Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 3070: Women At Work

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Five Regions, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Tower, Penthouse Office

“How about this? We don’t play favorites with anyone. Instead, we reduce the maximum loan from sixty percent of their accumulated merits to forty percent for everyone,” Jill revised their original proposal, already working through the numbers in her head. “As for the interest rate, I’ll need to first look at the amount of merits being requested and the Empire’s available reserves. Then we can calculate the most favorable rate, one that allows us to break even while still generating a reasonable profit.”

She paused before adding, “By my calculations, we should be able to make this work as long as we ensure that only those who genuinely need the loans receive them instead of simply handing them out to everyone.”

In Jill’s mind, the real problem wasn’t the loan system itself. It was the sudden surge in demand.

Everyone was trying to spend their accumulated merits at the same time because of my impending departure. If the demand were distributed over several months, or even a year, the New Empire would have far more room to accommodate them.

Given enough time, they could offer more attractive loans with significantly lower interest rates without putting excessive pressure on the Empire’s reserves.

“That sounds like a plan I can support,” Susan said, hearing Jill say she would try to keep the interest rate as low as possible. She understood, sometimes taking out a loan was necessary. And this is one of those times for the

people. Therefore, she was trying to get the best deal.

“Also, make sure the loans aren’t automatically passed on to family members in the event of special circumstances,” Anna added. “If someone dies serving the New Empire, I think the Empire can afford to bear that loss.”

Her suggestion made it clear that repayment would remain the responsibility of the individual who took the loan. Their spouse, children, parents, or other immediate family members wouldn’t automatically inherit the debt.

Anna had taken Susan’s concerns seriously. Even the harsh remarks directed at her had made their point. She might not have liked hearing them, but she understood that there was truth behind them.

“Jill, make use of Hive Spirit,” Susan suggested, watching the constipated expression on Jill’s face as she tried to calculate a suitable interest rate in her head.

Jill was mentally going through the lists submitted by the department heads and organizational leaders to Hive Spirit. The lists contained their requested rewards rather than the exact amount of merits they would need to borrow, but she was using the information to estimate the total demand.

She wanted to give the group at least a rough idea of what interest rate they could offer on merit loans without putting unnecessary strain on the New Empire’s finances. So that they can proceed with this idea and make an official announcement.

“Susan, do you think we can trust the department heads and organizational leaders to ensure merit loans are only taken by those who genuinely need them?” Anna asked. She wasn’t asking her because Jill was busy. She genuinely wanted Susan’s perspective.

Anna trusted the department heads and organizational leaders. Every one of them had earned her respect, and she had no reason to believe they would deliberately abuse the system.

But Susan had just shown them several cases where more influential and well-connected candidates had been chosen for missions despite other members being equally capable and arguably more deserving of the opportunities.

That had planted a seed of doubt in Anna’s mind. Perhaps the leaders weren’t as impartial as she had assumed. They were good people, but good people could still be biased.

At the same time, Anna understood why such things sometimes happened. Running an organization wasn’t about following rules with mechanical precision. Sometimes you had to grease a few wheels to get things moving.

As Susan had pointed out, those incidents weren’t serious enough to warrant severe punishment. But they weren’t insignificant enough to simply ignore either.

“Let them apply for and appeal their loan requests through Hive Spirit. It can flag the cases that need our attention,” Susan replied, building on Jill’s earlier suggestion. “That would not only make our work easier, but also remind everyone that no matter how thorough or careful they are, they still can’t slip things past Hive Spirit.”

She smiled faintly, adding, “It’s like hitting two birds with one stone.”

Hive Spirit already handled an enormous volume of information across the New Empire and VR-universe. Reviewing and flagging a few loan applications would hardly be a burden in comparison.

“Great. I think we can create a similar application and appeal process for the merit pools of departments, organizations, and families,” Anna said with a nod. “That way, we can ensure the resources allocated for their development aren’t swallowed by a single individual and their friends or family.”

She leaned back thoughtfully. Those merit pools were meant to strengthen the departments and organizations themselves, not become private reserves for whoever happened to control them. If Susan hadn’t pointed them out they would have totally forgotten about them. Anna continued, “This system would help ensure they’re actually used for their intended purpose.”

“Nine to eleven percent annual interest,” Jill suddenly blurted, her face lighting up as she met Susan’s eyes.

It was the estimated interest rate Susan had demanded from her earlier. No, Jill wasn’t provoking her. If anything, she was acknowledging Susan’s concerns. Now that she had worked through the numbers, she was eager to show Susan that she had taken her criticism seriously.

“That’s only a rough estimate. Once we have the actual data, I believe we can offer our people an even lower interest rate.”

“Great!” Susan beamed, nodding approvingly, as the estimated interest rate was already smaller than she had expected.

For the first time since the debate had begun, the three women seemed to be moving in the same direction. Now they could finally proceed with the announcement as planned.