The Blood-Stained Demon Lord Who Betrays Dreams

The collapse of the Great Commerce Alliance was instantaneous.

They didn't have nearly enough gold coins to satisfy the mountain of people who showed up to exchange their bills. Some companies simply shuttered their doors and vanished into the night. Eventually, the Knight Order intervened and forced open the vaults, only to find that the contents were a mere pittance compared to the amount of paper money currently in circulation.

The merchants were hauled away to face severe punishment.

Naturally, the mob that had just witnessed the Alliance’s ruin turned their sights on the Mitsugoshi Bank next.

The morning after the collapse, a literal sea of people swarmed the Mitsugoshi Bank Royal Capital Branch. The crowd was so massive it completely choked the Royal Capital’s main thoroughfare.

The moment the doors opened for business, the masses surged inside, clutching their paper bills—only to be struck dumb with awe.

There, filling the massive, vaulted atrium, was a dazzling, gargantuan mountain of gold coins.

The bank tellers greeted the customers with calm, practiced smiles. They were the picture of composure. As the bank steadily and efficiently processed every single exchange, the panic began to evaporate. One by one, the citizens turned on their heels and went home.

By shortly after noon, the line in front of the Mitsugoshi Bank had vanished entirely.

In the end, only about thirty percent of the crowd had actually gone through with the exchange. Seeing the bank’s response was enough to put the rest at ease. The sight of that mountain of gold, the polite professionalism of the staff, and the sheer weight of the Mitsugoshi Group's brand had solidified a foundation of absolute trust.

In fact, some customers immediately turned around and asked for new loans in paper money.

Through the collapse of the Great Commerce Alliance, the Mitsugoshi Company and its bank had ascended to a level of status and reliability that was now beyond the reach of the state itself. If the Mitsugoshi Company were to withdraw its business now, the kingdom’s economy would effectively cease to exist.

While the government now viewed "Credit Creation" with extreme caution, they couldn't ignore the fact that the Mitsugoshi Group had sparked an unprecedented economic boom in the Royal Capital. Consequently, the kingdom entered into formal negotiations with the representatives of the Mitsugoshi Group and the Mitsugoshi Bank to establish new regulations regarding the practice.

And with that, the curtain fell on the entire affair.

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CID

I was busy digging a hole with my Slime Scoop.

I’d been at it for a while now, ever since the battle ended. But for some reason... nothing was coming up. Where’s the loot? And why on earth is Yukime radio silent?

The plan was simple: Yukime was supposed to go grab the gold in the Royal Capital while I stayed back to dig up the stash here. Then we’d ride off into the sunset for a happy ending. Or so I thought.

Instead, I had zero gold, and my partner had ghosted me. To make matters worse, I’d heard that the Mitsugoshi Bank had somehow survived the credit collapse and the Snow Fox Company had been absorbed into the Mitsugoshi Group.

What? How?

The only thing I knew for sure was that my master plan had completely crashed and burned. I guess Yukime had no choice but to surrender to the Mitsugoshi juggernaut.

Dammit...

"Boss, I don't find anything, desu," Delta said, her hands rhythmically shredding through the frozen earth like a pair of industrial excavators.

"It has to be here... I know it is," I muttered, digging alongside her.

I could have just nuked the whole area to clear the dirt, but that would probably vaporize the gold too. Slow and steady was the only way. Delta had followed my scent and found me, so I’d recruited her "dog hands" to speed things up.

"Boss, is this another Secret Secret Mission?"

"Exactly. So you can't tell Alpha or the others about this, okay?"

"Got it!"

"You see, Delta... this is a Dying Message."

"Dying... message?"

"The final, truthful words of the deceased. I faced a mortal enemy in a duel to the death; we hated each other, but in his final moments, we finally understood one another. The word he left me with as he passed was 'Snow.' And he pointed right 'here.' That means he buried his most precious treasure under the snow."

"Whoa! Amazing!"

"That’s 'deduction' for you."

"Deduction!!"

