crowd had already changed their stance. Only the young lady was still unconvinced. She stubbornly said, "Where's the proof?" In reality, she already believed 70% to 80% of it, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize.

"Saint Mungo's hospital's fifth floor. If you have the courage to visit a sprite with 80% of her body burned, I hope you won't have nightmares at night," Draco said, his face filled with pain. Hearing this, the young lady's tall and straight posture suddenly became dispirited.

The young lady seemed to have suffered a heavy blow and silently returned to her previous position. Seeing that there was no more drama to watch, the crowd also dispersed and returned to their own lines. As a reincarnator who had experienced the internet era, using words to deal with these righteous and inexperienced young ladies was simply too easy for Draco. He seized the moral high ground and was in an invincible position.

In fact, his argument earlier didn't have any logic. He relied on his instigation and some magic to achieve the effect. If he really wanted to refute her, it would have been abnormally easy. "It's because of this that you can't let down your colleagues' sacrifice. You have to serve us better. Isn't what you're doing trying to smear their reputation?" Unfortunately, no one was able to react in time. Those who were delayed by business also chose to be lenient. When Draco finally left Gringotts, he even received a raise because of this impromptu public relations crisis. Of course, this was a story for another day.

Despite the minor altercation at Gringotts, Draco couldn't shake off the feeling of impending disaster. As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. His intuition told him that something big was going to happen at the bank. However, he had to continue replacing the Sprites who were on leave or injured. If he insisted on resigning now, it would only arouse suspicion. "Mister, please show your identification." "Roy, bring this young lady to vault 314."