Chapter 45 - 45 Valier, the Lead Buyer
The day after Cyril and Aila's wedding, Steve used Teleportation to fly to Sowell Land, where he was holding a meeting with Valier.
"Now then, it's about time I'd like Valier-san to make his appearance on the main stage."
"Finally, it is time."
Valier, despite his age, had eyes sparkling with excitement.
In a speculative battle, the lead buyer revealing themselves is proof that the end is drawing near. The stock accumulation was proceeding smoothly, and in addition, Steve had finished preparing the materials to drive up the stock price. It was no exaggeration to say that from here on, Valier would be the protagonist.
Though it was a newly born stock market, it was only natural for him to tremble at the premonition that he could engage in a speculative battle that would become legendary here.
"I've already made arrangements with the Salieri Trading Company and the Emmanuel Trading Company. How is the Oclair Trading Company doing?"
"The guildmaster is an ambitious man who listed his stocks immediately. He is quite satisfied with the bait we presented. Well, he won't be able to do business in this Western region if he's glared at by those two Excellencies, so there's no chance of him betraying us. Oh, I haven't mentioned the Margrave's name. However, if he knows my background, he'll be able to deduce it. He's not so incompetent that he can't do at least that much."
Valier gave a smirk.
It was the look of a truly corrupt merchant.
Steve gave a wry smile.
"I wouldn't do something like that. My stance is that they are free to betray us if they wish. Even Her Excellency has the magnanimity to take someone like Valier-san under her wing, after all."
"That is because I placed myself beneath her. I believe she would not forgive me if I tried to leave. One can see that by looking at the end of Lord Karsh."
In contrast to Valier, who survived by wagging his tail for Aurora, Viscount Karsh perished without ever bowing his head to the end. Had he bowed his head to Aurora before colluding with the Kingdom of Forest, there might have been a different conclusion.
Precisely because Valier had been on that thin line himself, he understood Aurora's fierce personality all too well. And his reading was that the guildmaster of the Oclair Trading Company would understand at least that much.
"Well, I'll trust Valier-san's eye for people on that front."
"As for me, I have no desire to end things as I am now, so I won't make a blunder like misjudging people here. So, regarding the future script, I should just come forward with my name and buy up stocks like crazy, correct?"
"Yes. And occasionally leak information suggesting that your cash flow is tight."
"Leave it to me. Acting as if one can no longer put out any more money is an essential skill for a merchant. Fortunately, since my funds are under the management of the Margrave, even if the opponent tries to investigate, they won't be able to grasp the exact details. There won't be a failure like during the copper market where the volume of funds was found out."
Knowing the lead buyer's capital is a condition for victory in a speculative battle.
When buying and selling clash head-on, if one knows the opponent's capital, they know their limit. To prevent that from being known, the lead buyer usually does not appear in the open. If it's unknown who the lead buyer is, it's impossible to grasp their capital.
In the copper market, Steve, who had grasped the capital of Viscount Karsh's side, flooded the market with copper exceeding that amount. Then, Aurora calculated the position that would cause the opponent to suffer losses from which they could not recover.
As for Valier, he did not want to show the unseemly sight of making the same mistake twice.
"I have high expectations."
"I must make sure not to get too carried away and fail."
Thus, with the green light from Steve, Valier finally stepped onto the main stage.
From the next day, Valier began buying up Oclair Trading Company stocks in a conspicuous manner. To create a sense of flashiness, it was aggressive buying that ignored technical overheating.
Naturally, it drew the attention of other brokers and immediately became a topic of conversation. This also reached Dronne.
The stocks he had colluded with Baron Thompson to foist onto other nobles had unexpectedly skyrocketed. There was the regret of missing out on profits, but there was also anger at having his face lose face.
From the perspective of the nobles who had been set up, Valier, who was driving up the stock price, looked more competent than Dronne, who had caused them losses. If things continued like this, next time they wouldn't place stock orders with the Dronne Trading Company, but with the Valier Trading Company. And only a bad reputation would remain.
That was Dronne's own interpretation; in reality, a noble who had been made to lose money would never place an order with Dronne again anyway.
And Dronne, who wanted to somehow make Valier suffer a loss, suddenly realized something while watching the price movements of the Oclair Trading Company. The overheating was terrible.
Price movement is like breathing—inhaling and exhaling—and one cannot keep inhaling forever.
Even hedge funds and speculators generally practice what is called accumulation, where they buy and then relax their grip to wait for selling to come out. Buying in this manner was either the work of an amateur or done when there was an incredibly big catalyst.
