Semi-Coercive Imperialist

Thud. Thud-thud-thud.

Corpses and debris slid down like mud. Charred flesh covered every direction, and smoke from the explosion drifted through the air.

Fsssshhhh…….

Ashes scattered like dust particles. A pungent smell stung my nostrils.

Unlike the interior, which had become a complete mess, I was perfectly fine. The same went for Yukia.

Wiiiiing.

The Aura Sphere, translucent like a silver curtain, did not have a single scratch, and only about 3% of the core’s Mana had been reduced.

“…….”

I looked at Yukia in my arms. Her gaze was fixed around my neck. A fragment of a wooden necklace, faintly visible beyond my disheveled uniform.

“A-Are you all right!”

Just then, police officers rushed in frantically. I pulled Yukia away from me.

“It’s nothing serious. It seems a trap was hidden in the corpse, but…… since the entire scene has disappeared, there’s no longer any reason for me to stay here.”

I raised my eyebrows nonchalantly. Thanks to those bastards, all traces had been completely burned away.

“Hah, hah. We’re relieved you’re safe. To think they would do something like this to a corpse.”

“No. The murderer and this magic bomb are not the work of the same person.”

The Mana left behind at the scene by the murderer and the traces of Mana that crushed this workshop were clearly distinct.

“Huh? Then…….”

“That’s the police’s job. Investigate everyone who passed through this area around the estimated time of death.”

“Ah, yes. Yes. Understood.”

I brushed the dirt and dust off my clothes and stepped outside the workshop.

I asked Yukia, who followed silently.

“……Are you okay?”

Yukia nodded.

“Things like this will happen frequently from now on.”

“…….”

“Always be careful, and strive for your own growth.”

You must never die.

“Yukia. You may not know this, but.”

However, I cannot honestly tell you that reason.

“I have a debt I need to repay to you.”

So I will make something up, appropriately.

***

The newly established bank in Canilan Independent State─「Kronen Schatzinsel Bank」.

Dieter, who had come on a business trip, first admired the bank’s exterior.

A smooth marble outer wall without ornamentation, straight lines so precise they felt cold, and a massive bronze main gate. All the materials had Mana Circuits embedded within them, making the structure sturdy even against potential terrorist attacks.

This was the result of commissioning Lorenzo Academy, as Dieter had no confidence in aesthetics or architecture. It was also their first project.

“Secretary Dieter. This way, please.”

“……Yes.”

Dieter stepped inside.

The colors that entered his field of view were based on calm, dark tones. Smooth stone extended from floor to ceiling, unified in a neat palette.

Yet it did not look impoverished or empty.

By stripping away all unnecessary decoration, it paradoxically created a silence filled with mass. Like the dignity of true nobility, it looked luxurious without the need for gilding.

“Hmm.”

Dieter was very satisfied. To the request, ‘lease create the most trustworthy space’, the architects of the Lorenzo Academy had provided a perfect answer.

A bank decorated too excessively would feel as though it had put the cart before the horse.

“It has already been about four weeks since operations began.”

Historically, finance was the industry with the highest barriers to entry. Only when the invisible asset called trust accumulated did money finally gather.

However, present-day Canilan was special.

Regulations had been abolished, and oversight had disappeared. Mutual trust was no longer a consideration.

As long as there was a rumor that money existed, people overflowed asking to borrow it.

“What about the list of collateral?”

At Dieter’s question, the employee handed over a thick file.

“Here it is. As instructed, we secured mainly tangible assets.”

He skimmed through the list. Among the numerous real estate collaterals, there was a particularly eye-catching item.

[Akarius Mercenary Group – Rights to mercenary contracts and profit distribution rights]

A contract stating that if Commander Ren fails to repay the debt, the bank will own the rights to the mercenary group’s manpower and the profits they generate.

In peaceful times, it would be a bad debt with high risk, but if war were to arrive, the story would change. In wartime, mercenaries, especially highly skilled mercenaries, are resources as precious as Mana Stones.

At that point, the value of this bond would skyrocket beyond imagination.

“How is the situation with the safe deposit vaults?”

“Currently, only about 5% is filled. They are mostly slush funds deposited by nobles of the Empire.”

