Gold. It is a universal weapon and armor in a civilized society beyond a certain level.
　Gold becomes food, clothing and shelter. It becomes knowledge, time, and in some cases, it even controls the life and death of people.
　It is truly the ultimate in power.
(It doesn't matter if it's a different world or not... Well, in that sense, I'm glad this world isn't a savage land with no money.　
　To take it to the extreme, it's impossible to say that there is no other world in which primitive people live without knowing the meaning and value of money.
　After all, the fact that I am in this earth world is itself a ridiculous fairy tale.　
　Ryoma, who had been listening to the progress of the meeting with his cheekbones, looked at the shining golden coin in his hand.
(Nice touch ... irresistible)
　The solid weight of gold is unique to gold. And the chilliness of the metal naturally lifts my lips.
　Compared to paper money, gold coins are heavy and inconvenient to carry around, but there is a sense of fulfillment that paper money can never have.



　A room named the Conference Room. Surrounding the huge ebony round table are the rulers of the Worthenian Peninsula and their entourage.
　One of them, Riona, had been silent from the start of the meeting, sitting deeply in her chair, but as soon as she finished listening to Simone's talk, she bit him at the opening.
　Noticing the dark anger hidden behind those eyes, Ryoma smiled bitterly.

　The problem is the reason for that anger.
　As a one-time mercenary, Rionne's anger would be right. As a troop commander on the battlefield, she would be right as well. But what Ryoma wanted from her was not on such a low level.
　No, it's not that he's looking for that from Rionne alone.　
(Though he must have been aware of it...)
　Otherwise, Rionne would have been seriously angry. And if she had been seriously angry with her temper, she would have left her seat long ago.

'Mr. Rionne, I think that's a bit of a misnomer. My job is indeed to secure funds and supplies, but that's not all that matters to Ryoma-sama, so...''　

　Rionne frowned at Simone's calm rebuttal.
　Perhaps he showed a certain amount of understanding of Simone's words.
(Well, I didn't tell a lie.)
　At least Ryoma never told a lie to Rionne and the others. If you ask me if I explained everything, I'd have to say no, but there's no reason to blame him for the deception.
　If there's a reason for Ryoma to be blamed, there's only one. It's only that he didn't explain everything.

''I see, as you were initially told by young man, to show our power to the surrounding lords, and to use Zaruda as a bulwark to stall for time.

　Bortz, who had been observing the silence while folding his arms next to Rionne, opens his mouth.

''Yes, that Ryoma-sama's words are not false. As a matter of fact, I could say that those things are essential for us.

However, I'm not sure I've told you everything.

I'm afraid it's simply put...



So Bortz turned his meaningful gaze to Ryoma.

''No, no, no, there's nothing more to hide from you than a stone. Or rather, I don't intend to hide anything else from you either.''

Well I guess you're right, Simone. We didn't even ask.　

　Bortz shook his head in an exaggerated gesture and scratched his hair.

'Well, fine. I'm not convinced, but I certainly didn't listen to Atay either...'

　Perhaps he understood Ryoma's thoughts in his head. It seems that he was convinced, though he disapproved.

Then, let's listen to the story again, shall we? You didn't gather everyone here this early in the morning just to talk about it, did you?　I mean, Atai had a question for the boy, too. A lot of things.........

　Receiving Rione's probing gaze, Ryoma cowered his shoulders.
　Surely there must be a lot of things he wants to ask. I'm aware that Ryoma himself was avoiding explanation.

You mean to ask me, is this about Julian?

　This is one thing that Rionne has been asking me about and dodging for a long time now.

I've always wondered what the old man said to you that night before he left for home.

What does that mean...

　Bortz, who can't see the flow of the conversation, stares curiously at Rionne's face. No, it's the same for the other attendees around this round table. They are all looking at you at the same time. However, Rionne continues to apply silent pressure without removing her gaze from Ryoma.

You can't say it didn't happen. Your attitude that night was definitely not normal.

　A choking tone. It must be an indication that he has been putting up with Ryoma's attitude so much.
(Well, just as well........)
　It's a long story. And it's quite complicated.
　To put it bluntly, Ryoma was honestly wondering where he should start.

I don't know.......let's start with that for now, shall we?

　Liang Zhen let out one loud sigh and quietly opened his mouth.

''His Majesty Julianus told me that this war... or rather, many of the battles taking place on this western continent are being influenced by the will of a certain group.

　And what leaked out of his open mouth was an oversized bomb.
　Rionne made a stunned expression at the words that were so unexpected.　

''What?　What's that........

　No, it's not just Rionne, everyone looks at Ryoma with a look of surprise on their faces.
　The only two people who aren't surprised are the only two Malfist sisters who sit on either side of Ryoma.

''Well, it's hard to believe that we're suddenly hearing this kind of story.

　A natural reaction indeed. Rather, if he was the kind of person who would be convinced by hearing this kind of talk without warning, Ryoma would have to think about how to deal with him in the future.
　A heavy silence dominated the room.
　Everyone stared at Ryoma without a word.
　From their point of view, this statement of Ryoma's must have sounded like the delusional words of a lunatic who had lost his mind.

''Well, well, let's hear the young man out.

　Finally, Bortz opens his mouth.
　He has his own thoughts, but at any rate, he has decided that he should listen to the end of the story.
　However, it can't be helped that there is a hint of doubt and suspicion in his eyes.

I'm sorry, Bortz. So let's get back to it.

　After looking around and seeing that their minds had regained their composure, Ryoma opened his mouth again.

''First of all, let me tell you something. I never believed this story I heard from His Majesty Julianus. To be honest, it's just too outlandish a story.

