I Resign From the Coin Mercenary Knights

“…It might not be too risky. Why don’t we just expose the fact that the hero is hiding in the Imperial Palace? That would divert attention elsewhere.”

“That bastard Kun Hei-jin has likely already fled the Imperial City given his character. He’s probably holed up somewhere by now. I’m the one truly at risk here.”

“True, we should reinforce the defenses… Though if we employ that method recklessly, it could genuinely put lives at stake.”

“I’ve procured elixirs.”

The Imperial Palace, the Second Prince’s quarters.

The Second Prince stared despondently at a crudely crafted chalice.

“…The Grand Chancellor and Imperial Knights Commander have requested an audience again. They seem quite agitated.”

“Tell them I’m indisposed.”

The Second Prince replied listlessly, his gaze still fixed on the chalice.

Outwardly, it was merely an ungainly cup with an elongated stem and wide base, lacking any ornate decorations and of dubious practicality.

But in reality, it was no ordinary chalice – it was the ‘Holy Grail’ itself.

An artifact predating even the oldest existing nation on this continent, its true age defying measurement.

The vessel used by the first follower of the Goddess Faith, later canonized as a saint, during their inaugural rites. An object that rightfully belonged to the Church Empire, yet currently in the Second Prince’s possession.

The reason was simple – he had obtained it as compensation for offering the Church Empire a substantial discount when offloading 150 Codanas.

‘Haah. I really thought it was the right choice at the time.’

The Second Prince had originally intended to present this Holy Grail as an offering to the Emperor, who counted relic collecting among his hobbies.

Not out of any pious devotion, but simply for the novelty of beholding artifacts from the history books in reality.

By gifting the Holy Grail, he could have scored points while potentially securing the Emperor’s protection once the truth about the hero’s party came to light. An objective now moot, of course.

“Your Highness. Storing the Holy Grail in this manner is far too risky.”

“Risky, you say? Who would believe the Holy Grail is in my chambers? It likely resembles any ordinary chalice used for mass offerings at rural churches.”

“…Well, you have a point there.”

The sole consolation was that very few were aware the Holy Grail was in the Second Prince’s possession.

Given the Codana market’s collapse, the Church Empire had agreed to conceal the fact that they had traded a sacred relic as part of the transaction to avoid further embarrassment.

Your Highness. Let’s first return the Holy Grail to its rightful place. After that, we can discuss compensation for the damages.

Damages? Damages!? Are you implying the Codana crash was my fault just because I concluded an off-market deal beforehand? It was simply an unfortunate coincidence.

But the timing is too suspect. You are suspected of predicting the crash, Your Highness. The Patriarch shares this view…!

Ah, how was I to know the Humanoid Lord still lived? If you insist, ask the holy knights accompanying the hero’s party – no, the saint herself! The Church Empire has a few mages capable of operating communication crystals, don’t they?

There has been no contact for weeks now. You must address that as well.

Heh. One might mistake me for a church deacon at this rate? Handle it yourself, handle it.

That had been his exchange with the cardinal overseeing the Imperial City diocese.

By leveraging the Church Empire’s reluctance to reveal their acquisition of the Holy Grail as part of the transaction sum, he had bought some time.

But such tactics had their limits.

“Your Highness. The Church Empire’s patience will soon reach its limit as well. Considering the population under their direct rule, 46.5 billion rir is practically their entire national treasury.”

“A few more days should be manageable… The Church Empire has become a toothless tiger at this point, after all.”

“……”

The Church Empire was not the Second Prince’s greatest concern.

Unbeknownst to them, dozens of the Church Empire’s elite holy knights had already suffered near-annihilation – the equivalent of the Imperial Knights being wiped out, a blow that would take two decades to recover from.

‘Given their depleted strength, they can hardly threaten to sever ties.’

The Second Prince’s true predicament involved the Emperor and the nobility, particularly the latter’s urgency.

Most of the Empire’s nobles had lost money in the Codana market.

The extent of losses varied wildly from family to family, of course.

Some had depleted their entire liquid reserves, essentially bankrupting themselves, while others had only acquired a unit or two at their academy-attending children’s insistence – though even that wasn’t an insignificant sum.

There were even occasional families that had successfully realized gains by divesting within the past couple of months as liquidity dried up despite their ardent investment.

These were now subtly rejoicing amid the cautious observation.

“…But Your Highness. Most nobles did suffer losses. And those losses seem poised to bankrupt several families.”

“The 180 million level is still being defended, is it not?”

“Only because buy orders have utterly vanished. No one places any trust in the current prices.”

“……”

Those nobles would understandably harbor intense hostility towards the Second Prince and the hero.

For now, demands to ‘reveal the truth’ were still being voiced, fueled by hopes of a rebound if the actual situation was clarified. The Imperial authority also dissuaded rash actions to some extent.

‘But that won’t last long.’

The hero knew just how devastating the ‘truth’ these nobles sought would be.

Having lost his pinky finger and confidence, the hero claimed his remaining party members had also sustained varying degrees of injury while in seclusion. If word spread that this already fragile, holy knight-dependent party had been further debilitated…

“Codanas will be worth shit.”

“You mustn’t mimic the hero’s crass language, Your Highness. And you cannot conceal this forever.”

