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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Petra Bank's Collapse
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This terrible news broke at the worst possible moment—in the late afternoon, just as all economic activities were winding down.
Everything ground to a halt for a moment.
Then everything lurched back into frantic motion.
Those who dealt with Petra Bank rushed to its doors, faces drained pale with the fear that their hard-earned savings had vanished.
But the bank doors were already firmly shut.
Yet beyond those tightly sealed doors, the hurried footsteps of scurrying employees echoed with chilling clarity.
"Come on, no way it'll go bankrupt this easily, right?"
"Exactly. It's the biggest bank in the empire..."
Such self-deceptions and desperate attempts at calm were rendered pointless in an instant.
The next day, and the day after that.
Petra Bank never opened its doors.
In the end, the emperor convened an emergency council.
Because this crisis had revealed some shocking facts.
The grand conference hall of the imperial palace.
A long, oval conference table.
And a chair set slightly higher than the others, allowing its occupant to look down on more than anyone else.
"Yeongshik Petra, Count Petra."
The emperor of the Drameno Empire sat there.
Emperor Perator Vicarius Drameno fixed his gaze on the culprit of this disaster, seated at the farthest end of the table from him.
His deep ash-gray eyes gleamed sharp as a blade.
"...Yeongshik Petra, Count Petra."
The emperor called his name twice.
Yeongshik Petra, trembling in terror, offered no response this time either.
Finally, a nearby knight whispered in his ear.
"Do you dare ignore His Imperial Majesty's summons?"
"U-uhh!"
Only then did he manage to pull his fleeing wits back together.
"Y-Your Majesty!"
"Now we can finally proceed with the meeting."
Emperor Perator rose slowly to his feet.
In that moment, his eyes met those of Seletrina, one among the many ministers present.
She, with her gentle demeanor that seemed utterly out of place here, bowed politely.
But Emperor Perator knew.
That among all those gathered here, this woman was the most terrifying.
Emperor Perator resumed walking.
His footsteps echoed steadily until he stopped right before Yeongshik Petra.
"I won't bother asking how you plan to resolve this mess. I don't expect much from you anyway. Blinded by greed to the point of putting up the bank itself as collateral..."
He abruptly fell silent.
'What solution could I possibly expect from this fool?'
Up close, Yeongshik Petra looked corpse-pale, as if every drop of blood had evaporated from him.
His mustache, though, was impeccably trimmed.
The emperor withdrew his scornful glare.
The bank's bankruptcy was bad enough, but it wasn't the only thing that had offended his imperial sensibilities.
"How exactly did you manage to put the bank up as collateral?"
There was only one way to inherit the title of Count Petra.
To take over Petra Bank.
This was a unique succession method born from the Petra family's history of rising through banking.
Yet this idiot had pledged the bank as collateral.
"I haven't heard a word about it yet."
"......"
"Did the Petra family not report anything to me at all?"
"......"
"Or perhaps..."
Emperor Perator trailed off softly.
Yeongshik Petra gasped like a beast having its throat slit—gasp, guhk.
"...you sold it off on your own."
Terrified by the emperor's quiet fury, Yeongshik Petra teetered on the brink of fainting.
In resolving this emergency, the details of how the bank had been pledged as collateral hardly mattered.
It was merely the criterion that would decide the survival of the Petra family—and Yeongshik Petra himself.
"Magic Tower Lord."
Emperor Perator turned away from the loathsome Yeongshik Petra and called out.
Majia, summoned, bowed his head lightly.
"I've heard the Magic Tower took no stance on Prok Kingdom's magic stone mining venture."
"That's correct."
"Why is that?"
"Because despite all the rampant rumors, no one has actually seen any mined magic stones."
Majia's words set the assembled nobles murmuring.
Among them were those who had poured massive sums into that very magic stone mining project.
Their faces turned ashen.
'Idiots.'
Majia cursed them inwardly and continued.
"Furthermore, Prok Kingdom never requested our assistance."
"There's talk that they didn't need to, since the Magic Tower is developing artificial magic stones."
One noble jumped in desperately.
Majia responded with exaggerated patience, drawing out his words.
"To experiment with artificial magic stones, you need real magic stones. Because you must use magic engineering devices powered by them."
In other words, the place that needed magic stones most was the Magic Tower itself.
