Well, that's a tough one but very much current times thing, spreading rumours to undermine prestige so a company can bury itself in financial risk.
Serold and Lima being basically sold into slavery servitude isn't something out of common if they fell into debt, they weren't any higher class, but being a manufacturer can easily make you into financial problems.
Story took a rather fast turn, from simple dungeon crawling to higher society conflict, let's see how it will play out.