　Everyone around the round table nodded deeply in silence at those words.
　It was the same for Saara and Laura, who had already heard the story from Ryoma.

''So after His Majesty Julianus told me this story, I didn't tell anyone. To be honest, I questioned the old man's sanity. But on my way back home, I was thinking to myself that this story might not be entirely delusional. I'm sure there are at least a few people on the Altomere side that want to prolong the war.

What do you mean?

One is Joshua Berhares.

　The fact that Joshua prevented the invasion of the Oltomere Imperial Army for nearly a year, no matter how good the ground is.
　It is indeed unnatural if you think about it calmly.
Blocking the enemy's transport of supplies is the basis of strategy. However, the Oltmere side should be fully aware of that.
　Didn't they take any action? No, it's more natural to say that Joshua took reasonable measures against his surprise tactics.
　Under such circumstances, Joshua had succeeded in many ambushes.
　Of course, he didn't succeed in all of them. Even so, he reduced the speed of the Oltmere Empire's invasion.
　Ryoma had always attributed that to Joshua's superior abilities.
　However, as he calmed down and thought about it, it seemed to him that this was not the only explanation.

'So you're saying that there's an informant on Oltmere's side?

'Making allies among the enemy is the basis of strategy. I'm sure Yan Ou and Ryusai know more about that than you do, right?

　After nodding at Rionne's question, Ryoma turned his gaze to Gen O and the others who kept silent.　

''I see........it's true......but from what I've heard from Sakuya, I don't think there's anyone in Zaruda who is skilled in orchestration?''

　The faces of the Igazakishu who nodded their heads but had an expression of not being able to understand.　
　It is true that if there was an excellent intelligence agency, they would take some kind of action before the Zaruda Kingdom was pushed to such an inferior position.
　The fact that you couldn't see that move itself means that there is no secret intelligence organization such as a secret agent in the Kingdom of Zaruda, or if there is, it should be on a very small scale.　

The first time I saw it, I thought it was a result of Joshua's brilliance.　

　Coordination is fundamental in warfare, but it is so profound.
　It requires a huge and precise information network and a large number of excellent people.
　Above all, the people who work there are required to have a high level of loyalty and a sense of mission.
　This is something that the Kingdom of Zaruda, which has been consuming its national power with internal strife, will never be able to have.
　It's a good idea to be able to have this in mind when you're looking at the difference in power between the two countries and try to find a way to fight an unjust war, and Joshua, the man who succeeded him, is the only one who could have that.

But apparently not.

　After the war, when I asked Joshua directly, he said that he was only gathering general information, such as sending out secret scouts, and that there was no such thing as an insider in the Oltomere Empire.
　Of course, there is no proof that Joshua's words are true, but Ryoma himself did not think that he could create an insider on the side of Oltmere under that situation.
　Then there is one conclusion........

Are you saying that someone on Oltmere's side and someone close to the Expeditionary Force's headquarters deliberately leaked the information?

'If you calm down and think about it, it's true that the stalling of Oltmere's army was unnatural.

　Lione's question was met with a small nod from Ryoma.
　Compared to the brilliant ploy of the first battle that killed General Belhareth, the so-called guardian god of Zaruda, the movement of the Oltmere army afterwards was lackluster.

'I thought it was someone in the Empire who wanted to drag Shardina down at first. Because an internal struggle for leadership is a very improbable story.

　Shardina Eisenheit is the eldest daughter of the Emperor and a favorite of Emperor Lionel.
　His trustworthiness is probably higher than that of the Crown Prince, Shardina's brother.
　It was more than possible that someone who disliked it was trying to pull Shardina down.
　Although Ryouma's words were only speculation, there was enough logic in existence to make the people who heard this story feel that it was a possibility.

'But wait a minute. Regardless of the truth of the young man's story, your current speculation is only internal to the Oltmere Empire, right?　And what does this have to do with the words of His Majesty Julian?

　Bortz interrupted, perhaps with the intention of clearing up the conversation.
　It was a natural question.

'Oh, Bolz's question is a natural one. It's true that what we've just heard is that there is likely to be an internal structure of conflict within Oltmere. But I think you'll be more convinced when you hear what I have to say from now on.　

Is this the money-making story that you say the boy told Simone to make?

"Yeah, I had Simone making a target of about a billion baht. Taking advantage of this war.

A billion he's also.....

　Ryoma mentioned the amount of money as if it was nothing, but Rionne and the others, who hadn't heard the story beforehand, were surprised and stunned.
　It was an amount of money that, when converted into Japanese yen, was nearly 10 billion yen.
　This is an amount of money that you would never see if you lived an ordinary life.
　But Ryoma said without changing his expression.

It's not that surprising. That kind of small amount of money won't be enough for my ultimate goal.　

　As a matter of fact, the more money, the better for Ryoma nowadays.
　A billion baht or so would end up in the maintenance and development of the Worthenian Peninsula. But that was not the way to go forward.

'But do you guys seriously think you can make that kind of money?

　The groans around them stopped at Rionne's skeptical gaze.
　It's good to set a goal, but it's useless if it's an unattainable goal.
　Besides, if you think about it in a common sense, it should be quite difficult for Ryoma and the others right now to earn a billion baht.
　But Simone opened her mouth as if she had been waiting for those words.

''Yes, it's an amount of money that's well within the realm of possibility if things go according to plan.

Are we on schedule?

'Yes, Zaruda and Oltmere. It should have been possible enough with the warfare going on between these two countries.

　Rionne tilts her head at Simone's words.

　At the sight of it, Ryoma realized that his prediction was correct. And it suggested the possibility that there was someone who had the same knowledge as him.

''I still have to move........''

　Ryoma muttered quietly as Simone's explanation echoed through the conference room.