Chapter 208: Give Me the Money
A month had passed since Altema left for the floating continent.
The atmosphere in the Vandus barony was one of resignation.
There was no news at all.
“They said they took a communication device with them, so shouldn’t there be some reports in real time?”
“If there’s no word from the lord by now, it means… they failed.”
“But how fast is the airship? Maybe they haven’t arrived yet?”
Everyone just blinked their eyes.
As most rural domains were, they had little information about airships.
The only sure things they knew were that they could fly in the sky and that they were expensive to operate.
And that was only after hearing Carson, the administrator, complain about it.
“I feel sorry for the administrator. He’ll have to pay for the operation costs when the ship comes back.”
“I thought we’d finally make some money with Sardines, but we spent it all on construction and the airship. It’s not fun at all.”
“The administrator’s face is wrinkled because of that.”
“What if, just what if, the airship doesn’t come back…”
That was actually the biggest problem.
Altema was treated as a white elephant, but it was still the property of the royal family.
If it sank, it wouldn’t end with just an apology.
But what Carson was worried about was more than that.
Of course, the airship was expensive, but the current wealth of the domain was enough to cover it.
The real problem was the contract that the lord made with the merchants of Denova before the airship departed.
‘Why on earth did he make such a contract…’
Denova, a commercial city located south of the sea, was a rather peculiar city.
The merchants wanted a pure city that was not influenced by political movements, and this worked well to establish the foundation of Denova.
Numerous goods and talents gathered there, and thanks to that, Denova achieved an amazing growth in its short history of several decades.
Now, Denova was the best commercial city on the continent with its own military power.
They said there were more than 100 companies and investors in Denova.
It was a kind of joint-stock company concept, but Carson understood that much, but he couldn’t understand how they bought and sold rights.
‘What does it mean to buy and sell rights to the success of this expedition? Isn’t it just gambling?’
The problem started when the merchants from Denova came to the domain.
They showed great interest in the airship’s expedition to the floating continent after meeting with the lord.
“You’re challenging that mirage? The success rate won’t be high.”
“But I’m confident. Altema will bring us glory and wealth as its name suggests.”
“Gold Dragon Altema… If you believe in that, why don’t you make a contract with us?”
“What kind of contract are you talking about?”
At this point, the merchants’ expressions twisted slightly.
Carson knew that it was their characteristic sneer and tried to dissuade the lord, but he proceeded with the contract alone.
As a result, a contract between Vandus Baron and South Continent Joint Stock Company was placed in the administration office.
The two documents with two seals contained a terrible content.
—Vandus Baron and South Continent Joint Stock Company agree to the above contract.
—Vandus Baron will trade exclusively with South Continent Joint Stock Company goods worth more than 20,000 gold before March 1037 by continental calendar.
—South Continent Joint Stock Company will pay a premium of 1,000 gold to Vandus Baron for that.
—The penalty is 10% of the investment and Altema’s cargo will be verified by both parties. All prices are based on Denova Central Exchange’s prices on maturity date.
There was not much problem with this trade itself.
Trading future goods ahead of time was a common method and adding a premium or setting a penalty of 10% was also within normal range.
The problem was with the securities products attached to this trade.
The merchants from Denova issued securities under the pretext of high risk for this trade and charged fees for them.
The lord bought success securities.
In other words, he invested all his available funds in his domain in favor of this trade being successful without any problems.
When this fact became known to the merchants from Denova, dozens of them bought default securities.
The scale of the total product exceeded 30,000 gold and due to concerns about risk, Denova Central Exchange intervened as an arbitrator.
But Leopold did not back down and neither did the confident merchants.
They argued that they had to raise funds even by borrowing because their chances of winning were close to 100%.
“No one has ever landed on the floating continent. Even Elvrande failed several times. I don’t mean to disrespect your lord’s power, but succeeding is almost impossible.”
“There is a possibility of landing on the floating continent by riding an air current. But look at what’s written on the bond. You have to trade goods worth more than 20,000 gold by the maturity date. Do you think they’ll come back intact?”
“There are plenty of resources on the floating continent. That’s for sure. But digging them up and bringing them back by March is as likely as Altema coming back to life. So invest your money.”
“We are also worried about the possibility of Vandus Baron defaulting and fleeing. So we secured collateral. The decades-long operating rights of the dark ore mine and four Goliaths should be enough as collateral.”
The merchants didn’t even think about the possibility of losing.
