Semi-Coercive Imperialist - Chapter 96: Desired Betrayal
Canilan is collapsing.
The moment the true nature of the ‘Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)’ ambitiously designed by the securities firms was exposed, the mirage turned into a living hell. The bomb, cleverly packaged by mixing bonds from blue-chip companies and failing companies, had detonated Canilan.
Multiple companies said to be invincible fell, and collapsed in a chain reaction along with the securities firms.
“……Dason.”
The executive office of Rekiano Securities.
CEO Moretti scratched his cheek and looked at Dason. His cheeks had sunken, and today, he looked even more like a badger than usual.
“I got through to them. They said they’d resell some of the insurance back to us.”
“……Really?”
Dason’s eyes widened.
“That’s a relief! I knew it, they were in a cash crunch too. How much did they offer? I─I’ll try to negotiate. As much as possible─”
“No. It wasn’t about the money.”
CEO Moretti slowly turned his body. His gaze had gone cold.
“It was a different condition.”
“……A condition? What kind?”
“Those responsible for designing and selling such garbage derivatives must pay the appropriate price…….”
In that moment, Dason’s expression hardened.
“……What?”
“Financial fraud, and market manipulation charges.”
Moretti placed a file on Dason’s desk.
“Someone has to take responsibility, don’t they? That’s the only way the company can survive. That was the deal. I’m sorry.”
“No, what do you mean─”
Bang!
Before he could even make an excuse, the office door swung open roughly. Investigators from Canilan wearing blue uniforms burst in.
“Dason Rock. You are under emergency arrest for violation of the Specific Economic Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act and for fraud.”
“N-no! L-let go! Let go!”
Dason screamed and thrashed as he was dragged away, and Moretti shook his head with a bitter expression.
──Let go! I said let go! You worthless beggar bastards worse than dogs…!
His screams and curses faded into the distance down the hallway.
“…….”
In the empty office.
The CEO picked up the terminal with trembling hands.
“……Yes. It’s done.”
─Confirmed.
A emotionless voice. Still nameless, a shadow figure behind the Empire.
─We will terminate part of the insurance contract. This should allow you to put out the urgent fire.
“Ah, thank you. Thank you so much.”
Moretti bowed repeatedly, his head lowered. Though it was barely enough to breathe, he was still deeply grateful.
“I look forward to working with you in the future-“
Click.
The call was cut off.
“……Tch.”
Moretti wiped the cold sweat off his brow and slumped into his chair.
“This is absurd.”
By backtracking the transaction histories of other securities firms and banks, the projected profits of this Imperial noble exceed several billion Imperial dollars.
Of course, the actual figure could decrease or increase depending on how the profits were realized, but at the very least, the title of ‘the greatest trade in continental history’ was already his.
“……Fucking hell. Did he come back from the future or something.”
Still, thanks to it, he avoided bankruptcy.
Rekiano’s CEO swept back his hair and let out a sigh of relief.
…….
“Haa…….”
Ren was staring at the terminal with a blank face. The completely crushed stock price flashed in her eyes.
[-83.85%]
The dream of striking it rich.
The money she had earned with blood and sweat, working around as a mercenary through her twenties, reduced to just this…….
“Ha.”
Forget next month’s salaries for her members, she didn’t even have enough left for the immediate office rent.
Akarius had become an empty shell.
“Customer number 37.”
Just then, her number was called.
This was the newly established bank, 「Kronen Schatzinsel」. She followed the staff’s guidance into the VIP consultation room.
“Welcome, Commander Ren.”
A staff member with an expressionless face greeted her.
“Yes.”
The staff member first handed her some documents.
“You’ve missed your interest payments for the past two months.”
“……I have no excuse.”
Her head lowered on its own.
“Also, you invested in CDOs with the company’s capital, and that loss amount is…….”
The numbers the staff recited were too great to even grasp.
Ren replied with a cracked voice.
“I’m prepared to be detained and imprisoned.”
Blinded by a moment of greed, she burned through the mercenary corps’ assets. Even the mercenary contracts had been mortgaged, so before long, Akarius would no longer be hers.
“……Are you alright?”
The staff member asked unexpectedly.
Ren gave a self-mocking smile.
“Looking back…… I despaired at too young an age, and succeeded at too young an age as well.”
When she was driven out after her family was annihilated by the Empire, she thought the world had ended.
Conversely, when she made a comeback and succeeded in Canilan, she thought she was the protagonist of this world.
“I was arrogant.”
“I see. So you were.”
“But now I finally understand. Before the world, I was nothing more than a fledgling.”
The staff member adjusted his glasses and responded indifferently.
