Since that day, Leopoldus began running around frantically.
[I must find them, no matter what. That organization is called the Invisible Hand!]
[Are you saying we should increase surveillance further?]
[Exactly. Any transaction involving gold coins must take place in full view of the Royal Knights.]
First, he controlled most commercial activities.
At least one knight was deployed for every gold coin transaction.
Seras, wielding the Sword of Truth, personally handled transactions involving fifty or more gold coins.
‘I was a little surprised when they searched my house, though.’
Later, they even searched both mansions.
To check if anyone was being held captive.
The same went for the wealthiest people who dominated Arkenia.
It was such a thorough operation that any ordinary counterfeiter would be caught quickly, but…
No matter how hard he tried, it was meaningless in front of Mel.
“As you said, I’ve released a lot of counterfeit gold coins♡”
“Didn’t you arouse suspicion when you returned?”
“Of course not! I helped with the cleanup for over a month, and they even thanked me and gave me a reward!”
Inside my private hot spring.
Mel was busily moving across my scales.
She seemed quite happy to be attending to my bath after almost half a year.
“I see.”
‘Leopoldus must be racking his brains.’
My vertical pupils turned towards the sky.
I could see Leopoldus’s office, which was being monitored even through the barrier.
[Even with the Knights mobilized, we still haven’t caught a single lead… Damn it!]
[Your Majesty, shouldn’t you take a break? You haven’t even washed properly for days.]
[This is a matter of the kingdom’s survival! How can I be at peace….]
‘His face has become gaunt. Isn’t he going to overwork himself to death?’
His face had become quite thin in the past few weeks.
Even I was a little worried.
——All because of what I ordered, so worrying is just adding insult to injury.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t hear a detailed explanation. How did you deceive them until the end?”
“I took a part of my body and made a replica of myself♡ Like this♡”
-Swoosh.
“How is it?”
“It’s like cell division?”
“I don’t know what cell division is… but this is a replica that contains only a part of my essence, the original. It has almost no combat ability, but it has the characteristics of a slime and my knowledge.”
The two Mels took turns explaining.
As a slime, she could create almost unlimited clones.
They didn’t have abilities proportional to her essence, but they all shared the characteristics of the Ultimate Slime.
The ability to disguise oneself as someone else…
And the intelligence to act as a merchant.
“You told me that a long time ago. What I’m curious about is how you avoided Arkenia’s surveillance.”
‘I just entrusted it to her because she said she could handle it somehow, but I didn’t really think she wouldn’t get caught.’
Those were just the principles by which she acted as a merchant.
I couldn’t quite grasp how she deceived even Seras, who wielded the Sword of Truth…
“It’s thanks to the economics knowledge you taught me♡ It was easy to play with words♡”
“Ah, they just blindly believe in holy relics, right?”
“Yes! Their inferiority in not knowing how many loopholes there are in verbal contracts was quite amusing”
Mel merged her bodies into one and explained.
The Sword of Truth only distinguishes lies.
The standard of lies depends on the speaker’s subjectivity.
For example, ‘Mel has known about counterfeit gold coins for a long time.’
Normally, if you answered no, you would be exposed as a liar, but…
“For a long time’? It was so funny that they could only ask such stupid questions with that sword♡ All the other questions were foolish too♡”
“Because they didn’t specify exactly when?”
“Yes! If they wanted to corner me, they should have asked with ten conditions attached.”
In Mel’s case, it was different.
She would have arbitrarily twisted the vague condition of ‘a long time ago’ and interpreted it to her advantage.
It was a loophole exploitation worthy of her, who knew all kinds of contract fraud techniques.
”….”
‘Even I don’t think this would be easy? How did she really do it?’
It’s easy to say, but it’s actually difficult.
You would have been caught if you didn’t sincerely believe it.
Maybe even I would have been caught by Seras.
But she managed not to get caught until the end.
It was a perfect skill that was slightly unsettling.
I suddenly worried if I had raised a con artist.
“…I’m only saying this just in case, but this time is a very rare exception. Don’t do such pranks unless you have to.”
“Of course! If I did this in a formal transaction, it would damage the most important thing, trust.”
“I’m glad you know. We’re looking ahead a thousand years, so let’s behave well in advance.”
“It will be as you wish♡”
Well, it doesn’t seem like there’s a problem.
She doesn’t seem like she’ll do anything bad without my orders.
I relaxed and soaked in the hot spring.
Her small body floated in the hot spring water.
It felt like I had become a rubber duck… no, a rubber dragon.
“Oh, right, the merchants you disguised yourself as?”
“It wasn’t me, but the clones that disguised themselves.”
“It’s the same thing. Anyway, it was targeted at those who spread bad rumors, right?”
“Of course. It was targeted at those who were earning gold thanks to us, but dared to talk about us as uncivilized monsters.”
“Groza? He was treated especially badly, why was that? If it had been two more days, he would have died of dehydration.”
“He said terrible things to Teo, sob. He dared to use unspeakable, blasphemous expressions like calling him a lizard…!!”
“……You endured it well, Mel.”
‘Slandering the ruler of an overwhelming power and neighboring country. He was asking for death.’
I understood why the merchant named Groza had suffered so harshly,
“How much do you think the value of Arkenia’s gold coins will fall?”
“Hoo… It will fall to the brink of economic collapse. As we calculated.”
“What’s the current market price?”
“I’m being gentle, so it’s still okay, but it will fall soon, right? Because tens of thousands more counterfeit gold coins will be revealed.”
“Good job.”
I also checked the gold coin market price.
