Turning Disaster into Opportunity
The western sea.
Beyond the horizon, dark blue waves rolled and heaved.
The Empire’s pride, the Third Fleet.
Dozens of the newest high-speed ships.
“Admiral, we’re entering the fog bank ahead.”
At the navigator’s report, the admiral nodded with a pipe clenched in his teeth.
At the end of his gaze lay a vast green curtain hanging over the sea.
A mysterious, demonic fog that had abruptly begun blanketing these waters in recent days.
Its body was highly acidic, and because it was mixed with mana, it was an even more terrifying calamity.
The exact reason such fog appeared here had still not been discovered.
“No need to worry. The Military Mage Corps spent a fortune to inscribe neutralization circles on every hull this time.”
“Yes, Admiral. And with white cedar hulls, the ships are fast enough to cross that fog bank in half a day.”
The mood on the bridge was optimistic.
“Enter! All ships, activate the circles!”
The runic letters carved into the hulls lit up blue and formed transparent barriers.
At first, everything went smoothly.
Hissss!
But soon, ominous sounds began to ring out.
“Admiral! The magic stone consumption rate is abnormal! The defensive barrier is being stripped away at an alarming speed!”
“Feed in the reserve magic stones! Increase the output of the circles!”
“They’ve been inserted! But... the magic stones are just being sucked in! The demonic mana is directly corroding them.”
The admiral’s expression hardened.
“...I’ve never seen a density like this before. Then the circles are meaningless, aren’t they?”
“Yes. At this rate, the acidity in the fog may directly reach the hull...”
Crack!
In that instant, the ship’s barrier shattered like glass.
The green fog lunged like a starving beast and swallowed the white cedar hull.
“Aaaah!”
Before the acidic fog, white cedar was nothing more than sugar candy.
The mast struck by the fog began to fizz and dissolve, bending like soft taffy.
“There’s a hole! Water’s coming in!”
“The deck... the deck is melting! My feet are sinking in!”
The once-solid planks turned mushy and slack.
Soldiers standing on them screamed as they fell through the opening and into the hold below.
The speed they had once been proud of became a poison instead.
With momentum carrying them forward while the hull melted away, the ships could not overcome the water’s resistance; they buckled from the bow first and toppled over.
“Admiral! It’s dangerous! We need to turn back—turn back!”
“Turn her around, quickly...”
The admiral stared out the window with a dazed expression.
Already, many of the ships were being swallowed into the sea like melting candle wax.
“This is... a disaster.”
The annihilation of the Empire’s Third Fleet.
That horrific report surged through the city on magical communications.
* * *
[Rowen Stock Exchange]
The exchange in Rowen’s central district was, quite literally, a scene of utter chaos.
No—an enormous funeral parlor might have been the better description.
“Aaaagh! My money! My entire fortune!”
“It’s a lie! The fleet can’t be wiped out! Please, just tell me it’s a false report!”
People were rolling on the floor, wailing.
The massive crystal board in the center, which had shone red mana just days earlier, was now dyed a deep blue that symbolized death.
[Western Trade Guild: -92%]
[White Cedar Shipyard: Trading Halted]
Many of the nobles and merchants who had poured in everything they had, believing the supply route would open, had been reduced to beggars.
“Someone buy it! Please, buy it!”
“Aaaagh! This is a dream... it can’t be real!”
“Sob... my blood and sweat, my money... what kind of money was that supposed to be...”
“Damn it! How the hell did things get this bad?”
There was a familiar face among them, too.
Felix.
He was sitting collapsed before the crystal board, clawing at his tangled blond hair.
Nearby, the younger nobles who had once followed his lead were now lunging at him as if they meant to grab him by the collar.
“Young Master Felix! We put everything in—our scholarships and even loans—because we believed you! What are we supposed to do now?”
“Sob... I even borrowed money to invest!”
“N-no way! This can’t be happening... White Cedar Shipyard crashing like this...”
Felix was muttering with vacant eyes.
Beside him stood a man in a suit, watching with a cold stare.
The loan shark, Dels.
The expression on his face was twisted beyond all reason.
Tsk.
I watched the scene quietly from a distance.
I didn’t feel sorry for them.
Serves them right. That’s what they get for laughing at me.
Then.
There was a stir near the entrance, and messengers bearing the imperial guard’s crest came rushing in.
Whoooom—!
The mana wave pulsing from the megaphone brought the hall to sudden silence.
“By joint order of the Imperial Household and the Military, an emergency procurement notice is hereby issued!”
As the messenger unrolled the scroll, enormous letters burst into the air like flames.
[Urgent Order: Construction of special ships for anti-acid-fog operations.]