As a result, they accepted what Leopold suggested.
“I want to stake the shares of South Continent Joint Stock Company as collateral. I’d also like to have the option.”
It meant that he would take the shares of South Continent Joint Stock Company instead of gold if he succeeded.
The merchants were a bit uneasy because they knew the value of that company well.
“Didn’t you know that they recently got the exclusive development rights for the southern continent? “
“Even so, the chances are slim. There has never been a precedent, has there?”
“I asked an officer stationed in the floating continent, and he said going up there was suicide.”
“A fight we can’t win.”
Thus, they officially confirmed the issuance of securities at the Denova Central Exchange, and now they were gambling with a stake of 33,000 gold.
It was a simple fight where the winner took 33,000 gold, and Carson, the administrative officer, despaired.
“Why on earth did you buy such securities, my lord…?”
The official deal proposed by Denova was not that hopeless.
The penalty of 2,000 gold was a huge amount, but it could be solved with the lord’s own money.
But 30,000 gold was an impossible amount to make even for a small lordship like Baron Vandus.
It was doubtful whether even the high nobles of the central or the Bagran royal family could afford it.
“We are already in a war, and the royal family might demand a lot from us, and this deal…”
It was natural for the administrative officer to be desperate.
Once they received the notarization from the Denova Central Exchange, they could not cancel the deal, and now one side had no choice but to go bankrupt.
The administrative officer thought that it would be his lord in nine out of ten cases, but there was no hope at all.
The lord’s actions so far were far from insane.
What if he had planned everything and prepared to rob the merchants of Denova?
Then everything would change, but unfortunately, there was no great news until March was almost over.
There was not even any contact from the Altema.
“The lord is away, and Miss Arma only says that she is fine…”
If there was anything that the administrative officer could trust, it was Arma who took care of everything meticulously.
People might see her as a mere maid who served him, but her true nature was completely different.
She was a superhuman.
She knew everything and there was nothing she couldn’t do.
In the lordship, people would go to the administrative officer for money matters, but for other general matters of the lordship, they would go to Arma.
She had amazing stamina and was fine even in a tough march. She always led by example and showed them how to do it.
Above all, she listened to the people’s stories and became very popular.
Carson asked her as a last resort, but her answer was always the same.
“You don’t trust him, do you?”
“That’s not it. I’m just frustrated. Can’t you at least tell me if you have contact with Altema?”
Because of his lord’s absence, only Arma could enter his study.
She smiled brightly and said,
“I’ll tell you one thing. You should worry about how to use 30,000 gold or the shares of the South Continent Company.”
“Then…”
“That’s all I can say. And I think we need to prepare a good house in the lordship. We have a premium from Denova, so let’s build it with that.”
“Are you expecting a guest?”
“A very valuable guest.”
She disappeared and Carson could have some hope.
And soon after, he heard that the war was over completely.
His heart sank again.
Now that the royal family had piled up debts, they would ask for money. It was a big trouble.
***
The war that had dragged on for a year ended.
Elvrande pushed back the front line by more than 100km and the human kingdoms including Zaium had no power to resist their offensive.
Hundreds of Goliaths were destroyed or damaged enough to need overhaul.
The material damage suffered by each country was also enormous.
But Elvrande did not push them cruelly as before.
They preferred to lead them to negotiations with more wars. It was much easier and more profitable.
―No matter how much humans join forces with minority races, their fundamental combat power will inevitably fall behind us.
―Therefore, we must end the war at the point where we cut off their offensive capabilities and will to fight.
―The important thing is negotiation. We must never compromise. We must show them that we have the will and power to fight again.
The human kingdoms were terrified by Elvrande who nibbled their land little by little and used negotiations as leverage. But they had no other choice.
The elves responded cynically to them.
―Didn’t you say that the winner has the right to do whatever he wants with the loser?
―But if you still want to start a war again, we won’t stop you. Come anytime.
Of course, the human kingdoms had no more power to continue the war.
Even Zaium Empire, which was at the center of it all, wanted to finish negotiations quickly. King Bagran had to take part in negotiations himself. And a very humiliating negotiation was concluded.
―The Easthart Alliance and the Elvrande Empire will finalize the border at this point and stop any hostile actions.
―Both sides will withdraw their troops by 50km and dismantle all military facilities within.
There was no big problem here. They couldn’t reclaim the territory to before the war because the elves had already planted and managed the branches of the World Tree for several months.
There was even a rumor that they were trying to dig up some relics there.
