Chapter 7: A Completely Legal Transaction Without Any Legal Flaws 2

As humanity progressed, remarkable advancements were not limited to science and technology alone.

Commerce and investment.

The methods of making money using money and managing it.

While the fundamental concepts of trade had emerged quite some time ago, their development into more sophisticated stages surprisingly required a considerably long period.

And… in this dark fantasy world I currently inhabited, the notions of commerce and investment were just emerging, hatching from their shells into the world proper.

It was not long since the concept of stocks – valuing a company in monetary terms and investing in it – had been established, and stock companies had first appeared in this world.

Of course, the general concept of investment itself had existed for quite a while.

The Eastern trade conducted regularly even now was a form of investment, where people pooled their money and shared the resulting profits.

However, the clear definition of the stock concept, going beyond simple investment, had only emerged within the last 20 years. This meant humanity in this world was just taking its first steps toward the realm of capitalism.

As such, their knowledge of capital management was still several steps behind my level, allowing me to utilize it aptly and accumulate considerable wealth.

Of course, this was only “considerable” by general standards…

Compared to my ultimate goal of rescuing the Church and holy knights, it was merely a modest sum. Yet, due to that wretched Archbishop and her lackeys greedily eyeing it, everything had gone to ruin.

In this predicament, the only gift I could offer the Church and holy knights, based on my commercial knowledge, was this:

The former holy knight Santana, seated before them.

And the land and property deeds stacked in front of him.

“Gulp…”

Even without his words, the merchants present couldn’t help but swallow their saliva at the sight before them.

The lands and buildings owned by Santana.

Although they couldn’t openly show it given the situation, these were essentially the prime locations and farmlands in this city and its surrounding areas.

The farmlands were adjacent to water sources, ensuring a stable supply without worry, and the soil quality was superior, renowned for yielding high-quality grains.

As for the buildings, they were all situated along main streets, convenient for transportation and bustling with people, making them prime business locations.

From the perspective of those who knew their value, these were places they would gladly pay a premium to acquire. However, they were well aware that they could not purchase them at present.

The biggest issue was the severe lack of time.

Only four days remained.

Amassing the funds to acquire such a vast amount of land and buildings within that period was virtually impossible for them.

Even at the legally mandated minimum price, it would take at least two months.

The absolute limit of what they could purchase immediately would be a paltry 10% of the assets Santana had brought forth.

Santana was undoubtedly aware of this, yet he boldly declared his intention to dispose of all his assets here.

An outright impossibility through conventional trading methods.

However, the one before them was Santana, who had amassed wealth through all sorts of outlandish trading practices until now.

As such, he would not have come here without any countermeasures in place.

Curious about his strategy, the Branch Manager, their representative, spoke in a composed tone.

“Of course, we would gladly purchase them all if possible, but as you know, our current funds only allow us to acquire about 10% at most. Do you perhaps have a better method in mind?”

“Indeed, I do. Cazeros, if you would…”

“Yes, Lord Santana.”

At Santana’s words, Cazeros retrieved another bundle of documents from the bag she had brought.

She then carefully distributed them to the people in the room, including the Branch Manager. With serious expressions, they began to read the contents intently.

And shortly after…

“…This… is this really… possible?”

“No, what sort of trading method is this…”

The branch managers wore expressions as if they had been struck over the head with a hammer.

In contrast…

“Pfft…ahahahahahaha!!”

“Hoho…ahahahaha!”

Upon examining the contents, the Branch Manager and Amalia burst into laughter at this peculiar trading method, which seemed like mere wordplay but was legally sound without any flaws.

Conventionally, transactions involve physical entities.

Actual existing lands or buildings, or actual existing cash – trades begin and end with things that can be seen or touched.

However… at a certain point in the history of commerce, intangible concepts beyond physical entities became subjects of trade.

Rights.

Unseen and untouchable, yet undeniably existing.

At times, these could hold greater value than physical goods, and unlike produced goods with inherent limitations, rights could potentially be created in virtually unlimited quantities through mere wordplay, an immense advantage.

Utilizing this characteristic of rights, I proposed the following method to the merchants:

First, I would take out a loan from the merchants corresponding to 10% of the value of my real estate.

Legally, 10% of my real estate would then be collateralized to them, granting them the ‘right’ to claim 10% of my land if I defaulted on the loan.

Then… I would use that 10% cash to purchase the ‘right’ to reclaim the 10% of my land now owned by them.

In exchange, they would regain the cash, while I would take out another loan using the remaining 90% of my real estate as collateral, and use that cash to purchase more ‘rights’.

Repeating this cycle 10 times would ultimately result in me obtaining cash equivalent to 10% of my real estate’s value, while the merchants would hold a ‘legal mortgage’ on all my assets.

As for the remaining ‘rights’ I held to reclaim the 90% of my real estate from the merchants… that part posed no issue.

The repayment deadline for the ‘loans’ I took from the merchants was set for three days later, one day before my formal excommunication.

At that moment, all my real estate would transfer to the merchants, but the following day, my ‘right’ to reclaim it would vanish from this world, along with my other qualifications, due to the legal provision of excommunication…

‘An excommunicated individual forfeits all rights to documents.’

Although the Church could seize the physical lands and buildings owned by an excommunicated person, it was absolutely impossible for them to claim ownership over such ‘rights’.

Stripped of its intricacies, it was essentially mere wordplay, but a legally sound and valid transaction without any flaws.

Thus, based on the contract I had devised around this trading method, the Branch Manager, representing the merchants, readily signed.

‘It’s truly a pity I won’t be able to witness the events that will unfold after this…’

In the early dawn, Cazeros and I leisurely departed the city by carriage.

Behind us, although we had incurred a 90% loss, the carriage held an immense amount of cash that would be more than sufficient for travel expenses.

With such funds, we could settle comfortably anywhere on the continent, far from the Church’s domain where hell would soon unfold.

Cautiously, I looked at Cazeros seated beside me and asked,

“So then… where would be a good place for us to head?”

“Anywhere is fine, as long as I’m with Lord Santana…”

A gentle smile on her lips, Cazeros responded to my words.

Seeing her beautiful smile, I felt my face flush slightly, but I soon suppressed the emotion and spoke with some difficulty.

“Well… then. Since we must leave this country anyway, let’s set our course eastward. I happen to have an acquaintance in Benetsa due to past business dealings.”

“Very well.”

The west was as firmly under the Church’s influence as this place, which would be problematic for my excommunicated status. As for the north, the Schvitz Mountain Range made travel inconvenient.

Moreover, even if we crossed it, the lands beyond were somewhere I absolutely wanted to avoid, given my foreknowledge.

The remaining choice was the east, barely mentioned in the original work but likely a relatively peaceful region…

The so-called pagan nations.

There was nothing to gain by getting entangled in the original storyline anyway.

My conclusion was that it wouldn’t be bad to simply depart from the map altogether.