The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 3 (Light Novel)

by Daisuke Aizawa

  His voice is low and resonant.

  Yukime senses he’s talking about the bills that have recently begun circulating.

  “The slips of paper that the masses think of as currency aren’t technically money at all. In truth, they’re deposit slips. Tickets that can be exchanged to retrieve money you’ve lent the bank, nothing more. When Mitsugoshi Bank turned theirs out into the world, they also gave them the power to settle accounts—in other words, they made it so the deposit slips could be used for transactions. In the capital, it’s fully possible to exchange ten thousand zeni’ worth of deposit slips for ten thousand zeni’ worth of goods. And anyone can then take those slips to Mitsugoshi Bank and liquidate them. As a consequence, the people have come to believe the slips of paper have the same value as actual money…”

  He takes out two slips of paper and places them atop the desk. One is a Mitsugoshi Bank bill; the other is one of the MCA’s.

  “But do they really? Let’s say, hypothetically, that someone deposits ten thousand zeni with Mitsugoshi Bank. Mitsugoshi will then issue the depositor a ten thousand–zeni bill, and they’ll go off and spend it during their daily shopping. But something strange happens here. There’s the ten thousand stored at the bank, and the ten thousand making the rounds through the marketplace. We started out with a single ten thousand–zeni coin, but all of a sudden there’s twenty thousand zeni floating around.”

  Yukime considers the fact that Mitsugoshi Bank got the people to believe that their deposit slips were just as good as money to be their magnum opus.

  Thanks to that, they’ve gained the ability to inflate a single coin’s value countless times over.

  “Now, if all the bank did was let the original ten thousand zeni sit quietly in their vault, there wouldn’t be a problem. Even if the money in the system still technically doubled, the amount out in the marketplace is still just ten thousand zeni, so no contradiction is born. However, Mitsugoshi’s been using the ten thousand zeni in their vault as collateral to issue yet another ten thousand–zeni bill and lend it out.”

  Not many people actually withdraw their money from banks, especially not when paper money is so convenient and easy to spend. Nobody wants to walk around with a heavy sack of gold coins jangling around, after all.

  Furthermore, Mitsugoshi is incentivized to cash in on the capital’s prosperity.

  There’s no end to the people who want to take out loans to start up businesses, so Mitsugoshi’s bills are practically spreading faster than they can print them.

  “The ten thousand zeni in their vault multiplies countless times over, and thanks to the capital’s economic boom, Mitsugoshi Bank gets to rake in the interest. Such is the power of credit creation…”

  Credit creation. It’s exactly what it says on the can.

  Mitsugoshi Bank’s leader might well be the greatest con artist the world has ever seen.

  Yukime doesn’t know who exactly was audacious and crafty enough to come up with such a scheme, but she’d love to get a chance to sit down and chat with them.

  “But are these slips of paper really as valuable as the people believe they are…?”

  If John’s story got out to the masses, they’d be shocked.

  Of course, it’s probably common knowledge among the MCA’s leadership.

  After all, they’re the ones who’re scrutinizing Mitsugoshi’s every move.

  It’s no surprise John was able to figure it out as well, but why did he bring it up? Yukime thinks it over.

  “Here are two bills. One is Mitsugoshi’s; the other is the MCA’s. Notice anything…?”

  “My. Is there something to notice…?”

  Yukime’s eyes look like pools of clear water as she compares the two notes. The designs are different, of course, but she doubts that that’s what he’s hinting at.

  In that case…

  “One has a watermark, while the other does not?”

  “Exactly. Also, the MCA’s design is more simplistic. Do you know what that means…?”

  “It’s easier to make counterfeits. That’s—”

  “Exactly. We could make a killing.”

  “Yes…” Yukime tilts her head to the side.

  Making counterfeits is an idea even a child could come up with.

  Yukime’s certainly considered the possibility, and the MCA doubtless has as well.

  “Mr. John, the MCA’s bills have yet to circulate outside the capital. If counterfeits were to appear, their source would be found instantly.”

  John freezes in place.

  “A small-scale operation might be possible, but the profits would be correspondingly minor, mind you. However, anything larger than that would be shut down expeditiously.”

  Given the small area the bills are currently being circulated in, it would be an easy job to track down where any counterfeits came from.

  In other words, starting a large-scale operation would just be asking for trouble. While a small-scale operation wouldn’t be a problem, Yukime doubts anyone would be stupid enough to pick a fight with the MCA.

  More important, doing so would let Mitsugoshi run unchecked. And that was a dangerous proposition.

  At this rate, Mitsugoshi was liable to gain a complete stranglehold on all commercial and banking operations.

  “Um… Mr. John…?”

  John’s shoulders are slumped dejectedly.

  He looks like a child who, upon asking a friend to go treasure hunting with him, was given the perfectly logical response that there was no treasure to be found.

  He wasn’t seriously planning on making counterfeits, was he?

  Yukime smiles. It seems the man has a cute side to him, too.

  But the next moment, she feels something pressing against her body.

  John’s shoulders are still slumped, but he’s emanating waves of raw power.

  “Wha—?!”

  “Is that…really what you believe…?”

