Chapter 20

Ironwood City. The Silver District.

Charlo led the group through the vibrant streets, acting as a tour guide for his own creation. The air was filled with the scents of roasted nuts, fresh bread, and the tang of raw iron from the distant factories.

There were fruit stands piled high with imported apples, spice merchants displaying colorful powders, and clothing boutiques showing off the latest "Ironwood Style."

But the majority were selling food.

Clyris spotted several shops selling sacks of fine wheat flour, baskets of fresh vegetables, and—most shockingly—cuts of red meat hanging in the windows.

Judging solely by this abundance, an outsider might mistake this for the capital city of a wealthy Grand Duke, not a frontier outpost on the edge of the wilderness.

"The shops inside the city walls are structures I built and designated for rent by established merchants," Charlo explained with a smile, pointing to the uniform brick facades. "Outside the North Gate, there is an open-air market for small vendors who can't afford the rent inside. I provide the space for free, though there are no facilities. It encourages competition."

"I noticed something earlier," Clyris asked curiously, watching a transaction at a bakery. "When some people were buying things, they didn't use silver coins. They used pieces of paper. What is that?"

"That is also currency—Paper Money!" Charlo answered, pulling a crisp note from his pocket. "Recently, we adapted a mana engine to power a printing press, allowing for mass production. So, I started a trial run for paper currency."

"Paper can be used to buy things?" Clyris asked, confused.

In her experience, while paper wasn't cheap, no merchant in their right mind would accept it as payment. Wait... does this mean paper is so abundant in Ironwood that even commoners can use it casually?

"Paper itself has no value, of course. But if it is printed with a unique, unforgeable mark and bound to a reserve of silver coins held in the Central Bank, then it becomes a promissory note," Charlo explained.

"But how did you bind it, Lord Charlo? And what if people don't believe a thin piece of paper can be exchanged for silver?" Alice asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"That is why I have been busy these past few days—letting people see it with their own eyes!" Charlo smiled faintly. "I spent most of my time ensuring people saw that they could walk into the Ironwood Bank and exchange the paper notes for shining silver coins, no questions asked. Once they believed that, circulation happened naturally! Trust is the currency of the realm."

"I see!" Clyris felt a sudden realization, like a light bulb turning on.

"So..." Clyris narrowed her eyes at him, a suspicious glint appearing. "First, you make people believe paper has value. Then, you use worthless paper to collect all the actual silver coins from the populace. Finally, once the silver is in your vault, you devalue the paper notes until they are waste paper. Isn't this just the classic scam Grand Dukes use to bleed commoners and minor nobles dry?"

She looked at him with disdain. "The big nobles usually just debase the silver content of their coins. At least those can be melted down for some value. You are using paper with zero intrinsic value! Isn't that too despicable?"

"Is... is that true?" Alice looked shocked, clutching her purse.

"My Compatriot... art thou truly so short of money? If so, I can lend thee some gold..." Even Freya looked at him with concern.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Charlo shouted, aggrieved, throwing his hands up. "You are wronging an innocent man! I have no intention of doing that!"

"Really?" Clyris eyed him suspiciously. To be fair, she wasn't entirely sure. That kind of scam was something only the blackest-hearted nobles would pull. Based on Charlo’s behavior so far, it didn't seem like his style, but power corrupted everyone.

"Of course it's true!" Charlo cried. "Why would I do that? Do I want a rebellion to overthrow me? I am simply preparing the financial soil! It creates a more convenient economic system for the people and prepares for my future operations!"

"What operations?"

"Heh heh..." Charlo’s lips curled into a crooked, predatory smile. "As you know, Ironwood uses a mixed trade system of Morris Silver Coins and Fokk Silver Coins. However, the value gap is too large. One Fokk coin buys food for a family of three for a day. One Morris coin feeds them for half a year! In practice, this is extremely inconvenient for mid-sized transactions."

"Therefore, I designed a new paper currency anchored to the Morris Silver Coin. It has three tiers: Yuan, Jiao, and Fen. It uses a decimal system. 10 Yuan = 1 Morris Silver Coin."

"The current denominations are 1, 2, and 5 Fen; 1, 2, and 5 Jiao; and 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 Yuan. This makes transactions convenient for everyone!"

"Is that so..." Clyris nodded slowly. That did sound convenient. A unified decimal system was far better than the chaotic exchange rates of the outside world, where Small Silver, Large Silver, Small Gold, and Large Gold all had different, fluctuating values depending on the whim of the local lord.

"But looking at your expression earlier... I suspect it's not that simple, is it?" Clyris stared at him. His earlier grin suggested a deeper scheme.

"Of course not!" Charlo admitted frankly, lowering his voice. "We flood the neighboring territories with our stable paper currency. Once they rely on it, we control their economy. We can trigger inflation in their lands while keeping ours stable. We conquer them without firing a single shot."

Clyris stared at him. Economic warfare. It was a concept foreign to demons, who solved problems with claws and fire.

