Ch.7171. Poison

“It would be better if everything just collapsed.

This was the phrase Alfonso, a citizen of ‘Cadeira,’ one of the constituent states of the Kingdom of Microssia, kept repeating.

He was a carpenter by profession, and not just any carpenter—he was considered one of the finest master carpenters in the kingdom.

The major construction project on Ibiza Island was the biggest venture of his entire life.

The process involved renaming the island, compensating residents to relocate them all to different islands, and simultaneously building a large mansion with several annexes, entertainment facilities, and recreational facilities.

At first, he wondered why anyone would do such a thing, but the advance payment he received was enormous.

On the surface, the island was owned by a nobleman from the kingdom, but no one actually believed he was the true owner.

“There’s a different real owner.”

“I heard the Emperor of the Empire is ill? There’s a high possibility that a prince who lost the succession competition will spend the rest of his life on Ibiza Island. Better than being a grand duke ruling over a city while walking on eggshells—he probably wants to freely enjoy women and alcohol in the kingdom.”

“I heard they’re rehiring the natives as servants? I’m envious, truly envious.”

Thanks to these rumors, security was maintained against the Empire. There was a sense of crisis that they might get caught up in the Empire’s bloody succession competition. Since it wasn’t an island frequented by Empire merchants anyway, it was easy to keep hidden.

The early stages of construction went smoothly.

At first, all workers involved in the construction received generous wages, and merchants supplying materials were whistling happily. All while praising the prince who was lavishly spending money in the kingdom.

Alfonso, who supervised the workers, also enjoyed happy days.

But the good times were brief.

At some point, payments stopped without notice,

Merchants and workers wandered helplessly before collapsing,

And the nobleman who was the nominal owner of Ibiza Island kept making excuses until one day he was suddenly transported to the Empire.

That was the end of master carpenter Alfonso’s life. He had spent his personal funds to purchase materials, believing that payments would soon resume.

Alfonso went to all the monarchs of the kingdom, pleading his unfair situation and requesting support, but none of them responded. They just repeated like parrots that the person who purchased Ibiza Island and commissioned the construction was not them but the Hero Gwon Heejin.

‘…The Hero did that?’

To Alfonso, this sounded like complete nonsense.

Why would a Hero, who was already busy fighting the Demon Lord’s army, commit fraud against the kingdom?

And even if it were true.

‘Then who will take responsibility for my life?’

It wasn’t just Alfonso’s life that was ruined—everyone deeply involved in the construction had their lives plunged into the abyss.

At first, the royalty and nobility of the kingdom pretended to listen to Alfonso’s pleas, but eventually they began to show signs of annoyance.

Recently, they even said:

“Don’t come to us; go to the Empire and ask for compensation.”

That’s when he heard something snap in his head. Alfonso couldn’t even afford the ship fare to the Empire.

When the Demon Lord’s army appeared, he willingly volunteered to become their helper because of that frustration.

‘Let whatever happens happen.’

He wanted to watch the destruction of a country that did nothing while clearly seeing the lives of many people crumble.

He felt no guilt. Rather, he only wanted to widely display his image as a traitor. The succubus Iclit seemed to see through his feelings and gladly assigned him a role.

That was just a few days ago.

And now, he was meeting with one of the monarchs of the kingdom as a representative of the Demon Lord’s army. It was the king of ‘Cadeira,’ which was under attack by demons.

Perhaps because most of his knights and the few magicians had all been defeated, the king wore a terrified expression.

“Alfonso. Did you perhaps summon the demons?”

“I didn’t summon them. I was just sitting in an unfinished building staring blankly at the sky when they appeared riding giant wyverns.”

“Then why—”

“Never mind that. Their demand is simple. They want this coin to be recognized as official currency in the kingdom from now on.”

Clang.

What Alfonso threw was, of course, a Cordana.

It was Alfonso’s first encounter with such an item, and he couldn’t tell what it was for. Honestly, he didn’t want to know. It was enough to see the frightened expression of the king who had treated him and his workers like invisible men for the past few months.

“…How can something without a face value be used as currency? Who guarantees its value…?”

“I don’t know. But isn’t it faster to give them what they want rather than risk more casualties?”

“Even if they suddenly demand this—”

“If you don’t accept this proposal, the number of deaths will only increase daily. Don’t say that the kingdom could repel them if everyone united in resistance. Aren’t they all watching in fear even as your country collapses?”

“……”

Alfonso recited exactly what the demons had instructed him to say, adding that the quicker the decision, the fewer the sacrifices.

The king of Cadeira complained, “How can you do this to fellow humans?” but…

For Alfonso, who had been waiting for death all this time, serving as the Demon Lord’s army’s agent now felt like he was finally breathing again. The succubus promised to continue using him if he cooperated well, but he didn’t particularly care if that promise was kept or not.

