I Alone Have a 10,000% Return
I Alone Have a 10,000% Return
Sylvia's face flushed crimson.
Only then did Ian realize his mistake.
'Well, no wonder she hates it.'
The Laurent house was, to put it in certain terms, the very definition of a "célèbre" family.
Elegant, refined, aristocratic through and through.
Sylvia had clearly received a conservative and strict upbringing at home. For someone with her traditional values to be abruptly thrust into a newlywed couple routine—of course she had every right to lose her temper.
Ian, misreading the moment, paused briefly to check on her condition.
'Great. Now even kids are showing up to rub salt in the wound.'
The exchange employee guiding them felt his own mood sour.
He'd just gone through a breakup recently himself.
Watching the two of them play lovey-dovey was already grating on his nerves. And no matter how he looked at it, the black-haired man was utterly unworthy of the woman beside him.
Painfully so.
Even beneath the hat and sunglasses, her face radiated class. Her elegant, sophisticated fashion would've rivaled the most sought-after actors in the capital. By the time Ian straightened up, the employee's demeanor had grown noticeably brusque.
"Have you ever traded stocks before?"
"You could say this is my first time."
He'd done it in a previous life—just never in this world.
That was the meaning behind Ian's reply.
The employee cracked a smirk.
"Then allow me to give you a quick rundown."
"Mm. Thank you."
"Do you know what determines the price of a security?"
"I don't."
If anyone actually knew that, they'd all be filthy rich.
"And you came to the exchange without even knowing that much? Well, for the sake of your wife's pretty face, I'll teach you a thing or two."
...What was this guy's deal?
The sudden know-it-all act. Sure, he'd seen plenty of those back when he traded stocks in the modern world, but here too? Ian was still taken aback when the employee launched into his spiel.
"A company's value ultimately comes down to how much profit it generates. In that regard, it's wise to look at guilds that have been undervalued for a long time. Revenue is what matters."
"I see."
"Not only that..."
The one-sided lecture had begun.
He kept sneaking glances at Sylvia, as if hoping she was listening too.
'...She's the vice-captain of a merchant company, you idiot.'
Ian chose to simply ignore him.
Letting it all in one ear and out the other, he soon arrived at the main trading floor.
— Welcome to the Central Branch of the Pan-Continental Securities Association!
"...Wow."
The spectacle before him drew an involuntary gasp.
◆
A dazzling scene of gold and splendor.
The domed interior stretched to an impossible height, its white marble and gilt moldings exuding pure opulence.
Towering pillars—you had to crane your neck all the way back to see their tops—were covered in countless devices resembling Kirtos terminals, all of them in constant motion.
— A cascading rustle!
The endlessly refreshing numbers displayed within flickered red, then green, in an unceasingly lavish dance.
— Let's gooo! Let's fucking gooo!
People cheering at the sight.
— Aaaaagh! My money! That was my daughter's hospital fees!
People in despair.
In one corner, worthless stock certificates fluttered like confetti.
Elsewhere, overnight millionaires flung banknotes into the air.
What lay before him was a fatally decadent landscape.
'When you think about it, this place is no different from a casino.'
In the modern world, stock trading happened over the internet and by phone, but here everything existed in physical form. Buy a security, receive a paper certificate. If it got delisted, that paper turned into actual scrap.
"Welcome to the stock exchange."
His pulse quickened at a spectacle rarely witnessed in the modern era.
The novelty would probably turn into a nuisance later, but that was a problem for another day.
Ian picked up a guide catalog from a nearby stand.
[ Pillar 1 — Transportation ]
[ Pillar 2 — Grain ]
......
Each pillar was divided by theme, with terminals dangling from them, darting back and forth endlessly in a hypnotic display.
'Mana... Is there a separate Mana section? Ah. It's classified under energy.'
Ian flipped through the pamphlet.
The employee looked down on him, muttering under his breath.
"Energy's tough for beginners... too volatile."
Ian pretended not to hear him, so the employee thrust out his own pamphlet.
