Slave Mint

The next morning, more things arrived.

"Good morning, Akito-san."

This time it was Gerasim. He’d brought goods from Magatan.

The pile of supplies was substantial, and the Magatan residents who’d carried them looked utterly worn out.

"You’re not serious…"

"Yes, exactly as everyone else in Magatan has done—this is payment in lieu of taxes. Please accept it."

"Fine. Risha, Mira, Yuria. Take this to the warehouse."

I ordered the three slaves, and they began hauling the goods.

The slaves carried the supplies into the wooden shed we’d built the night before, makeshift as it was.

"Thank you, Akito-san."

"That’s fine. You all carried this from Magatan, didn’t you?"

"Yes."

"...That must’ve been tough."

"No, Akito-san. Thanks to you, everyone was saved."

"...I see."

I thought.

Taking taxes is fine. Now that I’m a lord, that’s expected.

But this way? Too inefficient.

“Hey, Gerasim.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Money. What’s the situation with money?”

“Money?”

“Yes. The currency of this world.”

“Um… well… actually…”

Gerasim paused, then spoke.

“Not really used anymore. There are old silver coins, silver coins… but after the demonic god ravaged the world, people were just focused on surviving day to day. That’s when coins stopped being used.”

“Huh. So that’s what it is.”

I’d been vaguely wondering about it. Not once since I got here have we even talked about money.

Same with yesterday’s situation.

Tax collection in kind, barter-based trade—back to basics.

The Goddess said we had to revive the world. If we’re gonna do that, we’ll have to figure out money somehow.

And one more thing—save that for another time.

☆

After returning Gerasim, I opened the menu with DORECA in hand.

Let’s make money. Let’s mint coins.

I checked the list of items I could now create, after turning into a Gold Card and amassing quite a few options.

“Ah, here it is.”

Among the available items were paper bills and coins.

Six types of coins: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500.

Three types of bills: 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000.

At first, I thought I could make a bunch all at once—but after looking through them, I realized something different.

Probably different denominations. Same pattern as Japanese yen. Took me no time to figure it out.

I checked the required materials for each.

“……This is tough to forge, on two levels.”

I let out a dry laugh.

☆

The magic circle for paper money—its material arrow pointed straight ahead.

Yuria is the one who came along. Risha and Mira are out gathering iron ore, since they’re busy with the magic array for the large quantity of coins they made.

Master

"Yeah?"

Master, I'm a little tense.

Yuria looked up at me from slightly behind and to the side.

"Is that so?"

Yeah, kinda nervous. And there's a ton of medicine.

Yuria’s right— I’ve brought quite a few universal remedies.

Probably the most I've ever carried out.

“What’re we picking up now?”

"That's..."

She was about to speak when she saw it.

A massive form lying across the ruined land—so large from a distance it looks like a hill—a creature with brown skin.

“That’s it.”

—dragon

Yuria gasped.

Yeah, a dragon.

One of the essential materials for currency was "dragon's blood."

I don’t get why dragon’s blood is used for currency, but the difficulty of making it? That’s definitely gone up.

Anyway, if we need it, we’re gonna have to kill the dragon.

“Let’s go, Yuria.”

“…Yeah.”

Yuria’s voice was stiff. She didn’t look any different, but sweat was beading on her forehead.

Scared of dragons, huh.

“Yuria.”

“Huh?”

“Just stay calm and follow me.”

“….”

Yuria’s eyes widened.

I touched the white gem embedded in the Eternal Slave Reborn.

While making the collar, I’d created the slave’s vow at the same time—just like with Risha and Mira.

Yuria was absorbed into the Eternal Slave Reborn, and the blade turned white with light.

Different from Risha and Mira. The blade kept its original shape—just glowing white now.

I wondered if she had some kind of ability, and with Yuria connected to me through soul-link and the Eternal Slave Reborn in hand, we advanced toward the dragon.

"Grrr?"

The dragon noticed us, shifting upright.

Its face hardened—clearly furious.

"Goooooooooo!"

It roared skyward.

A signal to begin battle.

(Dragon’s magic is rising.)

Right after Yuria spoke, the dragon’s chest swelled, and flames burst from its mouth.

I dodged sideways, having been warned.

"Good job, Yuria."

(…Yes.)

"Can you sense that?"

(Yes.)

Yuria spoke quietly, but with absolute clarity.

"Alright, then. Give me full-range radar."

(―)

The moment she said it, something surged from Yuria.

Something sharper than words—more like a direct, warning pulse—rang inside her head.

Immediately after, the dragon began another flame breath.

In real time, there was a full second between the warning and the pre-motion.

Plenty of time to dodge.

"Good. Keep it up."

(Yes.)

Yuria’s radar had her avoiding every dragon attack.

Dodge. Counter.

The Eternal Slave mod that had absorbed Yuria was nearly identical in power to normal.

Risha and Mira were just more powerful now—stronger, with elemental effects.

For Yuria, it was like having a super-precise radar.

Power didn’t increase. But she didn’t take a single hit.

Dodge. Slash.

She carved through the dragon’s hard hide.

"Such a waste of all that medicine I brought."

(Excuse me.)

"Complimented you."

(…Thank you.)

Yuria’s happiness came through loud and clear.

We kept fighting the dragon, together.

☆

We dragged the dragon’s corpse back to the town of Rebeck.

"Was that really a dragon?"

"Impossible… a real one?"

"The lord supposedly killed it single-handed."

"Damn… incredible…"

While the crowd buzzed around us, we hauled the body back to the magic circle.

The circle already had other materials inside—just waiting for the dragon’s blood.

Using the Eternal Slave mod, we gutted the dragon’s corpse and poured its blood into the circle.

All the ingredients gathered. The magic light surged, shaping the object into being.

Out came a stack of bills. A bundle of paper, faintly glowing with an engraved pattern—charged with magic.

—Oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

A roar of cheers rose from the gathered townsfolk.

Banknotes made with DORECA—can't make them unless you defeat the dragon.

The moment a new currency emerged in this world—difficult to forge in more ways than one.