“However, what I asked about was not your feelings, Commander, but whether the Akarius Mercenary Corps will be able to continue.”
“……Huh?”
“I asked whether the mercenary corps will be alright.”
“Ah……”
Ren’s face flushed bright red.
“Soon, a government investigation from Canilan will begin. On charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. Right now, the citizens of Canilan have suffered losses no less than the corporations, and they’ll need a scapegoat.”
Ren’s fingertips trembled.
She wasn’t afraid of being imprisoned, but she desperately wanted to avoid Akarius being dismantled.
“……At this point, if I blamed someone else, I’d be a moron. I’ll take all the responsibility and go. Please. I beg you to take care of Akarius.”
Ren bowed her head respectfully.
The staff member stared quietly at her, then flipped over a document.
“If you wish, we may be able to help you maintain management rights.”
“……What?”
“Also, I believe we can compensate for all losses incurred through your owner risk, Commander Ren.”
For a moment, Ren blankly repeated his words in her head.
Loss compensation. Maintaining management rights.
“It’s… it’s possible?”
“Yes. There is someone who holds Akarius in high regard and wishes to invest in it. Our Kronen Schatzinsel serves as a bridge for such investments.”
He handed over the document he had flipped.
“However, this was the condition that person set for you.”
Instead of numbers, there was a sentence written.
[Sincere remorse, and will to preserve the mercenary corps]
“…….”
“If you accept the offer, Akarius’s ownership will transfer to that individual, but you will serve as the first commander, appointed by them.”
The staff member pushed up his rimless glasses and asked.
“Is that acceptable to you?”
Ren bowed her head deeply. She thought silently, but there was nothing to even ponder. When the sky seemed about to collapse, a rope had descended.
“……How could I not?”
She felt like crying, so she couldn’t bring herself to say anything more.
***
One morning.
At my mansion, a bundle of manuscript pages that felt burdensome for me to read was delivered.
The title was「Valtaras」
Author: Johann Georg Goetze.
The content was a heroic epic in which the protagonist, Paul, meets a supremely noble and aristocratic figure named Valtaras, and together they lead the Empire and the world to glory.
The problem is, the tone is overly religious, and more than anything, the depiction of “Valtaras” blatantly points to me.
A swordsman with blond hair, golden eyes, wielding a longsword with cold rationality, anyone can see that’s Maximilian.
Johann had written this novel before my regression too. However, back then, the protagonist had not yet met Valtaras, and the Imperial Guard had offered that incomplete manuscript to the Emperor, who assumed Valtaras referred to himself and recruited Johann.
In this life, Johann has found Valtaras.
Johann’s Valtaras was not the Emperor but me.
“……Hmm.”
So I invited Johann to the mansion.
“…….”
Entering the library, Johann’s face was tense.
“By any chance… who do you think Valtaras is?”
He asked cautiously, watching my reaction.
His sparkling eyes seemed to say, “It’s you.”
“Mr. Johann.”
“You don’t have to speak formally. Feel free to be casual.”
“…Alright, Johann.”
I placed the manuscript on the table.
“I think the first principle of a novel is fun.”
“Fun… you say?”
“Yes.”
Johann has talent.
Before my regression, he had consumed his literary talent solely for the Empire’s propaganda. However, it was only after the Empire’s fall, while imprisoned as a war criminal, that his talent finally blossomed.
The novels he wrote in prison,「The Setting Sun」and「Light of Dawn」, were highly acclaimed even by the New Cabinet.
“Setting aside literary value or lofty philosophy, a story ultimately has meaning only when it is read.”
Johann, despite being a first-class war criminal, was executed relatively late, and that delay was due to his writing.
He was working on a novel at the time, and the New Cabinet had deliberately waited until it was finished.
Despite being a top aide to the Emperor and a key figure in the ethnic cleansing, he was given such consideration.
“This isn’t so much a novel as it is… yeah. More like a religious liturgy. The worship is so excessive, it’s off-putting.”
I flipped through the pages of 「Valtaras」.
[Nobles naturally bear responsibilities. In ancient Aran, this is called Noblesse Oblige.]
A plain and clean opening.
“I like the first sentence, but if your purpose is to make nobles aware of their duties and sound an alarm for the bourgeoisie…”
I gazed steadily at Johann.
“Then it needs to sell well and receive high praise. It must be widely read if it’s to become ideology and common sense.”
A well-written novel can, by itself, serve as a reference equal to that of a professional manual.
“Yes. I understand. But my intention─”
“Think more about the readers than your own feelings.”
Talent is like a fire, it flares up on its own, and it’s not easy to control.
But I have no intention of tolerating their self-indulgence.
