Chapter 124

“I can calculate the movements of celestial bodies, but I can’t figure out the madness of humans.”

These words were uttered just before the great genius Isaac Newton lost most of his fortune in stocks.

Considering he was the one who laid the foundation of physics, it truly hammered in how terrifying stocks can be.

Of course, physics and economics are entirely different fields, so there’s that. But it’s precisely that Newton said such a thing that gets more attention.

Additionally, many people tend to think of stocks as gambling. To a certain extent, they’re right because no one knows how things will turn out in the world.

Like when a previously thriving company suddenly collapses, or a certain faction and major stakeholder collaborate on a scam, or a terror attack happens, and so on.

There are even cases like in South Korea and Japan, where the very economic foundation of the country crumbles, leading to significant fluctuations.

That’s why it’s crucial to keep a close eye on the situation. In other words, you need to read the news regularly.

So, at lunch, when everyone decided to visit the stock exchange, we gathered right on time.

“Oh, by the way, you’re from a Duke’s Family, right? Does the Duke not trade stocks?”

Antonio asked Grace this question, free of any ulterior motive, just a pure inquiry.

Grace glanced at Antonio and replied in a calm voice.

“Stocks are just a part of it. The profit varies depending on what minerals come out of the territory and what the invested land yields.”

“So the land is the most important then.”

Throughout history and across cultures, real estate has always provided tremendous interests and financial gains.

The larger the territory, and the better the resources it holds, the more power it brings.

Grace’s family, the Verche Duke’s Family, occupies a significant grain-producing region in the Empire, thus holding both power and wealth.

“By the way, Sivar.”

“?”

“Are you really planning to spend that much money?”

Grace asked me after counting all the checks. The reason for her query was the check in my hand.

The amount I withdrew from the bank was a whopping 1 million silver coins, which equals about 100 million won.

Carrying all that in cash would be akin to labor, so I opted for checks instead.

I separated them into checks of 100,000 silver coins, planning to diversify my investments.

Ah, and just as a side note, when I went to the dormitory to grab my bankbook, Rize was absent.

“Just let it be. She’s pretty stubborn, and once she makes up her mind, it’s hard to change it. She probably has no economic understanding either.”

Kara replied in place of Grace’s concern. It carried a nuance of having given up halfway.

When I said I was withdrawing 1 million silver coins, Kara strongly opposed it.

She warned me that I could lose it all and that I needed to think not just once or twice, but up to ten times.

Ignoring her objections, I confidently pulled out the checks. Honestly, I was being cautious.

If I had said I was going to invest all of it, she would’ve tried to talk me out of it.

Kara, under the guise of ‘experience’, wasn’t breaking my resolve.

If I had withdrawn 3 million silver coins, I would’ve promptly called Rize and Rod.

If that happened, I’d miss out on the chance to make money. I had my own scheme going on.

“Besides, with your abilities, filling 1 million should be a breeze, right? Just go to the forest, hunt a few strong monsters, and you’re set.”

“Yeah, that’s a point.”

As Kara said, after hunting in the Chaos Forest a few times, making money wouldn’t be hard.

It was just that it was annoying. And considering I was marking my territory, bringing back spoils was somewhat tricky.

“But Luna.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really thinking of buying the same thing as Sivar?”

Grace then turned to Luna with her question.

Unlike me, who was counting checks, Luna was counting each silver coin.

She wasn’t as poor as Jane, but the recent blockage in entering the Chaos Forest would surely make things tight for her.

“Yes. I’m going to invest in the same thing as Sivar.”

“Hmmm. Why’s that?”

“The reason is…”

Luna trailed off, looking at me. I could roughly guess what she was thinking.

But this wasn’t something she could just say outright, so she shrugged her shoulders and casually replied.

“Just a feeling, I guess?”

“A feeling… So you trust Sivar? It’s his first time too, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Such a simple answer from Luna. Grace shot a sidelong glance at me.

Even she, who had designated me as her escort, seemed to think this was a bit much. I couldn’t blame her.

At this point, I couldn’t explain it either, so I sealed my lips. I just hoped there wouldn’t be any strange misunderstandings.

“Don’t blame Sivar later if you lose all your money, alright?”

Kara warned Luna with a hint of threat woven into it.

It seemed she was worried Luna might try to get money out of me just because she failed to invest.

Though they were close, Luna was sensitive to money matters, hence the warning.

“You don’t need to worry about that. If you really doubt it, you could choose the same thing as Sivar, right?”

“… …”

But Luna wore a confident smile and responded eagerly.

Her counter made Kara shrink back. She looked at me with a complicated expression.

Separating trust in me from this issue would be hard to swallow. There was just nothing to believe in.

Still, Tartar should end up with great gains, so it shouldn’t matter.

I almost wished Kara would pick something different from me. This could potentially lead to political entanglement.

Buying stocks right before magic stones get discovered? That could be a contentious issue.

