Chapter 83
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83
“This spot is perfect.”
Our party entered the stock exchange and secured a prime vantage point on the second floor, offering a clear view of the trading floor below.
We weren't here to trade at the desks today; we were simply here to watch an interesting spectacle unfold.
“Can I sit here?”
Plop.
“...Suit yourself.”
Before I could even answer, Rebecca made herself comfortable in the seat to my left and crossed her legs.
“Ugh, it’s been a while since I’ve been out, and I’m exhausted. My back hurts. I feel so stiff.”
“...”
Ciel glared at her for a moment before taking the seat to my right.
And so, the seven of us sat in our plush chairs, looking down at the bustling trading floor as we talked.
“So, what’s this ‘interesting spectacle’ you promised?”
“Lady Rebecca, were you not given a detailed explanation?”
“Why would I need to know? Alfredo here will take care of everything anyway. Alfredo, explain.”
“Yes, my lady. The core of the plan is to turn the short sellers’ own scheme against them, triggering a phenomenon known as a short squeeze. First, you must understand the concept of short selling.”
“Keep it simple.”
“Then, regarding the malicious rumors about the Lombard Merchant Association that have recently spread through Stella Harbor...”
“Ugh, whatever. Even simpler.”
Rebecca covered her ears, clearly uninterested in the technicalities.
Alfredo let out a small sigh and cut to the chase.
“...In short, the opposition will be unable to repay what they’ve borrowed and will be buried in debt, while we will acquire all of their liquidated funds.”
“Oh, I get it. So, what’s the estimated profit?”
“Judging by the total assets of the merchant associations involved in this, I believe we can expect a profit of over 500 billion krone.”
“Oho. 500 billion? We won’t have to worry about money for a while, then.”
Even Rebecca, who usually showed little interest in the world outside her own, perked up at the mention of 500 billion.
The wealth generated by the western branch of Panopticon she managed, along with the protection money she collected, must have been enormous—but it seemed even for her, 500 billion was no small sum.
Rebecca turned to me.
“Hey. How much did you put in?”
“500 million krone.”
“500 million? What, is House Devalis that broke?”
“...It’s my personal capital. My allowance was cut.”
In truth, it wasn't even my personal money. It was essentially borrowed from Izelin.
Hearing that my allowance had been cut, Rebecca giggled as if she found it adorable.
“Keke, then how about I give you an allowance instead of Aslan? How much do you want? Is 10 billion enough? I gave you a good deal on those gauntlets last time, didn’t I?”
Rebecca tapped my shoulder, offering to generously part with her wealth.
10 billion.
Honestly, with so many expenses piling up lately, I was a little tempted, but I refused flatly.
Getting tied down over a bit of cash would only lead to trouble later. Besides, there were plenty of other ways to make money.
“I refuse.”
“Playing hard to get, I see.”
We were chatting like that, looking down from the second floor at the staff preparing for the market to open, when it happened.
Thud-thud-thud.
A tremor shook the entire stock exchange building. At the same moment—
CRASH—!
The doors to the exchange were thrown open, and the crowd from the plaza swarmed inside.
Investors poured in like a tidal wave. They rushed into the exchange as if they were being hunted, bellowing at the top of their lungs.
“Me! Me first!”
“Lombard Merchant Association! I’ll buy every share you have!”
“100 shares of Lombard!”
“Dammit, move! I was here first! Can’t you see my ticket?!”
Investors swarmed like ants, desperate to buy up shares of the Lombard Merchant Association.
The stock exchange staff, who had been leisurely preparing for the opening, were caught off guard by the sudden rush and scrambled back to their posts to handle the chaos.
“Ah, trading isn’t open yet! It’s not time!”
“What are you talking about? There’s only a minute left! Just do it!”
“Shut up and take my money!”
“I said I’m buying! Why won’t you sell when I’m trying to buy?!”
They argued belligerently with the staff, shoving stacks of money onto the desks.
The flustered employees hurried to prepare for the opening, checking each investor’s business card and account information.
We watched the farce from our seats on the second floor with smiles on our faces.
“It’s a total fish market down there.”
“Indeed it is.”
There was a simple reason why those investors were in such a hurry.
Our group had tied up 94 percent of the Lombard Merchant Association’s stock, so they were scrambling to buy up the remaining 6 percent.
So why were they trying to buy those shares?
The reason was simple.
Because it’s obvious Lombard’s stock is going to skyrocket.
The number of Lombard shares Jeremy’s group had shorted by borrowing from brokers amounted to about 20 percent of the total.
They would eventually have to repay that amount by the designated date, but the shares currently left on the market were less than half of that—a mere 6 percent.
This meant the remaining 14 percent of the shares they needed to repay were unobtainable anywhere, creating a massive shortage and naturally causing the stock’s value to soar.
Those investors were scheming to jump on the same train as us, not wanting to miss this opportunity.
Our job was to slowly sell off our holdings as the stock price skyrocketed, maximizing our profit until the rival merchant associations’ funds were completely drained.
It would probably take a few days.
The trading floor was bustling like a riot with the crowd trying to buy Lombard shares when...
“This is fraud! Stock manipulation!”
An angry shout echoed from below.
Looking down, I saw a few of the merchants who had been with Jeremy, yelling and drawing attention.
“Call a financial regulator! No, shut down the market first!”
It seemed their plan was to buy time and fight back somehow, refusing to be swindled so helplessly.
“Hoh, is it finally getting interesting?”
Just as Rebecca shifted in her seat to get a better look at the floor below...
Thud.
A few people came up to the second floor where our group was sitting.
It was Jeremy and his group, whom we had run into in the plaza earlier.
