Chapter 211: A Formidable Aftermath
Philip, the mayor of Denova, received a report from his secretary that the airship that had left for the floating continent had lost contact.
“What was the last communication they sent?”
“They said they encountered an unidentified monster.”
“A monster, not a demon?”
“Since there was no report of a gate opening nearby, it is likely to be a monster.”
“True, demons usually appear near the mines. What kind of monster do you think it was? We’ve wiped out most of them.”
The centuries-long fight between the Ains and the monsters had practically ended with the development of Goliath.
Goliath could easily hunt down large monsters like ogres that were hard to handle before.
Now, monsters were confined to undeveloped areas or specific zones that people did not reach, and their numbers were steadily decreasing.
However, the sea was still full of monsters, and this was one of the reasons why the Ains shunned the sea along with the shadow elf pirates.
If they launched a ship, they would either sink or be attacked by pirates.
So they gave up on it willingly.
However, there was a possibility that monsters existed on the floating continent.
No one had ever been there before, so it was not known. The rumor that Baron Vandus had lowered his barrier did not spread much.
“We are currently contacting the nearest garrison that has access to that area.”
“Find out as soon as possible.”
Soon after, a desperate report came to Mayor Philip.
“I’m sorry, sir. The wreckage of Maven has been found. It seems to have sunk just before arriving at the floating continent.”
“…”
Mayor Philip looked out at the clock tower with a gloomy face.
He had invested 10,000 gold in the airship, including the crew and cargo, but it had vanished completely.
If that was all, it would have been better, but there were many people who had high hopes for the airship, and there was even a risk of a stock market crash.
It would have been fine if only the leaders knew about it, but since the Elvrande army had intervened, it was only a matter of time before the rumor spread.
Rumors had a strange property: they spread faster when you didn’t want them to.
He ordered his secretary to sell the shares of each company through the communicator.
“Sell all the stocks related to the floating continent companies. Leave only the minimum and sell everything else. Yes! Mine too!”
It was clearly insider trading, but he did not hesitate.
If the sinking of the airship became known, the stocks of related companies would surely plummet.
Of course, there was only one airship and no investment had been made in that field yet, but interest was so high that even unrelated companies’ stocks had risen.
How much so? Even supplying goods to the garrison on the floating continent increased their stock price by 1.3 times.
The investors, including Denova merchants, poured money without hesitation in anticipation of great wealth from the floating continent.
“All that’s left is to crash.”
“I think we should expect at least a 30% drop.”
“The investors will suffer a lot…”
If he were an ordinary investor, he would be glad to recover his money before the incident broke out.
But Philip was the mayor who was responsible for all of Denova.
The collapse of investment sentiment due to the explosion of the airship was not a good sign.
But he had no choice.
Philip suddenly began to doubt whether he had done well by canceling his deal with Baron Vandus.
“I should have traded with him even if I had to kick out some merchants.”
He protected the merchants, but it seemed like all of Denova was going to be shattered.
“Didn’t you always say that you don’t have to worry about stock prices as long as the value of your company doesn’t change?”
“That’s what I said when I could block new investors from entering. The floating continent is a new market. It’s not good to start off like this.”
“I see…”
“Investment is psychological. A word can make stock prices fluctuate and decide the fate of a company.”
In that sense, cutting ties with Baron Vandus was a big mistake.
‘I should have held hands with him even if I had to be greedy.’
He misjudged that he had found a way to land on the floating continent.
Now he would have to pay an unimaginable price to get back on his good side.
‘Didn’t he say 30,000 gold wasn’t enough? I might have to pay ten times that.’
Would he give up on him and pay a huge price, or find another way?
The former would cause a lot of backlash and there was nothing he could think of for the latter.
‘If I had traded then… damn, I should have left those bastards alone, whether they were hurt or not.’
The more he thought about it, the more he resented the merchants who had been sent to Baron Vandus’s territory.
They should have been satisfied with the commission, but they ruined the deal by being too greedy.
Philip knew that the situation would get worse as time passed, but he couldn’t come up with a plausible countermeasure.
Instead, he instructed his secretary on what to avoid in a bear market.
“When the stock price starts to fall, buy a little bit, but use a different name. You can make as many companies as you want, so handle it yourself.”
“As you say.”