-Reason: Operational failure caused by insufficient white cedar hull durability.
-Change: Physical durability to be given top priority.
-Required material: Purchase all available black ironwood.
For a moment, silence fell over the exchange.
The crying people, and especially Felix, who had been blankly staring until now, turned their heads with creaking slowness toward the floating words.
“Black ironwood? That ridiculously heavy wood?”
“Are they insane? If you built a ship out of that, it’d crawl across the water.”
Someone muttered.
Then, one of the information brokers from a major trading house—quick on the uptake—shouted as if he were screaming for his life.
“You idiots! Speed isn’t the issue! Do you know what the only ship that came out of this disaster unscathed was? A single old transport ship that had been built with black ironwood years ago!”
“What? Seriously?”
“Only black ironwood doesn’t melt in that fog! If the military is buying it all right now, that means they’re planning to churn out every ship from now on with it!”
In an instant, the flow of the air changed.
Despair turned to greed, and fear turned to madness.
“Hey! Which merchant house handles black ironwood?”
“Find it now! Check the ledgers!”
The sound of pages turning rose like surf as hundreds of people flipped frantically through thick trading ledgers.
And then someone shouted,
“Black Forest Forestry! They’re the empire’s only exclusive supplier!”
Rumble!
The crowd surged like lunatics toward the buying counter, each trying to get there first as they grabbed at one another’s collars.
“Black Forest! Put Black Forest Forestry on the board!”
“Buy at market price! No, I’ll pay above asking!”
“I was here first! Move!”
I folded my arms and checked the very bottom of the crystal board.
The name no one had bothered to look at, buried under a layer of dust.
[Black Forest Forestry]
The gray letters that had been dying out suddenly began to burn red.
[Black Forest Forestry]
-Buy orders surging
-No sell orders
It shot straight up.
The stock that had been worth 5 copper a share vaulted to 10, then 20 in the blink of an eye.
Everyone wanted to buy; nobody wanted to sell.
And because of that, the asking price climbed like it had gone insane.
“Someone sell! Please!”
“I’ll give you 30 copper!”
“I’ll pay 50!”
I slipped a hand into my pocket.
A bundle of certificates touched my fingertips.
[Black Forest Forestry] 1,057 shares
This stack of paper, which I’d bought for 52 silver and 80 copper, was now worth more than ten times that in a single instant.
5 gold.
No—at the current asking price, it was approaching 10 gold.
Should I sell?
I hesitated for a moment.
If I sold now, it would still be an enormous windfall.
No. Not yet.
This was only the beginning.
I couldn’t even imagine how high it would go from here.
Let’s get out of here. If I stay, I’ll just end up wanting to sell.
I turned and started toward the exit.
On the way out, I happened to pass right in front of Felix, who was sitting on the floor.
“You... you... Hans...”
Felix lifted his head and looked at me.
The arrogant gaze that had once looked down on me days ago had now twisted into a desperate question.
“You bought Black Forest Forestry, didn’t you? How... how did a commoner like you know...”
“I was just lucky.”
I didn’t laugh at him, and I didn’t mock him.
I simply let him pass through my eyes the way I would a pebble lying on the roadside.
“You... you dare—!”
Felix tried to reach out, but the enraged crowd blocked him again and drove him back down to the floor.
“What about my money, Young Master Felix?”
“I’m going to be thrown out of my house!”
“Shut up! I’m ruined too. Ruined! Why is everyone coming to me and making a scene?”
“You told us to trust you!”
“Give me my money back! Give it back!”
I left the exchange behind, now little more than a battlefield.
Haa... I can breathe now that I’m outside.
The sunset over the street was dazzling.
It was only an ordinary sunset, and yet for some reason it felt more beautiful than ever today.
Maybe because of the certificates weighing heavy in my pocket?
They were worth more than 10 gold.
It felt like a dream.
And this was only the beginning.
Just wait. I’m going higher with this money.
* * *
The streets were quiet.
The news that the fleet had been annihilated had left all of Rowen gloomy.
“Hans.”
At dinner.
My father spoke in a heavy voice.
On the table sat nothing but thin soup and hard bread.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Yes.”
I set down my spoon and looked at him.
“Our family... we’ll have to leave here.”
“Leave? Where to?”
“To your maternal grandfather’s house. You know Luber Village in the south, don’t you? We got a letter yesterday. Your grandfather’s in poor health. And they’re short-handed on the farm... they need someone there to look after him.”
My father paused and looked around the shop.
“I’m thinking of selling this place, too. It wasn’t doing well to begin with, and I think it’ll only get worse from here. Rather than taking on more debt and trying to hold on, I think it’s better to wrap things up now and head south.”
