9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 112 - The Taste of Money (2)

Observing this series of events from a distance, I cheerfully muttered to myself.

“Now it’s a choice between two options. Pick one.”

Kruger had only two choices left.

Either accept massive losses and use government money to scoop up the plummeted stocks to operate companies independently, or allow a wave of bankruptcies.

And which choice Kruger would make was all too obvious.

「Government to bail out companies facing bankruptcy! Supreme Leader’s resolute order」

「Companies going bankrupt again today. Most show signs of poor management」

「Scooping up quality companies and reviving them—which companies will be chosen by His Excellency?」

「This month’s market basket index—up 80% from last month」

I spread out the newspapers brought from Schufaben on my desk and skimmed through them.

‘So far, as expected.’

I gnawed my lips anxiously.

The economy is a monster that can neither be predicted nor controlled, but at least Kruger moved within my predictions.

Schufaben’s economy is shaking like crazy right now.

The Queen’s moves creating crisis for Schufaben companies. First critical hit.

Each nation freezing Schufaben funds. Second critical hit.

Since Kruger chose to open the treasury and scoop up stocks, the weakened finances caused a third critical hit.

And around today or tomorrow, the Continental Conference will announce strengthened export restrictions on major resources including mana stones. They’ll effectively impose powerful embargo measures.

They’ve been imposing embargoes from the start, but now when even the indirect import routes are blocked, resource supply will truly be cut off.

That’ll be the fourth critical hit.

What’s left now?

A great depression!

The Queen and Continental Conference nations inflicted tremendous damage on Schufaben while accepting some painful wounds to their own economies.

And in this political situation, the only ones who benefited were me and Kruger.

I quickly scooped up Redan Company stocks through Erika when they hit rock bottom.

Now Redan Company has become a situation where Erika, Daniel, and I share over 90% of the stakes.

And Kruger went on a shopping spree for companies with tax money, so his control over the business world must have increased significantly.

He’s probably grinning right about now. He might be praising himself alone, saying the idea I sent in my letter was excellent.

I sent an urgent letter.

Despite being military governor, there was no hotline to the Supreme Leader’s residence, so I had no other choice.

「Your Excellency, Redan Company’s movements are unusual. It seems the Queen is plotting something. We’ve detected signs that she’s trying to gradually sell off her shares.

I didn’t intend to disturb Your Excellency’s peace of mind with such trivial news. But why would she aim for the company’s complete dissolution instead of simply dismissing the CEO?

This is a warning. Schufaben will face economic sanctions incomparably more severe than anything before. If so, many companies will face bankruptcy crisis, and so on and so forth…….」

I roughly wrote a long-winded story about ‘Won’t you scoop up companies that seem likely to fail and take control of the business world?’

I sent it through Damier to Ferint’s higher-ups, and while I worried they might sneer and tear it up, it seems it was properly delivered.

Or maybe Kruger had the same idea without my advice.

Anyway, it worked out well…….

I know all too well why I feel so uneasy and uncomfortable.

‘It’s a cruel thing to do.’

There was no excuse for it. I had completely ruined a country’s economy.

A few days ago, Erika’s letter came.

She said that while the economic downturn was becoming tangible enough to feel, a strange euphoria and sense of unity was beginning to ripple among the people.

‘Really disgusting to watch.’

It was written in an extremely disgusted tone.

But the people who wake up from the fantasy will resent Kruger first.

That’s mine and the Queen’s aim.

Attack Schufaben’s economy. The Supreme Leader feels the need to redirect internal dissatisfaction outward. So he’ll wage war even more fiercely…….

The moment the nations block the offensive, Schufaben citizens’ anxiety will soar and Kruger’s foundation will begin to shake.

‘The war can’t be stopped anyway. So, that’s why.’

I’ve seen enough of how resolute the Supreme Leader’s will for war is.

So rather than trembling while waiting, let’s induce him to attack at the right time. Let’s give him justification to burn even brighter. To become ash even faster.

I don’t know how the Queen took it.

No reply came to my letter persuading her that this was the best plan if war was absolutely unavoidable.

But at least she followed my idea.

‘War cannot be stopped…….’

Even now, when I close my eyes, the collapsed Cortana royal castle and the corpses on the bombed streets of Hetzen rise vividly.

Each time, I feel like I’m being strangled.

I bit my lips tightly and calmed my pounding heart.

The problem facing me now isn’t something like my feelings. Something much more important.

‘Why did Kruger move exactly as I expected?’

He couldn’t have been unaware. That Schufaben would become precarious, that only war could be the answer.

‘Economics can go to hell for a while! We’ll have the whole continent in our hands anyway!’

Even though I laid out such reckless ideas, he couldn’t have simply followed along obediently after reading my letter.

Rather, it shows he’d been thinking this way from the beginning.

‘Just take it back when we conquer!’

Isn’t that too irresponsible a thought for a national leader to harbor!

What is it, the basis for this confidence?

Knock knock!

As I lay slumped over my desk pressing my throbbing forehead, someone knocked on the office door.

“Commander, are you feeling unwell? It’s past time for your morning meal.”

It was Captain Alina Himmel’s voice.

I frowned and approached the window, drawing back the curtains. Blinding sunlight poured onto my face. The sun was already high in the sky.

Looking at the clock, it was 11 o’clock. When did the night slip away so quickly?

By now, the King would be having his morning tea time. I shouted toward the door.

“Skip breakfast. I’m going to see His Majesty, so get things ready.”

“Understood.”

***

Smack! Crash!

Edvart glared at the man before him with a flushed red face, breathing roughly in fury.

The man who took the hot tea water directly but stood motionless with his head bowed.