Alfonso returned leisurely to Ibiza Island.

That evening, an adventurer party that boldly challenged Tetrad member Bynessa was hopelessly annihilated. Alfonso watched without blinking an eye.

***

“Currency?”

I received news of this absurd incident in the kingdom right after setting out.

I was heading toward the border marquis territory with elite personnel.

Fifty members of the Royal Order including the commander, eight court magicians, and one unit of the Black Iron Knights stationed on the outskirts of the direct territory were scheduled to join us at the border marquis territory. The border marquis was reportedly sending regular patrols to monitor the border situation.

A situation where I should be focused solely on battle.

Yet amid all this, the Kingdom of Microssia was reportedly considering madness after being intimidated by the demons’ show of force.

“They’re being forced to recognize Cordana as official currency,” an official informed me through a communication crystal.

“Have they already surrendered?”

“…It seems they won’t hold out much longer. They appear terrified after watching dozens of knights being annihilated without putting up much of a fight.”

To surrender so quickly, even for a small country.

Of course, the Empire and the kingdom were in different situations. It must be terrifying to face super-powerful beings like the Tetrad after only dealing with monsters.

‘I thought they might try something with the Cordana, but I never imagined they’d make it currency.’

I had only worried about them forcibly distributing counterfeit Cordanas at high prices, but this was beyond imagination.

Silence fell for a while.

The Royal Order members glanced at each other, then looked at me. Some, including Selin, even cautiously approached me. They seemed curious despite still feeling uncomfortable addressing me directly.

“Um, E… I mean, Count Wellesley.”

“Feel free to speak comfortably until you get used to it. You want to ask what the hell is going on, right?”

“Ah, well. Isn’t the value of Cordana already fixed at 100,000… no, 90,000 Lyra since the collection is complete? The palace clearly announced that.”

“That’s right. There won’t be another speculation frenzy because of the kingdom.”

“Then why…?”

90,000 Lyra. A value assigned based solely on the Cordana’s weight and purity. This was possible because we’ve been using gold coins and gold pieces of the same specification for nearly 100 years.

However, strictly speaking, Cordana had no face value. It just had Gwon Heejin’s face on both sides; it wasn’t originally currency.

“No matter how the demons set the value per Cordana, the kingdom will gradually collapse. Whether they set it low or high.”

“So they were targeting the kingdom?”

“The Empire’s nobles who suffered losses because of Cordana will be desperate to exploit the kingdom. They can plunder without guilt since it’s a country that surrendered to the Demon Lord’s army.”

Selin frowned. A member beside her also raised a question: “If they want to torment the kingdom, couldn’t they just take their gold directly?”

It was a reasonable question—why bother making them use Cordana? I answered simply:

“Because that way, we create a scenario where we drive the kingdom to ruin with our own hands.”

“……”

The Empire would economically plunder the kingdom without much guilt, while the kingdom would helplessly have their gold taken and eventually come to hate the Empire. It wouldn’t take long for the two countries, which had maintained a lukewarm relationship, to start growling at each other.

In fact, from a purely financial perspective, it might even be profitable. We could suck up the kingdom’s gold reserves under the pretext of trade.

Moreover, the Empire currently had many items to sell to the kingdom.

‘Since they’re experiencing the Demon Lord’s army’s invasion for the first time, they’ll desperately need weapons, scrolls, and potions produced in the Empire. They’ll also want to hire skilled magicians and knights.’

However, in return, we would create a country that fiercely hates the Empire. This was something very unfamiliar to an empire that had ended its conquest wars over 100 years ago.

“Erick. Do you need to leave the operation? I permit it,” the commander asked.

Leave?

I had no such intention.

I just hoped the kingdom would firmly stand against the demons. If they didn’t, they’d be fleeced by the Empire’s nobles who were already filled with resentment.

I also had no intention of trying to persuade the kingdom directly. No matter what I said, the violence right in front of them would be more frightening. Perhaps from the moment the Demon Lord’s army attacked the kingdom, catastrophe was inevitable.

“No. Let’s continue.”

However, it seemed we needed to modify our operation plan.

Originally, we planned to attack several beast-folk habitats to provoke the Beast King. It was to cause discord between the Beast King, who would likely want all-out war, and the Demon Castle, while also wearing down the enemy’s forces.

But now that didn’t seem enough. Since they had opened the stage for us to kill each other, we needed to repay them in kind.

‘Those guys won’t be enough for that.’

I felt the Royal Order members were slightly insufficient. They seemed to have lost their edge compared to when they were trying to strip me bare.

After brief consideration, I decided to urgently call for the Hero Pursuit Squad.

Not just for their skills, but because I felt they would understand even if I asked them to do something fairly crazy.

To implement the plan I just thought of, I needed them.