The reason why we circulated counterfeit gold coins like this.
It was to confirm whether a phenomenon called ‘Gresham’s Law’ was occurring.
“What’s the situation with Millenia’s gold coins?”
“They are being sufficiently accumulated in the vaults of wealthy merchants. The anti-magic treatment that prohibits any counterfeiting, which Teo bestowed, is receiving great praise.”
“The main transaction is still Arkenia’s gold coins?”
“Yes! Especially…the gold coins that were recently received, which have a possibility of being counterfeited”
“It’s become Gresham’s Law.”
Gresham’s Law.
It was a theory that could summarize the situation currently happening in Arkenia in one word.
For example, our gold coins are good money with no worries about counterfeiting.
Everyone would try to keep our gold coins safe.
Whether it’s the money of monsters or not, the value of gold doesn’t change.
On the other hand, bad money. Arkenia’s gold coins.
It was clear that they would want to use this up quickly.
The gold content and value are the same as Millenia’s gold coins, but…
The story changes if there is a possibility of counterfeiting.
What was the result?
Millenia’s gold coins disappear from the market.
Gold coins with counterfeiting suspicions are circulated like crazy.
The moment it is revealed that they are counterfeit gold coins, they will not be able to use them, so they play a game of passing the bomb until then.
Ironically, only bad money was circulating in the market.
‘Originally, it’s a slightly different theory, but the operating principle is the same, so it doesn’t matter.’
This is an economic phenomenon in which bad money drives out good money.
This is Gresham’s Law.
It was our aim.
“Merchants who know what’s going on are trading with our gold coins, right?”
“Yes! They are using the gold coins we paid in regular trade.”
“Did you spread it enough?”
“Of course! Thanks to increasing the import ratio for a while, there is enough quantity!”
“It’s going according to plan.”
Thanks to this, our currency has taken root in Arkenia.
If this continues, it will be possible to lower the gold content little by little to gain seigniorage.
‘That’s not the purpose of the difference, though.’
Of course, our intention was not just gold.
It’s not something I, who am crazy about gold, should say, but anyway.
“Then, well… Mel? I’m going to think alone for a while. Wait in the hot spring.”
“If that’s what Teo wants♡”
Floating like a rubber duck in the hot spring water.
I looked up at the clear sky.
The ‘Hatchling Nurturing Support System’, my mother Rhea’s status window, came into view.
-It was full of red warnings.
[As a result of monitoring in conjunction with Teo’s magic, signs of hostile actions towards Millenia have been detected in the leadership of 4 countries.]
[Bellarus and Celicia have signed a ceasefire agreement.]
[Normare and Valentia are withdrawing a large number of troops from the front lines with the Kaiser Empire.]
[The Kaiser Empire as well….]
‘Sorry, Leo. We’re a little urgent too.’
Our ultimate task.
Survival as a target of subjugation, hated by everyone.
Millenia’s most important goal was being threatened.
That was why I had no choice but to move aggressively.
“Mel? How are the missions in other countries going?”
“We made tulip speculation popular and released counterfeit gold coins like in Arkenia. In just 3 more years….”
“…”
‘Is it too late?’
Signs of a large-scale invasion that I had felt since around the time I was laying railroads in Arkenia.
I tried my best to delay it, but…
Even for Mel, throwing the entire continent into chaos was a difficult task.
The warning messages in front of me were coldly warning of the danger that was right around the corner.
“We have to prevent even Arkenia from standing against us. Tighten the leash on the economic zone to the extent that other countries don’t see it as an invasion.”
“It will be as you wish♡”
Mel answered without any worries, peacefully, as if it would be okay because I was there, but…
There was no way that I, who was human, could be relieved.
There was no dragon who knew better than I how foolish the human race was.
I turned my gaze to the empty air.
I could see Leopoldus, who was suffering in many ways.
[Hoo… My first bath in a week. I’m going to die.]
‘Sorry, Leo. It’s for the peace of the continent, so please bear with it.’
I offered a faint apology that would never reach the ruler of the neighboring country who had been caught up in it.
A night of deep thought was coming to an end…
-Creak.
[Hmm? I said no attendants were needed… Seras!!?]
[I have come to attend to your bath, Your Majesty.]
[No, why are you doing such a trivial thing.]
[You said before that you would be happy to be attended to by a vassal! How could I, as a knight, ignore that!!]
[That was simply to put that slime off guard… In the first place, what’s with that outfit!?]
[I asked and got one! It seems Your Majesty likes such vulgar clothes!]
[That’s a ridiculous misunderstanding! I’m just.]
[Now, come here so I can attend to you as you wish!]
[Stop it! How can the young lady of the Valua family do such a thing!!]
[Yes, I washed you before, didn’t I!]
[Why are you bringing up the old days!!]
“……Mel? Let’s release a little more counterfeit gold coins than planned.”
‘The dragon is seriously worried, but he’s alone with a woman? You’re going to pay double the taxes.’
The apologetic feeling disappeared completely.
* * *
The credibility of Arkenia’s gold coins was steadily declining.
It was inevitable because they couldn’t stop the inflow of counterfeit gold coins.
Because of this, even counterfeit gold coins began to circulate openly in the streets…
“Mel? Is this just a piece of paper that you brought as something to save the kingdom from crisis?”
“Yes, Your Majesty♡ It’s the only way to revive Arkenia’s economy, made by the hands of the Great One♡”
“What on earth is this?”
“Ah, this is….”
-Grin.
“——It’s called ‘paper money’♡”
The green paper with King Sejong drawn on it also revealed its appearance on the continent.