My mother lowered her head and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
I was taken aback.
“Sell the shop? What are you talking about? Don’t worry. I’ll pay the debts back. Please just hold on a little longer.”
[Black Forest Forestry] 1,057 shares.
If I sold them right now, I could buy this shop back and still have plenty left over.
The stock had already risen more than tenfold.
The debt my father had carried his whole life?
I could wipe it out in a single blow.
But not now. I need to wait a little longer before selling.
Black Forest Forestry was only in the early stage of its rise now.
With just a little more time, it would climb several times higher than it was today.
I couldn’t tell them the truth.
If I said it was stock, they’d call it a dangerous gamble and tell me to sell it immediately.
Still, I could say I had managed to save up some money...
“Haha.”
Then my father burst out laughing heartily.
“My son’s all grown up. Just hearing you say you’d pay your parents’ debts is enough to make me feel strong.”
He patted my shoulder.
“Still, Hans... we’re not so desperate that we need to rely on you yet. Your mother had quietly saved up a little in the back pocket over the years. We’ve already paid off the debts with that, and once we add the money from selling the shop, we won’t be living poorly even in the countryside.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There’ll be enough left over for your grandfather’s medicine, too.”
My mother gave a small smile.
“I saved up every copper without letting you know, Hans. That’s how running a household is.”
My father’s face grew serious again.
“So, come with us. It’ll be boring in the countryside, but you won’t have to worry about going hungry. These days, the city is too grim and dangerous; that place will be safer. Let’s live quietly and farm the land.”
I was silent for a moment before answering.
“......No. Father, I think I’ll stay here.”
“You’re going to stay by yourself?”
“I want to go with you both, too... but if I do, everything I’ve learned so far will have been for nothing. I want to stay in the city and learn more. Magic, and other things too. Those are things I can’t do in the countryside.”
My father looked at me for a long moment.
I thought he was going to scold me, but instead his expression softened.
“I see. I figured you’d say that.”
“...What?”
“You were the sort of boy who kept studying doggedly even while noble brats pushed you around in the library. You even secretly mastered that strange magic that patches fabric so neatly. A boy like you would never give up easily.”
He rose from his seat and went into the inner room.
A moment later, he returned carrying an old leather pouch.
“Here. Half of what we have left.”
“What?”
“If you’re going to live in the city alone, you’ll need at least this much. For a room, for food.”
As he set down the heavy pouch, the thick veins on the back of his hand stood out—proof of a lifetime of labor.
Something hot stirred in the corner of my chest.
...Half of it?
My parents still needed living expenses to settle in the countryside, and my maternal grandfather needed medicine, too.
Giving me half of that money meant they were starting over with empty hands all over again.
I pushed the pouch back toward my father.
“I can’t take this, Father.”
“You little—then where are you planning to sleep starting tonight? On the street?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got money saved up.”
That was actually a lie.
In truth, the only cash I had on me was the 40 copper from my last wages.
The rest was all tied up in stocks, so that was the only money I could use right away.
Still, I smiled as if I were comfortable.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Really? You’re not lying to us, are you?”
My mother asked anxiously.
“Of course not. You know I’m smart. No matter where I am, I won’t starve to death.”
I held my mother’s hand tightly.
“Please trust me, Mother. I’ll come visit you later as a splendid mage. By then, I’ll be the one treating you, so you have to stay healthy.”
My mother held my hand and couldn’t say anything for a long while.
“...Yes. My son, you’re wonderful. You’re smart, so I know you’ll do well.”
“Then let’s have something delicious for dinner tonight.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“Meat pie. Your cooking is the best, Mother.”
My mother’s eyes widened, and then a smile spread across her face.
“All right. Your favorite. Mom will make as much as you want.”
A little while later.
In the cramped kitchen, the rich scent of butter and sizzling meat filled the house.
Then—
“Young Master, how do you intend to repay the money you borrowed?”
“We’re being polite because you’re from a noble house, Young Master. Otherwise, we’d already have taken your skin...”
Outside, voices drifted in—polite in a way that somehow made them even colder.
“Let go of me! How dare you! Do you want to die? Don’t you know who I am?”
“Then please just repay the money... Huh? Young Master... where are you running—hey, you bastard, stop right there!”
“Aaaah! Don’t chase me! I said don’t chase me!”
What the hell is that about?
I tilted my head toward the window for a moment.
Someone seemed to be being chased, but I couldn’t make out the details.
Just then my mother set a fresh plate on the table.
“Hans, hurry up and eat. It’ll get cold.”
“Yes, Mother.”
I turned my attention back inside.
Whatever was happening outside, whatever trouble someone else was in, the only thing that mattered to me at this moment was this dinner table.
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