However, the core product of 「Kronen Schatzinsel 」 is not deposits. In the first place, in Canilan, there are only people looking to spend money, so they do not even consider entrusting it.

Instead, Kronen operates an ‘ultra-high-performance secret vault’ that distinguishes it from other banks. It is a vault zone built like a fortress deep within the rugged mountain range of the southern Empire. Any valuable item can be stored indefinitely, as long as the storage fee is paid.

“There still aren’t many customers.”

The employee wore a worried expression, but Dieter shook his head while adjusting his glasses.

“It doesn’t matter. We can wait.”

Soon, when the bubble bursts and Canilan collapses, they will come to distrust the entire financial system that brought them down. They will despair in front of securities reduced to scraps of paper and tightly shut bank doors.

That is when our time will finally come.

A bank that never wavers. Absolute neutrality, free from the interference of any nation.

“Let me reconfirm our principles.”

Dieter swept his gaze over the employees. They were the ironclad rules of 「Kronen Schatzinsel」 that he had devised himself.

“Never, ever ask about the source of assets.”

It does not matter whether the money is soaked in blood, earned from selling drugs, or embezzled. A bank is not a place that judges morality.

“However, the identity of the depositor must be identified accurately and thoroughly.”

Even so, the owner of the money must be certain. If possible, even digging up their genealogy, it must be made clear who the person entrusting their assets is.

“For that purpose.”

Dieter took out a small box. Inside was a blue cube about the size of two finger joints.

“This is an identity authentication cube.”

A scaled-down version of the 「Aura Sphere」 cubes used by knights, and a security device that embodies Lorenzo’s magical engineering.

“This artifact records a human’s unique Mana wavelength.”

A security key utilizing Mana, a fingerprint of the soul that cannot be forged or altered.

Even ordinary people who cannot handle Mana can use it by extracting it from their blood.

“Customers who wish to use a safe deposit vault with an asset valuation of 3 million dollars or more must purchase this without exception.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“How is the situation with public recruitment?”

“The competition rate is extremely high.”

Thousands to one. That is how high the annual salary set by Kronen is, even within Canilan.

One of the reasons there has been no embezzlement or slacking off in Maximilian’s enterprises so far is because the system of compensating according to performance is firmly established.

Maximilian could have possessed assets more than ten times what he has now. However, he kept only what he needed and willingly shared the rest.

“As for people from securities firms, reject them at the document screening stage if possible.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Dieter was wary of moral hazard. Those who lean toward emotion rather than numbers, who are blinded by greed and underestimate risk. He created an examination to filter out such people.

“These are the employment exam papers. Seal them and keep them stored.”

“Yes.”

After that, he entered his office prepared in one corner of the bank. In that wooden room devoid of any decoration, he looked out the window.

The splendid night view of Canilan flooded in.

“…….”

When those dazzling lights go out one by one, we will shine like a lighthouse.

We will rise as the most dazzling numbers.

Dieter sat in his chair and opened the documents.

An ocean of countless numbers endlessly filled his view. These innumerable figures poured down as if to drown him, yet instead, pleasure welled up in his heart. Mana overflowed between the synapses of his brain.

I am handling such vast liquidity. I am shaping numbers according to my will.

That fact itself─ is an indescribable indulgence and ecstasy.

Dieter was currently living in a dream.

The name of that dream was Maximilian.

***

As the warm breeze from the south was beginning to blow, someone reported me to the Imperial Court. The charge was that I had created enormous slush funds at the military factory Aternum and funneled them overseas.

“I apologize for troubling you, but…… this is a sensitive matter, so there is no helping it.”

The Imperial Audit Bureau of the Empire visited my estate in person. It was an imperial decree demanding not only an explanation of the sources, flows, and uses of the funds, but also the submission of all tax payment records up to this point.

Yes, it was an order issued ‘directly’ by the Emperor.

“First. These are the documents related to Aternum.”

As I had been waiting for this, I stacked the prepared documents on the table.

The Director of the Audit Bureau flinched for a moment, but then accepted them and conveyed another matter.

“Are you aware that Lutz Rozen, the head of the Special Audit Department of our direct-affiliate agency, has gone missing?”

“……Missing?”

“Yes. His whereabouts have been unknown for several days.”

