In the bustling metropolis of Münhel, a place thriving on commerce where you wouldn’t find anything like it in small rural villages or mid-sized towns…
There existed a special place that could only be seen in the large cities of the Sacred Empire.
The Cazerose Trading Exchange.
From a modern perspective, this could be called a primitive real estate brokerage. Due to the nature of a big city, it was a place for the smooth transactions of land and buildings that occurred quite frequently.
Through this facility, one could sell land and building documents immediately based on market price by deducting a certain commission, and the sold lands and buildings would be displayed like products in a grocery store, ready to be sold to others at an appropriate price.
Of course, the fees incurred in the process weren’t cheap, but despite that, this facility became a place that almost inevitably saw visits from those wanting to sell land or purchase buildings.
The reason was simple.
When transactions left clear traces like this, it made tax collecting easier for the lord, and reduced the risk of tax evasion. Considering that, the current lord of Münhel even offered slight tax reductions for transactions conducted through the exchange.
Moreover, even though sellers had to pay fees, they could receive cash almost instantly, making it quite worthwhile. For buyers, they could easily choose and acquire the land and buildings they desired, and with the tax reductions, it wasn’t a bad option either.
However, the key reason for this facility’s booming success was something else…
It was due to the weekly fluctuations in land and building prices, which ultimately added another character to this primitive real estate.
The so-called… nature of ‘legal gambling.’
The weekly fluctuations at the Cazerose Trading Exchange meant that land and building prices—although not drastically—could suddenly rise or fall for some reason.
In other words, this primitive real estate took on aspects similar to a modern stock market or Bitcoin…
It possessed the nature of what is commonly referred to as ‘legal gambling,’ and because of this, there were quite a few people using the facility who were buying and selling for speculative purposes.
They’d buy real estate at low prices and wait for the local real estate market to rise before selling at a higher price.
From the exchange’s perspective, the actions of these speculators seemed likely to inflict significant damage by getting in the middle and just taking the money.
However… if one dug deeper into the situation, there was actually no reason for the exchange to dislike or restrict these speculators.
Just like there’s a saying that the people who make the most money in a casino are the casino owners, no matter how rampant the speculators got, very few actually profited, while most ended up bleeding money and crying, often having to sell properties at rock-bottom prices to prevent losses.
In essence, this meant that whether the opponent won or lost, the exchange would consistently pocket the commission.
In that regard, the exchange was actually working to further fuel the speculators’ false hopes by employing graphs that showed the fluctuating real estate prices and even subtly using auxiliary hype-men to incite the speculators, working tirelessly to drive the business forward.
Thus, through the futile hopes of speculators and the rightful commissions from people wanting to buy and sell land, the Cazerose Trading Exchange became one of the wealthiest places in Münhel, with countless people waiting outside to buy and sell real estate.
And many exchange employees dealing with them created an atmosphere bustling with activity today.
To some, it provided mere convenience.
To others, it offered hope.
To others still, joy.
And to someone else, it delivered despair.
And so, from a distance, she watched the intersection of so many people’s fates…
Cazerose, who had been carrying out this series of events as my substitute, was feeling quite anxious.
“You really don’t need to be so tense. We’ve passed almost all the difficult parts now.”
“Really? Is that so?”
“Yes, indeed. The part we were most worried about has been solved.”
With that, I gently comforted the slightly nervous Cazerose.
Honestly, she had displayed nearly perfect acting as a ‘satanic interrogator’ up to this point, but at this moment, while with me, she had reverted to the somewhat timid feeling of a paladin.
It seemed she could comfortably show her true self in front of me, unlike before others.
And seeing her like this made me feel that she was quite adorable.
‘Just like when I defended Mr. Shylock, and this time too… she’s got a really nice personality and is an incredibly talented actress, doesn’t she?’
As I pondered that, a light question began to form in my mind.
‘By the way… how did Cazerose live before becoming a paladin?’
Suddenly, I realized I knew almost nothing about Cazerose’s past.
Of course, to become a paladin, one had to train and study for at least 2-3 years as a member of the clergy, so I could roughly predict what that period was like, but I knew almost nothing about her life before that.
All I knew was that she wasn’t from Milano or the Sacred Empire.
In that sense, I recalled her reaction when she talked about our destination, the Dragona Empire.
‘Her expression seemed rather bad back then… what could have happened there?’
But since she didn’t openly express dissent, it didn’t seem to be something dangerous.
Anyway, from my standpoint, while it might not be possible at the moment, it would be something worth investigating when the chance arises.
Thus, for now, I set aside these thoughts and looked at the cheerful figure of the satanic interrogator, Lipton, stepping outside with a beaming smile.
‘He’s really enjoying this. Well, no wonder… that’s how people end up getting into trouble in modern times, right?’
As I thought that, I began to recall the method I used to seduce the man named Lipton before me…
Connecting it to those who ruin everything in the name of heresy, a method that could allow one to make a lot of money… while being incredibly dangerous at the same time during this operation I was ‘designing.’
*
In the extremely advanced capitalist society where money begets money, the ways to make money had developed into something terrifyingly diverse.
Stocks and bonds were just the basics.
From there evolved the so-called derivatives, multiplying the scale of circulating capital by several folds.
The monstrous development of economics allowed one to generate 100 million or even 1 billion in business with just 100,000 won.
In reality, the scale of funds actually in operation in the current financial asset market exists in derivatives that exceed ten times that amount of paperwork ‘illusion,’ making its influence remarkably significant.
Of course, many problems have arisen because of this, and large-scale economic crises have occurred, so it always contained potential risks, but these theories based on economics created possibilities for humans to make money in any situation.
An economic theory that allows one to purchase desired items even with not a single won in hand.
And among them was… the theory containing a paradox that could create winners from ashes,
And I was using that to ‘design’ this mission.
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