So, he thought that if he searched for what kind of catalyst Valier held and determined the limit of the stock price based on the size of that catalyst, it would be possible to break the price by selling.
With that decided, Dronne began using money and connections to investigate the catalyst Valier held. And it was discovered immediately.
With that information, he visited Baron Thompson.
Baron Thompson was a portly, elderly man. The hair on his head had become quite lonely.
"Your Excellency, the Valier Trading Company is handling the Oclair Trading Company stocks we foisted onto the rising nobles and is driving up the price."
"What of it? Isn't it good that the nobles we set up won't complain to us anymore?"
"Actually, I have obtained information that might allow us to make a profit from this, so I have brought it to Your Excellency."
Hearing about making a profit, Baron Thompson's eyebrows twitched.
"How do you intend to profit from stocks we've already sold? If we buy now, won't we be catching them at a high price?"
He wanted to hear the tasty story, but unable to imagine how they would profit, Baron Thompson asked Dronne for an explanation.
Dronne told the Baron the mechanism for profiting.
"According to my investigation, it seems Valier intends to drive up the stock price and sell off based on the catalyst that the Oclair Trading Company will start trading with Her Excellency the Margrave, just as we did. However, this kind of catalyst is transitory. If actual profits come out, the stock price might rise further afterward, but just the fact that they will trade will make it difficult to maintain even the current stock price. Furthermore, no word has reached our business associates that Her Excellency is looking for a new trading company."
"In other words, there is a possibility that the story itself will vanish like a ghost?"
"Yes. It is impossible for us, but Your Excellency should be able to ask Her Excellency the Margrave whether she intends to increase the number of trading companies, would you not?"
"I can do at least that much. So, what if the story was a lie?"
"Regardless of the truth of the story, we will short-sell the stock, but if it was a lie, we will expose it as a lie after selling heavily. If it is true, it would be best to sell once the fact of the start of trading is conveyed. It is clear from the previous incident with Viscount Karsh that forced buying support leads to ruin."
Hearing the example of Viscount Karsh, Baron Thompson was convinced.
"Most likely, he saw the price hike we engineered and aimed to follow suit, but to not even imagine being broken by selling... one can only call him a fool."
"Quite so."
Like a corrupt official and a wicked merchant from a period drama, the two laughed loudly. At that time, the two did not notice that there was a spider that had entered the room attached to Dronne's back.
And Steve, who had been listening to the conversation through that spider, conveyed the contents to Valier.
"Good for you. It seems the opponent will set up a short-sell."
"Then, once I confirm the opponent's selling, shall I act as if I am troubled for funds?"
"Sounds good. Show them the gesture of borrowing money from the Salieri Trading Company and the Emmanuel Trading Company to support the stock price."
"And I shall offer the Oclair Trading Company stocks as collateral, then."
Offering stocks as collateral for a loan is not an unusual thing. Even banks recognize stock certificates as collateral. However, to avoid a collateral shortfall, they sometimes sell the collateralized stock certificates. In the past, when a lead buyer who initiated a speculative battle ran out of funds and received a loan from a bank, they offered the stock certificates of the brand they were manipulating as collateral, but because the bank put those stock certificates up for sale on the market, the stock price collapsed.
Steve and Valier were aiming for that as well. Of course, as a performance.
After all, since Valier had now sucked up the stocks circulating in the market, there were no stocks available even if one wanted to short-sell.
The goal was to put stocks that shouldn't be on the market up for sale and show the appearance of struggling to support the price by buying them.
"Well then, I'm going to report to Her Excellency now, and while I'm at it, I'll tell the Salieri Trading Company and the Emmanuel Trading Company to move to the next stage."
"Understood. Then, I shall also perform my part well."
Thus, when Steve finished his meeting with Valier, he visited Aurora.
Aurora was not in her office as usual, but was said to be attending to a guest, so Steve, thinking he would be kept waiting, was drinking tea in the small room he was guided to.
Then, Aurora appeared immediately.
"I heard you were attending to a guest."
"It was a pointless greeting. There are no negotiations that require my judgment. It was a good excuse to slip away, so it helped. So, for you to come so suddenly, it must be important business."
"Your Excellency, I have come to report that the operation is moving to the next stage."
Aurora understood immediately upon hearing that it was about the Dronne Trading Company and became delighted.
With sparkling eyes, she urged Steve to continue.
"I wonder how it turned out?"
"It seems Dronne and Baron Thompson will short-sell the Oclair Trading Company stocks. At that time, I believe Baron Thompson will probe to see if Your Excellency intends to start trading with the Oclair Trading Company."
