Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: A Perfectly Legal Transaction with No Legal Flaws 2
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Humanity's progress wasn't limited to rapid advancements in science and technology.
Commerce and investment.
The art of using money to generate more money and managing it effectively.
While the basic elements of such transactions had existed for quite some time, elevating them to a more sophisticated level had surprisingly taken a long age.
And... in this dark fantasy world where I now found myself, the concepts of commerce and investment were just hatching from their eggs, poised to fully emerge into the world.
It hadn't been long since the idea of valuing a company in monetary terms and investing in it—known as stocks—had been established, and the first joint-stock companies had appeared on the scene.
Of course, the notion of investment itself had been around for a while.
The Eastern trade happening even now was essentially a form of investment, pooling money from others and sharing the profits.
However, it had only been less than twenty years since the concept of stocks had been clearly defined, moving beyond simple investments. Humanity in this world was just taking its first toddling steps toward capitalism.
Their knowledge of capital management was still several levels behind what I knew, and I'd capitalized on that to amass this much wealth so far.
Of course, by general standards, this was a fortune...
But to achieve my ultimate goal of saving the church and the Holy Knights, it was barely seed money. Then that damned Archbishop and her lackeys had set their sights on it, ruining everything.
At this point,
there was only one gift I could offer the church and Holy Knights, based on my commercial knowledge.
And that was...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The former Holy Knight Santana Andreas sitting before them.
And the stacks of property deeds and land titles piled in front of him.
"Gulp..."
The merchants gathered there swallowed hard involuntarily, not just because of his words, but at the sight of those documents before them.
The lands and buildings owned by Santana.
Though they couldn't show it openly given the circumstances, these were the prime cuts of real estate in the city and surrounding farmlands—the so-called golden eggs.
The farmlands alone hugged a reliable water source nearby, eliminating irrigation worries, and their soil was superior, famous for producing high-quality crops.
The buildings, every one, sat on major thoroughfares—perfect for traffic and footfall, ideal for business with no better spots available.
Anyone who knew their value would gladly pay a premium for them. Yet they knew full well they couldn't acquire them now.
The biggest issue was the excruciatingly short timeframe.
Only four days left.
Raising funds to buy this much land and these buildings in that time was virtually impossible for them.
Even at the legally mandated minimum price, it would take at least two months.
Scraping together everything they had, they could barely cover ten percent of Santana's assets.
Santana surely knew this, yet he boldly declared he'd sell all his assets right here.
An impossible deal under normal trading laws.
But his opponent was Santana, who'd raked in fortunes through all sorts of bizarre methods before.
He wouldn't come unprepared.
Wondering what his secret plan was, the Branch Chief—their representative—spoke up calmly.
"Of course, we'd love to buy them all if we could, but as you know, our current funds only stretch to about ten percent. Do you have some clever solution?"
"Of course. Kazeros, the documents..."
"Yes, Sir Santana."
At Santana's words, Kazeros Sophia pulled another bundle of papers from her bag.
She carefully distributed them to the Branch Chief and everyone else in the room, and they began poring over the contents with serious expressions.
And shortly after...
"...Th-this... Is this... really possible...?"
"No way, what kind of transaction is this...?"
The branch managers looked as if they'd been struck on the head with a hammer.
On the other hand...
"Pfft... Puhahaha!"
"Heehee... Ahahaha!"
The Branch Chief and Amalia, upon reviewing it, burst into laughter at this peculiar method that seemed like a joke but was legally flawless.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Typically, transactions involve tangible goods.
Visible and touchable things like actual land, buildings, and cash mark the start and end of a deal.
However... at some point in commercial history, transactions began involving intangible concepts.
Rights.
Things that exist undeniably but can't be seen or touched.
These could hold more value than physical assets and, unlike limited physical goods, could be multiplied almost infinitely through mere wordplay, offering tremendous advantages.
Leveraging these properties of rights, I proposed the following to the merchants.
First, I borrow from the merchants an amount equal to ten percent of my real estate value.
Legally, ten percent of my property becomes collateral, giving them the 'right' to claim it if I default.
Then... with that ten percent cash, I buy back the 'right' to reclaim that ten percent of my land now under their ownership.
In exchange, they get cash again, and I use it to borrow another ten percent against my property, then buy back the 'right' with that money.
Repeat this ten times, and I end up with cash equal to ten percent of my real estate, while the merchants legally hold liens on all my assets at 'fair' prices.
I'm left with the 'right' to reclaim ninety percent of the property they've taken—but handling that posed no issue.
The repayment deadline for the 'loans' from the merchants is three days from now, the day before my excommunication officially takes effect.
At that moment, all my real estate transfers to them, but the next day, my 'right' to get it back vanishes cleanly from the world—along with my other qualifications—due to the excommunication clause:
'All rights in documents held by the excommunicated are nullified.'
The church could seize an excommunicated person's physical property like land and buildings, but claiming ownership of such 'rights' was utterly impossible.
In essence,
it was pure wordplay, but a perfectly legitimate transaction with no legal flaws.
With that, the Branch Chief, as the merchants' representative, gladly signed the contract based on my devised method.
'Too bad I won't get to witness the fallout with my own eyes.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the early dawn, Kazeros Sophia and I leisurely drove our carriage out of the city.
Behind us, though we'd handed over ninety percent at a loss, the cargo hold brimmed with an enormous sum of cash—more than enough for travel expenses.
With this much money, we could settle anywhere on the continent, far from the church's hellish domain, without issue.
Glancing cautiously at Kazeros Sophia beside me, I asked,
"So... where to now?"
"Anywhere is fine. As long as it's with you, Sir Santana..."
She replied with a gentle smile playing on her lips.
Seeing that beautiful smile made my face heat up a bit, but I suppressed the feeling and spoke with slight hesitation.
"Then... since we have to leave this country anyway, let's head east. I know some business contacts in the Bennetsa Republic, after all."
"Yes, sounds good."
The west was as church-dominated as here, awkward for an excommunicated man like me. The north was hampered by the Schwitz mountain range, making travel difficult.
Even beyond that, the regions were places I'd absolutely avoid, knowing what lay ahead.
Ultimately, the only option left was east—barely featured in the original story but peacefully stable, home to the so-called pagan nations.
No good could come from getting tangled in the original plot anyway.
My conclusion: slipping off the map entirely wasn't a bad idea.