  His voice sounds like it’s resonating up from the void.

  What’s with this insane force?

  It’s not even magic. It’s like his willpower given form—

  It’s almost as though he’s saying Yukime’s judgment was flawed.

  He’s testing her. To see whether or not she’s fit to be his partner…!

  But still… What was it she overlooked?

  Yukime thinks back over their exchange.

  Then she realizes something.

  “Ah—”

  If, hypothetically, they managed to introduce a huge number of counterfeits into circulation…then the MCA’s credit system would crumble.

  Once the people harbored suspicions about the MCA’s bills, they’d probably go in droves to trade them back for official coinage. However, due to the MCA’s credit creation, they’ll have issued many times more value in bills than they have cash on hand. They won’t be able to cover all the exchanges.

  The MCA’s paper currency will become little more than scraps of paper.

  In other words…

  “You would have us introduce vast amounts of counterfeits into circulation to intentionally trigger this credit crisis?!”

  The shorter the time before the MCA went bankrupt, the lower the risk of them getting caught.

  Better yet, Yukime has access to the perfect front—the Lawless City.

  If they circulate the currency through the Lawless City, it’ll take the investigators that much longer to pin down where the counterfeits are coming from.

  By the time the MCA figures out the truth, it’ll be too late.

  To think John thought all that through.

  Yukime finally realizes why he slumped his shoulders a moment ago.

  He’d been disappointed in her…for not realizing the true significance of the counterfeits. He’d tested her.

  He definitely hadn’t proposed making counterfeits on some idle whim.

  It had been a calculated decree. He’d left nothing to chance.

  A moment ago, he’d said, “But
are these slips of paper really as valuable as the people believe they are…?”

  He’d been hinting at the possibility of a credit crisis.

  “All we must do is send them to bankruptcy before they find us… What an audacious plan.”

  To think that a simple counterfeiting operation could have such a profound significance…

  Everything he’d said had been foreshadowing this.

  Cold sweat runs down Yukime’s back in the face of John’s sheer ingenuity.

  It doesn’t end there.

  “Is that…really what you believe—?”

  “Wha—?!!”

  The aura radiating from John intensifies.

  Has she overlooked something else?! Yukime frantically racks her brain, but she comes up blank.

  John’s eyes peer at her from beneath his mask, scoping her out.

  This is bad! This is bad! This is bad—!

  “…It is,” Yukime quietly murmurs.

  She looks down.

  The plan is airtight, so that’s the only answer she can give…

  Lamenting her own incompetence, she awaits her judgment. However…John’s pressure dissipates.

  “—Exactly.”

  “Huh…?”

  I-it was a trick—! If she’d given in to his pressure and spouted some nonsense, he would have condemned her.

  Standing by her answer had been the right move.

  The final thing he’d been testing had been her honesty.

  Having understood all that, she goes weak in the knees and collapses backward into the sofa.

  “Then counterfeits it is. It’s a much sounder plan than my original one. I will handle the production and distribution. When they join circulation, the MCA will open an investigation. I trust you can make sure it fails.”

  “That I can.”

  “Magnificent. We can deal with the rest of the details another day.”

  “…Very well.” John flips his coin into the air.

  It spins, then lands with a clink.

  By the time it does, John’s already gone. All that remains of him is a cool evening breeze.

  The fallen coin rolls along the ground and comes to a stop by Yukime’s foot. She picks it up and flips it the same way he did.

  “John Smith… The man once called Shadow…”

  What unbelievable ingenuity.

  What unbelievable grit.

  What unbelievable strength.

  “Truly, he is a giant among men…”

  Yukime lets out a heavy sigh.

  Originally, she wanted to win him over for his strength alone, but the man is blessed with far more than just martial prowess. He possesses resourcefulness in equal measure, as well as the fortitude of will necessary to wield them both.

  Now that I have Yukime’s seal of approval on the counterfeiting plan, there’s nothing left for me to do but wait for her to print the fake bills.

  Once that happens, my job’ll be taking out enemy spies so they can’t figure out where the counterfeits are coming from.

  Heh…

  The scenario is thus—as Mitsugoshi and the MCA wage war out in the open, a mysterious man betrays his organization and pulls strings from behind the scenes so he can carry out his mission alone.

  Counterfeits will circulate, the MCA will fall, and once all the dust has settled, his true objective will come to light—saving his original organization.

  “…That’s what it means to be a Super Elite Agent.”

  It’s badass as hell, if I do say so myself.

  I’m a Super Elite Agent who must betray his organization in order to save it.

  If Alpha and the others figure out who I am, everything will have been for nothing. That means I can’t use my sword. Because my sword isn’t part of my core aesthetic anymore, that means I can try out all sorts of cool new fighting styles.

  As I’m mulling over my options and walking down the darkened capital streets, I spot a familiar pair of dog ears off in the distance.

  “Delta…?”

  The moment I murmur the name under my breath, the ears twitch.

  She turns around. That’s Delta, all right.

  “…Boss man,” she mouths.

  Then she immediately drops to all fours and bounds all the way over to me.

  That’s Delta for you. She’s always been stupidly fast. A normal person wouldn’t have even been able to see her.

