Chapter 495: A Clever Foe

Ambrose worked diligently in preparation for the upcoming World Peace Summit.

In an astonishingly short span of time, he'd gone from a penniless lich to a friend of the world at large. He clearly felt that he'd bitten off more than he could chew.

His businesses had grown, but the people around him hadn't kept pace.

Harvey alone had nearly torn his hair out over the invitation list and seating arrangements. He'd already lost dozens of strands over it all.

Elves couldn't be seated next to orcs. Dwarves needed rooms that didn't face the sun. Druids needed to be near running water... Were these requirements really so difficult?

The kid still hadn't gotten it sorted after several days, even with a magic mirror letting him reach out anytime he needed help. And after all that trouble, he still hadn't nailed down the final headcount.

He'd clearly never been through the wringer. When organizing a conference, confirming the headcount and arrival time were the most important factors, yet Harvey had spent half a day arguing with the orc delegation over whether they could bring their own barbecue.

What an idiot. Keep arguing like that and the dwarves would start demanding to bring their own housing too.

Still, Ambrose only offered a couple of pointers before leaving the rest for the kid to work out on his own.

Everyone around Ambrose was a researcher; what he lacked was someone who could handle this kind of tedious logistical work. He really ought to hire someone for it, but he could never spare the time.

The conference site had been set in the former Unholy Kingdom. Though it was all open ocean now, Ambrose had reshaped the terrain and conjured a massive island out of nothing.

Not only would it serve as the conference venue now, it would later be converted into an offshore trading hub as well.

The dragon-crafted goods coming out of the Ragetide Kingdom, along with every kind of deep-sea treasure, would be shipped to this island, turning it into a new center of commerce and tourism.

This world-spanning peace conference would bring the island fame. If he could leave a strong enough impression on the assembled kingdoms' leaders, the orders would come pouring in afterward.

For that reason, Ambrose paid especially close attention to the island's construction. This advertising opportunity was not one he could afford to waste.

Fortunately, liches didn't need sleep, so he could oversee every detail of the construction from start to finish.

Though time wasn't in short supply, letting his guard down for even a moment could cost him dearly. These days, Ambrose was putting more effort into this than into studying strategies against the Dragon Tyrant in the linked dreamscape.

After walking two full circuits of the island, Ambrose pointed at the venue and said to a group of Ragetide craftsmen, "This section is meant to display the dragonkin's magical materials. It needs to hit people with a sense of awe. Who's going to be impressed by a dragon model that's only a few dozen feet long? Do you really think the elven and dwarven kings are going to be blown away by something so small and stingy?"

"But that's roughly how big real dragons are!"

The people of Ragetide had actually seen live dragons. These days, the younger generation of dragons was more than a little malnourished, so this was about their actual size.

Ambrose simply waved his hand. The earth swelled upward, and stone shaped itself under his will.

A dragon three hundred feet long materialized before them all.

The craftsman gasped. "My lord, that's far too big! Even the largest dragons were never that size!"

"Dragons haven't been seen in a thousand years. Who's going to remember exactly how big they were? This is a showroom. It's for advertising. Do you even know what advertising means? It means the moment someone lays eyes on it, it sticks—one glance and they think, whatever's on display here must be high quality, expensive to make, and worth every coin!"

Ambrose was growing a little irritated. None of these people understood even the most basic marketing principles. He had to walk them through everything!

He was just about to move on to the next display hall when he spotted a handsome elf in a deep emerald robe standing before him.

Ambrose greeted the elf, who was elegant in bearing but grim of expression. "Well, if it isn't the elven king... Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

"Hmph. How could I not come? You dragged the Dragon Tyrant himself out into the open."

Though his tone was hostile and his face sour, women passing by still couldn't help but glance back at him.

Ambrose said, displeased, "Put on a mask or something if you're going to scowl like that. Don't go scaring off my workers! Do you have any idea how much I'm paying these people a day?"

Alderien glared at Ambrose. "That's exactly why I had to come here myself. All you ever think about is money! Do you even understand what you're doing? Do you understand what will happen once you expose the Dragon Tyrant's identity?"

"Everyone will band together to deal with the Dragon Tyrant, obviously."

Ambrose said it as though it were self-evident. "Back in his day, the Dragon Tyrant had the entire dragon race behind him, and our forebears still managed to kill him. Now our whole continent doesn't have a single dragon left—just the one Dragon Tyrant. You're telling me that we still can't beat him?"

Alderien stared hard at Ambrose. "And then you'll become the great hero who exposed the Dragon Tyrant's identity. After killing him, you'll pin the blame on Lyon, force its people to pay reparations for every war caused over the years, and put your puppet Allen Watson on the throne as Lyon's new emperor. Then you'll use debt collection, or 'reconstruction,' as your excuse to swallow the entire empire whole and turn it into your personal money-printing machine! Am I wrong, great new holy king, Master Megaman Tiga?"

