Chapter 170 - 170 Jasmine
The first day the Economic Revolution Club began operations started with cleaning the room. The three of them, unfamiliar with the motions, cleaned the dusty room.
Children of royalty and nobility were not supposed to do work like cleaning. They were somehow mimicking what they saw, but dust was rising, and they inhaled it and coughed. This was because they lacked the knowledge to cover their mouths with cloth like a mask.
"You should have hired a maid or something."
Isabella voiced her dissatisfaction with the school.
"It might be good experience. My family is a noble for only one generation, so I will become a commoner in the future. If I don't become capable of doing various things..."
Michael took it positively and was cleaning the most seriously.
The classroom windows and doors were fully open, making the hallway clearly visible. Jackson passing by there was also seen.
"Hey, stop dawdling."
He was shouting with vigor, but when his eyes met Isabella inside the room, he awkwardly quickly averted his gaze.
Behind him was a girl with chestnut hair in three braids.
"What is that? A maid?"
"But she was wearing our school uniform. Maybe she enrolled together as an etiquette student or something."
Michael, hearing Isabella and Elizabeth speak like that, told the two about the girl currently with a slightly exasperated look.
"She is Miss Jasmine, the daughter of Baron Fleming. Didn't you hear during the introductions?"
"Oh, maybe she was there."
Elizabeth vaguely remembered.
Isabella did not remember at all.
"She was there?"
"She was. Probably. Isabella was restless and looking around, so she probably didn't listen to the others' self-introductions."
"..."
Isabella had no words to reply.
Setting aside such Isabella, Elizabeth crossed her arms and thought.
"Could it be that the target of bullying has changed?"
"If so, maybe we should hit her again. Without Arthur finding out."
Isabella carelessly mentioned Arthur's name.
Michael found this strange.
"Did something happen with Arthur-kun?"
"Ah."
At that moment, Isabella realized she carelessly revealed her relationship with Arthur.
"Hehe. After that, I was called by the teacher. It seems Arthur was watching me."
In reality, it was Bella who was called by Steve, but she suddenly decided to say "teacher."
Michael showed no signs of suspicion and looked at the two with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry. Did I get you scolded?"
"That didn't happen. It was relatively calm."
Given the circumstances, Steve would not have scolded Isabella. He was just told to find a more peaceful way to handle it.
And Elizabeth quickly corrected the direction of the topic.
"That girl is interesting. We must check if she is being bullied."
"But how? Judging by her appearance, she is always with Jackson at school? Even if we tried to ambush her on the way home, both I and Isabella have guards, which is quite conspicuous."
"I'll ask her."
Michael said he would ask her about the situation.
He sympathized with Jasmine, who might be being bullied in the same way.
Michael finished cleaning early to wait for Jasmine's return and left the room first.
The remaining two continued cleaning.
"Liz, I want to quit school. There are so many things that make me angry; it would be better to stay in the territory. I'm not going to inherit Papa's position anyway, so I don't need to build relationships with other noble children."
"I agree with that. I wish I was born into a smaller noble house or as a commoner. It seems different in the past, but now even commoners can live a decent life, right?"
"Yes. Papa said that eventually, when commoners have more financial leeway, they will demand the right to participate in politics. And someday, commoners will move the country."
"What happens to the royal family and nobility then?"
"He said if they rule with bad governance, they will be executed. If they rule well and the political system transitions peacefully, they will remain with significantly reduced power."
This was a prediction from Steve's past life memories. He spoke to educate the children not to take advantage of their status as nobles and oppress commoners.
"It's hard to believe at first glance. But since Uncle said it..."
"Yes. I think Papa came from a distant future. So maybe this is something he has seen."
"Uncle? No way."
Elizabeth laughed at Isabella's thoughts.
Isabella continued without showing anger.
"Because Papa has come up with many new ideas and inventions, but most of them were just ideas, and others completed them. If he was truly a genius as the world says, I think he would have done everything himself. Isn't it because he couldn't perfectly understand what he has seen? Otherwise, it doesn't make sense."
The world, and even the family, blindly trusted Steve, but Isabella was different.
Perhaps because she had been watching her father up close, she felt a sense of incongruity with his achievements.
"So, what is that future person Uncle doing now?"
"He said the content industry will become popular in the future, so he is working to create laws protecting intellectual property. He is also instructing designers and playwrights on character ideas to make stories."
"What kind of stories?"
"Like a country where mice and their animal friends live happily, or a story about a cat-type golem and a boy from the future. He said he plans to stage them in theaters soon and also considers publishing them as picture books. He said if these sell well, they won't struggle to eat until the grandchild's generation."
"Not myths or heroic tales, but a very cute route."
"Right. His ideas are novel, but he seems to have confidence that they will sell. It's strange to think how something that has never existed before can surely sell, isn't it?"
"Definitely worth considering. But as the Church says, if he is truly an Apostle, he might be able to see the future."
"Isn't an Apostle something more divine?"
"Hmm."
While the two were having such a conversation, Michael had made contact with Jasmine.
When Michael asked Jasmine if she was being bullied by Jackson, she replied that it wasn't bullying, but she wanted help.
So, when he asked if she could come to the Economic Revolution Club's room tomorrow, she agreed to visit after being released from Jackson.
And the next day, Michael told Isabella and Elizabeth about the promise with Jasmine, and they waited for after school.
After school, when the sun had tilted quite far west, Jasmine arrived. The four of them sat in chairs in a circle.
"Welcome. You must have something you need help with. Like punching Jackson away?"
"No, that won't solve it. Please, can you help my family?"
"My family? Not yourself?"
"Yes."
At that moment, Jasmine explained why she was being treated like a maid by Jackson.