King Bagran III proposed to dig up the relics together, but he was completely ignored.
And the real important negotiation was from now on.
―The Easthart Alliance will stop worshipping Altema and completely demolish Altema’s temple in the Pantheon. The supervision of this matter will be done by the saintess of the Holy Church and the Elven Knight Tirenell.
―The Easthart Alliance agrees to cooperate actively with Tirenell’s mission and capture Altema’s worshippers.
These two matters contained humiliating content that made even Zaium Empire, who wanted to end the war quickly, hesitate.
It meant that an Elven Knight would come in and act in the Easthart Alliance.
On top of that, capturing Altema’s worshippers and sending them to Elvrande was tantamount to interfering in domestic affairs.
Of course, Altema’s worshippers were almost nonexistent now, 200 years after the Dragon War.
In the Pantheon, her place was stuck in a corner and there were not many pilgrims.
King Bagran III warned that this was not important.
“They are trying to eradicate Altema, who is like our god. We must never accept this negotiation.”
Altema, the gold dragon, clearly sided with humans in the Great War.
The elves mocked that she did not help humans but tried to dominate them, but it was a fact that she killed many elves.
No wonder she was called the Champion Slayer, the Elf Slayer.
Anyway, the elves did not compromise on anything else but eradicating Altema’s worship.
―Altema is not a god but a mere beast. It is a bad habit for humans to worship a beast that has been dead for a long time.
―We will eradicate that bad habit. So don’t interfere with the judge.
Tirenell, who was dispatched as a judge, was one of the high-ranking officials among 2,000 Elven Knights.
He was a half-elf with a congenital weakness and had a scar on his face, but he had achieved tremendous feats on the battlefield and everyone feared him.
Some people pointed out this as the reason for his dispatch.
―He must be discriminated against because he is a half-elf. Elvrande and he himself would never admit it, though.
―He will surely attract a lot of hatred when he starts his activities. Elvrande can dispose of him later without any loss.
In Elvrande, only pure-blooded wood elves and high elves were treated well.
Other races were almost treated as lower-class citizens, and half-elves were the worst among them.
The blood of elves should never be diluted.
That Tirenell had risen to a high position among the Elven Knights was a feat achieved solely by his skills.
He was so skilled that he had followers even among the Elven Knights who valued bloodline.
―His movements are even graceful. When he steps on the battlefield, victory is almost certain.
―If only his bloodline was different, the Great Houses would have increased to 13.
Anyway, the Easthart Alliance had no more power to continue the war, so they had to accept Tirenell’s dispatch.
It was unpleasant to have interference in domestic affairs, but it was just a small dispatch force, so what could go wrong?
Zaium Empire was puzzled by the quick decision of the Holy Church, but there was another truth.
There was something more important than Tirenell’s dispatch.
Prince Ruad of Bagran met the saintess who came with the Holy Knights.
She handed him a portrait in a plain clerical robe.
“Have you ever seen this person?”
In the portrait, there was a man with brown hair and brown eyes.
He had an impressive physique and a handsome appearance at a glance.
Prince Ruad glanced at the portrait and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but there is no such man in Bagran. Is this man the protagonist of the divine trust?”
“Yes. I saw him coming to Astera on a huge ship. The ship was made of black iron and it was really huge.”
“How big is the ship…”
“I don’t know much about ships, but when I asked other clerics, they said it was over 500 meters.”
Prince Ruad laughed inwardly.
It was absurd even if it was a divine trust.
Even Zaium or Elvrande could not make ships over 100 meters long for structural reasons.
It would be different if they used the shell of the World Tree as a material, but it was ridiculous in the territory dominated by elves.
Nevertheless, he did not say anything negative in front of the saintess.
“It might be possible for a hero from another world to come on such a big ship.”
“Yes. We must find this hero.”
The Holy Church was desperate to find this man who was called a hero by the world.
It was an old name and there were not many people who mocked it.
“It’s not the time when monsters rampage and the demon king tries to rule the world. There are ships flying in the sky now.”
“Even if a hero comes from another world, can he defeat the elves?”
“There is no guarantee that he will be on our side.”
“And we don’t even know who gave him the divine trust.”
There was a Pantheon in the Holy Church that enshrined the gods of Astera.
In this Pantheon, the saintess received divine trust, and depending on the god, the color of light that shone on her changed.
There were not many gods who survived after the Dragon War, and there was no god who symbolized gold among them.