If I explained it away as coincidence, it’d be fine, but Tartar likely wouldn’t have the same level of trust yet. I was reminded of that last time.

“… I’ll handle this myself. I can decide after today.”

It was a direct financial matter, so Kara was also playing it safe. She began observing me carefully.

Her gaze suggested she couldn’t trust me at all, while in reality, I had no thoughts about it.

“Look! There’s the Academy Stock Exchange. It’s not as big as I thought!”

“Makes sense given its purpose, right next to the bank.”

“So that’s the stock exchange.”

The stock exchange built at the Academy wasn’t that large.

Though it gathers talent from around the world, it wasn’t bustling with people like the capital.

Of course, it was still small compared to typical exchanges, but it had everything necessary.

Buzzing— buzzing— buzzing—

Upon entering, I quickly realized my suspicions were correct.

This stock exchange hadn’t gone digital; it was purely people calculating— even during lunch, quite a number of individuals were gathered.

It was bustling, almost reminiscent of a market. Among the crowd, there were even students in uniforms like us.

“From now on, we’ll do as we please. I’m heading in to buy.”

“I truly wish for your utter failure.”

“Haha! Not a chance! We’re heading up!!”

Unbothered by Grace’s ‘good wishes’, Antonio was brimming with confidence.

Knowing the future of the stocks he planned to invest in made me feel unfortunate. I hoped he wouldn’t come begging me for money later.

Anyhow, I also needed to check things out. I turned my glance toward the stock price board.

They write everything on the board manually.

They had these large boards, adjusting stock prices every hour. There was a valid reason for the crowd.

I gripped my checks tightly with both hands and fixed my gaze on the boards, hoping to find a stock I was aiming for.

Ordinarily, domestic and foreign investments are categorized separately, but this was the United Academy.

Stocks varied by country, making it quite the task to find what I was looking for.

There’s surprisingly high trading volume here; they definitely pay close attention to it.

If the stock exchange collapsed during the Academy crisis, the global economy would wobble severely.

It seemed even demons were aware of this, as they first targeted this building. Once I thought of that, I averted my gaze from the board.

In my memory, there should be a devil’s magic circle installed here as well. But with the crowd so thick, it was difficult to locate.

Making a ruckus here would be quite awkward.

If I caused a scene, I might get banned for good. I preferred to exercise caution for that reason.

Most importantly, I still had ample time left. It wouldn’t be the last time I came here, and I could take my time.

“No way! How can it suddenly drop like that? What in the world happened?”

“I’m sorry. As I’m sure you’ve seen, there is a terror event in Santia…”

“Give me back my money right now! I said now! Aaaah!”

Well, looks like someone’s stock just turned to worthless paper.

The person demanding their principal was soon dragged away by security.

It seemed this happened often, as the crowd merely glanced and quickly returned to their own business.

“Every country has its own color. Ah, there’s ours too.”

Kara noted, pointing out an area while we roamed the exchange. Oddly enough, it had a sandy-colored board.

For reference, stocks related to the Matra Empire had a white board, while those concerning the Granada Empire had a black one.

This was the method of assigning unique colors to each country for easy classification. Quite a nice design, honestly.

“Does Tartar also have related stocks?”

“Yeah. So, these are all stocks? Familiar names all around.”

Kara reacted with fascination while examining the names listed for Tartar-related stocks.

Even though Hector had introduced various financial systems, it probably didn’t resonate much with her.

Before she could absorb it all, Hector had sent her back to the Academy. I figured she would take her time to study now.

While Kara was looking at the related stocks, I steadily moved towards Tartar stocks.

“Huh? Sivar. Wait a second!”

“?”

“Are you really planning to invest in our country?”

As I shifted my steps, Kara gripped my wrist to stop me. My expression said, ‘What’s the problem?’ as I tilted my head.

Kara wore a complicated expression and opened her mouth as if suggesting I reconsider.

“That might not be the best choice. Our Tartar is a fledgling nation, and due to past records, the profit margin might be high, but the stability is greatly lacking. Not many are buying stocks over there right now, are there?”

Kara pointed towards Tartar stocks. Indeed, where others were bustling, Tartar stood deserted.

This made perfect sense; as she said, Tartar was a new nation with a pretty awful historical track record.

While Hector had somehow managed to create a national foundation, the outside perspective would likely see it as on the verge of collapse.

If Hector were to fail, it would naturally lead to civil strife. That would in turn make all related stocks worthless.

“I want to buy.”

However, knowing the future, that didn’t concern me in the slightest. Tartar wouldn’t crumble no matter what happened.

Even if my rapport with Kara fell to rock bottom, the nation would still stand firm. After all, its trade routes rivaled the Silk Road.

“Why? What are you looking to buy?”

“Tartar is Kara’s nation, right?”

“Uh? Yeah, that’s correct.”

“Then I want to buy.”

Of course, I couldn’t reveal that I knew the future. How could I casually mention that a magic stone mine was about to be discovered on your land?

