Jack decided to make the bank his first stop. From what the person in charge of the entrance of the city told him, his gold coins were worth quite a bit and he should exchange some of them for silver coins and copper coins.
Jack understood that paying some things with gold coins would be like buying a candy with a 100 dollar bill back on Earth.
"Since I will visit the bank, I should also ask how their money system works. I don't want to get scammed after all." Jack didn't know how many silver coins were worth one gold coin, and he feared buying something with gold coins and getting less change than he should have just because he was an ignorant.
It didn't take too much effort to spot the building, a big sign with a picture of a pile of coins were shown on the front of the building with the big golden word "Bank" alongside it. People came and went constantly. Only an idiot would not be able to spot it.
"If there was an auction house just in front and some dwarfs and gnomes passing by, it would be funny." Jack couldn't help but smile when he saw the building that reminded him of one game he liked back on Earth.
With those thoughts, he entered the bank and saw 10 counters with each one of them having one beautiful attendant. All the counters had a long queue, but they seemed to go fast, so Jack went to the queue of the first counter and stood in line.
After just 5 minutes of waiting, it came Jack's turn and the beautiful attendant gave him a professional smile. "Hello, I'm Karen. How may I help you?"
"Hello Karen, I'm Jack. I would like to exchange some of my money if it is possible?" Jack took a quick look at Karen, and even though he had to admit that she was beautiful enough to be compared to many models from Earth, she was nowhere near Luna. Karen was a blonde woman on her mid-late 20s with a good figure. She was wearing a nice perfume, and a black little jacket with white pants. Her way of dressing definitely enhanced her physical qualities. But still, she lacked a lot of Luna's natural beauty.
"Oh, and how much would you want to exchange?" Karen didn't notice Jack's quick look at her. But even if she noticed, she would not have minded. Both she and her companions were already used to being stared by most of the men that came to the bank.
"The thing is, it's my first time in a big city and I don't know how the monetary system works here. So I don't know how much I should exchange." Jack answered with an awkward smile.
"I guess you want some coins to buy on regular shops. You did well coming here first, you could have been scammed by any random merchant. Ok, let me see how much you have, so I can give you a rough idea about how much you should exchange." Karen praised Jack for visiting the bank first before going to any shop. Many youths from small places came to the city of Luminens with full pockets wanting to leave with full hands, and they left with empty pockets and if lucky, something not useless on their hands.
Jack took out his pouch and put it on the counter. The pouch carried some weight and it made a small noise when it was dropped on the counter.
Karen had her mouth wide open when she saw the contents of the pouch. She didn't expect this young man to carry such a small fortune on his body. She took a good look at him this time, and she was quite sure that he had no idea how much were all those coins he had worth.
"Wait a minute, I need to talk with my manager. Don't leave." Karen told Jack before turning around and entering some door she had behind her.
Jack waited patiently, but the people behind him were getting annoyed seeing that the person at the front was taking such a long time. And now, if that was not enough, the attendant left.
"What is wrong with that young man? Is he an idiot or something?" The people standing behind Jack started discussing.
"I don't know, I think I heard something about the manager. Maybe the young guy was trying to court Karen, and she got fed up and went to look for her manager." The discussion continued.
"It's quite possible." The first voice seemed to believe what the second voice said.
Jack didn't bother with their discussions and just waited for a minute before Karen came back from the door she left previously accompanied by an elegantly dressed middle-aged man.
"See? What did I tell you? He is gonna get kicked out of the bank." The second voice sounded even more confident after seeing the man.
"Hello Mr. Jack, my name is Mark and I'm the manager of this bank's branch. Would you be able to accompany to have a chat?" The man that introduced himself as Mark acted quite polite with Jack.
"I would very much like to have a chat with you Mark, I hope I'm not wasting too much of your time." Jack also answered with good manners.
"Don't worry about that, I've got some time just now. Come with me, we have some private rooms on the back where we can chat more calmly." Mark made a gesture to Jack, and they both disappeared through the back door.
The people on the queue behind Jack who were expecting him to get thrown out of the bank couldn't help but feel confused.
"Next one?" But once Karen's voice asked for the next person in line, everyone quickly forgot about this situation like it was magic.
On a private room deeper inside the bank, Jack was sitting in front of Mark with a big pouch on top of a small table that separated both of them.
"Karen told me your situation. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get this much money?" Mark asked Jack directly.
Jack didn't like being asked that, and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow hearing that question.
"I don't really care about where you got the money from. It's just that I'm forced to ask by law when someone comes with such a sum of money. You can just say you earned it working and we would just continue our conversation. It's not everyday that a young man who has never been to a big city comes with such a small fortune." Mark quickly explained seeing the displeasure on Jack's face.
Jack relaxed after hearing his explanation and answered calmly. "On my way to the city I helped someone, and the person I helped just wanted to pay me. Just that."
"Oh, I guess you protected some merchant's carriage from bandits. It's not the first time this happens. Even if there are less bandits nowadays, they have not completely disappeared and most merchants still hire some mercenaries to protect their goods during the journey." Mark seemed satisfied with the conclusion he got himself. Jack didn't comment on it, so he though he guessed right.
"You see Jack, 1 gold coin is worth 100 silver coins, and 1 silver coin is worth 100 copper coins. So you have a rough idea, a good baker would barely earn 4 gold coins per month, and a nice little apartment costs 2000 gold coins." Mark explained to Jack how their monetary system worked.
Jack listened carefully at Mark's explanation since he didn't want to miss anything. "Then maybe I should exchange 10 gold coins?"
"That would be indeed a good amount. In case you need to exchange more in the future, you can seek Karen, and she will notify me of your arrival." Mark smiled at Jack.
"Can I ask why are you treating me like I'm someone special? I can't help but feel it weird." Jack felt suspicious about Mark's attitude with him.
"I will be honest with you Jack. Can I ask you if you are going to participate on the entrance exam to the Glowing Star Academy?" Mark looked at Jack hopefully.
"I'm definitely considering it." Jack answered in a touchy tone.
"That's great! You see, if you manage to enter I would like to offer you to become our client. You don't have to worry about anything, I will personally supervise your account and Karen will be your personal attendant whenever you come." Mark was talking too fast, which showed how excited he was.
"This still doesn't explain anything." Jack didn't understand why Mark wanted him to become his client.
"Don't worry, I will explain it to you. Glowing Star Academy limits students about how much they can leave the academy's grounds. You can rarely see their students around the city before they graduate." Mark started explaining while Jack paid atention.
"Students from Glowing Star Academy don't need to pay anything to the academy. But, inside the academy there are many small businesses and things for which you will need money. Also, if there's something you need that you can't get inside the academy you would have to get it from outside. That's where the banks act. Most of the banks have an agreement with the academy, and students can send a letter to their banks on Fridays asking for something they need or for some of their money. And it would be on Monday when they would get what they asked for, or a response to the letter at least." Mark was quite excited when he talked about the agreement with the academy.
"And what do you get with this exactly?" Jack lost most of his suspicion after hearing all the explanation.
"The academy pays us a fee for helping the students. And it is a good advertisement for the bank to have many of the academy's students under its name. Oh, and before I forget. You will not be charged any extra and you will always be able to request me the accounts." Mark told Jack with a sincere face.
"It's ok, I believe you. I promise I will come to sign a contract with you if I manage to pass the entrance exam." Jack answered him with a small smile on the corner of his lips.
Mark stood up and extended his hand. "Happy cooperation."
"Happy cooperation." Jack shook Mark's hand while both of them smiled.
And that was how Mark became Jack's manager. A cooperation that would last for many years to count.