Under the goblin's reluctant gaze, Cynthia pulled the drawstring tight and put the bag of gems away.
"This way, please." The goblin withdrew his probing look and led Tver and the others toward the counter in front of the golden doors.
"Before meeting Mr. Ingus, I need to inform his assistant, Mr. Griphook."
Griphook was a middle-aged goblin with a receding hairline. He wasn't seated at the central counter, but stood behind a smaller one to the side.
It was clear that the main position was not one he was qualified to occupy.
Even so, Tver had noticed that ever since they entered, this goblin had been quietly observing them.
"Mr. Griphook, these guests would like to meet Mr. Ingus…" the guide goblin whispered into his ear, subtly gesturing toward Cynthia.
The more Griphook listened, the deeper his frown became.
"If you wish to sell gems, esteemed guests, I can make that decision myself," he said politely, though Tver could still hear a faint note of disdain in his tone.
Tver silently weighed the expression on his face.
Goblins harbored a natural hostility toward wizards. That, more than anything else, was the real difficulty of this visit.
"And if there were more?" Tver asked calmly.
"No matter how many, I can still make the call," Griphook replied, lifting his chin without a trace of humility or servility.
"Enough to empty Gringotts of all its Galleons?" Tver leaned down and spoke softly into his ear. "Or perhaps I could flood the wizarding world with goods worth millions of Galleons?"
Griphook's expression changed instantly.
"The Ministry would never allow that, and you'd suffer losses of hundreds of thousands of Galleons!" he said sharply.
"By the time the Ministry realizes what's happening, the wizarding economy would already be in ruins," Tver replied evenly. "And then it would be you goblins who bear the blame for inadequate oversight. Wizards wouldn't mind taking over Gringotts at that point."
Griphook's expression shifted several times in quick succession as he grasped the severity of the situation.
"I don't believe you have the means to carry this out—"
At Tver's signal, Cynthia tossed out the same bag from earlier, then one after another produced identical sacks, each filled with gems, and dumped them onto the counter.
There were so many that the small counter could no longer hold them.
Clatter—
One of the bags inevitably fell to the floor, and its contents spilled out, gems scattering at the feet of Tver and the others.
All around the hall, the goblins froze mid-motion. Greed flared in their eyes, and even their breathing seemed to grow heavier.
Under the candlelight of the hall, the gems glittered with blinding brilliance.
Fortunately, there were few customers in Gringotts at the moment. Otherwise, those wizards would hardly have resisted bending down to pocket a few gems.
With a goblin's innate sensitivity to precious stones, Griphook didn't even need to examine them closely to know that these were finely cut, flawless gems of exceptional quality.
"Is that sufficient now?"
"Of course." A goblin in a black suit stepped out from behind Griphook. He didn't look much older than him.
Only then did the other goblins recover from their shock and return to their work, though their attention still drifted this way.
"Secure the gems for our guests, Griphook." Ingus extended his hand toward Tver. "Ingus, supervisor of Gringotts."
"Tver Fawley." Tver dipped his head slightly as he shook Ingus's hand, their eye levels aligning neatly across the counter.
"So you're the heir of the Fawley family. Your father came to withdraw funds not long ago." Ingus smiled warmly.
At least, Tver couldn't detect anything amiss in that expression.
"This isn't the place for a proper conversation. If Mr. Fawley doesn't mind, would you care to have some tea in my office?"
"Of course."
Tver had no objection.
This time, Griphook didn't dare interfere. Together with the two guiding goblins, he hurriedly gathered the gems scattered across the floor. Each of them lifted several heavy bags and followed behind.
Ingus's office, however, caught Tver by surprise.
Beyond the golden doors, a roaring furnace burned brightly, filling the antique room with heat and light.
"This is a goblin tradition," Ingus explained. "Forging is as essential to us as eating. It's part of everyday life."
He took a seat on the guest sofa and personally poured steaming tea for them.
"To be honest, we rarely drink tea ourselves. But with more human visitors, we've had to learn these customs."
"A good habit," Tver said with a smile as he sat down. "You should keep it up."
Ingus paused only briefly, but Griphook bristled.
"Then why can't you wizards learn to respect goblin customs instead? Don't think money lets you do whatever you want! Gringotts will never bow to any dark or criminal force!"
"That's enough, Griphook. We shouldn't be as rude as wizards," Ingus said calmly.
Despite his words, his gaze never left Tver, and he made no move to send Griphook or the others away.
"So, what brings our guests to Gringotts?" Ingus asked. "If you're merely selling gems, there's no need to threaten my assistant."
Tver lifted his teacup, took a sip, then set it down before meeting their eyes.
"It's simple. I want all the Muggle currency in Gringotts. And if possible, I'll take the Muggle currency from other countries' Gringotts branches as well."
"I imagine you're already troubled by the piles of Muggle money sitting in your vaults, aren't you?"
Gringotts had always offered exchanges between Muggle currency and wizarding money, but strictly limited both the frequency and the amount.
The reason was simple. It was extremely difficult for Gringotts to convert Muggle currency back.
Even with relatively few wizards in the magical world, and even with small exchange amounts each time, centuries of accumulation had left Gringotts with an ever-growing stockpile of Muggle money. It had long since become the goblins' most pressing problem.
So even someone as composed as Ingus couldn't help but be startled by Tver's proposal.
"What do you want Muggle currency for?" Ingus asked.
"To do exactly what you do," Tver replied. "Use it to purchase goods, sell them in the magical world, and convert the proceeds back into Galleons."
"Repeat the cycle. The price difference in between is our profit."
"Then why give it to you?" Griphook blurted out. "Why shouldn't we take that profit ourselves?"
"Do you have agents in the Muggle world?" Tver pointed toward the bags of gems they were carrying. "If you really had that kind of capability, why would you still be troubled by an ever-growing pile of Muggle currency?"
Griphook fell silent, his retort cut off at the root.
"But this is illegal," Ingus said after a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. "The Ministry of Magic would never allow it."
"As long as the Ministry doesn't find out, what's the problem?" Tver lightly gestured toward the gems again. "Otherwise, how do you think we acquired so many in the first place?"
Ingus's composure finally wavered. His fists clenched, and desire flickered uncontrollably in his eyes.
If what Tver said was true, they could not only dispose of all that Muggle currency cleanly, but even convert it into Galleons at far better rates.
"Gringotts knows nothing of your plans," Ingus said, breathing a little harder. "We are merely fulfilling our client's request to exchange gems for currency."
Tver didn't bother exposing the self-deception.
Once these greedy goblins tasted the benefits, even if Tver later demanded they stop, they would never agree.
By then, Gringotts would be his most natural ally.
(≖ᴗ≖)✧