“I know, I know!”

The Second Prince shut his eyes tightly, feeling besieged on all sides. How had matters spiraled to this extent?

‘…I had at least expected the Humanoid Lord to recuperate for a few months. For him to suddenly reappear and slaughter those knights, what was that about?’

‘Come to think of it, I’m a victim too, having failed to offload 70 units. True, I still profited considerably compared to my initial investment, but…’

‘At this stage, I can hardly rely on my father for support either.’

He wished to consult the hero, but Kun Hei-jin had seized the chance to flee the Imperial City under cover of night the very day news of the Humanoid Lord’s survival broke.

If word gets out that you sheltered me in the palace ahead of the crash, Your Highness’s own safety cannot be guaranteed.

Fair words, prompting the Second Prince to aid the hero’s escape and concealment as a means of buying time. The hero had even provided a generous 5 billion rir ‘gratuity’ in appreciation.

“So I must resolve this through my own efforts, is that it?”

The Second Prince sighed, a sense of gloom enveloping him.

Should he try offering donations instead?

Providing modest support to a few families teetering on the brink of bankruptcy might quell public sentiment to some degree. But that would effectively confirm his complicity in the false report. And truthfully, he was loath to part with more funds.

‘I need to redirect the nobles’ resentment elsewhere…’

He already had a prospective target in mind.

The former Imperial Knights member, Eric.

Excluding the hero, who had steadily realized gains through pseudonymous trades, Eric was the biggest winner.

More than a few nobles had already set their sights on Eric, particularly those who had acquired the 108 units he had dumped on the market.

With just a slight pretext, Eric could easily be made a scapegoat.

The problem was that no such pretext yet existed. Despite diligently investigating Eric’s background, nothing untoward had surfaced.

His substantial property acquisitions prior to the market crash were perfectly legal, not constituting any wrongdoing. He had even established a philanthropic shelter under the guise of a martial arts academy.

‘Of course, if he’s blameless, fabrications can be introduced…’

But the Second Prince currently lacked the freedom to take proactive measures himself. Eric remained securely holed up in his residence.

“Haah. This is maddening.”

He couldn’t even begin to conceive how to pressure Eric into disgorging funds. If no resolution emerged within days, the Second Prince himself might face a dire predicament first.

Eric was even said to be fortifying his defenses at this very moment.

“…Your Highness, it seems Eric dispatched a sizable relief shipment to Lancart yesterday in cooperation with the Clodeine Guild.”

“What, is he trying to curry public favor?”

“Not at all… Based on information I had great difficulty obtaining, it appears Eric is angling for a nobility title in Lancart. He has recently been consulting former bureaucrats on the bestowment of titles.”

“Huh? A title?”

Circumstances suggested Eric intended to purchase a noble title with his wealth.

Coincidentally, the margrave of Lancart had perished in battle against the lizardmen without leaving an heir, leaving the position vacant – not a landed margraviate, but rather a territorial governor role akin to a viscount.

While hardly a position typically awarded to a young former knight no matter his martial prowess, these were extraordinary circumstances.

“The vile bastard. Providing relief supplies to a devastated margraviate just to demand a noble title in return? And from a knight, no less?”

“…He likely offered monetary compensation as well. Of course, an Imperial sanction is required for an ennoblement, but His Majesty would be hard-pressed to refuse. What reason to deny when a peak expert knight volunteers to serve as lord over the severely damaged Lancart?”

“This madman…”

While the hero Kun Hei-jin had dismissed Eric as a “fool,” the extent of his cunning was baffling.

If Eric truly fled to Lancart and entrenched himself there for years, apprehending him would become virtually impossible.

As the Second Prince tore at his hair, despairing of his final hope, the retainer dispassionately observed him before suddenly speaking up.

“Yes. He will become difficult to touch directly. But Your Highness? There is one variable to consider – the fact that this margraviate is Lancart.”

“What nonsense is this?”

“Have you not heard of the recent knight casualties and injuries there? Those losses were due to the hero’s false report. And there is one individual who became exceptionally incensed over that matter.”

At the retainer’s words, the Second Prince blinked before his expression brightened.

True, Eric had maneuvered shrewdly.

By relocating to the utterly devastated Lancart, if only to preserve his life and assets, he would become untouchable. As a peak expert, he could likely thrive by gleefully slaughtering monsters.

But there was one individual who would ‘never’ tolerate such actions.

And that person happened to be the Empire’s mightiest knight.

“Just the fact that a former knight is exploiting relief efforts to obtain a noble title would enrage that man… What then, if that territory is Lancart, defended with knights’ lives?”

“He would lose all reason, that one.”

“Deploy him against Eric to neutralize the threat, then subtly implicate Eric with other alleged misdeeds as appropriate.”

The Second Prince gazed fondly at his retainer, considering appointing him Grand Chancellor or Chief Retainer upon his ascension.

If properly handled, he could alleviate at least one of the two burdens posed by the Church Empire and nobility. Not that the Church Empire alone wouldn’t be challenging enough, but better than fighting a two-front war.

The Second Prince immediately summoned Rufus Weinricht, the Imperial Knights Commander.

As Weinricht himself had demanded an audience in an agitated state, the meeting could be expedited.