“Don’t buy too much at once and arouse suspicion. The homeland also sent an airship, so they will use that to cover up. We can’t let the investment sentiment be dampened.”
Denova was not the only one who sent an expedition to the floating continent.
Denova was the fastest to move, but some of the Elvrande garrison had airships.
Since the distance was short, it wouldn’t be long before the rumor reached them.
‘And I’ll have to hear from the family.’
Elvrande’s investment money was also quite involved in Denova, and especially the Gregor family had invested a lot of money because of Philip.
It would be strange if he didn’t get scolded for losing it.
If he made a mistake, his position could be shaken.
‘I don’t think it will go that far, but I should be prepared.’
Philip was the founding hero of Denova and the pioneer who created the company and stock market.
Most of the systems came from his hands, and he had made history for decades.
This incident would hurt his position, but it wouldn’t be decisive.
Still, Philip was not comfortable.
“I guess I have no choice. Send a gift to Baron Vandus. It’s in my name, so be careful.”
“I don’t think he’ll accept it…”
“I know it’s not easy to sit at the same table with him. But I have to sow some seeds. It’s better than giving up later without doing anything.”
The secretary marveled at his shamelessness.
It seemed that being a mayor who led Denova required a thick skin as a basic skill.
The gift that the secretary prepared was a silverd slave.
He thought that he would be satisfied with a silverd who had a high reputation for their beauty, but he found out that he had a maid.
It wouldn’t be a problem if she was just a maid, but her relationship with the baron was not ordinary.
“She doesn’t even look at other women, so I guess they have a deep relationship.”
“She takes care of his night service as well as various things in his territory. She’s practically his secretary.”
“If we send him a slave, it might backfire.”
It would be troublesome if the gift he sent offended him.
The secretary tried to send a gold statue that would be welcomed by anyone, but it was rejected.
Mayor Philip sighed when he saw the unopened gift on his desk.
“It seems like it will take a lot of time.”
And finally, the rumor that Maven had sunk just before approaching the floating continent reached Denova.
As soon as morning came, countless merchants and investors stormed into the central exchange.
“15 silver, 15 silver for all!”
“There’s no one buying! That’s too low!”
The exchange agents sweated over the orders that poured in.
Many employees stuck to the wall and updated the prices in real time, and the exchange soon became noisy.
“How did you manage the ship? You were so confident!”
“I lost 10 gold! Tell the mayor to come out!”
“Don’t use magic! You’ll be tracked!”
Then Mayor Philip appeared with his staff.
“Thank you, investors, for visiting the central exchange today. You must have heard about the airship. But before you sell your stocks, I have something to tell you.”
“Currently, Elvrande has also sent an airship following us in Denova, but it has crashed. It belongs to the army, so they must be strict and precise. They won’t approach the turbulence rashly. That’s what I mean.”
“So you’re saying that the cause of this incident was turbulence?”
Someone asked that, but Mayor Philip shook his head.
“It’s not easy to tell you the cause at this point. The floating continent is a mystery among mysteries. It wouldn’t be strange if a dragon from 200 years ago popped out.”
To add to that, Mayor Philip was one of the elves who had witnessed the dragon war 200 years ago.
He was young then, but he clearly remembered the majesty of Altema, who clashed with the gods.
“Hmm, true…”
“I heard that the turbulence is severe. There are not only updrafts but also downdrafts. If a ship gets caught in it, it won’t end with just swaying.”
“Elvrande’s army has intervened, so something will be revealed. Let’s wait until then.”
The agitators he had planted beforehand threw in a word each, and everyone seemed to fall for it.
The selling pressure subsided, and thanks to that, Philip and other major forces were able to sell their stocks without much damage.
It was because the news of Elvrande’s airship crashing was delayed a bit.
Elvrande was a very closed society and the army had an even more severe atmosphere, so information did not leak out easily.
Even Denova, where all kinds of rumors and information circulated, did not know about the incident until a few days later.
But once the rumor started to spread, it was only a matter of time before it reached the whole continent.
The stocks of companies that Philip and other major forces had cleared began to plummet.
“What? How did this happen? Elvrande’s airship also sank almost at the same time?”
“Elvrande is different, so let’s wait and see?”
“Mayor! Mayor Philip!”
“Don’t tell me he got the information beforehand and sold all his stocks?”
People shouted, but he did not answer.
