Currency Exchange and a Letter

We arrived in the Royal Capital via portal.

Having visited so many times now, the sense of awe had started to fade.

It meant my range of activities had expanded, but humans are a greedy lot.

Wagons and carts laden with reconstruction materials hurried back and forth along the streets.

So as not to get in their way, I left the carriage behind and headed for the royal castle with only Azu in tow to meet Lady Anatia.

I moved from the main corridor to a shortcut through a side passage.

Along the way, something caught my eye at one of the work sites.

"Take a look at that."

"That? Looks like they're demolishing a damaged building."

"Right. That's probably a warehouse. It's only half-collapsed. They could repair it and still use it. Why do you think they're tearing it down?"

"Um…"

She could have just said she didn't know and saved herself the trouble, but instead she thought hard about the intent behind my question.

That was one of Azu's strengths.

"Maybe they're taking the opportunity to build something else? It's a high-traffic area, after all."

"That's a pretty sharp answer. Though if you dig one step deeper, you'll see even more."

Having manned the shop before, Azu had come back with a perceptive response.

If they were going to keep using it as a warehouse, patching it up cheaply would have been the sensible choice.

But this warehouse had clearly been built a long time ago.

This district used to be run-down; it was only in the last decade that it had really come alive.

Land prices must have shot up considerably.

Nobody would bother putting a warehouse here now.

They were probably using the destruction as an excuse to reorganize the block and optimize it for commerce.

Once that was done, the area would boom even more than before.

When I explained this, she remarked in admiration that those in charge really did think about a lot of things.

Ideally, everything would stay the same forever, but reality didn't work that way.

Without effort, results only got worse.

Even maintaining the status quo wasn't easy.

Our shop was the same; we carried seasonal goods alongside the staples and tested new products to gauge customer reactions.

We arranged things so people coming in to buy everyday items would pick them up too.

Kazusa constantly experimenting with new dishes was for the same reason.

I believed the attitude of always trying and never getting up empty-handed after a fall was important.

The evacuation camp in the castle courtyard was still up, but the number of tents had shrunk noticeably.

Given the pace of the capital's reconstruction, the refugees would be gone soon.

And once restoration was complete, a major economic boom awaited.

You could sense shrewd merchants already preparing for it.

I could smell the money, but rather than rushing in now, it would be safer to reap those benefits through the work I was already involved in.

I knocked on the door to Lady Anatia's room and received permission to enter.

Inside were a single maid and Lady Anatia herself.

The maid was bustling about, preparing something.

"I'm sorry to have called you all the way here when things are so hectic, Yohane-san. Things have calmed down somewhat, but I can never tell when an emergency meeting will be called, so I can't leave the castle."

"Not at all. As I said before, you've done so much for me. Please don't hesitate to call on me."

"Oh, how wonderful. But if I call on you too often, I might make someone jealous."

"Jealous?"

Lady Anatia smiled elegantly in Azu's direction, then picked up a letter from her desk.

"Please deliver this to Father. If you show it to someone at Alsarm Castle, they should tell you where to find him. He won't say it, but I know he's worried about me. I'd like you to put his mind at ease by letting him know I'm safe. Especially since he's on a battlefield right now. Normally I'd offer you at least some tea, but there's a council of nobles meeting soon."

"Things seem tough on your end too. This goes for you as well, Anatia-san, but please also convey to Her Highness Princess Tianis not to push herself too hard."

"It's because you have to push yourself at times like these that you're royalty. Duties and rights are two sides of the same coin, after all. But thank you for your concern. Oh, that reminds me."

Lady Anatia opened her mouth as if remembering something.

"If you have the time, could you check the kingdom's exchange rate while you're in Alsarm? Some information has reached my ears, and I'd like to verify it."

"The exchange rate?"

For large-scale transactions or city tax collection, the amounts involved were too massive to physically transport the currency and hand it over directly.

So promissory notes guaranteeing an exchange of currency were used instead.

That was foreign exchange.

It was a strange sensation that a single piece of paper could sometimes hold the same value as more gold coins than a carriage could carry, but it was convenient.

The value of those notes was backed by the nation and its economy.

Because the notes themselves held value in lieu of actual currency, exchange rates fluctuated based on economic conditions.

If a currency was judged to have lost value, the exchange rate dropped.

If it was thought to have risen, the rate went up.

That said, when used for public purposes like taxes, the face value was honored regardless.

Exchange rates tended to move during certain events: wars, successions, things like that.

Some merchants specialized in trading on it.

Stability was generally preferable, though.

Incidentally, the Empire's exchange rate had risen sharply since Emperor Kelves's coronation.

That meant the royalties remitted from the Empire were worth more than the numbers suggested.

"As you know, Alsarm is the busiest trading hub, and exchange rates react fastest there… I want to confirm the kingdom's current standing. I don't want any chaos before Tianis takes the throne."

"The royal deaths are still being kept secret, correct?"

"There's a gag order, but it probably isn't very effective. None of the other royals have shown their faces since the incident. For now, it hasn't spread beyond rumor."

"The devil's proof. Proving someone is alive is easy; proving they aren't is hard. But you can't wait too long."

The longer Princess Tianis's coronation was delayed, the more suspicion would grow.

That could lead to distrust in the kingdom itself.

Emperor Kelves had taken the throne almost instantly. He must have been remarkably efficient.

"When the kingdom's restoration is complete, Tianis will become queen as a symbol of that recovery. I'm counting on you, Yohane-san."