To Be a Power in the Shadows!

Yukime, who is having a drink while watching the fireplace, feel the wind flows from somewhere

Looking back, the window behind Yukime is open, and the sound that seems to be fingers flicking something can be heard.

"Is that you, John?"

Following her question, a man in suit appeared from the darkness

Wearing a white mask on his face, on top of a strong-looking body, and a smile that is innapropriate, formed on his mouth.

When he sits on the opposite of Yukime, he plays a piece of gold coin by flicking it on the air with his finger

"This gold coin has inflated many times; this thing is just an illusion of an empty trust"

With a low yet clear voice, he spoke

Yukime thought that John was talking about the new bills that circulates lately on the market

"Actually, the piece of paper that everyone believe is paper money is not exactly banknotes, it's just a deposit receipt, in other words, just a cash voucher. Mitsugoshi bank grants the settlement feature to deposit receipts so that it can be circulated. At first, we can only use it on Mitsugoshi Co's shops, but now that the credit system has spread throughout the kingdom, those papers can be used in major stores around the kingdom. Yet people believe that these pieces of papers have the same value as real money"

Then he put two sheets of papers on the desk. One is banknote of Mitsugoshi Co, while the other one is of the Great Commence Union

I believe that Mitsugoshi Bank's goal is to make people believe that those receipts have the same worth as real gold coins

And thanks to that, it is now possible to inflate or expand a single gold coin many times

"Mitsugoshi Bank distributes bills as deposit receipts and keep loaning them with it as an insurance(collateral). Then they keep doing it as many times as possible, in which then the circulating bills are growing many times the actual monetary value. We can say that one gold coin was loaned to dozens of people and Mitsugoshi Bank got a huge interest in return, thus covering the empty holes."

The top brass of Mitsugoshi Bank is not a common swindler. I would like to talk to that person once about this bold and cunning technique and how in the world it was possible

Yukime drank a mouthful of sake from her cup

"Does this piece of paper worth the trust of the people?"

This would be atonishing to the people, but it is already a well-known fact to the executives of Great trading alliance

At any rate, the Great Trading Alliance had to keep an eye out of the modus operandi of Mitsugoshi Co

If it's something like this, John should have known it, but for what reason he said this to me, I was unable to fathom it

There are two banknotes here, did you notice anything when comparing these two banknotes?

"notice… something…?"

Yukime compares the two with her pristine water-like eyes. Obviously, their design is different, but that does not seem to be what John was referring to

Perhaps!?

Is it about the watermark?

That's right, in addition of that, the design of notes from Great Trading Alliance is rough, do you know what that means?

It will be easier to make counterfeit notes? However…

"It's easy to make counterfeit notes. Yukime, let's make profit on counterfeit notes!"

"huh?…."

Yukime tilted her head in confusion…

The Great Trading Alliance understands that it's easy to make counterfeit bills. However, the alliance issued the banknotes whilist knowing the risk, John should have understood that, right?

"John-han, are you serious about it? Banknotes of Great Trading Alliance only circulates on the kingdom. As soon as counterfeit bills come out, it will be easy to pinpoint the source

John suddenly stopped moving

"if you do it on a small scale, you can do it without getting caught, but you can only earn to the extent of pocket money. However, doing it in large scale will make us easily be tracked down, and it will be the end for us"

Knowing that some counterfeit bills will circulate, the Great Trading Alliance keep their distribution range checked and pressed, so that it will be easier for them to investigate the distribution of counterfeit bills. The distribution outside the kingdom will begin after an effective anticounterfeit measure have been established (Help T_T)

In other word, The Union wanted Mitsugoshi Co. to collapse and gain the watermark technology as soon as possible so that it can be an effective anticounterfeit measures

If a huge amout of counterfeit bills comes out, they will soon be crushed, and if it is small amout, it won't be a problem, and I think there is no person who is foolish enough to pick a fight with the Great Trading Alliance in the first place. As if it involves business, everyone should've known the horrors of HUGE firms

"John-han?…."

With a dejected expression, John's shoulder dropped slowly

As he looks like an excited kid who invites his friend to go treasure hunting, only to be shot down with logical arguments like there is no treasure! And now depressed

No way… was John really, like seriously planned, to make counterfeit notes?!

Fufufu~

Yukime smiled, suprised that there are some cute side of John

But in the next moment, Yukime felt an overwhelming pressure

This tremendous pressure, which came from the dejected John

"NANI?!"

"Do… You… Really… Think… So…?"

John said that with a loud voice that it feels like it came from the abbys

What is this pressure…

This is not from magic, but it was more to a pure determination/will

It seemed like the judgement of Yukime was wrong

He was testing… whether Yukime is worthy of a partner or not!

But… Did I miss something?!

Yukime carefully examined the flow of events

And then Yukime noticed something

It's the difference between Mitsugosi Bank and the Great Trading Alliance!

Mitsugoshi Bank keep the money of their costumers and issued bank notes based on it

But the Alliance is different. They issued banknotes from the start by using their brands and people's trust of banknotes that is being spread by Mitsugoshi Co

Originally, large firms are also engaged in moneylending business(loan), but there were not so many cases where they use their costumer's money. It was not like that until the establishment of Great Trading Alliance that people's deposits started to be used by the firms, yet the amount of deposits are still small. So, most of the banknotes issued by Great Trading Alliance came from their own funds

In other words, there is a big gap in Mitsugoshi Bank and Great Trading Alliance's income, with Mitsugoshi in the lead.

