Ch.6565. Preferential Treatment

“I’ll be going, sis.”

With silver hair and blue eyes, ‘Iclit’, who seemed to lack just a hint of sensuality for a succubus, calmly watched her kin who were busy preparing to leave.

Today was the day when the succubi who had fled to the Demonic Land would return to the human realm. Some had been assigned missions, while others were simply returning to their regular work.

The common thread was that each of them had gathered gold items.

Some carried ancient gold coins, while others were adorned with gold accessories.

One succubus had even taken just the head portion of a pure gold Godess statue. She was even lovingly stroking that head.

“The Godess is truly merciful. I understand why humans believe in her.”

“…They don’t seem to believe much these days.”

Though it was somewhat inappropriate for a demon to say, the expressions of the succubi who had recovered their wealth were unusually bright.

Especially from some succubi disguised as old women, their smiles conveyed a sense of warmth. It must be the expectation that this gold would restore their comfortable lives.

Iclit felt touched for once.

‘It wasn’t all for nothing.’

Originally, succubi weren’t particularly close with their own kind.

Sometimes they would engage in fierce competition among themselves. There were countless human men, but not all of them were appetizing.

But after being fleeced by short sellers (they had only recently grasped the reality of short selling), and after Iclit stepped forward to take responsibility, they had grown somewhat closer.

“I’m going back to that Academy graduate I spotted before. This time I’ll approach him pretending to be an innocent village girl.”

“I’m heading to the kingdoms.”

They had been provided with well-trained wyverns to safely cross the vast Demonic Land. Iclit almost wished she could go with them.

But Iclit still had work to do.

She had to take responsibility for this operation.

‘It wasn’t a failure. It wasn’t.’

But it couldn’t really be called a success either.

The humans had responded too quickly. There would be confusion, but it seemed unlikely to deliver the devastating blow they had hoped for. This incident might even cause humans to unite and regroup.

‘They probably won’t kill me.’

Judging by the Demon Lord’s temperament, and the fact that he had willingly let her kin leave, he probably wouldn’t kill her, but advancement might be difficult.

For now, she would have to explain things well.

Iclit swallowed hard as she headed toward the Demon Lord’s reception room.

And just before entering, she was startled into a fit. At that moment, Beast King Leoneo was walking out.

Had he come to demand accountability for the sacrificed beast-folk who had been deployed in this operation?

Even though it was done under the Demon Lord’s orders, the Beast King wouldn’t be pleased to hear that his subordinates had died just trying to donate coins. Or he might use this as an excuse to demand at least a border command position.

‘Or maybe he wants to kill me…?’

Though she had somehow provided wisdom to the Demon Lord, Iclit was still a low-ranking demon.

There was nothing preventing her from being thrown to the Beast King to appease his dissatisfaction. Just like how they casually sent several incubi on dangerous missions.

Iclit folded her hands respectfully and rolled her eyes. She could only hope the Beast King wouldn’t harm her.

But strangely, the Beast King didn’t show any particular anger. Of course, being a reptile, it was impossible to guess his emotions from his expression alone, but at least he didn’t seem intent on killing Iclit. He just passed by indifferently, heading somewhere.

“Has some… compromise been reached?”

It was strange that no harsh retribution came even when the frightened Iclit muttered such words. It might have been her imagination, but he seemed somewhat stronger.

The Demon Lord’s chamberlain, whom she met right after, didn’t seem particularly disappointed either.

Rather:

“How should we dispose of the Cordana that hasn’t been distributed yet?”

He was simply asking her to use her wisdom.

Though she wasn’t suddenly promoted to a high-ranking demon or given pure magical power, it was still a moment of honor for Iclit, who had been surviving by moving between rural villages of two or three thousand people for the past few years. It meant her usefulness was recognized.

“We can use them later for disruption, so there’s no need to discard them.”

Iclit said, her blue eyes shining despite her tension.

***

Still, the Demon Lord’s army’s scheme had failed.

The court took some comfort in the fact that they had announced an extreme policy of fixing the redemption price at 10,000 Lyra.

The value of each Cordana, considering only weight and purity, was around 90,000 Lyra.

However, if Cordana wasn’t recognized as currency at all, its value would be even lower. It would cost money and effort to melt and recast it.

The technicians at the mint even laughed, saying “Those fools” when they heard about the counterfeit Cordana in circulation. The fact that demons had minted coins with the embossed face of Gwon Heejin, the former Hero, was considered ridiculous.

– This is fortunate enough.

– In a way, we’ve received war funds from the enemy. The foolish demons sacrificed their lives to donate gold to us.

