第７６６堀：大陸間交易大会議とお金の話 (Part1)
### Chapter 766: The Intercontinental Trade Conference and the Subject of Money
**Side: Yuki**
"And so, the wheat provided by the If Continent will be exported to the Rogari Continent and the nations of the New Continent as scheduled."
"In exchange for this wheat, Rogari will provide supplies centered on monster materials, and the New Continent will provide medicinal supplies such as potions..."
The trade confirmation proceeded with Ratz and Eris presiding. Essentially, these were matters already discussed in advance, so there was no real need to do it here, but we had decided that making the announcements here would formalize the transactions. This was also the time for signing the documents.
The kings of each continent began signing off on the wheat trade provided by the If Continent.
"It’s amazing. The sheer volume of wheat is just... incredible..."
Beside me, Ria was wide-eyed, listening to the quantities being traded.
"The scale is just different, Ria. This isn't a transaction between small shops; it’s trade between entire continents, bringing nations together."
The digits and the scale were, quite literally, on a different level.
"The transaction amounts for the currency are staggering, too..."
Dressa was stunned by the figures prepared for the processing of the remainders. Well, given the volume, and the fact that it was a trade between entire continents rather than just a single country, the remainders themselves were in a different league.
"Come to think of it, Brother. What happened to the investigation into the origin and quality of the gold coins?"
"…Brother. I was worried that the money would disappear."
"Oh, you two noticed something important. To be honest, the gold purity ratio is currently unknown."
"Is it really okay for it to be unknown?"
"Isn't that a huge problem?"
"It’s been decided that each country will investigate this collectively."
"“Collectively?”"
That’s right. Regarding the gold content, it was decided that each country—or rather, each continent—would investigate it together. We could have investigated it in Weed, but we decided to do it jointly to help improve the technical capabilities of each continent as well.
"But won't there be damages caused by the gold coins traded in the meantime?"
"That has already been taken into account. If damages occur due to this purity ratio, the continent that provided the excess will be required to provide compensation."
"But I don't think they’ll honestly disclose it."
"No, that’s impossible. If they did that, that continent would be picking a fight with both other continents. It would be proven immediately if they were tampering with the purity."
"I see... but in that case, since it wasn't intentional, wouldn't there be dissatisfaction if that continent had to provide compensation? It shouldn't be an amount that can be covered so easily, right?"
"Well, that’s true. If they can't pay, the value of that continent's gold coins will simply drop. After all, the purity is low."
"Ah, Brother is amazing."
It’s not that I’m amazing. At the end of the day, an exchange rate will eventually form. And it’s not something we’re creating arbitrarily; it will form on its own. While we, the countries and continents, will research and verify things, there will always be fools—individuals or organizations—who try to make money by investigating the differences in purity. It’s impossible for that to remain unknown to others and be operated solely by that one organization. Eventually, it leaks out, and adjustments are made.
For example, if Rogari’s gold coins have a lower purity, the market will naturally adjust so that two of their coins are traded for one If gold coin. A market exchange rate will form on its own. I suspect that rather than "compensation," it will feel more like the exchange rate for that currency temporarily crashing, before settling into an appropriate price.
"I understand the issue regarding the precious metal content in the currency, but what about the production of the money itself? That was something every continent was curious about, wasn't it?"
"Ah, now that you mention it. Where does the If Continent make its money? I never did find out."
"Brother. Where is the money made?"
"Oh, Yuki-san. Weren't you quite concerned about that currency production? There hasn't been any report on it, has there?"
Oh boy. These girls are sharp. They remember everything. I thought they might have forgotten, but I was wrong. Well, in a different sense, that’s reassuring, though I can't help but think they should be acting more like children—a thought that’s rich coming from me, the one driving Vilier and the others to work like this.
I suppose I have to explain.
"I did look into it, and the reason why both the Rogari and If continents use a common currency within their respective continents is... well, I can't definitively say they are Earthlings, but it seems to involve people summoned from another world."
"““Another world?””"
"As you know from the fact that people like me, Taiki-kun, and Taizo-san were summoned, there is a hypothesis that people were summoned from other worlds in the past. In fact, there is a historical fact that Miyabi, the queen of the High Elf nation on the Rogari Continent, was married to a Japanese person who was summoned from Japan."
Ria seemed to catch on to what I was saying.
"Ah, could it be that the people from another world who came long ago told them to use the same currency within the continent?"
"Ria-san, that alone wouldn't be enough to make them use it..."
"Ah, I see. It wasn't a simple story like Ria said, but—though it wasn't exactly like Yuki—did they unify the continent and implement it?"
"That’s right. Dressa hit the nail on the head. Ria was close, though."
"Oh. Dressa-oneechan getting it right is surprising."
"Shut up, Hiiro."
"Ouch, ouch."
I watched Hiiro having her cheeks pulled by Dressa. Hiiro does have a habit of saying biting things sometimes. If she misses the mark on how much to say, she ends up like that.
"Well, I can't say for certain, but it seems they use the same tools for minting gold coins in Rogari, and the same goes for the If Continent."
"Did they not try to issue their own country's money?"
"They did, but gold coins that are already in circulation have more trust. They have value as souvenirs, but nothing more than that."
Well, creating new money and integrating it into global trade is extremely difficult, and the fluctuations are severe. Like electronic money. Since they contain gold, they have a certain value, but you would have to secure the gold for circulation yourself, which only a very large nation can do. In this world, where the rise and fall of nations is so volatile, it’s too high a risk for a small country to produce its own currency. Even large nations can easily be destroyed if something happens. In that sense, a common currency was, in a way, very convenient.
"I’ve heard a similar story before. But if there are tools for minting, wouldn't low-quality coins or coins with intentionally reduced purity end up in circulation?"
"That concern was, in a sense, non-existent. Low-quality or worn-out gold coins are treated as defective and are re-minted. And when a large amount of low-purity coins hit the market, it caused a massive inflation, crashing the value of the gold coins. Since all the continents suffered, they banded together to hunt down the people making the counterfeits. Simply put, a self-cleansing mechanism for currency is already in place."
It’s a strange story, though. Well, if you think about it, even in the countries on Earth, the value of currency is basically kept constant, so that’s also a kind of strange story.
As I finished explaining, Dressa, who had been a princess in a country on the If Continent, looked as if she had remembered something.
"Ah, now that you mention it, I remember my father and mother saying something like that. I should have asked more about it."
"Well, that’s how it goes when you’re not interested in something. Anyway, because of that, both Rogari and If basically take the gold they’ve acquired to the major nations to have it minted when producing gold and silver coins. By doing that, they maintain a constant purity. Of course, the producing country is engraved on the gold coins, so they can be held responsible. Naturally, countries that possess gold mines sometimes produce it themselves, but even then, strict verification is carried out by each country."