I Resign From the Coin Mercenary Knights

The Imperial City’s Codana Exchange.

While it had only recently opened, it had rapidly grown in size, riding the Codana craze.

In a palpable sense, it felt like all the money in the Empire had converged at the exchange.
And today it was even more crowded than usual, as the Codanas were soaring madly in response to the positive catalyst of the Demon Lord’s defeat.

Reserve 2 Codanas at 380 million, yes. Understood. But sir, you should be aware there are over 100 buy orders already queued at 380 million.
This is insane. Do they all have money left to burn?

A noble erupting in outrage at the counter.

We concluded the over-the-counter contract yesterday! How can you renege now?
Sorry, but the payment hasn’t arrived yet. I’m canceling the deal.
You son of a-!

Nobles getting into physical scuffles on the trading floor. One was even the vice-marshal overseeing law enforcement in the Imperial City.

The atmosphere felt different from when the hero Kwon Hee-jin first defeated a Demon Lord, or the second time. This was likely because only one Demon Lord remained.

More importantly, the fact that he had defeated another Demon Lord just a week after the second strongly implied something.

‘The campaign to subjugate the Demon King’s forces is nearing its conclusion.’

This was the shared thought that had entered the minds of those flocking to the exchange.

Of course, individually defeating the Demon Lords was a different matter from subjugating the Demon King himself. Even defeating the Demon King wouldn’t necessarily end the war.

However, it gave the palpable sense that the war against the demonic forces was reaching its climax. Driven by a sense of desperation, people began scrambling to acquire even just a single Codana.

The fear that they would miss their last chance if they didn’t board this train now, the crisis that Codana prices might soar to 400 or 500 million once the hero temporarily returned to the Imperial City and abruptly declared a march on the Demon King’s castle – such anxieties spurred on the investors.

…But the number of people putting Codanas on the market was limited.

Apart from some nobles forced to liquidate parts of their Codana holdings due to excessive investment straining their liquidity, most of the major owners were just testing the waters, not actually selling, while observing the price movements.

Of course, there were also those offering pessimistic outlooks amidst the frenzy, dismissing the Codana-crazed as barbarians.

Now is the last chance to sell your Codanas. Everyone’s waiting for the peak, but why can’t they realize this is it?
Codanas aren’t real currency, just commemorative coins…! No one guarantees their utility value…! Do you think the hero will compensate you if you go bankrupt from Codana trading? Of course not. Why would he do that?
You idiots won’t learn until you actually go broke.

The important thing was that even those mocking the craze were still lingering around the exchange area.

Perhaps they were keeping an eye out for buying opportunities, or maybe they were just venting frustrations at having missed the timing to acquire Codanas. No one seemed genuinely concerned about Codana investors going broke.

Amid the imbalance of buyers and sellers, people’s impatience was growing more and more intense.

An Imperial official who had waited in vain for Codana prices to drop to 200 million, ultimately missing the buying window, stared at the price board with a dejected look of a man who had lost his country.

An elderly courtesan who had poured over 15 years of earnings into Codanas beamed with elation as she monitored the prices.

And a swindler spreading rumors that the hero would issue another commemorative coin was dragged away by the exchange staff.

The Codana exchange had already reached a level that could hardly be described as overheated. Whether one held Codanas or had yet to enter the market, everyone was restlessly shuffling their feet with apprehensive expressions.

And it was at this very moment that a young man entered the exchange.

Of a considerably large build with closely cropped hair, the bulging veins on his upraised forearms hinted at his strength. And most definitively, he had a sword sheathed at his waist.

To brazenly wear a sword at an exchange filled with nobles clutching their moneybags was a demonstration of utmost self-assurance. It meant his status was assured enough to not fear any misunderstandings.

In fact, this young man was someone the Imperial City’s residents would all recognize – Eric, the commoner member of the Imperial Knights, the one who had nearly become part of the hero’s party.

More than anything, he was a tycoon who possessed 108 Codanas.

Excluding some major whales like the imperial family, there was arguably no individual who owned more Codanas than Eric. In terms of returns, he had already left those big players in the dust as the ultimate rags-to-riches success story.

But his fame didn’t just stem from being the symbol of a massive windfall.

He was mistaken as one of the hero Kwon Hee-jin’s inner circle due to having assisted the hero closely for a time after his summoning, as well as his involvement in Codana distribution. Even now, public opinion held that they maintained some loose level of contact.

For such a figure, described by some investors as the “hero’s secret partner,” to appear at the exchange at this sensitive juncture, the investors observed his movements with tense expressions.

The gazes people directed at me were hardly ordinary. My nape was tingling, but there were so many eyes on me that I couldn’t even scratch it.

In fact, I was trying to gauge the number of buyers in the queue to determine how many Codanas I should put up for sale. I had decided it would be difficult to sell all 108 at once, as that might potentially crash the market before I finished unloading them.