"Anyone with a shred of sense would suspect something after a moment's thought..."
Majia made no effort to hide his contempt.
"So, does that mean the magic stone mining venture was a scam?"
Emperor Perator asked.
Majia shook his head.
"They did discover a mine with magic stones buried in it."
"......"
"Even to me, who has lived through long years, the only solutions to this crisis seem to be time and luck."
That the fool's mining investment would succeed.
And that the patience of the masses, terrified of losing their blood-and-sweat fortunes in vain, would hold out until then.
"That seems to be our only option."
"In that case, what we must do now is..."
Kalarop Degladis Duke's eyes sharpened like honed blades.
"Figure out just how much that moron pawned away using the people's lifeblood savings as collateral."
The Petra bankruptcy case inevitably went to trial.
There was no stopping it.
Yeongshik Petra had borrowed an unimaginable sum using the bank as collateral.
Greedy for more, he'd even dipped into the bank's own assets.
"If I had my way..."
He wanted to kill the bastard right then and there.
But the emperor exercised restraint.
Killing him now would leave no one to take responsibility and face punishment once the crisis was resolved.
He had to be killed after everything was over.
Petitions had also poured in from the other fools who'd invested in the magic stone venture alongside Yeongshik Petra.
Petra Bank barely clung to survival.
In exchange, a grace period was granted.
By next summer, Yeongshik Petra had to clear the debts and restore the pilfered bank assets.
"So, Petra Bank ultimately..."
"Belonged to Yeongshik Petra."
During breakfast with the whole family gathered.
Solles asked his parents about the newspaper article.
Seletrina, exhaustion plain on her face, answered with a smile.
She hadn't properly rested in ages.
Even last night, she'd only slept three hours—the most she'd managed lately.
Kaleo beside her was in the same state.
Muniel and Ardores too.
Even the household staff.
Petra Bank's collapse meant everyone in the empire losing their fortunes.
Of course, nobles managed personal assets separately. But they couldn't handle everything that way; usually, they used banks like vaults.
"Is our family going bankrupt too?"
Nibelria asked, face etched with worry.
She listlessly stabbed at the neatly sliced apple pieces on her plate with her fork.
"Will you have to feed us, Nini? Do you have to?"
"It's not that bad. It won't come to that."
Kaleo reassured her there was no need to worry.
But the children could see it too.
How dire the situation was.
"I hear Count Petra can barely move now. Can he just hand over the bank like that?"
"Everyone's talking about it. Now they're whispering that Yeongshik Petra's the one who put his own father in his sickbed."
"Has Lady Petra said nothing yet?"
"Seems she's on her way down from the north. Things are chaotic there too—some thugs attacked Frigus territory..."
The children, sensing the mood, finished eating and slipped outside.
After brushing their teeth under Solles's supervision, they gathered in the study to discuss what to do next.
It was a weekend, so the Magic Tower kindergarten, cram school, and Solles's tutoring were all off.
"Will the Pellea Merchant Company be okay?"
Arep asked, gently cradling Nibelria's drooping hand.
"It'll be fine."
Fortunately, Solles gave an optimistic reply.
"The money we invested went into setting up the company. Their stone mushrooms will sell like hotcakes, obviously. They were delicious."
Of course, if the crisis dragged on, nothing was guaranteed.
But Seletrina had told them not to worry about the stone mushrooms.
So they'd trust that.
Nibelria and Arep's expressions softened.
"What can we do?"
Arep wanted to do something in this tough time for everyone—ideally, something helpful.
"Realistically speaking, nothing."
Solles laid out the truth.
"The biggest help we can give is to stay out of trouble and behave, so the adults don't have to worry about us."
"Why are you looking at Nini, big brother?"
"Just looking."
"It makes me feel a little bad."
"Have you thought about it, Nini? How we could help the adults?"
To change the subject, Solles turned to Nibelria.
Hmm, she tilted her head this way and that in thought, then suddenly snapped her eyes open.
As if she'd hit on a brilliant idea.
"Let's find magic stones!"
With that, she bolted off to one of the rooms.
"Ater!"
She flung the door open.
"Mm, red really suits me after all."
The evil dragon Ater, clad in a red dress, admired his reflection in the mirror with great satisfaction.
