Walking over to Abjul's offices, Maelyn went up to the secretary she had talked to the day before and asked, "Catia dear, who do I need to see to get a business license?"
"I have those forms here ma'am." Catia told her, "But you will need Third minister Abjul's approval before you can start a business."
"I know. And I will make sure to present it to him for approval when I see him later." Maelyn told her, "Because I am confident he will approve this idea!"
"I don't know ma'am." Catia replied, "Because Second Minister has been giving him and us tremendous pressure because of him approving your citizenship yesterday."
"I figured as much." Maelyn told her, "And he is going to HATE this idea! So be prepared for even more pressure."
"Thank you for letting me know, Catia said expressing her gratitude, "I will make sure to let the other secretaries know so we can prepare for the punishment."
"Punishment?!?!" Maelyn exclaimed, "What type of punishment did he give YOU for something your BOSS did?!"
"He told us that he was increasing our rent by two thousand scales and it would be due by the end of the week." Catia meekly told her.
"Oh really?!" Maelyn angrily remarked then asked, "How many of you are getting punished like that?"
"There are a total of nine of us ma'am." Catia informed her in sadness, "Five of us work here and the other four work in pairs at the other two villages in the kingdom."
"Well Since this punishment is because of my actions I would like for you to ask everyone how much is their total loan with his bank." Maelyn asked, "And let everyone know that I will pay this two thousand scales each of them will have to pay at a minimum. But if this idea gets approved I will be paying off their entire loan so that he won't be able to so easily punish you again!"
"If you are able to do that we will all be grateful ma'am." Catia told her with hope in her voice.
"Well I am sorry that he has resorted to taking out his anger at me on innocent people like you." Maelyn firmly told her, "But if he acts as I expect him to, you may suffer slightly when I am unable to correct the matter in time, but the end result will be much more beneficial to you all. So just hang in there and let me know when he punishes you for stupid stuff like this again!" She then left to visit the houses that Harmon had chosen to sign over to her.
Walking up to the first door on her list Maelyn knocked and then stood back to wait. When the door was answered a moment later by a young child that looked to be around ten years old she offered the greeting and asked, "Greetings can I speak with your mother or father please?"
"They're at work." The child told her, "What do you want?"
"I'm sorry son, but what I need to know would be known better by the adults." Maelyn gently told him, "What time will they be home?"
"They both get off at five but they have to go get supper before they can come home tonight." The boy answered.
"Okay. Well could you please tell them that I will be coming by tonight at seven then?" Maelyn asked, "And tell them the lady on top of the palace wants to talk about their bills."
"Yes ma'am. I will" The boy told her as he went back inside and closed the door.
As she went to the next one and had another child answer because their parents were at work she gave the same message and went to the next one. When this had repeated the fifth time she finally turned around and walked back to the archeological site to accomplish some work before returning that evening.
When she got back and walked up to the top where Joseph was still steadily breaking away the basalt she told them, "Sorry for the extended trip guys." And, seeing the wheelbarrow was close to being full, grabbed it and took it to be emptied.
After dumping it in the caldera she turned and took a second to appreciate the site of the kingdom that she could see most of from that height. Having appreciated the beauty and it strengthening her determination to better the kingdom before leaving, Maelyn told them when she returned, "Abjul, I have an application to give to you. But, before I do I need to show you something so please follow me to the plane." Curious, Abjul agreed and followed her.
As they walked up to the plane, Maelyn then knocked on the pilot's door to wake Cassie up and ask her, "Hey girl! I need the bank opened up! So could you please unlock the cargo hatch?"
"Sure girl." Cassie told her then teased, "You having to pay for your boyfriends now? Or is this one for me?!"
"Take you a cold shower girl!" Maelyn scolded, "This is the Third Minister and we're here on business NOT pleasure!" She then laughed as she added, "Although the shit fit the Second Minister is gonna throw when he hears about this will be AWFULLY entertaining!"
"And what might he be hearing about?" Abjul asked as she lead him to the secured cargo hatch that Cassie had keyed to unlock, "Are you Applying for the Second Minister position?"
"No! Not yet at least!" Maelyn responded. As she opened the hatch she then told him, "In case you're wondering, there is one ounce shy of two hundred pounds of gold here."
Shocked and stunned at seeing so much gold, Abjul asked, "And... why do I need to see that you have this large amount of gold?"
Handing him her application Maelyn replied, "Because the bank this kingdom has offers TERRIBLE financing rates and I plan on offering my new tenants better terms! I also plan on making loans to others in need available as well."
"I... uh... um... I'm shocked." Abjul finally managed to tell her, "To be honest, I would like to approve this but at the same time I am unsure if I should because of the excessive amount of anger and punishment I will be receiving if I do."
"Don't forget about the punishment he places on your staff by charging them a higher rent." Maelyn reminded him.
"He did WHAT?!" Abjul exclaimed in anger, "If he has done that then I CAN"T approve this until I have arranged to transfer their homes to my ownership! Cause I can't let him continue to be able to make them pay for your actions!"
"Chill Abjul. Chill!" Maelyn said to calm him, "If you approve my business license and let me start my bank I plan on starting out by paying off the loans that your secretaries owe to your father and I will continue to pay the extra two thousand scales he is charging for rent now until he transfers their homes to MY ownership! After which I will adjust their rent to a MUCH more reasonable rate!"
"Are you sure you would be able to afford paying all of this and running at a loss until that happens though?" Abjul asked, "Because that would make it harder for you to turn a profit and you might end up having to charge a higher rent than dad does to break even."
"I would if I ran my business the same way he runs his." Maelyn confidently told him, "But I run my businesses in a more profitable way that might start out at a loss but will quickly be producing a bigger profit than your father has probably ever seen."
"Well I don't know about that because I have only ever seen the way dad does it." Abjul told her in honesty, "But I have seen your unique way of handling issues and your true care for others in lesser positions and so I feel I can trust you to have a viable business plan. Therefore I will grant your application on one condition."
"And what might that condition be?" Maelyn asked with a grin, "Buying out ALL of the loans that Harmon's bank charges for?"
"While that would cause him a tremendous amount of aggravation, I think it would only encourage him to issue even more pricier loans." Abjul revealed, "The condition I was going to make though might hurt his bank's business though, because I was wanting you to show me how to improve my own business of renting out the home that I own so that I can do more to help the people of Altinyn."
"I believe I can do that." Maelyn agreed, "In fact, you can witness the first step in that by accompanying me this evening when I go to visit the first batch of houses Undersecretary Bree transferred to me today."
"I will try to." Abjul promised, "But this will be the first time I will be visiting people I don't already know in their homes so I will be nervous. And, to be honest, my dad's reputation may follow me and scare them so they may not be as open or welcoming as you may wish."