"You are terrifying," she whispered.

"Thank you," Charlo beamed. "But that plan won't be actionable for a long time. It's too early now. For the moment, we focus on development."

__________________________

Southern Border of the Morris Empire. A Knight's Fief.

"Lilith, any news?"

Cossette, the Winged Demon Grand Duke, still nursing grievous wounds and hiding in a damp limestone cave, looked up urgently as Lilith walked in from the rain.

"Still nothing!" Lilith sighed in frustration, shaking droplets from her hair. "The magical frequencies are silent."

"This... sigh!" Cossette slumped against the cold rock wall, looking defeated. "If I had known, I should have stayed behind to cover the retreat. Then Her Majesty could have rushed back to the Western Fortress... maybe even saved Will and Allen! Not like this... Will and Allen are dead, and we are stranded like rats... Sigh!"

"No one can foresee everything, Cossette!" Lilith leaned against a boulder, her tail twitching with irritation. "Who could have known that Three Saints would accompany the army from the Magdeburg Line? It is a miracle Her Majesty escaped at all. If it had been you, you probably wouldn't have even slowed the Coalition down for a minute!"

"...Fine! You're right." Cossette took a deep breath. "Is the cover secure?"

"Of course!" Lilith laughed lightly, a cruel sound. "The Lord here is just a newly ascended Fourth-Rank Knight. Even with my injuries, hypnotizing him was effortless! He thinks we are distant relatives fleeing the war."

"Good!" Cossette relaxed. A hypnotic suggestion from a Succubus Grand Duke, even a wounded one, was not something a mere Fourth-Rank Knight could resist.

"Let's go then. Finally, we don't have to hide in the mud. We will stay in this territory and wait for news of Her Majesty," Cossette said, standing up painfully. "With Her Majesty's power, she will likely return in ten or twenty years. We just have to wait!"

____________________

The Imperial Palace. The Throne Room.

"Your Imperial Majesty, your subject has fulfilled the mission. I have retaken the Fortress of the Western Reach and returned in victory!"

Prince Abner placed his right hand over his heart and bowed deeply, his forehead touching the cold marble floor.

"Very good... my son..."

The figure on the obsidian throne slowly raised a hand, gesturing for Abner to rise. The movement was stiff, heavy with age and power.

"Where is my little flower... Evelyn?"

Hooke de Morris, the Emperor of the Morris Empire, asked in a low, rumbling voice that echoed like distant thunder.

"Evelyn has returned to the Central Magic Academy with the Hero," Abner replied calmly, not daring to look up.

"Is that so..." The Emperor lowered his head, his aged eyes looking down at his humble eldest son.

"You must take good care of your sister... Abner. Although the premature appearance of the Demon Lord forced the Church to summon the Hero early, causing our plans to be advanced... the Plan allows for no errors!"

The Emperor's deep voice filled the empty hall, firm and unquestionable.

"Your son understands!" Abner bowed his head even lower. "Everything... for Morris!"

Southern Rodinia. The Silver Moon Forest.

Within the forest that spanned ten million square kilometers lay the Silver Moon Empire of the Elves.

The current Empress, Theia, was of the same generation as Pope Farragut. However, unlike the white-haired old man, the Elven Empress looked like a mature, elegant noblewoman in her prime, showing no signs of aging. Her beauty was timeless, her presence suffocating.

"A Demon Lord with four Authorities..." Theia sighed, recalling the intelligence report from the recent international summit. She turned to the beautiful woman beside her. "Vis, how is the intelligence gathering on this generation's Hero?"

Vis, the High Priestess of the Elves, stepped forward and handed over a dossier sealed with wax. "It is compiled. Please take a look."

Theia frowned, noticing the palpable dissatisfaction in her High Priestess's tone. Is she unhappy with the Hero? Curious, she broke the seal and began to read.

After finishing the detailed report, Theia took several deep breaths. Her hands trembled slightly as she placed the papers down on her desk.

Only centuries of royal cultivation prevented her from losing her composure and shredding the document on the spot.

"The Demon Lord appeared over a decade early and is unbelievably powerful. How can the Hero, who was also summoned early, be... like this?"

Theia murmured, her eyes glazing over as she recalled the records.

 Summoned by the Church.

 Slept with a maid on the very first night.

 Bedded over twenty women in the first month.

Neglected his training so badly he didn't even reach the First Rank of Knighthood in the first month!

Later, only because he set his sights on the Princess of Morris—Evelyn—did he actually start training seriously.

But even then, he didn't change his nature. He merely restrained himself slightly—reducing his conquests from twenty women a month to a dozen!

Lechery aside, he has never disclosed his gifted Authority, nor demonstrated it. If not for the fact that he indisputably appeared from the Summoning Circle, his identity as the Hero would have been questioned long ago!

"Let it be..." Theia said, rubbing her temples, her voice heavy with fatigue. "Support him as best we can... He is, after all, the Hero."