Amoratsu Brene seems to have said everything he had to say, and he picked up the teacup again, leaning back in his chair contentedly sipping tea, quietly waiting for Gelson Ban to take over this business.
What is worth the fame of Amoratsu Brene to personally journey to Paris to discuss this business?
Mr. Ban lowered his gaze, staring at the array of delicate pastries before him, and remained momentarily silent.
It is impossible not to be curious, but Mr. Ban can tell that Amoratsu Brene does not want to reveal.
"Mr. Brene——"
After a long pause, the old sorceress finally lifted her head.
"We have no reason to reject this business. All the profits from the live broadcast of the Three-strong Competition will be distributed according to your proposal, and about your personal compensation. If I'm not mistaken, we have a workshop in Diagon Alley that produces wand cleaning tools. Starting tomorrow, the workshop will fully complete the orders that have been taken and refuse new business. The mechanical equipment, labor, factory, and land will be delivered to you as soon as possible. However--"
Amorasta raised his eyebrow slightly and quietly waited for Ban to put forward his terms.
"Although I'm not sure what you intend to use this alchemical workshop for, I assume it's for producing something derived from another of your great inventions, right?"
"Are you interested in becoming involved in the future business of this workshop?"
Amorasta smiled at the corners of his mouth,
"Even though you know nothing about this business, and aren't even clear if it's profitable or not, that doesn't quite match the elves' usual approach to risk, does it, Mr. Ban?"
"You yourself are our biggest guarantee, Mr. Brene——"
The old elf laughed with an old voice.
"You need a workshop, but that's not enough to get things done, is it? You also need capital, a complete supply chain of raw materials, and channels for promoting your products. These things will consume a great deal of your energy as well, and they are precisely what we are good at. Let us join in the future operation of the workshop, and it can save you a lot of trouble. And what we require..."
The old elf's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
"We won't interfere with the decisions in the workshop's operations, we just need one-tenth of the annual profit."
The saying 'an old person becomes a wizard' is indeed true.
Gelson Ban, this old elf, even risks losing a large sum of galleons to establish an interest relationship with himself.
"Specifically, I will arrange for my friend, Remus Lupin, to get in touch with you. He is a werewolf, so I hope you can get along well before."
Before the old elf could feel overjoyed, his thoughts were drawn elsewhere by another piece of information in Brene's words.
Amorasta Brene, two years ago, was still an obscure young wizard. However, within a very short period of time, his name spread across several continents, especially in the European magical community, where he had already established a position equal to that of Albus Dumbledore. Given his considerable age advantage and the prowess he displayed during the Quidditch Final Night, many people were convinced that the next half-century or even longer would be Brene's era in European magic.
And for such a wizard to claim to have a werewolf friend!
Werewolves might be acceptable in America, but in Europe, the magical organizations of any country would consider them to be of the lowest class.
If Dumbledore had made such a claim, Ban might not have been so surprised. However, Amorasta Brene's first moment of widespread fame was when he eliminated the notorious werewolf leader Greubeck and his gang.
Elves and werewolves are both seen as outsiders by wizards, but the elves' cunning has allowed them to find a place in the magical community, while werewolves face a much harsher situation and are more heavily rejected.
Amorasta Brene's willingness to openly mention having a werewolf friend has greatly increased the old elf's confidence in becoming true friends with Amorasta Brene.
"Mr. Brene's friends are also the elves' friends—-"
Ban Mr. smiled sincerely,
"I will have Jingge take care of this matter, and I believe it can get along well with Mr. Remus Lupin."
Discrimination between elves and wizards is mutual. Since wizards look down upon werewolves, elves naturally cannot regard them as particularly noble beings either. But Jingge, who was entrusted with this task, dared not show any discontent. He bowed respectfully to Mr. Ban and Mr. Brene, indicating his determination to do his best.
The result of this meeting was undoubtedly satisfactory for both parties, who had different motives. From the moment of the meeting, the heavy and tense atmosphere in the office suddenly relaxed when consensus was reached. The two people finally began to enjoy the delicious food on the table.
"Oh, right--"
Taking advantage of the time when Jingge was refilling the teacups, Amorasta suddenly asked unexpectedly,
"A few years ago··· That was when I graduated from Hogwarts, following the ancient tradition of wizards, during my travels among various magical civilizations, I heard it mentioned that for wizards who died unexpectedly and had no heirs, Gringotts would transfer the wealth in their vaults to the Ministry of Magic, is that correct?"
The old elf, who was slowly savoring the traditional elven cuisine, unconsciously trembled his fingers as he ate. A little food residue fell on the luxurious velvet tablecloth, which was valuable.
"This is the law of wizards, Mr. Brene——"
The old elf nodded.
"It is a rule agreed upon by both elves and wizards, which Gringotts branches throughout the world strictly adhere to."
"But I've heard there are other ways to handle it?"
Amorasta gave a noncommittal smile.
Not even Gelson Ban or Jingge, who had been serving the two, had noticed the mysterious hint in Amorasta's words. In fact, this was not something particularly secretive among elves. The ones in charge were well aware of what would happen to the branches.
They would collaborate with the employees of the Ministry of Magic, sell the wealth in the vaults that has no heir, such as extremely valuable antiques or magical books, stocks, deeds and other things to the local black market for resale, and then wash the funds obtained through different methods before mixing them with the original gold in the vaults according to a certain ratio for each share.
This is a very extensive profit chain, involving many middle and senior-level officials from various countries' magical ministries and branches of Gringotts.
At this point, Amorasta Brene brought up this matter in a casual manner, which was definitely not to join this profit chain. Because for him, a wizard like him, this method was too unsuitable and unbecoming.
"I do not deny, Mr. Brene--"
Mr. Ban replied in a casual tone,
"There may be some cases of irregular operations in the situation you mentioned."
"What a disappointment——"
Amorasta licked his lips, a look of regret on his face.
"If the Ministry of Magic people could put the same energy into their work as they do in grabbing money, they wouldn't be criticized by the public for doing nothing all the time——"
The topic of this matter was finally dropped, and the rest of breakfast was spent discussing pleasant topics.
Amorasta disappeared in the splendid flames, and Jingge and Ladi, the two elves, were still astonished by the Fox. Meanwhile, the old elf's expression turned somber in the instant Amorasta's figure faded.
"I need you to rush over to the British branch as soon as possible and investigate the names of all elves and Ministry of Magic employees involved in Mr. Brene's latest statement, along with the amount of wealth they have stolen, and bring back one copy and send one to Amorasta·Brene."
Stunned for a moment, Jingge, who always obeyed orders without hesitation, couldn't help but hesitantly ask.
"You mean the British Ministry of Magic? We'll offend a lot of people, Mr. Ban," Jingge asked, hesitating.
"Mr. Amorasta·Brene considers this matter very important——"
Mr. Ban, whose expression was solemn, said.
"Perhaps, this is the real purpose of his visit."
(Chapter complete)