– This is an opportunity to create vigilance against the Demon Lord’s army.

Some even rashly displayed confidence, saying, “Thanks to the Demon Lord’s army, we might be able to resolve our internal strife a little faster.”

It wasn’t a completely absurd assumption.

The Empire already had evidence proving that the counterfeit Cordana was the work of the Demon Lord’s army.

From the corpses of beast-folk who died heroically while attacking border patrols with Cordana in their possession, to the incubus who was captured after participating in the scheme. The latter even spilled everything as soon as he was brought to the capital and entered the torture chamber.

Of course, confirming the Demon Lord’s army’s involvement didn’t solve everything, but it would help minimize the damage.

However, there was a flaw in this assumption.

It was the emotions of those who were hit by this “minimized” damage.

The reaction of nobles who had reluctantly come up from the provinces hoping for public purchases and possible additional compensation was more intense than expected. When they were suddenly offered 10,000 instead of potentially 2 million, it was inevitable that some would become enraged.

“10,000? You’re saying 10,000?”

“Count of Burko. The Demon Lord’s army—”

“No, mine is genuine! I bought it with surplus funds, even postponing castle repairs when it was 300 million. How could it be a counterfeit? My territory is in the south, so demons can’t even approach it easily! You should know what you’re talking about!”

“I regret to inform you that distinguishing between counterfeits and genuine coins is meaningless in this situation. As someone from the magic department, you should know that the enchantment placed on Cordana has disappeared—”

“Enchantment or not, see with your own eyes! It’s genuine!”

Count of Burko shouted, throwing his Cordana onto the counter. He was one of the nobles who hadn’t disposed of a single Cordana even during the market crash.

Normally, this would create a chilly atmosphere.

Moreover, those sitting at the counter weren’t commoner employees but officials working directly under the Finance Minister and court magicians.

Both were of noble birth, and regardless of whether the other party was a count or whatever, they weren’t in a position to tolerate being shouted at and spat on.

“…Bastards.”

But despite being cursed at, their expressions remained calm. This was because there were several people angrily protesting at the counter.

There was a nobleman sobbing about receiving unfair treatment.

“So I, my family, are ultimately collaborators with the Demon Lord’s army?”

“That’s not what we’re saying.”

“Our territory was incorporated into the Empire 110 years ago, and you still treat us as foreigners? It’s heartbreaking! My great-grandfather opened the gates and surrendered so quickly.”

And there was an investor looking for the person responsible for the clause stating there would be no compensation.

“Erick? Erick Wellesley? Who does he think he is, meddling like this?”

“…As you know, he’s the Empire’s third Master, and he has experience commanding the Hero pursuit team. He was at the exchange until yesterday, but now he’s at the Royal Order headquarters. I can’t summon him separately.”

“……”

“Above all, the order itself was issued by imperial decree.”

Up to this point, it wasn’t a major problem. It was just an outburst of accumulated frustration.

But unfortunately, at this time, an incident occurred at a signpost near the capital where investors were backstabbing each other.

A merchant who was rushing to the capital without knowing the price had changed happened to meet an investor who said, “I can’t bear to go all the way to the capital. Could you sell these for me instead?” The merchant agreed and purchased several Cordana at 2 million each.

But upon arriving at the exchange, he found that Cordana was worth only 10,000 each.

If it had been the work of demons, the hatred could have been directed toward the Demonic Land, but unfortunately, the victim of the fraud was not only a merchant but also a 3rd circle magician.

In the end, the scammer was a fellow human.

“I was scammed right in front of the capital…? As a businessman…?”

In such situations, it takes only a moment for a person to go mad. What was done with the intention to help had come back to stab him in the back. The amount of damage wasn’t important.

The fraud victim stood there with a blank expression for over 20 minutes before turning away.

At this point, everyone had to admit it.

That the Demon Lord’s army’s scheme had not failed.

In a situation where both price increases and the possibility of compensation had disappeared, investors were breaking down too easily.

Even amid all this, counterfeit Cordana continued to come in by the dozens, as if to rub salt in the investors’ wounds.

At the same time, Court Baron Erick Wellesley was visiting his home organization, the Royal Order, and engaging in consecutive duels with his old colleagues. It was the result of his plea for even a brief respite.

These were serious duels where only fatal blows were implicitly prohibited, with even injuries allowed.

However, Erick successfully subdued his former colleagues one after another, mixing in striking techniques. It was a scene of a young Master diligently honing his skills.

Some who witnessed this scene oddly began discussing plans to grant him a fief or assign him a new official position.

This was done not simply to curry favor with a skilled individual, but because it was deemed a practically necessary measure.