  “Boss m—!”

  “I’m not ‘Boss man’ right now.”

  “Oh-woof… Cid! I missed you!” Her tail wags excitedly.

  However, her beaming grin quickly stiffens.

  “Cid… You smell like fox…”

  Her sense of smell is stupidly strong, too.

  “Uh, I was off foxhunting.”

  “I wanna hunt foxes!”

  Her face brightens up again.

  “Sorry, but the foxes are all hunted up.”

  “Oh-woof… Next time, then!”

  “Yeah, for sure. Oh, and quit marking me with your scent.”

  Delta’s rubbing herself all over me, so I’m forced to manually pry her off.

  “But Cid, you stink of fox.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “No!” Delta keeps coming at me, and it takes a good deal of effort to keep her off.

  I decide to change the subject.

  “So, Delta, what are you doing in the capital?”

  “Oh-woof… Cid, you’re too strong.”

  “So, Delta, what are you doing in the capital?”

  “Hmm? What?”

  “So, Delta, what are you doing in the capital?”

  “Uh, well, see, I woke up this morning, ate some meat, and came to the capital.”

  “So, Delta, what are you doing in the capital?”

  “Uh, well, see, I was hunting!”

  “In the capital?”

  “Outside the capital. It was fun! I hunted a bunch! Cid, wanna join?”

  “Why were you hunting?”

  “Come hunt with me!”

  “Why were you hunting?”

  “Alpha told me to! Cid, come hunt with me!”

  “Oh, it was Alpha’s idea.”

  “Yeah! Cid, come hunt with me!”

  “What were you hunting?”

  “Bandits! Cid, come hunt with me!”

  “A bandit hunt, huh?”

  “Cid, you love bandit hunting!”

  “That’s true. I do love bandit hunting.”

  “Come hunt with me!”

  “All right, I’m sold. It’s not like I’m doing anything.”

  “Hooray!!” Delta grabs me by the hand and starts trying to drag me off.

  “Hey, hold up! I can’t leave right now. I gotta head back to the dorms first.”

  “No!”

  “Also, didn’t you have some business you had to deal with here in the capital?”

  “Business?”

  “I assume Alpha called for you or something.”

  “A-Alpha?!”

  “Did you forget?”

  “She called me! Is she gonna get mad?!”

  “I dunno. But you’d better go quick.”

  “But the bandit hunt…” Delta looks at me dejectedly.

  “I’ll be free for a while, so why don’t we just go tomorrow? Go take care of your business.”

  “Got it! Cid, make sure you wait for me!!”

  “I’ll be there at the dorm. Make sure you come inconspicuously, though.”

  “I’ll come undercover!”

  Delta drops back to all fours and dashes off through the capital at a breakneck pace.

  If anyone saw her, she’d definitely turn heads, but normal people can’t make her out at those speeds, so maybe it’s fine.

  For some reason, I’m reminded of the golden retriever I had back in my old world. I let out a quiet sigh.

  We race through the forest in the dead of night.

  I’m following close behind Delta.

  I was worried about how well she’d be
able to follow my instructions, but she managed to show up at my dorm without causing a scene or anything.

  Of course, her abilities are the one thing I never have to worry about. Hunting is Delta’s specialty. When I see the way she conceals her presence, I’m honestly impressed. She might well be the cream of the Seven Shadows’ crop.

  What’s more, her ability to sense prey is off the charts. To be honest, her sense of smell and hearing are probably even better than mine. No matter how much I try out some extreme body mods and boost myself with magic, the difference between species is too wide to overcome.

  With the notable exception of her brains, every aspect of Delta’s is top-of-the-line.

  That’s the reason I’m having her run ahead of me and act as my Bandit Radar.

  When it comes to hunting outlaws, finding the first one is always the hardest and most time-consuming bit. With Delta running in front of me, all I have to do is follow after her and let her lead me to the good part.

  Her nose twitches and her tail wags as she races forward.

  Looks like we’ve got a hit.

  She speeds up, dropping from two legs to four. She rips through the forest at blistering speeds, eventually charging straight toward a light barely visible off in the distance.

  Screams fill the air.

  When I get there a second later, I find several of the bandits already dead, their limbs strewn around the campfire.

  Yeah, I had a feeling this would happen.

  Going on bandit hunts with Delta isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There are downsides, too. Notably, she loses the ability to wait the moment she spots her prey.

  With her, bandit hunts have a habit of ending up as one-sided massacres. And where’s the fun in that?

  Man, everything was shaping up to be a such a blast, too…

  Now, strictly speaking, it’s not that she can’t wait. If I told her to, she’d probably follow my instructions.

  However, doing so causes her immense stress.

  She’ll behave herself as long as I’m around, but the minute I’m gone, she’ll have no choice but to vent it. That invariably causes problems.

  She might end up mounting Gamma to assert dominance, or chop down all the trees behind someone’s house and leave the lot barren, or find a vegetable field and eat everything in it…

  Back when she was a kid, it stopped there. Now that she’s grown up, though, I have no idea how destructive her stress-relieving methods might be. And I have no desire to find out.