Ch.1111. Diversified Investment

The day after leaving the Order.

I was sitting face to face with Bingo. This guy had left the Order at the same time as me.

“Sorry that you ended up unemployed along with me because of me.”

“It can’t be helped. If you leave, me getting thrown out is the natural course. I didn’t want to be harassed by the knights, unlike those spineless administrators.”

In reality, it wouldn’t have ended with just harassment.

Everyone knew about my friendship with Bingo. With me abruptly leaving the Order, Bingo would inevitably be the first one questioned.

Bingo was quite wealthy in Cordana, though not as much as me.

Just selling the Cordana he currently had would net him over 3 billion after fees. Even that alone was an enormous sum.

100,000 could sustain a family of four for a month in the expensive Imperial Capital, albeit frugally. Looking at it that way, this bastard Bingo wasn’t in a position to be concerned about an administrator’s salary either.

“Thinking about it now, I’m glad you’re here. If I were alone, there’s no guarantee I wouldn’t end up dead in the middle of the night.”

That was an undeniable reality.

I at least had high recognition and the strength to protect myself, but Bingo was truly a commoner without any backing. He might have had to flee in the night to an unfamiliar region with his money.

“It’s safer for me to stick by your side. I’ll help with odd jobs, and in return…”

“You want me to protect you. I understand.”

I casually showed him my weapon. It was a sword I had acquired immediately after leaving the Order.

Because I couldn’t let go of my attachment to swords?

That was part of it. I had been focused solely on swordsmanship since I was nine years old. Not because I particularly wanted to make a name for myself with a sword, but because dedicating twelve hours a day to training was the only way to escape my miserable circumstances.

Fortunately, I had exceptional talent. I was naturally athletic, and my aura sensitivity was keen, allowing me to reach the level of an Expert more easily than others. That’s how I was able to become a member of the Royal Order.

‘Now I no longer need to wield a sword to escape poverty.’

Now, I needed strength to protect my assets.

The sword wasn’t the only thing I had prepared.

High-grade potions that could instantly heal most wounds.

Magic scrolls for various situations.

Even just these items cost an enormous amount.

Originally, high-grade potions and magic scrolls weren’t items meant for self-defense. They were things that achievement-obsessed adventurers equipped when entering extremely dangerous dungeons. In life-or-death situations, a single potion could save your life.

Of course, this level of expenditure wasn’t burdensome for me at all.

Well, it was a bit regrettable, but I could bear it to protect my life. It was an expense to deal with those who were after my hard-earned money.

With such preparations, protecting Bingo would be more than possible. Thanks to this, I also didn’t need to find a separate administrator to handle odd jobs, so it was mutually beneficial.

“That’s enough.”

After responding indifferently, Bingo began advising me on how to manage my assets.

“First, you should move to a safer residence. This place is too close to the Royal Order. You don’t want to live near those stress-inducing people, do you?”

“Where would be better to move?”

The place Bingo recommended was District 3 of the Imperial Capital, an area where high-ranking officials and officers working in the capital primarily lived. Being a residential area for public officials, security was nearly perfect, and most importantly, there were many watchful eyes, making it difficult for members of the Royal Order to act recklessly.

“District 3. District 3.”

“Of course, if you want to live lavishly in a mansion with dozens of servants, District 1 would be better than District 3. But that place is full of high nobles and imperial relatives. Do you want to mingle with those high-and-mighty people?”

“No, District 3 is fine.”

“Actually, I’ve found a mansion with a garden. In a good location. You’ll need to hire a few servants too.”

Bingo’s next recommendation was to diversify my investments.

Currently, I only had cash. As advised by the Cordana exchange, I had deposited half in the Imperial Bank and half in the credit vault operated by the Merchants’ Guild.

And I had about 500 million in cash on hand in the form of gold coins and notes. Even this alone was an enormous sum.

“Cash is king. But you need to diversify appropriately. We don’t know what will happen to Cordana after the Demon Lord is defeated.”

“What should I buy?”

Bingo immediately introduced several investment opportunities.

First, he mentioned a vast forest about two days’ journey from the Imperial Capital, which supplied 40% of the firewood consumed in the capital. While it didn’t yield extremely high returns, it was excellent as a store of value.

“A forest. Not bad.”

