Dual Realm Exchange System

Damian entered the Caurelian Continental Bank expecting to wait in one of the orderly queues stretching across the marble hall, but he did not even make it to the line.

A middle-aged woman standing beside the entrance noticed the Adventurer’s Guild card hanging from his belt, glanced at the Mage staff in his hand, and immediately approached.

"Blessings of prosperity upon your path, Adventurer. Standard-Class clients may receive priority communion at the second altar. Please follow me," the woman said with a professional smile.

Damian blinked. "Priority... communion?"

Janet snickered behind him, clearly waiting for him to ask, but Damian decided not to.

The group were escorted past nearly thirty people, some who were commoners carrying coin pouches, some who were prosperous merchants in expensive coats, and even two finely dressed nobles who waited beneath a floating number display with expressions of patient resignation.

Yet nobody protested when Damian walked past.

Clearly, even in the mostly ’benevolent’ Valoria (at least from Damian’s perspective), class still mattered here.

Through Eunice’s explanation, Damian learned that the rule came directly from Caurelian banking doctrine. Wealth deserved respect, but individual power represented a form of wealth in itself, and those who had stepped onto a Standard-Class path received institutional priority.

A rich merchant might possess ten thousand Gold Coins, and a noble could own half a county, sure.

However, a powerful adventurer could eventually become someone capable of killing both of them, even crossing monster-infested wildernesses alone and generating fortunes from places ordinary people could never reach.

The Goddess of Wealth apparently considered such potential worthy of accommodation.

How... brutally pragmatic.

The employees made the entire place stranger, because they did not wear the suits, dresses or uniforms he expected from bank staff.

Instead, every worker wore cream-and-gold Clerical robes marked with Caurelia’s open-coin symbol. They also referred to the building itself as a temple.

Deposits were ’offerings entrusted to the vault’.

Loans were ’prosperity covenants’.

Account registration was ’entering the temple ledger’.

Contract authentication was performed by ’witnessing the covenant beneath the Coinmaiden’s gaze’.

Despite the religious terminology, they were unmistakably bankers.

...which was somehow worse.

Damian was brought to a polished desk where another woman greeted him.

She appeared somewhere in her early thirties, with carefully arranged brown hair, a beautiful mature face and the same generous figure Damian had increasingly begun to suspect was part of the employment requirements.

Looking around, he noticed something.

Every visible Caurelian employee was a woman between roughly twenty-five and forty, every single one was attractive, and every single one possessed a chest that ranged from impressive to physically questionable.

Damian slowly looked toward Janet, and as one might expect, the halfling was already grinning.

"Don’t you dare, Janet!" Eunice warned, sensing evil.

Janet naturally ignored her.

"Well, bucko, the official explanation is that the temple maidens are selected to represent her image. The Coinmaiden is traditionally depicted as a mature, prosperous beauty with a generous figure because abundance should look abundant," Janet whispered loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"That explanation sounds plausible," Damian admitted, unable to refute.

Janet’s grin widened. "The unofficial story is that Supreme Apostle Elias Rosenfeld simply liked big breasts."

Damian went silent, feeling something was wrong, especially when Janet leaned closer.

"He founded the Caurelian Continental Bank five hundred and thirty-seven years ago. He was an Otherworlder too," Janet revealed with sparkling eyes.

Damian slowly closed his eyes.

...of course he was.

Why would anything in Valoria be allowed to retain its fantasy flavor?

"And according to old gossip, Caurelia herself was part of his harem!" Janet finished triumphantly.

Damian’s eyes opened in shock, quickly looking toward the woman sitting across from him.

The Cleric-banker had heard every word, but she continued arranging documents without showing the slightest embarrassment or irritation.

Damian’s panic calmed down as he raised an eyebrow.

The woman finally looked up.

"The temple neither confirms nor denies historical speculation surrounding His Eminence Supreme Apostle Rosenfeld’s intimate relationship with Her Divine Grace," she recited calmly.

Janet nearly collapsed laughing.

Damian stared at the woman opposite him with twitching lips.

Could you not be more perfunctory and rehearsed when saying that?

The fact that she could say this despite being a believer meant people asked often enough for the bank to possess an official non-answer.

Damian suddenly had no desire to know more.

