Noble Reincarnation: Born Blessed, So I'll Obtain Ultimate Power

I smiled softly and thought.

In this disaster recovery, the focus is especially on whether there is any corruption or misconduct.

I've been thinking about how to deal with that.

In a way, no matter what comes, I can handle it as "within expectations."

But this is not that.

The soaring value of the Lien—this comes from the empire’s system.

It’s nobody’s fault; if anything, it’s the responsibility of all the empire’s rulers up to this point.

No one has particularly committed any wrongdoing.

I turned my gaze back to the man.

Perhaps because he had vented his frustrations, the alcohol seemed to be going down even better.

He was slumped halfway over the table, letting out a big sigh.

I could understand why.

To put it simply: let’s say the man’s tax payment this year is one Lien.

If he can exchange that today, the tax burden in Wen would be 1,100.

But since he doesn’t have enough on hand today, he was told that if he waits until tomorrow, it might be 1,150 Wen.

That’s a difference of 50 Wen.

Even though the tax amount is the same one Lien, the actual amount paid changes depending on the day of the exchange.

If this was a "wealthy person earning in Lien," it wouldn’t be a problem, but the fact that he’s sighing so deeply means he’s probably an "ordinary citizen earning in Wen."

The actual tax amount is a bit higher, so the difference is even bigger.

Of course, sometimes the exchange rate can drop below the official rate of 1,000 to the 900s.

That depends on supply and demand.

But the man before me surely knows this too—he was told as much.

Right now, during the recovery, the market is bustling, and the Lien is continuously soaring.

For the time being, it might go up, but it hardly ever falls.

I smiled at the man.

I smiled softly.

“If you don’t mind, would you exchange that Lien for 1,100 Wen for me?”

I said this and took one Lien out of my pocket.

I placed the golden Lien gold coin shining on the table.

“Eh?”

The man looked puzzled.

His face was still flushed red, and he froze, half slumped on the table.

“W-why...?”

“I just happened to need to break it down. I plan to do a little more shopping, so having some small change would be convenient.”

“Eh? But I only have just over 1,000 Wen, not 1,100—”

“Consider the difference a tip.”

I said that, pointing to the dirt on his clothes.

Though old, the man’s clothes were well washed, but there was food sauce on them.

I had deliberately bumped into him to leave that stain, using it as a pretext to draw him into this.

Then, using that as a further excuse, I proposed exchanging at a rate lower than the money changers’.

The man looked at the stain, then at me.

He glanced back and forth, looking a little troubled.

“Is this really okay?”

“I’m asking.”

“...Thank you, I’ll take you up on that.”

After a brief hesitation, he said so, took a leather pouch from his pocket, and pushed it toward me on the table.

After I took it and handed it to Zoe, I saw that he took the 1 Lien from the table.

☆

After the man left, Zoe and I remained in place. I sat, and Zoe stood.

Together, we watched the man go down the stairs and leave the shop.

“Lack of Lien, huh.”

I muttered, reflecting on what I had just heard.

“Should I arrange for supplies?”

Zoe caught my muttering and made a practical suggestion.

It’s natural for exchange rates to rise like this; from the money changers’ perspective, they’re just conducting business fairly.

Of course, they could force strict adherence to the official rate, but in the past, doing so caused wild fluctuations in copper’s value and mining accidents, which led to instances of melting down currency to sell as precious metal.

In other words, they chose “constant small inconvenience” over “the occasional major chaos.”

Now, with disaster recovery boosting cash flow, there’s a temporary shortage of Lien in Enlil Province.

If that’s the case, the only way to fix it is to increase the amount of Lien circulating in the market.

Zoe, no longer just a maid but now a magistrate fully on the “official” side, understood this well and offered a practical proposal.