“Right. It’s steady. Nobles might cook and heat with magical devices, but most people still use firewood and coal, now as always. You could probably resell it at a fair price even 30 years from now. How about securing about half the ownership?”

“And if I don’t like that?”

“I heard that a villa owned by Marquis Clodein has come on the market. It’s a day’s carriage ride from the Imperial Capital. Honestly, the villa itself isn’t very valuable, but apparently there’s some… what was it… anyway, some fruit that nobles love grows on the property. The villagers nearby pay to harvest it.”

“That would more than cover the maintenance costs of the villa.”

The real estate Bingo recommended seemed more like a store of value rather than a high-yield investment. I decided to purchase one of the properties he suggested. The villa would probably be good.

“Besides that, jewels, gold bullion. These are good.”

“What about treasures?”

“Oh, those are good too. It’s customary for imperial family members far from the line of succession to receive a treasure or two when they leave the palace. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to approach distant imperial relatives who left the palace decades ago and tactfully inquire about trading. There are quite a few imperial family members in name only.”

As we talked, I somehow felt like we were having a conversation detached from reality.

A firewood forest, a marquis’s villa, treasures in the possession of imperial relatives. These were assets that could never be attained with a knight’s salary in a lifetime.

Yet here I was, planning to purchase them for the purpose of diversifying my assets.

‘My world has certainly changed.’

I even gave Bingo a bottle of wine as compensation for his advice.

A wine worth 600,000 Lyra. In a rural domain, that would be equivalent to a guard’s monthly salary. To be honest, it was a wine I would only encounter at social gatherings, but now I could casually give it away as a gift to a friend.

Bingo, who received it, also had an excessively nonchalant expression. That was because this bastard was also wealthy.

“Oh, by the way, when are you planning to sell?”

“I told you. It’s still far from reaching the crown. Of course, I don’t plan to wait until it actually reaches the crown. I’m thinking of selling around the forehead.”

His tone suggested he knew exactly when it would reach the forehead.

It was a bluff, but I didn’t feel like pointing it out. The fact that it would be a huge sum regardless of when I sold remained unchanged.

An amount that the Order members, who were probably riding like mad to confront the Lizardman Legion right now, could never dream of in their lifetime.

‘Right. Having earned this much money, I should be willing to put in a little effort.’

Of course, diversifying assets wasn’t the end of it.

“What are you going to do about the training hall?”

“I’m going to actually establish one.”

I was planning to open a real sword training hall this month. As I had declared to the Commander, it was to teach refugee children.

A training hall. Originally, these were set up by knights with ambiguous careers who had retired as a means of making a living. There were plenty of parents in the Empire who wanted to teach their children weapon skills to escape the cycle of poverty.

Of course, I wasn’t setting up a training hall to make money from teaching fees. It was closer to a shield to protect myself and my assets.

A sword training hall established by a former Royal Order member who almost became part of the Hero’s party, and moreover, an Expert with all limbs intact who would teach ‘for free’ despite not retiring due to injury.

Not just refugees, but a significant number of commoners residing in the Imperial Capital would likely be eager to learn.

“From snotty-nosed kids to those with fuzz above their lips, they’ll all be clamoring to learn.”

I wasn’t planning to just teach swordsmanship either. I intended to feed them and ensure minimal hygiene. It would be hard for me too if I had to mingle with kids whose heads were crawling with lice. And I couldn’t just hand a wooden sword to starving children.

This would also raise my reputation to some extent. Enough to reach the ears of Commander Waynelight.

‘He’s probably keeping an eye on me anyway.’

How would the Commander feel when he heard that a knight who was nearly at the highest level of Expert was teaching swordsmanship to dirty-faced children? He would probably torment himself, thinking he had ruined a talented individual through his own mistake.

That guilt was intended to serve as an excellent shield for me.

“Good. The plan is perfect so far.”

I felt a sense of satisfaction welling up inside. But right at that moment, Bingo pointed out one fact I had overlooked.

“By the way, what are you planning to do about your fiancée?”

“Fiancée…? Ah, right.”

Ember Hyde. Come to think of it, there was that woman.

Ember was still formally my fiancée. Her father, who had backstabbed me, was still working as a High Prosecutor. He seemed to have been running around trying to somehow salvage the situation, but it was all in vain.

“Now that I remember, I should settle that too. That woman as well.”

Shopping was good, but I still had things to take care of in the meantime.