Delta’s eyes went wide, and her tail started thumping against the ground like a propeller.

"When we finish digging, will Boss do whatever I say?"

"Huh?"

"Boss promised!"

"Did I?"

"You promised!!"

"Are you sure...?"

"Uuu..." Delta gave me a pouting, upward glance.

"Okay, okay, maybe we talked about something like that."

"We did!"

"But I didn't say I'd do anything—"

"You said anything!"

"I meant within reason, Delta."

"YOU SAID ANYTHING!!"

Crap. She’d already locked this version of reality into her brain. There was no arguing with her once she got like this.

"Delta, lying is a sin. I definitely didn't say that. If I had a Voice Recorder right now, you'd be busted."

"Voice... recorder?"

"A Shadow Weapon. If you activate it, the world ends."

"What!?"

"You don't want the world to end, do you? That’s why you shouldn't lie."

"Uuu... I don't want the world to end... b-but Boss really said it..." She looked like she was about five seconds away from a full-on bawl.

"Alright, look, I'll compromise. I'll do what I can. But you have to understand, Delta—I'm not Santa Claus. I can't grant every single wish."

"Santa-san?" she tilted her head.

"Santa Claus... the Vicious Red Demon Lord who reigns over the World of Shadows."

"A Demon Lord!?"

"His robes are stained a deep, bloody crimson. He betrays the dreams of the innocent and fills them with despair, using their blood to dye his clothes..."

"That’s horrible!"

"Tell me about it. He’s a real piece of work. He gave me a lot of grief back in the day."

"He got you too, Boss!?"

"Yeah. There was this one dream I wanted to come true more than anything. I prayed for it every year, and every year, he betrayed me."

"What dream?"

"I wanted to be The Eminence in—actually, never mind. I’ve made it a rule not to put my truly important goals into words. Anyway, the point is, he broke my heart every year since I was a kid. So, what I’m trying to say, Delta, is that since I’m not Santa, I can’t just do whatever you want."

Delta stared at me, blinking blankly for a long moment. She tilted her head again, looking genuinely confused.

"But... Santa-san doesn't listen to anything, right? He betrayed Boss's dream!"

Wait.

"Oh."

"Oh!"

"My logic fell apart there, didn't it?"

"It fell apart!"

We both stood there, tilting our heads in unison.

"Whatever. The point is: I’ll compromise, but I’m not a genie. Anyway, I’m headed out on a trip, so try to think of a reasonable request by the time I get back."

"A trip!?"

"Yeah. A little journey to find myself..."

Actually, it’s because Alpha and the rest of them are definitely going to be pissed, and I need a cooling-off period. Human emotions are like leftovers; they lose their heat over time. Eventually, this will all blow over.

Plus, winter break just started at the academy, and it sounds like the Oriana Kingdom is about to explode into a civil war. Perfect timing for a little "business trip." I can't wait.

Once the dust settles, I’ll just waltz back into the Mitsugoshi headquarters like nothing happened. I won't even apologize. I’ll just act totally normal.

I have finally discovered the ultimate Secret Technique for winning at human relationships.

The trick is to make the other person completely give up on you. Once you get them to think, "Wow, it’s a waste of breath to even talk to this guy," you’ve won. Nobody gets mad at a baby for being a baby, right? I just have to lower myself to that level of social incompetence.

Of course, it’s a double-edged sword. It’s a victory, sure, but it’s also a total defeat for my dignity as a human being...

"Anyway, we’re done with the digging. Thanks for the help."

My plan was dead anyway. When I really thought about it, just having a pile of cash wouldn't magically make me The Eminence in Shadow.

"Alright, I'm off! See ya!"

"Ah, Boss! Something's coming out—!"

I heard Delta calling after me, but I took off at a full sprint to make sure I didn't get cornered by her 'request.'

Come to think of it, today is December 24th. It was on a snowy night just like this that Santa betrayed me for the first time.

Sigh... I guess I failed to become The Eminence in Shadow again.

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