The Cause of the Exchange Rate

Spontaneous human combustion.

There was no other way to describe it.

The sudden horror rattled even trained soldiers.

Screams that seared into the ears, pleas for help, coming from every direction.

Water was thrown on the burning civilians, blankets used to smother the flames, but nothing worked.

Duke Baroba and the officers had to focus on restoring order among the panicking troops.

At the same time, the three figures vanished into the flames.

Had they come just to show us this?

By the time the civilians had burned out, the commotion finally subsided.

"We'd confirmed their soldiers occasionally did this, but to think they'd do it to civilians as well…"

"Should we pursue the three who fled?"

"Don't. They only withdrew because we have numbers. Act alone and you become a target."

The soldiers were left to clean up the aftermath.

Some of the younger ones looked sick or shaken.

Who could blame them? Seeing something like that could destroy anyone's will to fight.

"Delaying us was the goal, and they've achieved it. Scorched-earth tactics taken literally to scorched earth. Madness."

"They don't care about civilian lives. This city is finished…"

The handful of residents were gone. The city had fallen silent.

Once again, the church's madness had been laid bare.

Still, the Alsarm army would press on once morale recovered.

I wished the duke well and left, heading back to Alsarm.

"They didn't have to involve the children."

Alexia muttered.

I agreed.

The silence was unbearable. One by one, the others spoke up.

"The residents too. They only believed. And yet they were thrown into the flames against their will. People worship gods in hopes of peace."

"I don't believe in any god. But seeing that makes me furious."

"… Duke Baroba will handle it somehow."

Only an army could fight an army.

There was almost nothing I could do right now.

If the Church of the Sun God had conquered the entire continent, would every human being be subject to that, at the whim of the Sun God?

If so, it wasn't even slavery. It was livestock for a god.

We made it back to Alsarm, the mood heavy.

There was still work to do.

I had to check the exchange rates.

But first, I needed something to drink.

After seeing that, my stomach was churning.

I bought iced fruit juice for everyone, and we took a breather.

I might not be able to sleep tonight.

Finn slapped me hard on the back.

A satisfying thwack.

"What's with the gloomy face? Yeah, it was a bit shocking, but it's over, right? You look best with that carefree, irritating smile of yours."

"Irritating? Do I really look like that?"

"No, not at all."

"That's right. You're wonderful, sir."

"Sheesh. Blind, the lot of you."

"Huh? Isn't that mean, Finn-chan?"

Her words lightened the mood a little.

She meant it, probably, but she was also looking out for me.

"Elza, are you all right?"

"Me? Yes, I'm fine… No. I'm sorry. It's a little frustrating that I couldn't stop it."

Elza wasn't her usual self either.

There was a shadow behind her smile.

As a priestess of the Creator King faith that once opposed them, the Church of the Sun God's atrocities must weigh on her.

"Don't try to carry everything. Not everything rests on your shoulders. Same goes for me."

"Is that so? If I could have carried everything, there might have been a different future."

"Arrogant, aren't you, Elza? Playing tragic heroine?"

"Alexia-chan. But…"

"No buts. Think about what's in front of you. What you can reach. Indiscriminate love taken too far is ugly from the outside too."

Coming from Alexia, who had once lost everything, the words carried weight.

She spoke from experience.

Elza seemed to take something from it and gave a small nod.

"Let's finish the errand and rest in Alsarm tonight. A nice inn, good food. That'll change the mood."

"A decent suggestion for once."

Hunger was unavoidable.

Good food mattered.

I went to the exchange merchant and converted my imperial bills into kingdom currency.

At face value, it should have been ten kingdom gold coins, but the current rate gave me twelve.

The kingdom's currency had weakened considerably.

Part of it, I figured, was that the imperial currency had risen — the Empire was booming now that it had a new emperor.

When I asked around, the gradual decline had apparently been going on for a while.

It matched when our shop's wholesale prices started creeping up.

The movement had been slow, nothing alarming, but recently there'd been a sudden wave of kingdom bills hitting the market, mostly from nobles.

That had accelerated the slide.

For now it had leveled off, but there was no sign of recovery.

(So it was the nobles dumping kingdom bills!)

The kingdom's currency weakness had been caused by its own aristocrats. Not funny.

Hearing that the capital and castle had been attacked, they'd panicked and unloaded.

Princess Tianis and Lady Anatia, working so hard to hold the line, would be shocked if they heard this.

They were fighting to contain the chaos, while the privileged class made it worse.

… The kingdom was hurting right now.

But I was certain it would rise again.

Because I'd seen the people of the capital rallying to rebuild.

Because I'd seen Princess Tianis and her allies standing firm.

"I'd like to buy all the kingdom bills you have."

"A-all of them? You heard what I just said, right? Are you sane?"

"I have the money."

I'd sold the carriage goods to the Alsarm army, and Duke Baroba had given me a generous parting gift.

The merchant looked stunned, but he was happy enough to offload the backlog and sold them to me.

If the people of the kingdom didn't believe in the kingdom, who would?

Besides, they still had liquidity even at a discount.

"The real reason is because they're cheap, right?"

"Now, whatever could you mean?"

Buying below true value made profit easy.