His credibility would go down, but there was nowhere they could go with their money.
Denova was the only stock and securities exchange in Astera.
There was no alternative.
However, it was clear that the atmosphere was very hostile even for Philip who had a powerful backing of a noble family.
He took his hands off the market for a while and watched the situation.
The imperial defense ministry of Elvrande was also paying attention to this incident and sent investigators.
“It seems like the aftermath will be worse than I thought.”
He predicted that Baron Vandus would enter the exchange.
It was perfect timing to enter as it was the lowest point in ten years.
He planned to use that as an excuse to promote securities and bonds and change the mood, but they did not move.
“Why? They’re not ignorant of this side. It’s low now. The fallen stocks will recover over time.”
Of course, Leobold planned to activate the stock and financial markets someday.
But that had to be done after building a reliable and stable system that everyone could trust.
He had no intention of entrusting it to someone like Mayor Philip who changed the rules as he pleased.
Meanwhile, not only Denova or Elvrande but also other forces who knew about this incident increased.
Zaum also sent an expedition team including an airship to the floating continent, and many countries such as Palma of Holy State and Imir Republic of dwarves sent personnel.
The whole Astera was focused on the floating continent and Baron Vandus’s territory.
****
Elvrande was not very changeable and quite insensitive to the flow of the current.
But it was different when their interests were at stake.
Especially if it was the mysterious floating continent.
The imperial defense ministry moved the garrison without discussion and sent an airship, but it crashed and several commanders had to attend a hearing.
The chairman of the grand council was known to be authoritative, as hundreds of members looked down on others in a hierarchical structure.
As a result, the military commanders were more nervous than when they fought with humans.
—Why did you move the airship without consultation? Who gave the final order?
—What was the cause and course of this incident? What is on the floating continent that caused this mess?
—What kind of place is Baron Vandus’s territory, which is the only one that landed an airship? Where is it attached and who is the owner?
Various questions were thrown out, and not only the military commanders but also various bureaucrats of the empire had to mobilize.
The schedule was endless, and it had been two weeks since the hearing began, but they hadn’t even sorted out the list of questions.
Margreta, the princess of the empire, stepped in.
She was 120 years old, which was young among elves, and followed Luster, one of the Elven Pantheon, according to tradition.
She belonged to a family that produced champions of gods and was a member of the imperial royal family, but her influence was not very great.
The current Elvrande had most of the power concentrated in the grand council.
They had a lot of authority, but they were so bloated that most of the bills did not pass.
On top of that, the elves’ unique sense of time made it impossible to pass a bill in less than 10 years.
However, thanks to her great father Eilidh, who built a good system, there was no big problem.
The real problem was the elders who wanted to grant divinity to Eilidh and elevate him to a new Elven Pantheon and their followers.
Eilidh was undoubtedly a great ancestor who founded the current empire, but he was strictly a high elf.
The grand council was burning with debate over whether a mortal could become a god, and it had been going on for decades.
Anyway, when Margreta appeared in front of the chairman, the old elves who expressed their displeasure with their whole body stood up from their seats.
The current royal family did not have much power, but they did not lose their legitimacy as they protected Yggdrasil and continued the lineage of the Elven Pantheon.
However, Margreta was not on good terms with the elders because she advocated for elf reform.
She dismissed the list of questions that spanned dozens of pages and asked the witnesses directly.
“I’ll ask the commander of the garrison on the floating continent. What exactly caused our airship to sink?”
“The last communication we received was that they were being attacked by a huge creature with blue wings. The intelligence officers suspect it might be a dragon.”
As soon as the problematic statement came out, some members denied it and stepped forward.
“It’s impossible.”
“The dragons were exterminated by us. There are many witnesses, do you think they are lying?”
The elves had lifespans of over 300 years, so there were quite a few who had experienced the Great War.
They believed that the dragons had finally gone extinct.
Well, it had been 200 years since the war ended and there was no sign of them until now.
But it was unbelievable that a dragon had appeared on the floating continent.
Princess Margareta gave a hint to the senators who were about to explode and asked again.
“There were a few blue dragons during the Great War, but they all met their final death. Are you saying that a new dragon has appeared, General?”
“The dead were loyal soldiers of the empire and my subordinates. I trust them.”
The general’s tightly closed lips showed his trust in his subordinates.