Ambrose fell silent for a moment. "Were you just playing along with me all those years ago when I swindled you out of your gold?!"

Alderien nearly couldn't stop himself from running the lich through with his blade. He said through gritted teeth, "I haven't remained that naive, pure-hearted child from back then. And you're not the only clever person in this world!"

Ambrose cocked his head. "But why stop this, though? What possible harm does my scheme do to you or your people?"

"Your greed knows no bounds. Once you've got Lyon's finances under your thumb, you'll reach your hand into every other kingdom next. Ragetide is already your money pouch. The overseas dragons have become your livestock. The dwarven kingdom, the Emerald Dreamwood... when will it be the elves' turn? Wealth is your obsession. You'll never be satisfied for the rest of your existence. You'll only bring this entire world crashing down with you once you've seized every scrap of it.

"Do you think I don't know who the real tyrant is here? Do you think it's that half-dead, barely-breathing time dragon? Who knows how much strength he's even recovered? No. It's you. You're the greatest devil this world has ever produced, and you will drag every last one of us down into the abyss with you."

Ambrose waved his hands hastily. "That's a bit much. That's a real slippery-slope argument! I'm just trying to make a little gold, and you're acting like I'm out to destroy the world."

Alderien sneered. "The wealth of this world is finite. There's only so much gold to go around. You'll never accept gold flowing into someone else's pocket. You'll only ever want to funnel every last coin into your own. That's your obsession. You're a lich. Do you honestly think that's something you can change?"

Ambrose badly wanted to roll his eyes, but his skull couldn't manage the gesture, so he settled for a shrug to convey his exasperation.

"Your Majesty, you understand me quite well, but you clearly don't understand economics at all. Have you ever heard the saying that 'gold and silver are not money by nature; rather, money is gold and silver by nature'?"

"What nonsense are you spouting now?"

Alderien had assumed Ambrose was simply trying to talk his way out of the accusation with some meaningless circular nonsense, but after mulling it over a moment, he suddenly felt as though the phrase carried some deeper meaning.

Ambrose went on. "Gold and silver existed long before any sapient race walked this world. Before anyone used them, gold and silver were just gold and silver, not money or wealth. It was only because of their rarity and how easily they could be stored and carried that they became currency. So tell me, couldn't there be something else with the same purchasing power, just as easy to store and carry, that could take their place?"

Alderien immediately seized on the point. "That means nothing. Whatever you call gold and silver, or whatever other metal you mint into coins, the result is the same. Seizing every scrap of wealth is your goal, and you'll never be satisfied. Once your wealth crosses a certain threshold, the world will collapse."

"I'd prefer to call it a redistribution of wealth." Ambrose shook his head. "Your Majesty, you keep making the same mistake. There's nothing in this world that won't eventually collapse, including kingdoms. The Dragon Tyrant's rule is collapsing. Lyon is on the verge of collapse. Ragetide is the same. It's already lost all economic independence. Even the gods themselves fall eventually. What permanence are you even chasing?

"Even if I really did seize every scrap of wealth in the world someday, the wealth in my hands would become meaningless the instant I did, because no one would trade using my gold anymore. At that point, either someone will rise up to bring me down, or someone will build an entirely new economic system to rival mine.

"To put it in terms your people would understand, the moon waxes and wanes, and no one's tide of fortune will rise forever. We advance through competition and collapse through conflict, but in the end we all move toward the future already written in fate. Someday, capital itself will grow into a behemoth towering over every nation on earth, and when that day comes, the monster will start devouring people on its own, myself included. Even I'll end up on its list of prey."

Alderien was shaken by the future Ambrose had just painted, precisely because he was clever enough to actually picture that terrifying vision. But he quickly shook his head. "You nearly dragged me down a rabbit hole there. I'm talking about the here and now! Why should I stand by and let you swallow Lyon whole when it threatens my people?!

"Why should my people help a lich like you plunder everything Lyon has? Even if the Dragon Tyrant is revived, worst case, we'll simply seal off the Court of the Silver Moon entirely. The elven gods are on the verge of winning the war of the gods, and the drow's return is all but assured. Once my sister Catherine becomes the new god of the drow, what's left for the Court of the Silver Moon to fear? Mana addiction? I'm not Catherine. I'd sacrifice every last mana-addicted elf in exchange for the gods' protection without a second thought, and I can promise you the elven gods would back that decision."

Ambrose blinked, then asked, "So what exactly are you proposing, Your Majesty?"

"The elves want half the profits." Alderien staked his claim resolutely.

Ambrose: "..."

Damn it. He'd be forced to share, now.

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