"Transportation, with all the big guilds, is a solid bet. For beginners, anyway. And with a wife as pretty as yours, you really ought to manage your money well."
"Mm. Is that so? We're fine. We're looking for energy stocks. Let's go, Silvy."
Sylvia flinched at the sound of Ian's voice.
'S-Silvy...'
Not once in her entire life had anyone ever given her a nickname.
It had been an impulsive decision—something she'd done while browsing Kirtalk.
The odds of actually meeting him had seemed slim... but when she'd pictured those animal-like girls swishing their tails around him, a strange impatience had seized her and brought her here.
She'd have to pull an all-nighter to catch up on the backlogged paperwork, but with a reward like this, that was nothing.
'Coming here was the right call.'
"Silvy, aren't you coming?"
"Ehehe. Yes, I'm coming!"
Sylvia scurried after Ian.
At the sight, a vein visibly bulged on the employee's forehead.
***
The employee sized them up. Obviously, this was some black-haired country bumpkin visiting the exchange for the first time.
The woman, on the other hand, was so smitten that she couldn't even entertain the thought of the bumpkin messing around with her.
Her every graceful movement, her well-toned figure, and that face—even hidden, it was overwhelming. The employee couldn't stand it.
'Hah...'
He'd seen cases like this before.
A bumpkin makes a bit of money and splashes it on a woman.
He couldn't contain the jealousy boiling up inside him.
'I'll steal her away for sure.'
Women were easy—a bit of money and a few airs of sophistication were all it took.
Plenty of people assumed an exchange employee must be rich and smart.
He'd casually chip away at the man's position with a few well-placed nuggets of plausible knowledge. Then, later, when the stock inevitably dropped, he'd pull the classic: "I told you so."
He'd poached women this way several times already.
'Looks like this guy was trying to show off his stock-market money in front of a naive girl. Not happening.'
The employee promptly glued himself to Ian's side.
Then he launched into his know-it-all routine, voice pitched just loud enough for Sylvia to hear.
"Travel demand has been surging lately. In that regard, travel-related guilds are highly promising. The price-to-forward-earnings ratio is below 3.3—an all-time low. You can reasonably expect at least double the returns."
"We're fine. We've got a stock already in mind."
Ian was firm.
The employee furrowed his brow.
"Is it a small guild, by any chance?"
"Yes."
The employee thought he finally had a grasp of the situation.
'Obviously, someone baited him into coming here.'
No way a rookie like this would be so confident otherwise.
If anything, this made things easier. The guy was doomed to fail anyway.
All he had to do was soften him up with logic beforehand.
His real target was Sylvia, after all.
When this black-haired idiot crashed and burned, the woman would be his.
The employee stole a glance at Sylvia and kept going.
"Which stock were you planning to buy?"
"A company called Eco Mana."
"...What sort of company has no revenue to speak of? Look. Their annual revenue doesn't even reach ten gold. Net profit is actually negative. They're at risk of capital impairment soon, too."
At the employee's smooth spiel, Sylvia turned her gaze toward him.
Emboldened, he pressed on.
"If you want to invest in mana, it's far better to buy into the more established guilds. Not these speculative tech plays—there are solid, traditional mana distribution companies out there."
"Mm. Is that so."
"If it were me, I'd buy a higher-quality guild to ensure a stable life with your wife. Actually, stable bank stocks are even better than energy. Long-term undervalued stocks are safe. That's where you should be putting your money."
But Ian's response was utterly indifferent.
"Ah, right. Still, I'm planning to buy this one."
Resolute.
A display of sheer ignorance and pitiable stubbornness, utterly devoid of logic.
By now, even the woman must have realized it was pure obstinacy.
The employee flashed an oily smile and leaned toward Sylvia.
"Ma'am, perhaps you should talk some sense into him. He clearly doesn't know what he's doing. This guild is obviously a scam."
As he spoke, his hand crept up and settled on Sylvia's shoulder.
She calmly looked down at it.
***
Until just moments ago, Sylvia's mind had been a garden of blooming flowers.
