Ch.2929. Where is the Bottom

Eerie.

This was the thought that came to Minister of Justice Lord Necker as he prepared to head to work.

He was the man who had conducted the interrogation during yesterday’s investigation of the Prince. He had personally asked more than half of all the questions.

After the Prince made shocking statements (about the massacre of holy knights and the Hero’s escape), Lord Necker had momentarily collapsed from what felt like his mind shattering, but he was the one who somehow regained consciousness and continued the questioning.

“Where is the Hero now? Nazak? The resort city, isn’t it? Are you certain the Hero is hiding there?”

“Why did you receive 5 billion from the Hero? Don’t tell me it was payment for helping him escape? How could you, a member of the imperial bloodline, commit such an act!”

The Minister of Justice was the primary contributor to confirming the Prince’s dethronement and confiscation of assets.

‘Why did I work so hard?’

Was it to resolve the unprecedented Cordana crisis as quickly as possible?

That certainly wasn’t the reason.

No matter what came out of the Prince’s mouth, catastrophe was inevitable. Even as the Minister of Justice pressed the Prince, the Cardinal continued to sob, and the provincial lords stared into space with expressions of complete resignation.

There was only one reason the Minister of Justice had given his all: he felt he would truly go mad otherwise. He had spewed venom just to survive.

‘Since I’ve lived to see morning… I suppose I’ve achieved my purpose.’

The Minister of Justice formed an empty smile and let out a meaningless “heh.”

Then he looked around his bedchamber with fresh eyes.

From the luxurious canopy bed to every piece of furniture, everything was expensive. Even a pair of candlesticks cost over 8 million Lyra. Though that amount seemed like nothing since the advent of Cordana.

It wasn’t just the bedroom that was nice.

He lived in a mansion in District 1.

Being in the imperial capital meant it didn’t have vast gardens attached, but provincial nobles still envied court nobles. After all, they could enjoy a splendid life in the capital where all the continent’s culture was concentrated.

He had been able to enjoy a satisfying life in this house. He had thought he would continue living this way barring any unexpected changes, but…

Now that seemed difficult.

“Darling.”

At his wife’s call, the Minister of Justice forced a smile and turned his head.

Honestly, he didn’t feel like smiling at all, but he wanted to show a bright face to his wife and children. He knew they were worried he might make some extreme choice.

Their concerns must have deepened after yesterday’s disaster at the imperial palace.

“Don’t worry. I actually spent last night thinking about this while I couldn’t sleep. I considered how we could protect ourselves in this crisis.”

“…”

“I hate to say this, but I don’t think we can keep the house. I’ve thought about various options, but I just don’t see a way…”

The Minister of Justice was planning to sell the mansion soon.

He had no choice. The gold coins accumulated since his grandfather’s time were already tied up in Cordana, and he had even sold all the treasures and antiques bestowed by the imperial family to invest in Cordana. When that wasn’t enough, he had even drawn on his wife’s baronial family’s assets.

Right now, the Minister of Justice didn’t have a single coin of cash. And he had debts on top of that.

“For a while, we’ll have to tighten our belts…”

“We have twelve servants in the mansion. We can’t withhold their wages. And there’s our child’s Academy tuition, and above all, the debt to your family…”

“I can ask my father to wait. You’re under too much stress.”

“If I don’t repay that money, the estate will be ruined. It’s obvious what will happen to an estate with eight thousand people, and I can’t ignore that.”

The Minister of Justice looked at his wife with a guilty expression.

Of course, even if he lost all his assets, he was still the Minister of Justice. He wouldn’t face immediate financial hardship. His monthly salary alone was a considerable amount.

However, it was fair to say his luxurious lifestyle had come to an end.

‘Where should we go?’

Not only would they have to move, but they would also need to drastically reduce their spending to repay the debt to his wife’s family.

For his wife’s sake, he planned to keep at least one servant, but everything else would have to be sacrificed.

Since he wouldn’t be able to maintain a carriage, he would have to walk to the imperial palace from now on. Considering he would need to move somewhere far from the palace, a life of hardship awaited him.

And an even bigger change was coming.

He would need to earn money to make a living.

While this was completely natural for commoners, it was something he had never experienced. He thought he might be the first noble in imperial history to perform the duties of Minister of Justice just for the salary.

“Will you really be all right? No one in the court has been hit harder than you. What if you start to slip up?”

“I have no choice. We need to see the children through their Academy graduation.”

The Minister of Justice forced a smile for his wife. Then he headed to the imperial palace earlier than usual.