It seemed that while some of their party were downstairs buying time by distracting the other investors, they had come to meet us—the masterminds of this plan.
“Roen, what in the world have you done?”
Jeremy asked accusingly, his expression grim, but I simply leaned back arrogantly in my chair and tilted my head.
“...I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
As I feigned ignorance, the fat merchant, Wellun, pointed a finger at me and shouted, “Th-this is your work! You, the vice-head of the Bellatea Merchant Association you’ve colluded with, and the Black Rose Association sitting next to you!”
Wellun bellowed, spittle flying from his mouth.
I narrowed my eyes in displeasure.
“I don’t know what basis you have for such accusations. And...”
My gaze turned cold as I shot back quietly.
“For a filthy merchant who does nothing but backstab people, you have some nerve... Do you really think Jeremy will protect you when you’re about to be thrown out on the street without a penny to your name?”
“!”
“Your name was Wellun, wasn’t it? Let’s see if you can survive after insulting House Devalis.”
“H-hiik...”
As Wellun turned pale and stumbled back, Jeremy stepped between us.
“Enough. Stop with the threats and answer my question, Roen. Did you really manipulate the stock price?”
“Stock manipulation, you say. Hmm... I’m not sure who should be asking whom that question.”
I didn’t bother explaining further.
After all, there was someone else here who had much more to say about stock manipulation than I did.
I sent a glance her way, and Sheika gave a small nod before standing up.
Then, her expression hardening, she declared boldly.
“No, you’re the ones who manipulated the stock price.”
“...What did you say?”
Sheika glared sharply at the bewildered men and continued.
“You spread malicious rumors about our Lombard Merchant Association and colluded to drive down the stock price through short selling. And when the price of the spices you’d bought beforehand skyrocketed, you profited from the difference. Am I wrong?”
“Wh-what nonsense is this? Don’t you dare run your mouth! I’ll sue you for spreading false information!”
The man, having been hit where it hurt, tried to argue with a baseless retort, but it had no effect on Sheika.
Sheika looked down at the investors swarming below and continued.
“Nonsense? I have evidence I’ve been gathering all this time. Do you really think what’s happening down there right now is a coincidence?”
“...!”
“You were prepared to be robbed when you tried to rob others, weren’t you? Now it’s my turn. The financial regulators will be summoning you soon. You’d best be ready to appear.”
As Sheika made her resolute declaration, Wellun took a frightened step back and asked.
“Wh-who in the world are you?”
At this, Sheika, as if she had been waiting for this moment, removed the cloth covering her face.
As the cloth fell away, a brilliant golden earring hanging from her ear was revealed.
It had a peculiar shape, resembling the wheel that was the crest of the Lombard Merchant Association.
“!”
A few of the quicker merchants flinched upon seeing the wheel crest.
Sheika looked down at them with furious, violet eyes and declared calmly.
“I am Sheika... Sheika Lombard. The head of the Lombard Merchant Association you chose as your sacrificial lamb.”
*
A few days later.
A short article appeared in the Union Daily.
[The Stella Harbor Stock Manipulation Incident]
Since it was an event outside the Union, it wasn't described in detail, but the article stated that several merchant associations involved in the incident had been sanctioned by the financial regulators.
Well, not that it would have made much of a difference, since they were already bankrupt.
During the audit, they pointed to the Bellatea Merchant Association and the Black Rose Association, claiming they were the masterminds behind the stock manipulation, but their arguments were dismissed.
It meant their claims weren't even worth listening to.
Of course, if one were to dig deeper, they might have discovered that the [Black Rose Association] was actually one of the underworld’s financial channels and had been lending them the shares through an anonymous broker—but since it wasn't exactly an illegal act, it didn't matter.
Jeremy must have cut his losses and escaped, as there was no mention of him in any of the newspapers I checked. The Gilbert Kingdom might have silenced the press on their end.
But that was fine. I hadn't expected to completely crush him with just this.
I’d be satisfied with having thoroughly screwed him over. After all, I’d already taken a large sum from his back pocket.
I folded the newspaper and checked my account to see the profits from this venture.
[7,678,990,100]
7.6 billion krone...
For a grand scheme that took several weeks to unfold, it wasn't an astronomical sum.
It was even less than the amount Rebecca had offered me as an allowance.
But I folded the statement back up with a satisfied smile.
This is only the beginning.
This 7.6 billion was the seed money I would use to gradually increase my assets.
Considering how difficult it is to save up even a few tens of thousands in seed money in the working world, 7.6 billion was a massive sum indeed.
And since I knew the future of this Myrillin Saga, I could multiply it tens, even hundreds of times over through various investments.
I drifted into happy daydreams, contemplating how much of this money to use and for what purpose.
I’ve already paid back the money I borrowed from Izelin Academy, so first, I’ll reinvest half of it into stocks... I should also set some aside for ruin exploration and the construction of the Traum branch line, right? Or maybe I could buy a staff. An Azoth Sword would be nice, too. Ah, and I need to procure the materials to process the fragment of the Mad Dragon’s Heart.
As I was jotting down the uses for the funds in my notebook, a warm cup of black tea was placed on the table.
Click.
Ciel glanced at my notebook and said.
“You look happy.”
“Of course. I’m very happy. Now that I’ve made some money, I should give my aide a bonus. What do you want? Should I get you a shop on Traum Street? You could open a café or a dessert shop.”
“...That won’t be necessary. Please don’t spend it extravagantly and manage your money well.”
“Don’t worry. I can afford to give you a bonus.”
“That kind of lax attitude is precisely what’s dangerous.”
She let out a deep sigh and continued.
“In any case, I have a message from Lady Freya. She says she will be visiting the Student Council office soon regarding the sports festival.”