They may revere or praise me, but ultimately that foundation must be fear and terror.
“Writing is judged solely by the writing itself. No one cares about your heart.”
“……Yes.”
Johann quietly nodded.
“Good. But the reason I called you here isn’t just about this manuscript.”
I put the manuscript away and laid out other documents. They were academic theses Johann had written during his student days.
“Your ideas are exceptional.”
“Ah… thank you!”
Johann’s face instantly lit up with emotion.
“First, let’s start with this concept of ‘withholding tax’. Explain it in detail.”
“Yes. It’s something I developed from a vague description I once read in a journal…”
Johann’s eyes suddenly changed.
The sharp gaze I’d once only seen from afar was now revived.
“The Empire, of course, needs taxes. But they must be used only for Arans, and must never become a burden to them.”
His voice carried conviction.
“To achieve that, taxes for healthcare, pensions, and unemployment are to be withheld before the worker receives their wages.”
“Does that make it less painful?”
“……Sir Knight, I once gave chocolate to some children.”
There was a peculiar weight in Johann’s words.
“If I gave them a whole piece of chocolate and took away two-thirds after they’d eaten it, the children cried. Because they felt something of theirs was taken away.”
Perhaps his talent was affecting me too.
I found myself unconsciously focused.
“But if I gave them only two-thirds from the start and said, ‘this is your share’, they received it gratefully. Because the remaining one-third was never theirs to begin with.”
Though the New Cabinet had already deconstructed this idea thoroughly, I listened quietly.
“The essence comes from the perception of ‘ownership’. The pain of losing what one thinks is theirs. Withholding tax anesthetizes that pain. Because they believe it was never theirs in the first place.”
A power to pierce public psychology and steer it in the direction the state desires.
“But I have one more suggestion, something I’d like to recommend specifically to you.”
“……Just for me?”
“Yes. Please establish a labor union and collect dues. Sir Knight, you have many businesses under you, and you are more faithful than anyone else, so there seems to be no need to entrust control to the Empire. Under your name, Sir Knight, you must create a labor union exclusively for the Aran people and unite them.”
If Dieter maximizes profits by managing numbers efficiently,
Johann digs into how those numbers affect people’s hearts.
Meaning he is an excellent talent.
“Johann. I intend to propose that policy of yours at this upcoming Prosperity Assembly.”
Prosperity Assembly.
This spring presents an opportunity to draft new laws, that is, a chance to change the Empire.
At those words, Johann’s expression went blank.
“……Huh?”
“But since tax policy is an extremely sensitive matter,”
I handed him a blank sheet of paper.
“I want you to handle the script.”
A genius of propaganda. A pen whose devilish sentences once held the Empire together.
This time, in this life, I intend to make use of that talent myself.
***
……A dark night.
Yukia stood leaning against the window frame of her residence. A cold wind blew through, but the agony burning inside her didn’t cool. Rather, it raged like a wildfire.
That day.
Alone in the car, on the road.
The moment the truck came charging at them.
She turned the wheel and saved Maximilian.
She had defied the Revolutionary forces’ orders.
‘Was it a mistake?’
Should she have killed him then?
She let out a sigh and lowered her head.
‘It was not trivial at all.’
That single line─to Maximilian it was not a trivial connection at all─had caused her to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And such a moment may never come again.
“Haa……”
Srrrk.
Suddenly, slicing through the darkness, a bird flew in. In a ghostlike flight, without even the sound of flapping wings.
“……An owl?”
It wasn’t the same owl from before. This one perched on the window frame and stared at Yukia with yellow eyes. A small slip of paper was tied to its ankle.
Yukia pulled the note off.
[ ◆◇◆◆◇◇◆◇……]
She decoded the cipher in her head.
[The last Friday of April.]
[If you haven’t betrayed us, come to this place.]
She quietly gazed at the sentence.
…….
A fishing spot shrouded in early morning mist.
I sat on a chair, staring at the float bobbing on the water’s surface.
“……It’s been confirmed.”
Chiron’s informant who had approached at some point.
He reported with a tone of excitement.
“That person has agreed to come out. This is a first even for me. As expected, since the amount is what it is-“
“The date?”
“……See for yourself.”
The agent placed a sealed envelope atop the fishing bag.
Inside was a small slip of paper listing the meeting place, time, and passphrase.
“He says he’ll come with the most definitive evidence.”
“──In that case.”
I pulled out a small card.
“It’s the key to a safe containing ten million dollars.”
A black metal card, with no flashy design or writing. The key to a VVIP secret vault at「Kronen Schatzinsel」.
The informant gulped.
“Please tell him I’ll come with the most definitive reward.”
~~~
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