In the early afternoon, I headed into town with Zoe in tow.
I was not dressed as the governor-general, nor was Zoe dressed as my aide.
We appeared as nothing more than a moderately prosperous merchant and his accompanying servant.
Dressed like that, nobody called out to us or looked twice, allowing us to blend seamlessly into the city.
This was the sort of thing that princes who had never stepped outside the imperial capital found most shocking.
Princes and royalty were paramount dignitaries.
They could hardly fathom the idea of a dignitary's face being unknown to the public.
In reality, however, ordinary people simply had no way of knowing what we looked like, meaning one could easily blend into the common populace without elaborate disguises.
Even for the top local official who had just assumed office—the governor-general—it was the same.
Thus, with a rather casual disguise, I inspected the streets of the provincial capital, Larak, alongside Zoe.
Being the provincial capital, and with all the immense effort I was pouring into it as governor-general, the city was recovering at an astonishing pace. Even now, alongside regular day-to-day trades, construction and civil engineering projects were underway all over the place.
Taking it all in, I nodded as we walked.
"The energy is returning," I remarked.
Zoe responded immediately.
"It is the fruit of Master's exceptional leadership. With things going like this, all that remains—"
"I wonder about that."
"Huh?"
Zoe looked startled.
She had genuinely believed that everything would be smooth sailing from here on out.
Having me deny that clearly took her aback.
Continuing along the street, I added:
"I used some rather forceful measures to push this reconstruction through."
"Under such circumstances, it was unavoidable, was it not?"
"I agree. However, corresponding strains are bound to arise."
"Strains..."
As if she could hardly picture what that meant, Zoe echoed the word.
She replied in a flat, neutral tone, which was unusual for her.
"Just intuition," I said with a faint smile. "I can hardly believe things will continue this smoothly without a hitch."
"Is that why we are inspecting...?"
"Yeah. If it were Father, he would have an information network capable of grasping everything without doing this, but mine is still in the middle of being built."
I had to use my own two feet to find out, I implied.
"The Late Emperor's information network..."
"It was tremendous. Even now, it is one of the areas where I remain far inferior to the late Emperor."
"I experienced that firsthand as well."
"Mm."
"Therefore, after the late Emperor passed away, I looked into it. What form it took, what kind of people were involved, and how they operated."
"You were curious?"
"That as well, but I also thought that if I tracked them down, I might be able to put them in contact with Master."
"I see."
That made sense. I nodded.
"However, no matter how much I searched, I learned nothing. It was to the point where I wondered if such people had never existed in the first place—as if they were merely a fleeting illusion. I could not find a single trace."
"I investigated too, and found the exact same thing."
I gave a wry smile.
"As expected of the late Emperor, I thought."
Father's information network—or rather, intelligence network, perhaps.
Because I knew how extraordinary it was, I wanted to make it my own.
I glanced briefly at the status display in the corner of my vision.
――――――――――――
Name: Noah Ararat
Governor-General of Enlil Province
Gender: Male
Level: 33/∞
HP: SSS | Fire: SSS
MP: SSS | Water: SSS
Strength: SSS | Wind: SSS
Endurance: SSS | Earth: SSS
Intelligence: SSS | Light: SSS
Spirit: SSS | Dark: SSS
Speed: SSS
Dexterity: SSS
Luck: SSS
―――――――――――
The status window in the corner of my vision, which I had completely stopped paying attention to lately.
After Father passed away and I gained everything in the Empire, two changes had occurred.
One was that all my stats had reached SSS.
The other was that the "+" had vanished.
The "+" that had been there since birth had increased whenever people became my subordinates.
It was the single greatest reason I had solidified my belief that "people are treasure."
Since the entire Empire had become mine, I had searched to see what had become of Father's intelligence network, but I couldn't find a trace.
While I admired Father for that, I also realized I would just have to build one up with my own strength.
With those thoughts in mind once more, I kept walking.
While conducting the inspection, I chatted with various people and bought random street food to snack on.
I checked whether the daily livelihoods of the commoners were progressing without disruption.
We walked around until the sun had slanted considerably, yet no problems were apparent—or so I thought, until...
"...Hm."
A certain sight caught my eye, and I stopped in my tracks.
Zoe also stopped and asked, "Did something catch your attention?"
"That man."
I pointed toward him.
Across the way stood a man holding a leather pouch.
He was letting out an exceptionally heavy sigh.
Until now, even if the city was bustling, it didn't mean everyone wore a cheerful expression.
For instance, passing near some private residences, there were men being scolded by their wives: "Just because the host treated you doesn't mean you should drink so much!"
There were plenty of everyday grievances like that.
In that sense, the man catching my attention might just be another such case—and yet, something felt off.
It genuinely bothered me.
"I'm going to hear him out for a bit. Don't interrupt."
"Understood."
After instructing Zoe, I led her toward the man.
Midway, I deliberately stumbled and bumped into him.
"Whoops, pardon me—ah!"
After bumping into the man, I acted as if I had just noticed what happened.
The dipping sauce from the street food I was eating splattered onto the man's clothes.
Of course, it was intentional, and I feigned deep remorse.
"My sincerest apologies!"
"Ah, no, it's my fault too. I was spacing out."
Having been apologized to, the man replied with a spiritless face, saying it was fine.
Something really is wrong here, I thought once again.
"No, I must properly make amends for this. You, go find if there's a clothing shop nearby."
"Yes."
Zoe moved to act upon my order, but the man stopped her.
"No, no, it's fine, it's just a little stain. It'll come out in the wash."
"Still, that won't do... Then at the very least, let me treat you to a drink at that tavern over there."