It was nothing to be surprised about. It must have been the work of Reutern II.

“I see.”

In truth, I had imagined something like a trial.

A situation where I was cornered by charges of embezzlement and slush fund creation, Lutz wearing a triumphant expression, and Reutern steeped in anxiety and rage, then I would submit these materials and turn the tables in one stroke……

It seemed I still did not fully understand how the Imperial Palace worked.

“That is unfortunate.”

“…….”

The Director looked suspicious of me, but Reutern would not have handled things so cleanly. The direct-affiliate agencies would soon identify Reutern as a suspect.

I pointed to the ledger.

“As you can see, there is no embezzlement. My personal assets merely passed through the corporation and were handled as bearer bonds.”

The Director examined the ledger closely.

The funds had come from my personal account and were converted into bonds through lawful procedures.

“Hm…… but is there a reason you went out of your way to convert them into bearer bonds in such a complicated manner?”

“…….”

I paused for a moment, then shrugged.

“There are many people in the Imperial Palace who place great importance on saving face. I simply took care of a bit of pocket money for such people. If I were to hand over cash directly, the recipient’s pride would be hurt, and it would not look good for me either…… I merely borrowed the form of a financial product.”

Packaging it as consideration, not a bribe.

The department head seemed to gain a hint about the culprit from my words, and his gaze drooped slightly.

“Additionally.”

Click. I snapped my fingers. The servants brought in stacks of documents that had been stored until now.

“These are the tax filing records.”

The eyes of the Director and his subordinates widened.

“That is an enormous volume.”

“Yes. Since I have never evaded even a hair’s breadth of taxes, it could not help but be this much.”

That was truly the case. Although nobles have lower tax rates than commoners to begin with, most of them try not to pay even that, whereas I was exceedingly exemplary.

In particular, even the ‘Mana Stone Special Consumption Tax’ and ‘Mining Tax’, which nobles who owned Mana Stone mines habitually evaded, were paid in full and precisely.

“……You seem confident.”

“Think of it as a necessary process. Without doubt, how could I prove myself?”

I smiled leisurely.

“I only hope that my devotion to the Empire reaches His Majesty.”

A hollow chuckle appeared at the corner of the Director’s mouth.

“If that is the case.”

He stood up from his seat. The bureau’s agents each picked up the stacks of documents.

“We will investigate thoroughly and return them to you.”

“Yes. Please take care on your way.”

The bureau personnel departed in a rush, like the ebbing tide.

Feeling a strange emptiness, I ran a hand through my hair.

Whoooosh.

The wind flowed in through the gap of the open window.

It had already become February, and it was gradually getting warmer.

Spring was approaching.

“……No, but seriously. These thieving bastards.”

I picked up the letters sent from securities firms in Canilan. Most were warnings laced with concern, but in effect they were little different from mockery.

[ Notice of risk level readjustment for your products ]

[ Notification of increase in margin requirements and fees due to expanded market volatility ]

[ Request for additional margin deposit ]

“The margin is more than enough, but they keep f#cking telling me to put in more.”

They arbitrarily cite their own internal regulations to raise the risk level, and use that as a pretext to demand additional margin. They make such an infuriating fuss just to squeeze out more fees that I am memorizing the names of these companies one by one. Anyway, once spring is over, I plan to kill them all.

“Endure it…….”

That day was not far off, and I picked up an invitation sent by one particular company.

[ Canilan Tech Summit: Land Protocol Technology Demonstration ]

Artificial continent creation technology. A delusional dream that promises Canilan’s eternal prosperity.

I fully intend to go watch the demonstration of this technology.

They will put on a dazzling display of magic, and then be utterly ruined. Underestimating variables, reckless Mana calculations. And on top of that, the price they will pay for ignoring the power of nature.

I have already finished preparing a short position against that company.

“……The future won’t change, will it.”

A sudden unease passed through me. The possibility that history had been twisted by my intervention was, to be honest, something even I feared.

However, according to the economics newspaper that I had definitely read before my Regression.

“No party lasts forever.”

When the party ends, a bill must inevitably be paid.

Now the moment of reckoning has simply arrived, and delightfully so.

I am the one who ‘collects’ the bill.