Jasmine Fleming was the daughter of Baron Fleming. Baron Fleming was a noble without a territory, and five years ago, he established the Fleming Trading Company himself to acquire money.
And that company went public. At first, business went well, and to create funds for further expansion, they issued corporate bonds.
The redemption period was five years with 10% interest. And conditions were attached to convert the bonds into stocks.
And now, business is not going well, and there is no money to redeem them.
The stock price of Fleming Trading Company is currently 99 Dora. Dora is a newly introduced currency unit. It is said to be taken from the dragon, the symbol of the country, but it is a unit created by Steve by twisting "dollar." Incidentally, the minimum amount needed for one adult to live for a month in the city is about 50,000 Dora.
The stock price at the time of bond issuance was approximately 5,000 Dora, and the condition for mandatory conversion to stocks was when the stock price reached 10,000 Dora. If business succeeded and the stock price rose, it would be money that didn't need to be repaid in reality.
Baron Fleming saw a rosy future. However, at that time, he thought it would double quickly, but then business began to decline, and the stock price dropped in an instant.
And he had to borrow money from Count Cutter to pay the interest on the bonds, resulting in offering his daughter as an etiquette student. It is not live-in, but commuting from home.
If this debt cannot be repaid, Jasmine will become the property of Count Cutter. And since that is almost decided, she was given to Jackson as a toy.
And the reason why that is almost decided is that Count Cutter manipulated the business to fail.
The bond issuance was also recommended by a stockbroker influenced by Count Cutter, and everything was orchestrated.
They issued bonds and went all in, then short-sold Fleming Trading Company's stocks, attacked the caravans owned by the company, and made the cargo unsellable. Then, they spread information that paying the bond interest and redemption was difficult, causing the stock price to drop.
Naturally, following that information, bad financial results came out, investors judged the information to be true, and the stocks were sold further, rolling huge profits into Count Cutter's hands.
Baron Fleming, struggling with cash flow, put his holdings up for sale to use as working capital, but the result was a vicious cycle where floating stocks increased and the stock price fell further.
And now, with the redemption deadline approaching in three months, if they cannot redeem, they will go bankrupt.
Well, Jasmine did not know that Count Cutter was moving behind the scenes; she only spoke of the decline from the bond issuance to now.
"I understand the situation. But how did you manage to enroll in this school under these circumstances?"
Isabella said that to Jasmine out of curiosity.
"That is because the Count is providing funds for his son. It seems he enjoys seeing me in trouble."
"To correct that twisted mindset, we have no choice but to beat him."
"If Isabella beats her, it will bend even more. Along with the bones."
Elizabeth teased, and the atmosphere in the room brightened slightly.
"So, what is the amount needed to redeem the bonds?"
Michael asked Jasmine, and she answered.
"It will be about 5 billion Dora."
"Oh, a lot of money."
Elizabeth put her hand to her face and struck an "oops" pose.
It was an amount that Isabella and Elizabeth could somehow manage if they asked their parents, but they knew that asking them to provide it just to help the family of a girl in the same class would probably be rejected.
Even for Steve and Sherry, using taxes from subjects and citizens privately was not approved. It was helping people, but saving everything because business failed was impossible, and to the people, it was unrelated. Investing such a large sum there was impossible.
"A way to prepare such money in three months."
Isabella also crossed her arms and thought, but no good idea came out.
But Michael was different.
"Actually, you don't need to prepare money; you just need to raise the stock price, don't you?"
"That's true, but it's 100 times."
"But isn't it still more possible than preparing 5 billion in money? If His Excellency the Dragon Head Medal holder were here, I'm sure he would come up with a wonderful idea."
Isabella wanted to say, "Then I'll ask Papa," but swallowed those words.
And she remembered that Valier was in the Royal Capital. He was a shrewd speculator who fought many markets with her father. He rebuilt himself with the money he earned and was now a stock and futures broker in the Royal Capital.
She thought he would come up with a good idea.
Isabella stood up from the chair smoothly.
"Can you come here again tomorrow?"
"I understand."
Jasmine nodded. However, the other two were surprised.
"Isabella, do you have an idea?"
"Yes, there is only until tomorrow."
"The snake's path is the snake's path. I'm going to Valier's place now."
Only Elizabeth reacted to the name Valier. The other two did not know who that was.
"Oh, Valier, indeed."
"Who is that? Do the two of you know?"
Michael asked the two, and Elizabeth told Michael about Valier.
"He is a merchant who partnered with Uncle and bet on many large markets. After Uncle and Lord Sowell crushed them in the copper market, he became a subordinate of that lady, but he completely separated a few years ago and is now a broker in this Royal Capital."
Elizabeth called Aurora, the Margrave Sowell, a "lady" with malice. She had a strong impression that she was stealing her motherland's interests and had only bad images.
In reality, thanks to the huge capital Aurora invested, the Kingdom of Merda, which was in tatters from defeat, was able to recover quickly, but as a return, most of the profitable businesses belonged to Aurora.
And with the current explanation, Michael and Jasmine understood.
But a next question arose in Michael.
"But why does Isabella know such a person?"
"Because that lady extended her hands even to the Empire."
Isabella dodged that question with a plausible excuse.
Everyone knew that Aurora had also taken control of the Empire's trading companies. It would not be strange if Valier was involved there.
And Isabella's words also contained malice toward Aurora. Michael worried about that.
"I don't know about the Kingdom of Merda or the Empire, but calling Margrave Sowell a 'lady' in this country is fatal. She is the leader of the Western nobility, and her power is approaching that of the king. If you displease her, who knows what will happen."
"Thank you. I will remember that advice."
Isabella said that with her mouth, but she knew Aurora much better than Michael and had confidence that she would never harm her.
Thus, the day ended.