"Huh? That's really not—"
"Hey, go to the tavern and secure us a table."
"Understood."
Zoe immediately understood that this had been my true objective all along.
While her movement for the previous command had been deliberately sluggish, for this order she dashed off instantly before the man could stop her.
"Now then, right this way."
"Well, if you insist..."
Since I was going to such lengths, he seemed to think.
The man followed me with a conflicted expression.
We entered the shop together; it was an ordinary tavern.
Perhaps due to earthquake damage, the walls had been newly repainted and looked fresh.
Naturally, being a tavern, the lively energy inside was several degrees higher than that out on the street.
Most patrons were cheerfully knocking back drinks.
Occasionally, there were tables where folks were overly high-spirited and on the verge of brawling from drinking too much, but I felt that was rather a good sign that the people's everyday lives were returning.
After waiting briefly at the entrance, Zoe returned after sorting things out and guided us toward the innermost booth on the second floor.
It was the typical private table located in the deepest corner of the top floor.
Usually, those who had matters they didn't want overheard, or who wanted to talk in peace, used such seats.
Therefore, unless specifically requested, taverns tended to keep these tables open even during peak business.
Zoe was a capable servant; she had likely palmed a bit of silver to secure this spot.
I had the man take the seat of honor and ordered a spread of food and drinks.
The dishes were brought out quickly.
Seeing the food fill the table in an instant, the man looked flabbergasted, clearly wondering if I was really going this far just for slightly dirtying his shirt.
"Come now, please don't hold back."
I smiled and encouraged the man to partake in the drinks and food.
Though bewildered, the man took a sip of alcohol first.
Once the liquor hit his system, his reservations gradually melted away.
After letting him drink for a while, I brought up the main topic once more.
"Forgive me for asking, but when we bumped into each other earlier, you looked rather downcast. Did something happen?"
"Ah... yeah, well."
"This, too, is a twist of fate. Perhaps I might be able to help in some way."
"Huh? No, no, it's nothing big. It's just... the money exchange."
"Money exchange?"
Repeating the word, I looked at the man and prompted him forward with my gaze.
With his face already bright red and thoroughly tipsy, the man had become far more talkative than when we first met.
"Yeah. The rien has gotten so expensive."
"...Ah."
I gave a knowing nod.
"If I recall, the statutory exchange rate is legally fixed at 1 rien to 1,000 wen, correct?"
When I said that, the man nodded.
Ever since being reincarnated as a noble—the Thirteenth Imperial Prince Noah—I had almost zero occasion to use them, but besides the rien, the Empire possessed a currency called the wen.
The rien was minted primarily from gold, while the wen was made of copper.
In other words, gold coins and copper coins.
And legally, 1 rien was set to equal 1,000 wen.
However, that was strictly the statutory rate.
The actual market rate fluctuated constantly.
Among those fluctuations, it varied far more drastically during the tax collection season.
The Empire decreed that taxes had to be paid in rien.
There was a purely practical reason why it had to be this way.
The Empire collected all submitted taxes in the imperial capital—specifically at the Ministry of Finance.
In other words, tax revenue had to be transported and shipped all the way from every corner of the realm.
When that happened, transporting a single rien was overwhelmingly easier than hauling 1,000 wen coins of equivalent value.
Mainly due to that logistical reality, imperial taxes were mandated to be paid in rien gold coins right from the point of collection.
Naturally there were exceptions, but that was the general rule.
Consequently, during the tax season, the common folk scrambled to obtain rien. It was the only currency they could use to pay.
On the other hand, the ordinary earnings of commoners were almost entirely in wen, not rien.
Therefore, when the tax season arrived, commoners visited money changers to convert their copper wen into gold rien.
Though called money changing, it was essentially a commodity trade.
Because the demand for rien gold coins surged during tax season, their market value naturally rose.
If one could exchange early, they could obtain rien cheaply, but that also meant locking their funds away into money they couldn't use for daily expenses far in advance.
Commoners who lived with little financial cushion inevitably had no choice but to exchange at inflated rates at the very last minute.
Recalling that economic reality, I asked the man:
"How much is it going for right now?"
"When I went just now, they told me 1 rien was 1,100 wen."
"I see."
"So I was a bit short and was about to head home, but then they told me it might hit 1,150 tomorrow."
"Indeed, the rien has become quite expensive."
"Yeah. They told me it's because money is needed for the reconstruction."
The man took another desperate gulp of his drink.
Draining the contents of the cup in one swig, he slammed it down onto the table with a loud clatter.
I nodded in understanding.
I could see where the money changers were coming from.
Reconstruction required immense capital, and the work wasn't handled entirely by the state or the governor-general.
Seeing this as a prime business opportunity, private merchants were also making major moves.
If they were simply price-gouging, the solution would be simple, but demand for raw materials and supplies of all kinds had genuinely skyrocketed, meaning merchants were buying up goods from production hubs in massive quantities.
To do that, gold naturally had to be carried out of the province, causing local reserves to dwindle.
When the supply of gold—that was, rien—decreased, the exchange rate against the wen naturally climbed.
1 rien for 1,150 wen.
Considering the current demand, as well as the sheer vigor and momentum of the reconstruction, it wasn't outright extortion.
Rather, it was an economically sound figure.
"...!"
Beside me as I reached this understanding, I sensed Zoe, who was standing at attention, catch her breath.
Glancing at her, I saw her looking at me with a face full of utter reverence.
It was almost as if she were thinking:
'To think you foresaw this... Master is truly incredible.'
I had spotted a man sighing in the streets, invited him for a drink, and uncovered a grievance intimately tied to imperial governance.
To see through that at a single glance is astonishing—that was clearly what she was thinking.