A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 228 Collapse

When Madame Granor awoke, her wayward children were by her side, and she wept, saying, "Do you know, you've lost your father!"

François exclaimed in disbelief, "No, how could that be? After the conference, Master Cano didn't make things difficult for Dad. We walked out together, and you knew the mysterious passenger?"

"I don't know him! But I know what cruelty and barbarity are! Naive child. Sure, Lionel isn't that kind of person, but do you know how much your father is involved in, how many villains are behind him who want to tear him apart?"

"My father is a great sorcerer, he will be fine." But the young man remembered his father's last words and began to regret why he got off the bus and why he didn't realize that his father was in danger.

"Enough, François Granoll. You've grown up, and now your family is in the most dangerous time. Tomorrow at dawn, as soon as the city gates open, your sister and I will return to the countryside for safety, while you go to the palace, find His Majesty the King, find Lord Necker, tell them about the changes, and ask them to promise you that you will inherit the title as soon as possible."

However, Necker probably has no time to care about his former allies.

At this moment, all the secretaries in his office were holding documents, with extremely important matters to report and handle, but they were all holding their breath and keeping their heads down, because their boss was in a rage.

"Varang! Varang! You ingrate! Even barbarian wolves are more ungrateful than him! He's not a nobleman, he's a bastard who can't be fed!" Still not satisfied, Necker walked behind his seat and drew the sword that His Majesty the King had bestowed upon him, which was hanging on the wall.

With a whoosh, the sword was drawn. The finance minister was not a martial artist; he simply poured all his strength and anger into the blow, slashing at a newspaper as if he were cleaving Valen himself in two.

The newspaper's front page headline read "Paper Gold Scam - Exclusive Exposure of the Inside Story of Saliana Mining Company," and the words "sources," "youngest general manager," "fraud," and "currency credit" fueled Necker's anger.

"Mage! Liar! Useless trash."

The first newspaper that managed to get a head start was already out of print, but more newspapers were being delivered. The Magic Guild building was indeed only locked down for an hour, and then the news quickly began to spread.

Fortunately, it happened in the evening, and the stock market had already closed.

Unfortunately, after a night of fermentation, the lengthy report was rushed out overnight. The savvy traders and the trading companies under the guild fled at the first sign of trouble. The employees of the mining company and the exchange watched helplessly as funds flowed out while they waited anxiously for General Manager Varang to appear.

Twenty-three minutes after the market opened, the exchange was shut down, and guards from the royal palace appeared at the gate to try to drive away the frenzied crowd.

"grown ups."

"Read it!" Tired and calmed down, Necker could continue listening to the bad news.

"Grain prices rose by more than 70% after the market opened today, and gold prices rose by more than 90%. Thirteen grain traders have suspended deliveries to Valuwana."

"Arrest all those who breach the contract, send those beasts to the Basti Fortress prison to sober up, and send the grain to the bakeries in the capital! Every bakery must be able to produce smoke as usual!"

"My lord, Grand Duke Merovingian is currently confronting the guards outside the exchange, and behind him are many merchants and nobles."

"Summon him to the palace alone, by himself!"

"grown ups."

"Can't you guys come up with a plan yourselves before I make the decision? Where's your brain? Am I the only one in this office whose brain is working?"

"My lord, His Majesty requests your audience in his study."

The office fell silent.

Whoosh—hiss—whoosh—hiss

Having composed himself, Necker forced out his usual confident smile and stepped into the room, where the clock was ticking.

The King and the Prime Minister were both present, and Charles XVI had become even more plump. May God bless the Holy Kingdom; His Majesty did not inherit his grandfather's frail stomach: "Sir Necker, I heard there's been some trouble at the stock exchange and banks today?"

Necker bowed to his employer: "Your Majesty, I will handle it."

"I believe you, Lord Necker! Everyone praises you as the 'Court Alchemist'!"

These words nearly gave the poor finance minister a heart attack. When he looked up, the stern-faced prime minister in red seemed to be subtly mocking him.

"Lord Necker, I've summoned you here to discuss matters concerning that conference. Since you and Lord Deplesie both insist on holding it, I've agreed. Now, you two should come up with a plan."

Duplesci presented the documents he had prepared to His Majesty, and then handed a copy to Necker: "His Majesty seems to still have doubts about the necessity of fiscal and tax reform. Please, Minister, frankly explain to His Majesty the current situation of the kingdom."

Necker gritted his teeth: "Your Majesty, we are now facing a new crisis. Those speculative merchants are making profits in the financial markets that exceed the bounds of reason and morality, while we, Your Majesty, are the ones who have to pay for the losses. They are destroying the credibility of currency and the foundation of the kingdom."

"I will not allow such a thing to happen in the Holy Kingdom!"

"Yes, yes, they have also incited your cousin, Grand Duke Merovic, to demand that we make concessions. The Grand Duke will be at the palace soon. Please cooperate with me to help your esteemed cousin see the error of his ways."

Duplessi watched Necker's performance with a cold eye. He knew that the Chancellor of the Exchequer no longer had the energy to interfere in the meeting of dignitaries, and that it would be the Cardinal's show if all went well.

"Merovingian! My brother is an ambitious man; he wants to sit on my throne more than any prince. Lord Neker, let him come at us; we'll deal with him together."

Charles XVI thought for a moment, then added a crucial point: "But the talks cannot last too long. I promised the Queen I would visit the swans gifted by the Istani royal family before lunch; hopefully they will be in good spirits after their journey by boat."

"Everything is as you wish, Your Majesty," Necker said, but inwardly he felt a deep sense of despair.

The same message not only reached the royal palace (and perhaps even the mind of the Sixteenth King), but also spread throughout the continent, to every place where the magic guild had a communication node.

At this time, the Newsingen uncle and nephew were in the capital of the autonomous region, overseeing the company's staff as they inventoried the equipment that had been delivered.

"Uncle! Look at the message from Valuvana!" Antoine waved the secret letter. Although the tax rate in the autonomous region had been reduced, Hercules, as a large trading company under the guild, could still use the magic guild's information transmission channels.

Pierre opened the letter, his heart nearly skipping a beat. He read it over and over, finally muttering, "He's right! Master Rorschach is right. The mining company is finished, the stock market is finished, the kingdom's paper money is finished!"

In a temporarily vacated bedroom in the dormitory area of ​​the Tower of Stars.

No matter how fierce the storm, the eye of the storm is always calm. Now, the protagonist and focus of the newspapers, Varon, whom Necker has dismembered and devoured alive in his mind, is lying in bed.

"What are your plans for the future?" Rorschach came in carrying a stack of newspapers. This was the only safe place now. Varon had been brought into the Tower of Stars with his senses blocked and was then placed under house arrest in an empty dormitory.

Varan sat up, took the newspaper, glanced at the headline, and tossed it aside: "Go to another country, find a mountain sanatorium, breathe fresh air, and wait to die."

"In many people's eyes, you can't die easily yet." Luo Xia took out a jar of "canned food" from the Forest Tower. Inside the glass bottle was a clump of slowly wriggling white mud, with mycelium attached to the inner wall: "Let it enter your lungs and replace some of it, and you can say goodbye to tuberculosis and be just like a normal person."

Varen cautiously picked up the living creature: "If I become infected by it, am I completely in your hands?"

"It's symbiosis," Rorschach corrected the other person's mistake: "Whether you accept it or not, the people are still in our hands."

(End of this chapter)