It wasn’t a lie that he had much to do.

Despite the clear weather, a gloomy atmosphere already hung over the capital.

Though he shouldn’t think this way, it reminded him of the calamity that had struck the capital about 140 years ago. Before the Empire became as powerful as it is now, when the Demon Lord’s army had camped before the capital and demanded not surrender but annihilation.

Fortunately, the capital didn’t fall then. It was thanks to the Hero who successfully dealt with the Demon Lord at the right moment.

‘…Perhaps it’s excessive to compare this to the history when the capital was nearly razed.’

But it felt like an even greater crisis. At least for some nobles, it did.

‘I’m one of them.’

The Minister of Justice carefully managed his expression as he arrived at his office.

All his subordinates looked at him with concerned expressions. They seemed confused about whether it was more polite to express their worry or to ignore the situation.

The Minister of Justice deliberately ignored their gazes.

“Urgh.”

Perhaps due to stress, as soon as he sat down, his lower abdomen ached, and bile rose in his throat.

But he couldn’t rest. He knew his reputation had suffered due to his chaotic work related to Cordana recently.

‘I doubt they would dismiss someone in dire straits… but I can’t rely solely on sympathy.’

The Minister of Justice gritted his teeth and focused his mind.

Soon after, a court magician cautiously entered and began operating a communication crystal. Apparently, every minister had been assigned a magician.

This was a measure to receive real-time reports of incidents expected to occur throughout the capital today. The Imperial Guard, responsible for the capital’s defense and security, had already been placed on emergency standby by imperial order.

The Minister of Justice stared at the communication crystal. The purple crystal’s appearance was so exquisite that he felt tears might start flowing at any moment.

***

Cordana Exchange.

As soon as it opened, a scene similar to the great crash of the past unfolded.

“Sell two at yesterday’s closing price!”

“Forget the closing price. Place an order at 167,000, no, 165,000. Quickly, quickly!”

Sell orders poured in, and the sell volume—or rather, the corpses—piled up rapidly.

In contrast, buy orders were completely absent.

At a glance, it seemed no different. The reactions of people screaming each time the price fell were the same as before.

But there was a definite difference.

The price was falling even more steeply than before.

“134,000… are you serious?”

“Even at that price, it’s not selling. I’ll watch and lower it further.”

“Then I’ll place an order at 130,000. I need to get out now. Damn it. I need to get out!”

The price slid down at a crazy pace.

There were no support levels. Everyone now seemed to take the rapid crash for granted.

About 20 people persistently placed orders, determined to find out how low they needed to go before buyers appeared. Around 150 people were wide-eyed in the reception room.

And the remaining hundreds were outside.

They hadn’t left completely but sat on the steps in front of the exchange, covering their faces or smoking. It was as if they sensed something bad was happening but didn’t want to confirm it. The composition was diverse, from Academy students to collateral imperial family members.

Eventually, less than two hours after opening, the price fell to 90,000.

Was it because the psychological support level of 1 million had collapsed so easily? Or because no buyers had appeared at all?

Someone rushed to the counter, unable to bear the situation any longer.

“…40,000.”

“Excuse me? Could you repeat that, sir?”

“40,000, please sell all of this, I beg you.”

A dramatic order that lowered the price by more than half.

The person who placed the order was Weaver, a professor in the Academy’s Magic Department. He was a fairly skilled mage and had a good reputation as a professor.

But now he was just looking pitifully at the young exchange employee while awkwardly holding out a few Cordana.

“Four Cordana at 40,000, are you sure you want to place this order?”

“…Please let me out, I beg you.”

I’ll never deal with Cordana again, I’m truly sorry.

Please.

These were the words Professor Weaver kept muttering to the powerless employee he was clinging to.

People just stared blankly at the shocking sight of an Academy professor with military experience from his youth begging a mere employee. Even the employee who received the Cordana couldn’t speak for a while, eyes wide open.

“…Yes, order received.”

Perhaps thinking 40,000 was too low a price, someone appeared to accept Professor Weaver’s volume. It was a foreign nobleman with a somewhat naive impression.

The moment today’s first transaction was completed.

Professor Weaver staggered out of the exchange as soon as he received the payment, and the foreign nobleman who had taken on his Cordana cleared his throat, aware of the gazes fixed on him.

“This is when you should seize opportunities.”

With an expression suggesting “It’s not like the Hero died,” he seemed somewhat smug. He looked like someone who believed he had caught the bottom with bold decisiveness.

However, the opportunity he hoped for did not materialize.

This was because the price began to fall again not long after.