However, seeing the thronging crowd at the exchange, it seemed unnecessary to spread out the sales over multiple days in a drawn-out process.

If there was a concern amidst all this, it was the potential aftermath of liquidating my entire 108 Codana holdings at once.

The fact that a single knight had come into possession of the astronomical sum of 40 billion rir would be impossible to keep quiet. Excluding the imperial family, there was likely no individual in the Imperial City currently holding that much in liquid cash.

‘Essentially, I’ll be the Imperial City’s newest cash prince. Getting out of the exchange in one piece won’t be easy.’

As I approached the counter, the assembled people parted to the sides.

“…It’s Eric. He looks more ordinary than I expected?”

“Maybe he received some signal from the hero? The rumors about distributing treasures from the Demon King’s castle could be false.”

“So he’s abandoning ship before it sinks?”

“You idiots. If that were the case, he’d have sold them off bit by bit instead. It’s more rational to think he’s just here to realize his profits.”
“Well, even if he walks away empty-handed now, he’s already set for life.”

Whispers buzzed in my ears.

It resembled the lunchladies at the knightly order gossiping, except the protagonists here were all prominent nobles.

The Minister of Justice, a former palace official who was occasionally summoned to the imperial palace to serve as the Emperor’s drinking companion, the second son of the powerful Arclight Marquis family regarded as second only to the Emperor – and so on.

‘The Imperial City might be turned upside down because of me.’

However, it was better to ride this storm than continue clinging to the Codanas. At the very least, I wouldn’t face pressure to give them away for free.

Ignoring the scrutinizing gazes fixed on me, I strode resolutely forward.

Due to the sheer sum involved, the exchange’s director himself came out to handle my transaction.

This gentleman was also a prominent noble, even the head of a household that had produced a member of the hero’s party. More precisely, he was the father of the female knight Milliah who had taken my prospective spot in the hero’s party. Not someone to be trifled with lightly.

Yet for some reason, he seemed tense right now.

“Sir Eric. May I assume you have come for the purpose I presume?”

He was even using honorifics with me, treating me not as a mere knight but as a Codana holder.

“While I lack the ability to see into your mind, honored director, yes, perhaps that is the case. Although I worry if the exchange can handle such a burden.”

“I am thankful for the opportunity to facilitate such a major transaction. By any chance, have you pre-arranged any sell contracts with customers? The imperial household, perhaps?”

“I will sell on the spot.”

“Hah…Ah, of course with the backlog of buy orders, that is not impossible. However, Sir Eric, for a whale like yourself to enter as a seller, it will likely cause quite an uproar. You may find yourself in a highly vexing situation.”

“I understand. I will endure it.”

The exchange director then proceeded to carefully advise me on various precautions.

He recommended depositing the sale proceeds, minus fees, in the national bank and merchant guild’s credit vaults for safekeeping. He also cautioned me about the increasing incidents of crime targeting Codana investors.

Fortunately, the latter was not a major concern – there were few in the Imperial City who could match me in swordsmanship.

“No need to worry. I am capable of defending myself against any thugs.”

“…Haha, I’m sure you are. But Sir Eric, there is one point you must be mindful of. Once a sales contract is concluded, there is absolutely no withdrawing from it.”

He said there were many trying to unilaterally nullify contracts as Codana prices rapidly rose, even resulting in bloody clashes in some cases. Perhaps due to this, he repeatedly stressed that any sales were utterly irreversible once made.

“Yes, so you can rest assured I won’t be whining about it.”

“…Still, a verbal agreement is insufficient.”

It was only after I signed the non-withdrawal agreement he handed me that I was finally allowed to sell my Codanas.

Throughout this process, nearly everyone assembled at the exchange kept glancing furtively at the back of my head.

The nape tingling became so bothersome that I audibly cleared my throat a few times to hint at their rudeness, but to no avail. Even when our eyes met, instead of looking away, they just stared back with wide, shameless eyes.

‘Damn brats. Don’t you all have anything better to do?’

Shaking my head in bewilderment, I put up my entire Codana holdings for sale.

And the instant I released that supply into the market, I understood the reason behind those heated gazes – they all pounced on it like a pack of dogs.

A young scion of a marquis household jostled against a decrepit old noble, while the vice-marshal abandoned his duty of maintaining law and order in the Imperial City to join the buying frenzy.

“These jerks were the ones who wouldn’t even spare a glance when Codanas were 1 million, but now they’re scrambling to buy them at 380 million?”

“Out of my way!”

The vehement charge of the nobles towards the trading counter resembled a monster wave. I nearly drew my sword out of reflex more than once.

In any case, over the course of this day, I was able to completely liquidate my 108 Codana holdings over a period of several hours. The unsightly coins embossed with the hero’s face had been converted into cold hard cash.