The Alliance has already issued large number of banknotes and loaned them out of the bank at low interest to the costumers in order to compete with Mitsugoshi Bank

Ironically, as Mitsugoshi Co launched a new product, new demands would arise, then Mitsugoshi Bank would circulate the banknotes and their economy would then revolves like a wheel, the kingdom will be flourished with the unprecedented prosperity in economy and investment growth. Which can lead to people who wants to borrow more money goes bankrupt in the end

Banknotes of the Alliance, however, are spreading beyond imagination although there are some people borrowing money, few people deposit their money to them. As they have already deposited their money to Mitsugoshi Bank, and there were only few people willing to move their money to the Alliance

Which means…

"Banknotes are issued ten times the actual funds, and are circulated in an amount that exceeds expectations. The notes are actual voucher for the real cash. In other words, even if one-tenth of notes are exchanged for money, the Alliance will….(of course bankrupt)

This is truly serious; although credit creation involves this kind of risks, it would be dangerous to keep increasing like that any further

But the Alliance have to issue more notes to crush Mitsugoshi Bank, and in the future, the difference between having funds and issued banknotes will increase further

The danger will heighten further beyond repair

When it does, they will go bankrupt… No Way?!

"are you planning on intentionally destroy their trust by issuing a large number of counterfeit bills, intentionally making them go bankrupt?!"

In this situation, I don't know when they will go bankrupt, however, it is also possible to manipulate the timing of the bankruptcy by manipulating the the timing of circulating the counterfeit bills and cashing, in which then people will lose their trust and they will do cashing, at the same time we will also cashing the fake notes

Large scale workshops/factories for producting counterfeit notes stands out, but Yukime had a lawless city as its facade. The lesser time needed for them to go bankrupt the lower the risk of getting exposed. And by the time the Alliance knows of it, they had already collapsed and a lot of money had already rolling its way to remain in the hands of Yukime

Yukime finally understood why John dejectedly dropped his shoulders

He was dissapointed in Yukime, he was dissapointed with her who didn't understand the meaning of counterfeit bills and tested her out

Noticing that fact, Yukime shuddered

"However, even if the Alliance crushed with that, Mitsugoshi Bank can't be crushed after that"

On the contrary, there's even a possibility that Mitsugoshi Bank will win and getting stronger

The pressure coming from John suddenly stopped

And after a few second

"Do you really think so?"

"WHA!!"

A pressure several times higher than the previous one was suddenly released by John

What the… Did I overlook something again?!

Yukime desperately looked for the answer and came to realize

I SEE!!!

The Alliance will fail to sell the bank notes without being able to exchange it to zeny… then people obviously will have no doubt with the Mitsugoshi Banknotes… yet Mitsugoshi Bank is also doing credit creation. If they can't exchange those notes as well, they will go bankrupt too, after that we will habe a lot of cash behind

And then you can buy the Mitsugoshi company's technologies and facilities with the money from the counterfeit bills

John did not propose the creation of counterfeit bills with a half-baked idea. This is a perfectly calculated plan

Ealier, John said "Does this piece of paper worth the trust of the people?" andd that sentence already implied the collapse of credit system

He even bothered to explain the modus operandi of Mitsugoshi Bank…

His intention was to clarify the difference between Mitsugoshi Bank and the Alliance, and to suggest the danger behind it!

His words were all hints all along?!

Facing this immeasurable intellect, cold sweat poured down from the back of Yukime

But that was not the end of it(Mitsugoshi)

"Do you really think so?"

"WHA!?

The pressure released from John increased further

Did I still overlook something?!

Yukime desperately seeks the answer, but no answer comes out

John is observing Yukime as John's eyes directly moved to her direction behind the mask

This is BAD! Very Bad!

If I don't say anything! He will be dissapointed even more…

"….I'm thinking"

Yukime glanced and muttered… but there is no hole in the plan… the answer never came out…

Yukime lamented her incompetence and readied herself for reprimand…

But… The pressure is gone

"that's right…"

"…Oh!"

It was a trap! (IT'S A TRAP)

If Yukime gives in to the pressure and acted irresponsibly, he would have, for sure, reprimanded her without hesitation

To be honest, I can relate that it was the correct answer, the last thing he tested was Yukime's honesty

I barely got the answer right and waas allowed to be his partner

Understaning that, Yukime leaned on the sofa, loose as her waist become weak

But I have to make up for all that dissapointment I have caused

"let's make counterfeit bills, I'll leave the manufacturing and distribution to you. This plan will be race against time. The counterfeit money will be then exchanged for a large sum of money and soon they will go bankrupt before they knew it. Even if the counterfeit money circulates, the investigation should be extended for a little while. I'll take care of it, but surely, you'll cooperate, right? John"

"All right"

"I'll tell you the detail later…"

"All right"

John said that while playing with a piece of gold coin in his hand. Whilist rotating the coin, it falls, making a sharp 'clink' sound

As I look at the rolling coin, before I knew it, John already gone

The rolling gold coin stopped at Yukime's foot

Yukime then take the coin and play it in the same way as John did with his fingers

"That's John… A man who once called Shadow…"

What a man… How do you say it…? How Bold

What a power

"That is a truly rare splendid man… huh"

Yukime make a big deep breath

Yukime at first recruited him, expecting only his Power, but he was not just a man with power. He also has both ingenuity and courage to deal and handle them at will

When he learns the true purpose of Yukime… will he get angry?

Or perhaps he knows…

Sadly, Yukime smiled a little.