As humanity progressed, it wasn’t just science and technology that advanced rapidly.
Commerce and investment.
The method of making money using money and managing it.
These basic aspects of trading have been around for quite some time, but it surprisingly took a long while for them to develop into something more profound.
And now… in this dark fantasy world I’m in, the concepts of commerce and investment are just hatching, genuinely stepping into the world.
It hadn’t been long since the concept of stocks, which involves assigning a value to a company and investing in it, was established, and the existence of joint-stock companies was introduced.
Of course, the concept of investment itself had existed for a while.
Even now, Eastern trading is constantly happening, pooling other people’s money and sharing the profits as a form of investment.
However, it’s only been less than 20 years since the concept of stocks was clearly defined beyond simple investments, which means that humanity in this world has just begun to take baby steps into capitalism.
Thus, their knowledge of capital management, from my perspective, is several stages behind, and I’ve managed to earn such a significant amount of money by utilizing it adequately.
Of course, this is only a substantial amount by general standards…
To achieve my ultimate goal of helping the church and the paladins, I had only gathered a modest amount of starting capital. Yet, this situation was ruined by that damned archbishop and his lackey followers, who suddenly set their sights on it.
At this point, based on the commercial knowledge I possess, the only gift I could offer the church and the paladins was just one thing.
That was…
*
The former paladin Santana sitting in front of them.
And the stacks of house documents and land deeds piled up before him.
“gulp…”
The merchants sitting here couldn’t help but swallow their saliva as they gazed at what was in front of them, not just because of his words.
The lands and buildings owned by Santana.
Although they could not openly show their excitement given the circumstances, those were precisely the prime lands chosen from this city and surrounding farmlands.
Even the farmlands were conveniently located right next to a water source, so there was no need to worry about water, and their rich soil was renowned for producing high-quality crops.
The farmland is right next to a water source, so there was never a need to worry about water, and the soil quality was also excellent compared to other places, known for growing high-quality crops.
Additionally, every building is located on a main road, making it convenient for transportation, and with so many people passing by, there couldn’t be a better place for business.
For those who understand its value, it was a place they would want to buy even at a premium. However, they all knew that they couldn’t purchase those properties right now.
The biggest problem was that time was incredibly tight.
They only had 4 days left.
Gathering enough funds to buy such land and buildings in that time was almost impossible for them.
Even if they tried to meet the legally set minimum price, it would take at least two months.
The maximum they could gather immediately wouldn’t even cover 10% of the assets Mr. Santana brought.
Mr. Santana clearly knew this as well, but nonetheless, he confidently declared he would sell all his assets right here.
A normal transaction would absolutely be impossible in this situation.
However, the opponent was none other than Santana, who had been making bizarre deals to rake in money all this time.
If it was him, he surely wouldn’t have come here without some backup plan.
Curious about what that plan was, the Branch Manager, acting as their representative, spoke up calmly.
“Of course, we’d love to buy all of those, but as you know, the funds we currently have can cover only about 10%. Do you have any good ideas?”
“Of course. Cazerose has that…”
“Yes, Mr. Santana.”
At Santana’s words, Cazerose pulled out another stack of documents from her bag.
She carefully handed them out to everyone in the room, including the Branch Manager, and they began reading the contents with serious expressions.
And a moment later…
“…Is… is this really possible?”
“No, what kind of transaction method is this…”
The Branch Managers looked as if they had been hit on the head with a hammer.
On the other hand…
“Ha… Hahahahaha!!”
“Hehe… Ahahahaha!”
“Hahaha!”
The Branch Manager and Amalia burst into laughter as they looked over this peculiar transaction method, which, while it seemed like a joke, was actually legally sound.
*
Normally, transactions are conducted through tangible assets.
Deals begin and conclude with things that can be seen or touched, like actual land, buildings, or cash.
However… at some point in commercial history, people began using abstract concepts as the subject of transactions.
Rights.
Things that cannot be seen or touched, yet undeniably exist.
These can sometimes hold more value than tangible assets, and unlike those goods that have production limits, rights can be created almost limitlessly with just a bit of wordplay—what a remarkable advantage!
Utilizing these characteristics of rights, I proposed the following method to the merchants.
First, I borrow an amount equivalent to 10% of the real estate I own from the merchants.
Thus, legally, 10% of my property becomes collateral for them, and they gain the ‘right’ to take 10% of my land if I fail to repay the loan.
Then… I use the 10% cash I just received to buy back the ‘right’ to the 10% of my land that now belongs to them.
In exchange, they again possess the cash, and I take out another loan against the 10% of my property to purchase the ‘right’ once more.
If I repeat this process 10 times, I’ll end up with cash equivalent to 10% of my real estate, while the merchants will have legally mortgaged all my assets at their ‘market price.’
And, I will have the ‘right’ to reclaim the 90% of the property the merchants took, but… handling that part would pose no issues at all.
The repayment deadline for the money I ‘borrowed’ from the merchants is set for three days from now, just a day before my rupture becomes officially applicable.
The moment that time comes, all my real estate will be transferred to the merchants, yet the next day, the ‘right’ to reclaim it will be reinstated due to the legal effect embedded in the rupture…
“Those who are ruptured shall lose all rights to any documents.” This clause will neatly allow my other qualifications to vanish from this world along with it.
I was supposed to vanish from this world neatly, along with my other qualifications according to the circumstances.
While the Church could seize the property owned by the excommunicated, this was limited solely to physical land and buildings.
Claiming ownership over such “rights” was absolutely impossible.
When you look at the ins and outs of it, it was literally just a wordplay, but legally it was a perfectly valid transaction.
Thus, based on the trading law I had concocted, the Branch Manager, representing the merchants, willingly signed the contract.
“It’s really a shame I won’t be able to see what happens next.”
*
Early in the dawn, I was calmly driving the carriage while leaving the city with Cazerose.
Behind us, despite suffering a 90% loss, there was still a massive amount of cash overflowing in the compartment, more than enough to cover our travel expenses.
With this kind of money, soon I could settle down anywhere on the continent, far away from the Church’s domain where a hellscape was about to unfold.
I cautiously glanced at Cazerose sitting next to me and asked, “So then… where shall we go from here?”
“Anywhere is fine. As long as I’m with Mr. Santana…”
Cazerose spoke with a gentle smile on her lips at my words. Seeing her beautiful smile made my face feel a bit warm, but I quickly suppressed those feelings and managed to speak awkwardly.
“Um… then. Since we have to leave this country anyway, let’s head east. I happen to have acquaintances in Benetsa from our trading days.”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
The west was just as dominated by the Church as this place, making it awkward for me as an excommunicated person, and the north was inconvenient due to the vast mountainous area of Schwitz.
Even if we crossed over there, the areas beyond would be places I definitely wanted to avoid knowing what was to come.
In the end, the only remaining option was east, which hardly appeared in the original work, but was said to flow peacefully..
It was the direction of the so-called Heretic nations.
After all, getting entangled in the original scenario wasn’t going to bring me any good either.
Therefore, I concluded that simply drifting off the map like this wouldn’t be so bad.