'A newlywed couple, he said...'
The roleplay Ian had initiated to conceal her identity.
Even knowing it was only an act, it delighted her—like playing house for the first time in ages. And with Ian, of all people...
She hadn't been able to stop the corners of her lips from curling.
"Ma'am, perhaps you should talk some sense into him. He clearly doesn't know what he's doing."
Who was this man, claiming that someone else "didn't know what they were doing"?
When it came to information, Ian was leagues ahead of even her.
At the employee's blatant condescension, Sylvia's gaze hardened in an instant.
She spoke coldly.
"What does it matter if it's a scam?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Don't you only need to make money?"
Her eyes were sharp and cold, true to her nature.
"And since you've been acting like such a know-it-all, allow me to say something. Since when is a security's price determined by a company's intrinsic value? Prices are determined by market sentiment and crowd psychology. Have you never heard the maxim that a stock which is 'eternally undervalued' is actually priced exactly where it belongs? The Association's standards seem rather low, I must say."
"No, ma'am, I was simply concerned for your sake—"
"Concerned? Since when does an Association employee interfere in private trades? Has the regulation changed?"
Sylvia's gaze was piercing, like a driven awl.
"I-I'm sorry!"
The employee bowed his head before he even knew what he was doing.
That look in her eyes—it was as terrifying as facing a superior from an impossibly high station. Primal fear surged through him.
"Silvy, don't be so harsh. He was only saying it out of concern."
"Ehehe. I couldn't help myself."
As if her previous expression had been a complete lie, Sylvia turned back toward Ian.
Only then did the employee truly understand.
The difference in warmth between how she looked at that black-haired man and how she looked at everyone else—it was far more extreme than the gap between a hot bath and an ice-cold plunge.
***
A device resembling a telephone receiver.
Ian picked it up.
- Please state the stock you wish to purchase.
"Eco Mana."
- Current value per share is 0.01 silver. How much would you like to order? The minimum order amount is 1 silver, or 100 shares.
"One gold's worth."
At Ian's words, the employee beside him muttered just loudly enough for Ian alone to hear.
"...Dropping that kind of cash on a trash stock like that."
Ian lightly dismissed the man's grumbling.
- Estimated average execution price is 0.011 silver. Proceed with the order?
"Yes."
Whirr.
The magical engineering device printed out a single sheet of paper surrounded by gilt edging.
[ Pan-Continental Securities Association Guaranteed Certificate ]
[ Eco Mana 9091 shares. Total value at current price: 1 gold ]
Ian clenched his fist lightly.
Meanwhile.
'He just tossed one gold into the trash.'
Peering over Ian's shoulder, the employee inwardly cheered.
One gold—that was the kind of money an average laborer had to work six months to earn.
- "A refund... Please just refund it. This was my mother's medical expenses..."
- "That's impossible, as I've already explained. If you persist, we will call security. Please leave."
The sight of some investor begging nearby.
That's going to be your future, black-haired punk.
'Just wait. You'll be in here whining about whether you can get a refund on some quarter-crashed, half-crashed price.'
When that happened, the two of them would surely part ways right here at this exchange.
And the woman would naturally fall into his own grasp.
The employee smirked to himself at the thought.
Ian glanced over and shook his head.
'He's lost his mind. Whatever, not my problem.'
Honestly, whatever went on inside that employee's head was none of his business.
Eco Mana would rise to 1 silver per share within a short period.
The current price was 0.01 silver per share. In terms of return rate, that was 10,000 percent.
A hundredfold, in other words.
'Assuming I sell in lots with a 20 percent margin, just to be safe...'
The money in Ian's hands would come to a minimum of 80 gold.
A fortune big enough to repay all his debts and still buy a few houses near the academy.
'If I could quietly pick up more shares without drawing attention, I could make even more...'
If some event triggered a crash, he could subtly sweep up a lot more, but... that was probably just being greedy.
80 gold was more than enough to fund his activities for a while.
'After all, this isn't the only piece of the future I know.'
A grin spread across Ian's face.