It might not have been a blue dragon, but it seemed certain that something similar had appeared.
“Good. The next issue is about the flight route of the airship, which is vague. Did the airship land on the floating continent or not?”
“I will tell you exactly here. We cannot land on the floating continent with our current technology. We ultimately failed.”
“What about the airship from Vandus territory? It says it landed.”
“It might have caught an updraft. What I want to say is that there is a limit to altitude control using buoyant stones. The floating continent is about 1 or 2 km higher than the maximum altitude of the airship.”
“Then the airship from Vandus territory accidentally landed. But according to this document, an airship owned by the Bagran royal family moved to Vandus territory. Did they find a way to use the updraft continuously?”
“I can’t guarantee it, but it’s likely.”
Margareta’s solo inquiry continued for a while.
The inquiry was quite direct and clear, so it was surprisingly easy to answer.
The commander of the floating continent garrison was relieved that he had mentioned Altemaho and suffered from the senators.
He hated the name of that dragon, but he had only briefly mentioned it and they had tripped over it.
It was not yesterday or today that the senators were obsessed with trivial issues.
Once they became senators, their seats were guaranteed for more than 100 years, so they were all blinded by their interests and ignored the real problems.
There were even people who only put their names on and did not attend the meeting.
Nevertheless, Elvrande was still functioning well because the basic system was well established and because it dominated the hegemony of Astera.
As a large country, it had abundant resources and all kinds of new technologies and concepts represented by ether were first introduced in Elvrande.
The core of Goliath was an exception, but the Republic of Imir was more advanced in terms of propulsion systems and train engines.
Margareta was one of the few elves who argued that radical reforms and changes were needed in this empire.
She cautiously opened her mouth.
“It is clear that Vandus territory has a way to land on the floating continent, whether it is an updraft or not. Our technology should not be difficult to follow, so how about reorganizing the troops? I heard that place is very volatile.”
The general was surprised that she knew that much.
“As you said, the area around the floating continent requires a quick response force due to falling debris and drastic weather changes every hour.”
“Good. Then what do you think about the composition of the troops?”
Then one of the senior senators raised his hand.
“We will take care of that issue ourselves, Your Highness.”
Margareta bit her lip slightly and protested.
“You guys can’t find a compromise point, so this is happening. Was it so important to name a single airship?”
“That was also our mistake. We are reflecting on it, so please step back from this issue.”
“The reorganization of the frontline troops is the authority of the Ministry of Defense and the Military Committee of the Senate. Your Highness, please go to Yggdrasil and pray for a smooth landing.”
“…”
As she was blocked by the senators, Margareta could not continue her opinion.
It was already shocking enough that she came to the podium and spoke directly.
She left silently and then a boring debate resumed at the podium.
“Why didn’t you report in advance that you fired an ether cannon?”
“It seemed like there was no time to report in such an urgent situation, sir.”
“Fighting with enemies is dangerous and urgent, of course. But reporting is also an important procedure. Have you forgotten who gives you the budget for your garrison?”
“…I’m sorry. I’ll pay more attention in the future.”
“It’s also a problem that you used communication stones recklessly. Do you think we have an unlimited budget? I could have reduced this communication with your base to three sentences.”
As he was scolded with nitpicking and psychological torture, the general was almost exhausted.
When he was carried out, it was the bureaucrats’ turn.
The bureaucrats who managed stocks and bonds in connection with Denova felt their faces pale.
They had blown up the assets of the senators, so they would be scolded for at least a week.
Similar things were happening in other countries, although not as severe.
The landing of an airship on the floating continent had brought a huge aftermath.
This storm grew stronger over time, and soon most of the countries recalled their retired airships to active duty.
They thought like this.
—Vandus Baron must not have developed a great method, he was just lucky. We just have to watch and follow.
—As long as we land on the floating continent somehow, the resources there are ours. The troops of Vandus Baron are nothing.
So dozens of airships headed for the floating continent.
They did not approach rashly, knowing the precedent of Elvrande and Denova, and just watched from a distance.
And then they saw the blue dragon Zigarion appear in front of them.
—This is not a land that is allowed for you!
It was a dignified dragon speech, but it sounded like a declaration of war to the soldiers on the airship.
Ether cannons were fired from dozens of airships and Zigarion felt his shield shatter.
-Graaah!
He fled with burns all over his body.
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