Chapter 152: The Flies That Swarm to the Smell of Money (2)
Chapter 152: The Flies That Swarm to the Smell of Money (2)
Money is always right.
Without money, nothing works, and in the end, the world is bound to revolve around it.
Even in primitive times, as soon as society developed enough to sustain itself, bartering emerged, and 'currency' was created out of necessity.
Correction.
Money is always right, but capital is always right.
And in Fermaton, a place overflowing with money and desire, the most powerful capitalist is none other than me, Ruji Fermaton.
So, what is the most powerful weapon I possess?
Financial power.
Capital power.
The overwhelming wealth I can wield as the Young Lord of Fermaton.
With this money, I can achieve whatever I desire.
Finding a 'Mythstone' that's being circulated as a mere antique should surely be solvable with money.
It must be solved.
First, the simplest and most brute-force method.
"I intend to buy up every magic stone on the market starting now, Mother."
I summoned Zenith to the sex room and informed her of my plan.
"And here I came expecting sex."
"We can have sex anytime. What's important right now is finding the Mythstone."
"To think the Ruji Fermaton is putting sex on the back burner to find an object. Sigh. I knew it was a big deal, but knowing just how big makes me sigh even more."
The fact that I postponed sex?
The fact that the Mythstone is that important?
It didn't matter.
The only thing that mattered was whether I could secure the second Mythstone I had finally discovered.
"Mother. The shape of the Mythstone is very peculiar. It looks like this."
I described the shape of the second Mythstone to Zenith.
"This... is quite large, isn't it?"
"Yes. It's a fairly large object. And its shape is that of a typical 'one of those.'"
What was it?
Anal beads.
Not just ordinary anal beads, but three spheres lined up in a row—essentially looking like popcorn chicken threaded onto a skewer.
To put it nicely, it looked like three pearls fused together; the kind of thing someone would absolutely love having pulled in and out of their anus.
"Honestly, I was a bit surprised when I first heard such a thing existed."
"Because of its performance?"
"No, no. Performance aside, I never imagined it would actually have such a perverted shape."
"……."
Just as Zenith said, the Mythstones all shared one thing in common: they had perverted shapes.
To a normal person, they might look like ordinary crafts, but with even a hint of a lewd imagination, one could immediately see how they could be used in... certain places.
For example, one Mythstone looked like a long, slender cactus frozen in a 'surprised' pose with its arms up.
Naturally, because of the arm shapes, it couldn't be used as a dildo, but its form was enough to make anyone think, 'Wait, could it be?'
Most Mythstones were like that.
Even the Mythstone Laura carried in her tail pouch—though she didn't talk about it—was shaped like a turtle egg meant for spawning play.
"When you said you were looking for magic stones for anal beads and all sorts of perverted play, I thought they were just oddly shaped gems. I didn't expect them to actually look like this."
"That's why we have to find it. I intend to use it from now on, and I can't exactly use one that's been stuck in someone else's ass."
If it had been inside a woman, I might—conceding a hundred times over—wash it and use it.
But a Mythstone that had been inside a man's rear...?
I wouldn't even touch it.
Unless I was truly desperate, I certainly wouldn't let my knights use it as a weapon. Not unless I found another way to utilize it.
"What if it was stuck inside some guy? What would you do with it then?"
"…Instead of using it as a weapon like Laura's, I'd use it as a magic stone mass-producer."
That was the backup plan.
The best-case scenario was, of course, having someone other than Laura weaponize and carry the Mythstone.
The alternative was to have it function like Laura's Mythstone, which was the very reason the market was currently flooded with magic stones.
"I'll use it to replicate magic stones. I'll extract magic power, fill empty stones with mana, and then use them as magic stones."
"The market is going to become a mess."
"It can't be helped. The supply will only continue to increase."
A large-scale drop in trading prices was already predicted.
"I've been liquidating magic stones through the Thief Guild. The volume already released is enough to shake the market, to the point where adventurers are voluntarily refraining from raiding the labyrinth."
"I don't think the price of magic stones will go back up just because of that, though?"
Zenith pointed outside.
"People who need magic stones are waiting for the price to drop even further. The Magic Tower, in particular, is in an uproar right now. A massive amount of magic stones is flowing in through some mysterious route."
"I merely provided humanitarian aid to those who have established a cooperative relationship with Fermaton."
The market supply would only decrease if the Magic Tower bought up the stones, but they weren't buying.