One corner of his pale forehead was torn and stained red, and soon blood trickled down.

Normally he would have been startled and flustered by such a sight, but right now Edvart felt nothing but rage that seemed ready to burst his chest.

It had been a month.

A whole month had passed since Edvart visited the ruined city of Hetzen.

That day, after fainting in the empty mine and waking up, he was back in the royal castle.

For a moment he wondered if everything had been a dream, but Edvart immediately remembered the texture of the stone that had been clutched in his hand.

‘Cortana is ruined…….’

Such a thought suddenly struck his mind.

He had originally been a weak person.

He had hoped a younger sibling would be born to inherit the throne in his place. Or even his older cousins would have been fine.

Spending his whole life buried in a library reading interesting books. He had wished for nothing more than such a modest dream.

He hadn’t wanted to become king, but as if by some devil’s trick, his parents died in a bombing and he ascended to the throne.

He was king in name only, bound to a broken castle, unable to do anything. Still, there were people who said they’d come to rescue him, so he harbored a fragment of hope.

But Cortana had already experienced something far more serious than his incompetent and weak ascension to the throne.

This land was useless without mana stones.

The rugged Colt mountain range and the plains stretching beyond it.

Weather that maintained a pleasant temperature year-round—moderately warm, moderately cool, moderately hot, and moderately cold.

The most diligent people in the world.

Edvart had always thought this country was the most beautiful in the world, but the outside world saw it differently.

In the eyes of the world, Cortana was just a supply warehouse that provided mana stones generously to the continent. Nothing more.

Even if they saw the spring, summer, autumn, and winter scenery he was so proud of, they would just think indifferently, ‘How ordinary,’ and leave it at that.

So what should Edvart do now to draw the world’s attention?

The quiet room.

Edvart just violently twisted and pulled at the innocent blanket.

“No mana stones? Then why should we send reinforcements?”

Only the image of the government leaders from various countries, whom he’d seen in photos and portraits, saying this with cold expressions, circled round and round in his head.

Cortana was ruined.

He too…… was just existing, breathing and alive, but unable to do anything.

But the Military Governor apparently didn’t think so.

He came to visit him every morning without fail. Each time looking tired, yet wearing a gentle smile.

He never said a word about mana stones or armies, only choosing light topics like the weather or flowers blooming outside.

Was there still something left to devour? He racked his brains but couldn’t tell.

Eventually, Edvart’s patience lasted exactly one month.

He began a hunger strike a week ago.

No matter how the servants stamped their feet or the commander pleaded from outside, he absolutely refused to touch any food.

He didn’t know what he wanted to achieve with this. He just needed to create some small change in this tedious situation.

He appeased his hunger with a cup of sugared tea twice a day. While hastily drinking tea, he thought himself quite miserable.

But today, even the commander couldn’t bear it anymore and dared to break down the door and enter.

“Your Majesty, if I may presume—”

Edvart, whose cheeks had hollowed in just a few days, threw his teacup irritably.

Smack! Crash!

The commander, who didn’t dodge and took it directly, stood there for a moment dripping tea water and blood.

“Hah……”

Then he let out a sigh-like sound. Now he’ll get angry. Edvart clenched both fists tightly.

However, the commander quietly took out a handkerchief from his breast and walked toward him.

‘D-don’t come closer! Get lost! Get lost!’

Had losing his voice ever been this frustrating? Edvart flailed desperately, opening and closing his mouth.

“Your Majesty. You’ve been injured.”

When he heard those words, his right cheek began to sting. Apparently a piece of the broken teacup had grazed him.

‘Don’t touch me……!’

Edvart twisted his body this way and that like a struggle, rejecting him. Abandoning all dignity and composure as a king, the words he wanted to spit out became simple beyond measure.

However, the commander calmly grabbed his shoulders and subdued him, then wiped away the blood seeping from the scratch.

“Ugh……!”

The pressing touch made his cheek sting terribly. But Edvart couldn’t escape his grip.

He’d thought he was small and manageable, but he was an adult and Edvart was just a kid.

Finally, when the bleeding stopped, the commander bowed his head.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I’ll call a healer immediately. But please eat first.”

When the commander rang the bell, servants entered carrying dishes as if they’d been waiting.

At that moment, the savory aroma that wafted over made Edvart feel saliva pooling in his mouth, making his week-long hunger strike seem pointless.

However, his last remaining pride, or perhaps stubbornness, blocked him. So even after the servants set the table and left, he only stared intently at the food without lifting a hand.

“Your Majesty.”

The commander sighed.

He picked up a fork and forcibly placed it in Edvart’s hand.

“I am forcing you to eat this. I absolutely will not leave until Your Majesty finishes your meal.”

Then he held Edvart’s hand and moved it to stab the well-seasoned meat with the fork. The moment he slowly guided it to his mouth, the strength drained from his arms that had been trying to tense up.

The meat he ate for the first time in a week was tearfully delicious. Edvart’s movements gradually quickened. Even after the commander let go of his hand, he was busy hurriedly stuffing food into his mouth.

After emptying about half the plate like that, the fork in his hand gradually slowed and stopped.

Edvart swallowed the egg dish and hung his head, shoulders trembling. Soon small sounds accompanied tears beginning to fall on his knees.

“Sob, sniff……”

The commander quietly approached him and patted his shoulder.

“It’s alright, Your Majesty. Everything will be alright.”

Everything will be alright.

Those words, the sincerity within them, gradually reached him.

He was miserable.

He despised himself for collapsing at just this much, for feeling grateful to the commander now.

He was angry that the commander’s hand felt unnecessarily reassuring.

So he cried for a long time.