"How should I answer?"
"Please deny it strongly."
"Deny it, I see. Understood."
"Also, please prepare for a party."
Hearing about the party preparations, Aurora gave a smirk. It was a smile that combined cruelty and ferocity, like a snake that had found its prey.
Aurora usually did not show her emotions, but when she was plotting mischief alone with Steve, she did not particularly hide them.
"When would be a good time to hold it?"
"About a month after Baron Thompson probes you, I suppose."
"Shall we make the pretext a celebration for the expansion of the Western region? It's better if the number of participants is large, right?"
"Yes."
"It's fine if I recover at least the expenses, right?"
"Please, feel free. But if it clashes with my scenario, I will prioritize our convenience at that time."
When Steve cautioned Aurora, she puffed out her cheeks like a young girl and made a gesture of being angry.
"Do you think I'm so incapable of reading the development?"
"No. It's just to be sure."
"I'll forgive you because of the relationship between you and me. But when you talk like that, Leo gets jealous, you know?"
"Is that not proof of being loved? I would certainly like you to teach me, who is about to get married, the secret to a harmonious marriage."
"It's for the woman to hold the power."
"I shall convey that to Chris."
Everyone knew that Aurora was the one running the Sowell family. If anyone tried to change this, even Leo would likely not escape unscathed.
And because Leo understood that, he never did anything to incur Aurora's displeasure.
Rather than the couple being harmonious, the reality was that Aurora held no dissatisfaction.
"So, it won't do if I go this far and it ends in failure, but is Valier going to be alright?"
"I'm not sure if 'alright' refers to his ability or his loyalty, but there should be no problem with either."
"You can even tell their loyalty?"
"Your Excellency may have forgotten, but my skill is Measurement. I can even quantify and measure people's hearts."
"That's convenient. You'd be able to accurately grasp in advance who is likely to betray you. I'll call Harry now, so could you measure his loyalty?"
"There's no need to even measure it."
It was a lie that Steve could measure people's hearts, and Aurora went along with the story knowing that.
However, regarding Valier's loyalty, he wasn't saying something completely irresponsible either.
In Valier's place, insects with which Steve shared his senses were also deployed. He was monitoring Valier with these.
That said, it wasn't just because he didn't trust him; it also served as personal protection for Valier. In the speculative battles of old, rough things like kidnapping the lead buyer were sometimes carried out. Since he was buying stocks with his name out in the open, Steve had also made it so he could rush over at any time, considering the possibility that the opponent might move that way.
"Thinking about it carefully, it doesn't have to be now. Well then, I suppose I'll prepare for the party while looking forward to receiving the dragon statue from you. Before that, calling Baron Thompson here comes first."
Having said that, Aurora was already starting to think about what lay beyond the party. To maximize her own profit, it wasn't enough to just perform according to Steve's scenario.
She needed to add further improvisations to it, but how should she do that? For her, it was a happy time for thought.
After finishing his talk with Aurora, Steve showed his face at the Emmanuel Trading Company.
"Welcome. Please, this way."
Emmanuel guided Steve to the usual room.
"Regarding the Oclair Trading Company matter we spoke of before, we're finally moving to the next stage. Valier-san should be coming here to borrow money soon, so once you receive the stocks as collateral, I want you to put them up for sale."
"I understand. There is no problem on that front, but..."
"On that front?"
Unexpected words came from Emmanuel.
Steve wondered if the scenario needed a change, but the problem was not about the speculative battle.
"It's about the furniture being produced in the Archibalt Territory; a complaint came in from the Industrial Guild saying it's too cheap."
"Well, I expected it to some extent. It finally came, huh?"
The dirt-cheap, mass-produced furniture was taking away the work of existing furniture craftsmen. He had predicted there would be a clash regarding that, and it had become a reality.
The reason Steve had made educational toys was because there was no market for such things, so there would be no trouble clashing with vested interests.
However, since he had chosen furniture as the new product in anticipation of the educational toys hitting a ceiling, he had finally come into conflict with the Industrial Guild.
The Industrial Guild was a gathering of craftsmen and handled administrative tasks that craftsmen were poor at, such as adjusting material procurement prices and negotiating with merchants. This time, they had lodged a complaint with the Emmanuel Trading Company, which handled the products of the House Archibalt, which was not a member of the guild.
The Industrial Guild, as expected, did not go so far as to complain directly to a noble.
"I'll handle that. I want you to set a negotiation schedule with the guild over there."
"Understood. I will contact you once it is decided."
Thus, separate from the speculative battle, Steve's work increased.