Save the Starving Frontier! The “Buyer” of the Reversed Chastity World - 24

Chapter 24: Let’s Get Some Money!

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“Give me money.”

I directly asked Sharon, the Knight Commander. She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Money? But with Kaito’s ability, do you even need it? You could earn as much as you want. Or… Are you planning to buy something outright?”

“No, that’s not it. If I keep handing everything out for free, money won’t circulate in the commoner’s district. I’m telling you to bring in enough currency so that people in the district can actually use it to trade.”

“I see.” 

The Knight Commander seemed to understand. But just distributing money as-is was difficult.

“Then, are you suggesting relief payments?”

“That too, but right now the residents are handling all the rebuilding of the commoners’ district on their own, aren’t they? Pay them as part of public works. Hire them.”

At my words, the Knight Commander’s eyes widened. She hadn’t even realized the residents were already doing the reconstruction work.

Public works existed precisely to put money into circulation during disasters. That was the job of nobles and rulers like them.

“You are exactly right. I’ll arrange it at once.”

If I circulated supplies, the territory could easily recover the money later through sales revenue. A margrave should have noticed that much.

My cheat didn’t provide combat power, but supplies were economic resources. A supply-based cheat was also an economic cheat that could control the market.

If I wanted, I could even purchase coins with this “Internet Mall.” It functioned like a bank’s “currency exchange.” I couldn’t buy the other world’s coins, but I could buy Japanese ten-yen coins.

The balance could be exchanged directly into “Japanese copper coins.” There was a handling fee, though. So if copper coins ran short, I could just melt down ten-yen coins for copper. In Japan, intentionally damaging currency was a crime, but this was another world. No problem.

“Copper, huh. Then we can release copper coins into the market. We don’t need gold coins, but… What about silver?”

“You can get silver too. There’s a bit of copper mixed in, but it’s about ninety percent silver.”

I bought a silver accessory and showed it to her. She seemed impressed by the fine craftsmanship, but it was meant to be melted down for coinage.

“It feels wasteful to crush something like this… But still, we could get silver too. With a mold, it would mean unlimited minting. Truly, the power of a Messenger of Heaven is incredible.”

“I’m not going to mint privately. The right to mint coins probably belongs only to the state or to the Margrave, right?”

When I asked, that turned out to be exactly the case. Normally, the state held the right, but in frontier domains with fewer coins, special local minting rights were granted. Outside of that, minting was generally prohibited.

Counterfeiting was a crime in any world. Without state approval, money shouldn’t be made.

“Actually, I think those copper coins could be used as-is. The weight is different, so the value would differ, but copper is still copper. Wouldn’t it be better to just circulate them?”

“If that’s acceptable, fine, but issuing a unique currency without the lord’s permission isn’t something I can just do. If we’re pricing them only by their material value, then I’ll do it.”

That was commodity money—where the actual value of the item itself equaled its currency value. But most currency carried extra value based on the issuer’s credibility.

Currency was essentially a promise: we guarantee this money has more value than just the material it’s made of. Japan’s paper bills were only paper, yet a ten-thousand-yen bill was worth ten thousand yen because the state guaranteed it.

I’d heard that in the past under the gold standard, bills were just exchange tickets for actual gold. Modern Japan didn’t even hold that much gold bullion. Money only functioned because the government declared, this is worth 10,000 yen.

“That silver accessory, too, could be traded at face value. If you’re worried, you could sell it in the noble district and exchange it for the local currency.”

“That’s better. We need to manage the flow of precious metals, or we’ll end up with plenty of money but no actual goods or food. That leads straight to famine. It’s called inflation.”

“I see.” 

Sharon said, nodding. Right—gold couldn’t be eaten. Money only had value because it could be turned into living necessities or used to pay taxes.

“True, we should avoid excess coinage. Don’t release any gold, silver, or copper without our authorization.”

“Exactly. If it isn’t restricted, it’ll only cause problems. …And once this city recovers, I’m going to stop distributing food for free. I’m only doing that now because it’s an emergency.”

That went without saying. If I kept producing food forever, restaurants and farmers would collapse. It would only increase the number of people starving because of me.

“You’re going to stop!? Then… Then does that mean no more tempura!?”

“No, I’ll just sell it normally. People will have to pay. Sure, if someone’s starving, I might give them for free, but if everyone just eats without working, that’s a problem, right?”

That would mean the domain couldn’t function as a domain. If people could live without working, they’d only work for hobbies. That would only reduce the frontier’s productive capacity.

“I could probably support them, but if I caused losses for the city, I’d end up an enemy of the Margrave. I’m not that reckless.”

“Well, that’s true. It’s better this way. We knights would hate to be ordered to cut you down.”

Cut me down? More like lock me up and turn me into a production machine. From the start, my cheat was essentially the enemy of rulers like the Margrave. Not the “Purchase” function, but the “Internet Market” itself.

Rulers maintained power and support by feeding and sustaining others. But if people could eat without listening to them, and even join together for safety and independence, that was military authority in itself. That meant power.

Control over food was control over people. Because without food, people couldn’t live.

That was why the Margrave had formally recognized me as a “Messenger of Heaven” worthy of authority. If they left someone who could produce infinite food unchecked, it would only cause trouble.

The same applied to the Margrave herself. If she imprisoned me and forced me to produce endless supplies, then the central kingdom would step in. That would turn her into the enemy of the state.

So I wouldn’t be overexploited. Instead, I’d be protected so I wouldn’t flee elsewhere and cause unrest. That, I figured, was the real meaning behind the guarantee symbolized by the crest-engraved pendant I had been given. She didn’t seem like the type of woman who wouldn’t realize that.

“Well, I’d like to stay on good terms with the Margrave and with you, Commander Sharon.”

“O-oh? Even with me? …Then perhaps, tonight…”

This Knight Commander… Is she okay? Like, in the head?

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