A few years have elapsed since the road opened. By now Janick resumes her life as a traveling magical wine merchant, sometimes offering discretionary bank accounts. However, the Bank of the Frontier's main customers are merchants dealing in magical wine, lumber, charcoal, carts or plows.

So what might look like a day like any other at work for the drunkenness-prone witch, may not be what it seems. A couple of wizards who, to her eyes, don't feel like they are run-of-the-mill merchants, rings the manor's bell next to its main door:

"Welcome to the Bank of the Frontier. What can I do for you today?" Janick asks the two wizards as she gets to the bank's door from behind the teller counter.

"We would love to take out a loan, milady!" Gyuron, a male wizard, states his request while whipping out a magical slate tablet.

If it's for buying real estate or merchandise, these wizards are just no different from other borrowers, the moneylender sighs, while the two wizards get to the bank teller's window. For some reason, however, I feel like the magic-using world is a little reluctant to use banks.

"Please, milady, hear us out!" Vestoara, a female witch, kneels before Janick before she starts crying.

"What do you want to borrow money for?" Janick asks.

"We seek a method to gain immortality, but we lack the funds to continue our research work!" Gyuron explains to her.

"Milady, we approached several banks across the world, we even promised that we would build the workshop in a certain area, but all the banks we went to thus far refused to lend us the money!" Vestoara keeps crying.

It seems like banking is an area where wizards don't seem to have much of a presence. Every bank run by non-wizards seems to refuse lending money to wizards if they borrow money for magical purposes. Don't know why, but it doesn't make any sense to me! Vestoara awaits the response from Janick, dreading the final no that could prove the nail in their scholarship coffin.

"Before I can decide whether the Bank of the Frontier can extend a loan to you, I need you to answer some questions. First, how much money do you think you can earn from your proposed method for immortality?"

"Before we can answer the question of how much money we can make from selling immortality, I believe you should know what work we already did!" Gyuron exclaims, magical tablet in hand.

Other bankers seemed to even dismiss the idea that immortality can be achieved, Gyuron muses, while he touches a patch of red on the tablet, causing an overview of their research to be legible on it. Here's to hoping the Bank of the Frontier will see the value of immortality.

"The most promising avenue we have is about storing a living being's life force into a device attached to it" Gyuron explains to a banker whom he feels is a little skeptical.

"I know that magical research is risky, isn't instant, and costs, as well as timeframes, are difficult to predict as a result!" Janick yelps. "But that's all I know about the logistics of conducting research!"

"You sound like one of the previous bankers who denied us the loan we ask for!" Vestoara whines, and is about to fume in anger.

"I guess, immortality is worth it from a commercial standpoint: you know the wealthy of this world are ready to pay through the roof for it!" Gyuron yells at Janick.

Already that the Bank of the Frontier seems to understand that research doesn't always succeed. It might take years to make the big discovery as it can happen in a matter of weeks, Vestoara muses about the outcomes of the project they seek funding for. Or it may even fail entirely.

"How long do you expect the loan to last you for? Also, if your research fails, how do you expect to pay back the loan?" Janick asks the two wizards.

"You're implying that we are putting too much faith in our project and our ability to put it to market!" Vestoara's face turns red. "We brew and sell healing potions, and we're chronically short of cash to conduct our experiments!"

"I wonder if you could try being an express courier on a broomstick as well..." Janick suggests to both wizards.

Most wizards who want to monetize their magic will do potions, talismans or mercenary work. Broomstick mail or carpet freight seems to be a little... undignified in the magic-using world, Gyuron muses while he tries to think of what he could possibly accomplish in various timeframes. At the same time, putting the life force into an item attached to it is a little like the process of becoming a lich, but lichdom is a kind of immortality that isn't what we want out of our research. I wonder if being revived within a certain timeframe qualifies for immortality.

"I would say maybe two years" Gyuron answers the banker, a little shaky.

"Two years? Maybe you could try teaching the local populace of your area basic literacy or arithmetic for a fee, or perhaps magic..."

"I feel like you want us to earn money without the need for taking out loans!" Vestoara feels a little uneasy.

"Stop beating around the bush!" Gyuron yells at Janick.

"How much do you spend on your research per year?" the banker witch asks the wizard.

"About five thousand gold per year. But if we take out the loan, we should be able to devote more time to it! And hopefully progress faster"

Maybe we could travel the land and I could then infuse knowledge into my customers, using magic! Vestoara feels like a bulb flashes in her mind. They would be able to learn much faster than they would have otherwise!

"How big of a loan do you need?"

"Thirty thousand gold" Gyuron sighs, tired of Janick asking all these questions about the context around the loan.

That's a big risk for the Bank: if these wizards fail in their quest for immortality, they may lead us to people wanting to withdraw their money, and that's no good for us, and no good for the village either! Janick is a little confused about the risks this loan carries. And not just for her, but the bank, and the village along with it. At the same time, perhaps I could carve out a niche in the banking world, specializing in magic-using customers if I wanted the bank to expand beyond "the frontier".

"Because of the risks involved, especially with the lack of a collateral, I'm afraid the interest rate is higher than usual. Twenty-five percent per year for two years as a baseline, and extras if you pay late" Janick lays down the terms of the possible loan the pair is planning to take out.

"These terms have given us a lot to think about. I think we're going to need some time to decide" Vestoara is about to storm out of the bank.

"If you don't open a bank account with us at the Bank of the Frontier, please be advised there will be extra costs. Mostly for inter-bank transaction fees" the alcohol witch warns the two immortality seekers before they leave.

The two wizards leave the bank, but at the same time, a sweaty Seloniel has returned to the manor, smelling like rubbing alcohol.

"Seloniel, I have an idea to expand the bank: targeting magic-users. However, I don't feel very comfortable with lending money to some crazy couple of wizards who think they are closing in on an immortality breakthrough, if for a loan!" Janick starts venting about what has just transpired in the bank.

"Did they provide any details as to how they plan on achieving immortality?" Seloniel asks her, reeking of alcohol.

"I'm afraid not. Which is why I didn't extend the loan just yet, but I gave them terms that will suck them dry if they accept. I ought to ask for more details before I can decide. However, I know that, with magic, it's much harder to tell whether someone is scamming than with non-magic-using scammers!"

"And yet it might also be that you're not equipped to tell good immortality mechanisms apart from bad ones, no more than non-magical bankers can, and I can't either. I am primarily a crafter" Seloniel then returns to her craft.

Damn, Seloniel is right. The bankers these wizards went to in order to take out a loan have no experience of magical research. They only know about non-magical crafting and farming, real estate, construction and trade, as far as lending is concerned, Janick muses while being reminded of what other banks deal with.

Meanwhile, the two would-be debtors are left wondering if the Bank of the Frontier's terms are acceptable because this kind of sums might get them in deep financial trouble if their research project fails. After all, the average peasant would hope to earn about 3-5k gold per year, so 30k might represent the savings of a lifetime to some.

"If this project fails, I really wonder how we'll pay for this failure should we accept the Bank of the Frontier's terms!" Vestoara starts crying.

"Don't take the outcome for granted. If it works, we will pay it back many times over!" Gyuron retorts.

"Maybe we could sell knowledge infusion scrolls, and magic-using scholars will want to have one, especially those who teach! Speaking of which, maybe we stand a better chance of getting the loan, and on more favorable terms, if we instead ask for that loan to start producing knowledge infusion scrolls!"