Some claimed that it was a divine trust given by Rasa, the creator god, but no one believed it because his presence was so faint.
―Rasa is not a god but an origin and a rule. So he can’t have divine power.
―He was silent even during the Dragon War. How can he give divine trust now? It doesn’t make sense.
The reason why people’s perception of Rasa was shallow was because he did not do anything during the Dragon War.
Most of the gods in Astera’s Pantheon chose either humans or elves according to their will and fought fiercely.
Their feats were not recorded, but they were passed down through songs and legends. And there was no name of Rasa in them.
Despite this, the Holy Church was adamant about finding the man designated by divine trust.
“Are you sure you have never seen this man in the portrait?”
Prince Ruad was annoyed but shook his head again.
“I checked all the nobles’ profiles, but there was no similar man.”
“Is there any young man who has started to stand out recently? It doesn’t matter if only a few features are similar.”
Someone came to Prince Ruad’s mind for a moment.
Leobold Vandus Baron.
A nobleman who had started to stand out recently and had a similar physique.
But he had black hair and black eyes, and his overall facial features were not very similar to those of the man in the portrait.
He had recently made a lot of money with Sardines and even rented an airship, doing some feats.
If his feats had stopped there, he would have lost interest, but he boldly gambled with the commercial city Denova.
It was disguised as securities or goods, but to Prince Ruad, it was a gamble.
A very dangerous gamble.
‘If he succeeds, he will make a lot of money, but if he fails, he will go bankrupt… He must be crazy.’
He wondered where such courage, or rather, audacity came from.
Anyway, the saintess left with the Holy Knights, saying that she would look around Bagran.
Prince Ruad looked at the documents organized by the Treasury and clenched his teeth.
“After a year-long war, we have incurred a huge debt.”
War is never free and requires a lot of resources and manpower.
Zaium, who forced the war, backed off from the compensation part, saying they had nothing to say. Now Bagran had to bear the war expenses alone.
The war expenses of over 40,000 gold were too much for the current royal family to handle.
“Where can I get this money…”
He could not find any way out no matter how hard he thought.
In the end, he had no choice but to borrow the power of the nobles.
Prince Ruad crumpled the documents and got up from his seat weakly.
He had to visit the nobles’ territories before the debt collectors from Denova came.
***
Two days before March of the Continental Year 1037.
Baron Vandus’s territory was quite noisy with guests from Denova.
The locals earned some income thanks to them staying, but they could not hide their gloomy faces on the other hand.
There was a rumor that they were debt collectors.
No matter what era, debt collectors were not welcome, and it was even worse if it was related to the lord.
The rumor about the cargo that the airship Altemaho had to bring from the Floating Continent spread throughout the territory, and even children knew about it.
The locals waited for the airship to appear from beyond the sky with one heart and one mind.
But when the morning of the last day of March dawned, the airship did not show up.
Then, the merchants from Denova flocked to the lord’s mansion and confidently presented their documents.
“It seems like the game is over, my lord.”
“Look at this clearly stamped seal. I hope you won’t ignore this.”
They all looked happy to be able to dispose of this territory as they pleased.
There was nothing great about Baron Vandus’s territory, but it was known that he had some spare money left after selling Sardines, and he also had an anthracite mine and four Goliaths.
If they combined those rights and sold them as bonds, they would make a considerable profit.
Leobold retorted bluntly.
“It’s not April yet, is it? Just wait a little longer.”
“Sure.”
Whether he said so or not, the merchants thought that the game was already over.
They did not know what happened to Altemaho, but it was obvious that communication was cut off.
They speculated that it had crashed somewhere after being caught in a turbulence while trying to land on the Floating Continent.
It was not unusual that there was no trace of Altemaho in such a place where debris fell a lot.
And when noon came, the merchants ordered lunch at a restaurant that also served as an inn.
“Soon we will own this territory.”
“Let’s think about which bonds to issue first. How about lending four Goliaths to Bagran’s royal family?”
“By the way, this Sardines roast is really amazing.”
They were chatting and eating when it happened.
There was a loud noise outside, and it spread to the first floor of the inn.
People started to chatter.
“It’s here! It’s here!”
“The ship is back!”
What’s here?
The merchants jumped out of their seats and left the restaurant.
In the sky where the locals pointed, a ship was coming in.
It was a perfect Altemaho with a golden dragon figurehead and overall appearance.
“No way…”
“This is impossible…”
The merchants’ faces twisted in horror.
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