As I gave that simple answer, Kara’s green eyes widened, showing that her feelings were a mess of confusion.

Eventually, she chuckled and gently cupped my cheeks with her hands.

“Oh dear. Oh dear. You’re just so adorable doing this. Alright then. Even if you end up losing out, I’ll help you fix it later.”

With her hands still on my cheeks, she kneaded my face like dough. A firm trust radiated from her smiling face.

Just as my face was being squished like dough, I noticed Grace standing behind Kara.

She seemed worried over something as she nervously bit her thumbnail, looking frustrated.

Is it because I didn’t invest in the Matra Empire?

That might not be far off the truth. The Matra Empire truly was a country with exceptional stability.

Normally, capital tends to flock to stable nations. Even Santia, with its advanced science, was grappling with terrorism and lawlessness, significantly lowering its stability.

“Alright. Let’s go buy. As I said, even if there’s a loss, I’ll cover you. Just this once?”

“Mmhm.”

“Sister, I’ll say it now, but trusting Sivar brings nothing bad.”

“We’ll just ignore any loss on your end.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

We’ll overlook our unfair Luna today as I chuckled inwardly and headed towards the emptyTartar exchange.

“Which stocks should I buy…”

“All of these.”

“Huh?”

“Buy them all.”

I roughly invested 100 million won. And it was all in Tartar-related stocks.

The clerk seemed taken aback by my bold purchase and wore a sour expression. He promptly asked if I was serious.

I nodded vigorously every time he asked, affirming that I was sure. Eventually, he reluctantly issued the stocks.

“Sivar, I can just trust this, right?”

At that moment, Luna also seemed to have gotten her stocks. She showed me a share she had never seen before and asked.

Though she trusted me, she still looked somewhat anxious.

“Yeah, trust me.”

“Hehehe.”

Luna was all smiles, already excited by the prospect of making big bucks.

While a lot of hard work awaited her, she might as well be happy for now. I comforted her in my heart and checked the stock.

“You actually bought it, huh? Don’t scream if you lose all your money.”

Not expecting I’d actually go through with it, Kara spoke in a worried tone.

Then as if something had just dawned on her, she whispered quietly.

“No, wait. It might actually not be bad to cry… Then I can hug you to comfort you…”

“I’m not crying.”

There was no reason to cry at all, so who would even complain?

Kara was caught off guard since she didn’t think I would hear that. Her flustered face looked rather cute.

Meanwhile, I glanced over at the Granada Empire section. I spotted Antonio busily buying the stocks I had marked beforehand.

“That guy.”

“Huh? Who? Antonio?”

“Yeah. Go comfort him.”

I urged Kara to comfort Antonio instead. She looked puzzled.

Regardless, Antonio was already grinning big, brimming with thoughts of profit.

In no time, his face would be painted with despair. Especially as every stock he touched would flop.

“Hey. Did you really invest in Tartar stocks? What’re you thinking?”

Moments later, cheerful Antonio returned, catching up with everything that had transpired.

That’s what normal reactions would be; since Tartar was a fledgling nation with plenty of risks. Even if the profit margin was high, the stability was significantly lacking.

“Kara said the profit margin was high.”

“… Hey, man. Stocks aren’t gambling. You evaluate stability when buying.”

“I’m gonna make big bucks.”

“No… sigh. Do as you please. I don’t even know.”

Antonio seemingly gave up on trying to persuade me, shaking his head.

While most people had negative reactions, only Luna had unwavering trust.

“Hehehe. Now we just have to wait to make money.”

“How much did you invest?”

“All my monthly allowance.”

That entire monthly allowance.

[Breaking News: A major cave-in has occurred at the mithril mine discovered in the Granada Empire…]

Gone like a puff of smoke.

[A large-scale underground mine has been discovered in the Tartar Desert! It contains a large quantity of magic stones and rare minerals…]

And the value of my paper stocks was about to skyrocket.

“Umm… buddy?”

“?”

“Could you lend me some money? You made a ton, right?”

“No way.”

Trying to get free cash, huh? I firmly refused Antonio’s pleas, brushing him off.

This was all anticipated, so it didn’t hit me like a ton of bricks. Right now, all I cared about was making money.

“Look, sister! Just by trusting Sivar, even stuff that didn’t exist is materializing!”

“True. Is this what they call wild intuition?”

“Maybe it’s having the heart of the wilderness. You jumped at the chance when you heard high returns, didn’t you?”

Luna was no different. Thanks to me, she earned enough to live comfortably for months.

Kara was in a situation where a major mine was discovered in her nation, leading to a significant increase in her investment’s value. We were all winning.

“Did you hear? That dude made a killing from his investments!”

“Why on earth did he invest in Tartar? He seems close with the Tartar princess, but could it be…?”

“No way! I heard it was a sudden find. I bet he just invested because he was friendly.”

“How close do you have to be to throw down that much cash? Something doesn’t add up.”

Let’s ignore the whispers that reached my ears.

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