He was frankly tired of his troublesome predecessors, who seemed unhappy to not leave a permanent mark on this fantasy world by bringing pieces of Earth over.

"Right. We were discussing banking," Damian said firmly.

The woman smiled. "My name is Sister Helena. How may the Coinmaiden assist your prosperity today?"

"I would like to open an account and inquire about a loan," Damian replied.

Something changed behind Helena’s eyes.

It was not necessarily greed per se, but more like... professional enthusiasm.

’That’s right, loans!’ Damian realized immediately.

From this, one could see that KPIs existed even in temples.

Would Eunice really be alright for letting him slip from the hands of the Holy Light Church?

"Wonderful! Caurelia teaches that properly directed capital is the seed from which prosperity grows! The temple offers several forms of prosperity covenants depending upon collateral, occupation, expected income and purpose," Helena said warmly as she produced another glowing slate.

The categories she explained were extremely familiar once Damian mentally translated the bizarre religious language.

There were secured loans backed by property or valuable items, short-term personal loans, merchant credit facilities, equipment forging/crafting financing, business expansion loans, mortgages, and even emergency loans.

Heck, they even had something functionally similar to overdraft protection.

Damian stared at Helena speechlessly for several seconds.

Five hundred years ago, Elias Rosenfeld had arrived in a magical world and apparently decided compound interest needed divine protection.

What a true menace to civilization.

And to think Janet called him, Damian, a Demon Lord when such fellows had existed.

"I’m specifically looking for funds to establish myself as an adventurer," Damian clarified.

Helena brightened considerably.

"Then you qualify for our Adventurer Development Covenants."

A separate menu appeared.

[Starter Pack.]

[One Man Army.]

[Overgeared.]

[Dungeon Delver.]

[Return of the Veteran.]

[Merchant of Valoria.]

[From Zero to Hero.]

Damian’s face went blank.

No way, absolutely not!

That reincarnated bastard had actually named the loan packages using... using...!

Helena continued professionally, unaware of the spiritual damage occurring across the desk.

"Starter Pack is intended for newly registered Copper Adventurers requiring broad initial liquidity. One Man Army provides higher financing for solo combat specialists with proven quest histories. Overgeared covers equipment acquisition and enchantment expenses, while Dungeon Delver provides revolving credit for exploration supplies and recovery costs."

She moved lower. "Return of the Veteran is intended for injured or retired Adventurers returning to active service. Merchant of Valoria combines adventuring credit with commercial financing, while From Zero to Hero supports individuals forming registered Adventurer Groups or larger organizations."

Damian pinched the bridge of his nose. "That’s enough, please."

Helena stopped, wondering if she had done something wrong. "You dislike the products?"

Damian’s smile was stretched out, full of defeat. "Oh, the ’products’ are fine. I’ve simply had enough evidence of Otherworlders ruining the novelty of another universe for one day."

Eunice covered a smile, Julia snorted, and Janet clearly disagreed with him and appeared delighted by everything.

Helena took his complaint as seriously as she had taken the harem rumor.

"Adventurers have become one of our safest high-yield lending categories. Historically, mortality made them unreliable debtors. However, improved Adventurer’s Guild infrastructure, communication devices, healing access, and quest regulation have drastically reduced deaths," she explained.

More importantly, Adventurer income had risen across the board.

Successful Adventurers possessed high earning potential, easily verified occupational records and local registration.

From a banking perspective, they now had unusually favorable repayment rates and excellent risk-adjusted returns.

An adventurer might still die, but those who survived could make money very quickly, so the Caurelian Bank had adapted accordingly.

"What does Starter Pack offer?" Damian asked.

Helena’s smile became radiant. "50 Gold Coins deposited immediately, with a 6-month term. Interest accrues at 10% monthly, while overdue balances incur an additional penalty of 0.1% per day."

Damian nearly choked.

Holy shit, ten percent per month!!

On Earth, he would have assumed the lender operated from an alleyway and collected repayments with baseball bats.

Here, Helena stated it with the serene expression of a priestess discussing salvation.

Then again, perhaps Caurelia’s salvation simply came with aggressive interest.

Damian leaned back and began calculating.

Valorian currency followed the familiar fantasy structure.

One hundred Copper Coins equaled one Silver.

