After thinking long and hard about all the economic models he had studied during his time on Earth, Daneel had come up with this model whose success was dependent on the capability of those to whom he gave this loan.
He had actually been inspired by macroeconomics, which had been hailed in the beginning of the 20th-century as the tool which would end world hunger.
Yet, as the years went by, this claim became challenged more and more until it was completely overturned by research which showed that macroeconomics was 'an' answer, but definitely not 'the' answer.
Macroeconomics basically meant giving small loans to people who are in need of them, usually without taking any surety.
This was all well and good in the cases of those who did honest work and paid back what they had been given.
The problem came when some issue came with the business, making it so that people couldn't pay back the loan. This made them fall into a never-ending cycle of interest payments over interest payments, finally giving them no other option except to either run away or commit suicide in order to escape the debt that they could not pay back.
Also, there were many cases of fraud where people used this system to take loans using bogus claims.
The other model that had inspired Daneel was the corporate model where individuals or organizations invested in promising companies and were paid back in an amount multiplied by a predetermined number.
Although this wasn't very common, its advantage was that it did not put much stress on the people who were being lent the money, as they knew the exact amount they had to pay back and could work while keeping that in mind, as these deals are usually in a way that a long amount of time was given before the money had to be paid back.
Daneel had basically combined both of these schemes to make his own. The key to finding success in the second case was identifying the right company which could earn enough money to pay back what had been given to them.
Hence, after identifying these hard-working people, he had selected them as the first who would be testing out this model to see if it works.
After all, they would be losing nothing with only the kingdom sustaining a loss of 500,000 Gold Lans in the worst-case if it did not work out.
Having some time to think about everything and also ask the officials in case they had any queries, the people in the room slowly started to realize that this was actually a very beneficial scheme for them.
After all, the main problem they were facing was that they could not place anything as surety to obtain the money. Here, they were getting the money without any surety, and they would also have no debt to pay back if their business ended up failing.
Thinking along these lines, they understood that what the King asked for was actually very reasonable. He would share in the profits but he would not reprimand them if there were none. As honest citizens, why would they hesitate from sharing the profit if the reason for it was the loan in the first place?
Besides, even if they obtained loans from loan sharks, 20% of the money would have to be paid anyway if they took it with an interest rate of 5% with four months passing from the date of taking the loan.
Although some were slow and some were fast, these calculations did not take long to occur to them.
As they did so, they realized that the King might even be giving the money at a loss while also risking a loss in the first place.
Now, they finally understood that this was indeed a scheme meant to benefit them as they were the subjects of such a thoughtful king.
Although Dalia was still doing the calculation slowly while adorably looking at her fingers which she was using to keep count, tears had already started to appear in the eyes of Helena who understood that this really was as perfect a solution as could be in their present situation.
She knew clearly that they would have agreed even if the rate was set at 50%, because all of them were that desperate.
Yet, clearly, the motive of the King wasn't to earn money.
It was to help those who had placed their trust in him, by trusting them back.
Wordlessly, each of them started to bow to the man who had now been thoroughly idolized in their hearts.
As he saw this sight, Daneel smiled to himself.
No matter what he accomplished, the feeling that came when he saw the needs of people being addressed was truly something else.
…
In the Throne room of the Black Raven Kingdom.
The Black Raven King sat on the throne, smiling to himself and still reminiscing about the blood boiling fight he had had in the stadium.
His great mood making his tongue loose, he glanced at the old man who had just entered with an irritated expression on his face and said, "See? No countermeasure was needed whatsoever. There is no one who can defeat me at the same level as me, let alone someone weaker."
The old man had recently been having a bad time. The wound he had sustained long ago was acting up more and more these days, and his supply of energy was dwindling due to the fact that the Energy in the ancestral grounds of the Black Raven Kingdom was close to being sucked dry.
Today, the pain was especially worse, but he had still endured it and come to the Throne Room as he had wanted to give certain orders to the king.
Now, the moment he entered, the irritating smirk of the King and his gloating words served to make him blow his fuse.
"You idiot. You think you won that fight through your own effort?"
Hearing this question, an expression of utter shock came on the Black Raven King's face.
Feeling all the happiness and pride that he had been reveling in since the moment he had won the fight receding from him like a flood, he asked in a disbelieving tone, "What are you...talking about?"
Seeing the expression of the King change from one of happiness to extreme shock and fear, the old man started feeling sick satisfaction that actually helped to ignore the pain which had been affecting him since the morning.
Satisfaction of the mind really did result in satisfaction of the body, he mused, before deciding to continue and end the fairytale of this stupid King.
"If I had allowed it to do so, the last attack would have blown you away, resulting in your loss. To think that you extended a hand in 'friendship' to someone who was defeated by underhanded means. Pfft. It made me laugh."
Placing two and two together, the King realised that the old man certainly wasn't bluffing.
His world shattering around him, all he could do was stare dumbly as the old man smiled wide at his plight and laughed to himself before opening his mouth and saying, "Snap out of the delusion that you are something great. If I wanted to, I could get any other warrior and put him in your place. I'm only not doing so because it would be too much of a hassle to go through all the processes that I did with you when you took the deal. All you have to do is sit on the Throne and pass your time while carrying out the orders I give. Send more scouts to look for Ker Gem mines, and also contract a few mine hunters to look for a new mine ASAP. I don't care which division you decrease budget from to make it happen. Just do it."
Laughing again seeing the King who was still staring at him dumbstruck, the old man walked away, leaving a cackle in his wake.
It took a few minutes for the King to finally return to his senses. After he did so, he couldn't help but use both of his hands to slam the Throne, which ended up hurting him as the Throne was nigh indestructible.
Not caring that his arms were bleeding, the King kept reliving the moments after the fight where he had graciously extended the hand of 'friendship' with the hope that he could have many more fights like that.
Why hadn't the man said anything? Why had he accepted after only giving that silly condition?
He needed to know. Taking out a communication trinket, he said, "Call Eganev to the throne room immediately."