It wasn't that Barbas knew about the Mythstones; it was just that Astarotte was receiving magic stones as payment for her work in the knight order.
—The Magic Tower has no need to buy magic stones!
The Magic Tower should have been the primary customer, but they weren't purchasing any.
"It wasn't intentional, but someone needs to buy magic stones in bulk."
"Even if it results in a massive loss for Fermaton?"
"Just for a very short while."
At least for now, it would be a loss.
But money could be earned in other ways.
"Fermaton will buy up the magic stones. To prevent others from misunderstanding it as hoarding, we'll just pay slightly above the current market price."
"And then you'll sell those stones elsewhere? It's impossible to sell them to the Kingdom or the Empire. The global price of magic stones follows Fermaton's lead."
Regrettably, Fermaton was the center of the global economy.
My plan to buy magic stones cheaply and sell them to the distant Capital or Empire was meaningless.
The oversupply of magic stones in Fermaton...
By now, it was undoubtedly a front-page headline in the Kingdom and Empire's economic journals, with pundits frantically debating the market economy.
"And yet you're still going to buy them all? Ruji, I don't think you're doing this for the people of Fermaton."
"Of course not. I only move for myself, my family, and my knight order."
The suffering of the commoners?
The agony of the day laborers mining magic stones?
To me, they were merely people who offered up taxes every day.
"If the Mythstone is important enough for you to buy magic stones in such bulk, I won't stop you. But keep this in mind: the people of Fermaton are all twisted in their thinking. Even if you do this, they won't look upon you with goodwill."
"I know."
The people of Fermaton were all tainted by the curse of the Infinite Labyrinth.
Naturally, since they were more inclined toward malice than goodwill, if I announced I would buy up infinite magic stones, they would think like this:
—Ruji Fermaton is buying magic stones!
—That brat, of course he is! If you're going to buy them, give us more money! Ah, I'm not selling for that price!!
—Hold until the price goes up! Gwahaha!
...I had no intention of saving such people, but since I considered them my tax revenue, what else could I do?
Once I secure the Mythstone, you're all screwed. Just you wait.
If only I could get the Mythstone.
With just two Mythstones, I could crash the price of magic stones to less than half of their current value.
The 'Magic Stone Coin' would plummet, and as the ruler who could manipulate that crash at will, I would gain even more immense power by possessing the Mythstone.
"Ruji. How about this? Well, it's not exactly a good method."
"I'll hear it out first. What is it?"
"……We do this."
I was stunned by Zenith's suggestion.
"Mother. Do you really think that makes sense?"
"…It's a bit much, isn't it?"
"Let's do it immediately."
It would certainly be an effective way to deliver a message.
"We even have someone who enjoys doing that sort of thing."
* * *
One day later.
A massive crowd gathered in the plaza.
"What is it? What's going on?"
"I don't know. They said Fermaton is doing something."
What was Fermaton up to now?
While everyone was wondering, giant golems began to appear one by one in the center of the plaza.
Thump!
Four massive golems, each standing three meters tall, were carrying something resembling wide cups.
The shape of those cups was like a human breast...
No, they were far too large to be called breasts.
"What on earth are they trying to do?"
[Fireworks.]
A wide mana screen unfurled in the sky above the plaza.
Ruji Fermaton's face appeared on the shimmering veil of mana. He held his hands out in front of him and spread them wide.
[Everyone is having a hard time because of magic stones. Worried because there are too many on the market? I, Lord Ruji, shall solve that for you.]
Clatter, clatter.
A golem brought over a massive sack and poured its contents into the wide cups.
Shhhhh.
Magic stones piled up inside the cups.
The sight of the overflowing stones made the people feel strangely uneasy. Soon, two women descended from the golems' shoulders, each pulling out a torch.
A blonde bunny girl.
A black-haired nurse.
[The fastest way to solve a problem.]
The two women tossed the red flames, blazing with magic power, into the piles of magic stones.
[Is to eliminate the cause.]
Whoosh!
The magic stones caught fire.
No matter how different magic stones were from ordinary rocks, setting them ablaze like this meant the mana inside would inevitably be drained in an instant.
"A mana flare!"
Since these weren't just ordinary flames but magical ones, the fire on the magic stones began to roar and soar.
[You ask why I'm burning magic stones?]
Ruji continued speaking with a blank, matter-of-fact expression, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
[Just because.]