One hundred Silver equaled one Gold.

He had not yet learned what existed above Gold, if anything, and Valoria did not seem to use paper currency for ordinary transactions.

That raised a bizarre question.

What happened when something cost 1.5 Copper? Did decimal transactions simply not exist? Was there a smaller denomination? Did merchants round everything?

Hmmm... he would investigate this later.

Based on everything he had seen in Rosewood’s market and the Guild quest board, Damian estimated one Copper Coin had roughly the purchasing power of one US dollar during the inflation-heavy years of his previous life.

Of course, this was crude and possibly wildly inaccurate, but useful as a mental reference.

That meant one Silver represented roughly one hundred dollars.

One Gold represented ten thousand.

Fifty Gold was...

Five hundred thousand dollars?!

Damian stared at Helena with alarm.

She... no, this bank... was offering a Level 1 Mage the fantasy equivalent of half a million dollars!

Right, right, different world, different rules.

Very different rules, it seemed.

The interest was monstrous, but so was Adventurer earning potential.

More importantly, Damian did not intend to use the money merely to buy better meals and comfortable furniture.

He needed inventory, goods that could be moved through the Dual-Realm Exchange System as well as items he could test for profitability between Valoria and eventually Shengyuan.

Fifty Gold could give him the capital necessary to discover arbitrage opportunities before he ever understood either economy completely.

"I’ll take the Starter Pack," Damian decided.

Helena became noticeably happier, and the registration process was disturbingly modern.

Damian provided his Guild identification, confirmed his name and Class, placed his hand against a verification crystal and allowed the bank to authenticate his Character Sheet information.

Helena created his Caurelian account, explained repayment dates and walked him through the covenant before Damian signed.

The agreement allowed scheduled deductions from registered income streams and contained extensive provisions covering default, asset seizure, Adventurer death and disputes under Caurelia’s divine contract laws.

Damian read every word without skipping even the most boring small text. Years of dealing with employers, insurance forms and predatory fine print had permanently cured him of the sickness of signing documents blindly.

Once satisfied, he pressed his thumb against the final rune, and a golden light flashed.

[Premium Checking Account Opened. Current Balance: 50 Gold Coins.]

His Adventurer Guild card vibrated and showed these details.

Helena explained that it had now been linked directly to his Caurelian account.

Damian could use the card for payment in most registered businesses without carrying physical currency, and transfers between compatible identification systems were equally easy.

Adventurer’s Guild cards, Mage Association cards, Mercenary Guild credentials, Trade and Commerce Guild accounts, Dwarven Association identification, and Merchant Guild ledgers were all linked, generally speaking.

The various institutions had standardized enough protocols to communicate financially.

Damian stared at his card, which was now his identification, quest tracker, map, communication device and debit card.

Damian was firmly of the opinion that Alexander Smith and Elias Rosenfeld had committed crimes against fantasy aesthetics!

...but damn if their systems weren’t convenient.

By the time they left the bank, afternoon was already beginning to fade, and the moment outside carried an unexpected awkwardness.

This was where Damian and the Valkyries would have to finally separate.

"You’re really going off on your own now?" Janet asked, rocking slightly on her heels.

"For tonight, yes. I need somewhere permanent to sleep, then I want to explore the market properly," Damian replied.

Paulina nodded. "Tomorrow you do your first quest?"

"That’s the plan," Damian answered with a nod.

"You... you’d better not die!" she warned with flapping ears.

Damian smiled. "I’ll try to avoid it."

Eunice stepped closer. "We should exchange communication signatures through our Guild cards. If you need help, contact us."

They quickly did so.

Damian looked at the four women. "I meant what I said earlier. I hope we can take quests together later."

Julia crossed her arms. "Hmph, you would need to catch up to us first!"

Damian frowned. "What level are you guys?"

"Above five!" Julia answered proudly, her nose in the air.

Damian paused.

Right, they were Silver Adventurers. That should have been obvious.

Janet puffed out her chest. "Work hard, little Copper fellow! Perhaps one day the mighty Valkyries will allow you to carry our bags!"

"Dream on!" Damian couldn’t help but smile at that.

Their farewell was lighter after that.

Still, Damian felt strangely reluctant watching them disappear into the crowd.

Yes, he had known them for less than a day, yet they were the first people to offer him warmth in his new life.

But the young man was certain they would meet again soon.

Damian spent the next several hours doing something he understood far better than magic: observing.

He walked through Rosewood’s markets without buying much, examining prices, customer traffic and merchandise.

Food, clothing, tools, potions, ores, monster materials, books and manuals, furniture and imported goods.

He compared districts, watched which stalls attracted wealthy clients and noted which products appeared abundant or strangely scarce.

His Persuasion Specialization helped him casually question merchants without sounding like an interrogator, while years of logistics work allowed him to recognize supply patterns hidden beneath the fantasy appearance.

By evening, Damian had pages of notes stored inside his Spellbook.

Now, it was time to find a place to rest his tired head.

The residential district offered far more property than Damian expected.

Eventually, a realtor named Marissa showed him what she repeatedly described as a ’modest beginner residence for a Mage.’

It was a two-story cottage with four bedrooms, two washrooms, a private well, a small enchanted pool behind the house, and a large garden surrounded by a waist-high stone wall.

All for the ’crazy’ price of three Silver Coins per month!

Damian stared at her speechlessly. "This... is low-end housing?"

Marissa adjusted her fitted grey business dress and gave him an uncertain smile. "For a Standard-Class Adventurer? Certainly. Most Mages prefer something closer to the Arcane District, especially once they need reinforced casting rooms."

Three Silver, roughly three hundred dollars using Damian’s crude conversion, for all this?

Rosewood’s property market clearly operated under completely different pressures from Earth.

"I’ll take it."

Registration took only minutes through his Guild card, and the first month’s rent was transferred immediately.

Marissa then walked Damian through the property.

The woman herself was attractive in a polished, corporate way, somewhere in her late twenties, with carefully styled dark hair and the practiced confidence of someone whose income depended upon commission.

By the time they reached the upstairs bedroom, she had noticed both Damian’s Mage Class and the rather substantial balance that briefly appeared during payment authentication.

Naturally, her professional smile changed, though only slightly.

"If you’re new to Rosewood, Mr. Baines, settling into an empty house can feel rather lonely. For certain preferred clients, I occasionally provide a more... personal welcome service after business hours," Marissa offered, allowing the meaning to hang openly between them.

Damian looked at her, instantly understanding that this was the typical high-society ’freebie’.

She was indeed attractive, at least a solid 7.5 out of 10. She was nowhere near the likes of the Four Valkyries, Selene and definitely not Ophelia, but that was what made it more appealing.

She was exactly the kind of woman most men felt was ’high-quality’ but not ’unattainable’, hitting that sweet spot of attraction.

To that end, Damian would have been lying to himself if he claimed the idea held no appeal.

A long, stressful day, a comfortable bed and an adult woman directly offering companionship required no complicated interpretation.

For several seconds, Damian genuinely considered it.

Then, he exhaled.

"Tempting, but I’ll pass tonight. You’re beautiful, but only I am allowed to break in my bed for the first night," Damian replied with a crooked smile.

Marissa stared, then laughed, taking no offense at the rejection.

Another truth that followed the occurrence of these ’high-society freebies’ was that most high-society men rejected them.

After all, these fellows usually had better options on speed dial most of the time, and they feared disease, or they feared being baby-trapped into child support. There was even the fear of a trap, whether robbery or a false accusation; either was fatal.

So the women who usually made these offers usually got tips for being rejected, not accepted.

It was essentially the rich fellow saying, ’take this and buy yourself something nice, but never mention this to me again’.

For Marissa, there was the added bonus of no disgust in Damian’s expression, which allowed her to maintain a great amount of dignity.

Marissa handed him the final property key-rune and genuinely wished him luck in all his endeavors before leaving.

Finally, for the first time since awakening in Valoria, Damian was alone.

He stood in the quiet bedroom and looked around.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, the young man had died on pavement after finishing overtime for a mere 120 bucks.

Now he possessed magic, 50 Gold Coins in borrowed capital and access to two worlds filled with opportunity.

The contrast was almost ridiculous.

Damian removed his robe, placed the blackwood staff beside the bed and lay down.

Tomorrow, he would complete his first Copper Quest.

After that...

His real work would finally begin.

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