Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

ffin slightly slid open.
From its dark interior emerged a pitch-black hand with something on it and floated towards me.

Whoa, really? You’re actually giving this to me?

There really is opportunity in danger.
The danger of living with a vampire who’s slept away for a thousand years opened an opportunity for me to get the gold of a senior who doesn’t know about today’s exchange rates!

I controlled my uproared feelings and watched the object that the black hand brought.
It was… an extremely precious-looking crown.

‘Jackpot.’

I coughed to cover my excessive joy before speaking.

“They look like tomb relics coming out of the coffin like that.
Ouch!”

[Stop with the nonsense.]

‘Yeah, but you didn’t have to throw it at me.
What if something as precious as this gets scratched?

I received it with my sleeves to try and not get any fingerprints on it.

‘Oh, damn.
This feeling… An authentic crown? If this is all real gold, even if the price drops because of alchemy, it would be worth—

‘…Wait.
Alchemy, a thousand years ago, the gap in technology and that strangely negligent attitude… There’s no way.’

I scanned the crown with a slightly doubting mind.

‘Ah, how is it that bad hunches are always right.’

“This is fake!”

[…?]

“Now that I think about it, this gold is from before the Alchemic Revolution.
It’s fake gold! Damn it, how could this be?!”

The vampire was sincerely surprised.

[Gold is gold.
How can there be fake and real gold?]

“We defined that a hundred years ago.”

[Wh-What? It can’t be…]

「Is it perhaps… Was there another change in the world that I was not aware of? Again…?」

I was thinking of letting my anger out at the feeling of being scammed, but after reading her mind, I only felt bad for her.
Sure, I lost some possible payments, but the vampire had lost everything.

This is when mind reading is not so great.
If I didn’t know anything at all, I would have lit her up to the moon and back.

Sigh.

Just my luck.

Just as I was thinking I could get some money out of this—

“You’d be arrested for counterfeit gold.
But back when Trainee Tyrkanzyaka lived, knowledge about alchemy was nonexistent, so I’ll let this one go.
Now, look at this.”

I drew a star on the gold with my finger.
If it were real gold, there wouldn’t be any residue.
However, for some reason, it rose up and turned red, as if it had been touched by fire.

“A gold crown is recognizable by its shine and weight.
It’s probably the third and fourth corners.
Hm, it’s definitely a result of old alchemy techniques as its alchemy level is very low.
Even I could undo it.”

I tapped the third and fourth corners then went around the front and back of the crown with my fingernail.

Thunk.

As I pushed some mana into the last line, the gold on the crown flowed off as if it was melting.
Soon after, the crown started to change color, revealing a dull and dark metal.

More useful than gold, frequently used, and an excellent mana conductor—mithril.
It was definitely a couple times better than gold, but… it was an unfortunately not-so-precious metal because of it.

I placed it on the lectern.

“Mithril is an amazing metal with high mana conductivity.
So much so in fact that you could have it mimic every metal in the world through alchemy.
And obviously, it was mostly made to mimic gold.
But mithril itself was just as rare at the time, so you could get away with mixing it into real gold.
So back then, the infamous fake gold—mithril—was released onto the world.

“Then one day, a money-hungry alchemist had a brilliant idea.
As making real gold was difficult, he thought of making mithril and turning it into gold then selling it.
Well, mithril is just as difficult to make, so it looked like his efforts were in vain.”

Unfortunately, it succeeded.

The alchemic pattern was revealed.

Approximately a 3rd level.
Any semi-competent alchemist sought out mithril.
Although it was at the level of a cottage industry, the steady supply dropped the prices.

Anyone with gold feared this change.
They hadn’t done anything, but their net worth started plummeting past the halfway mark.
Those who got the news early were enraged and tried to analyze the situation to the best of their abilities.

“And as soon as they realized the truth, they shut their mouths and started to sell all the gold they had.”

[Why did they do that instead of condemning the alchemists who were creating the fake gold?]

“Because they had to get rid of all the fake gold before everyone else found out.
If they condemned them, everyone else would know as well.”

[The gold they possessed is fake.
They sold it despite knowing that?]

“They sold it because they knew.”

The wealth they had been collecting was evaporating in front of their eyes.
They would be stupid to do nothing about it.
Selling it all away was an obvious thing to do.

[What about those who bought the fake gold thinking it was real? They surely wouldn’t have stayed idle about it.]

“Correct!”

‘Her ambition to learn is overflowing.
She’s worth teaching.’

I had a broad smile on my face and opened out my arms.

“It’s hard to say outright what happened after.
The buyers were enraged, the sellers tried to back out, the two sides fought and raised war.
Apparently it was no joke.
One historian says that the amount of blood spilled that day was as much as the weight of the gold that went around.”

Anyway.

I played around with the mithril crown and continued.

“In short, mithril nowadays is dirt cheap.
If you can bargain well enough, you could sell it for the same price as a pile of wood.”

Which meant that most of the vampire’s wealth was now worth jackshit.

I lamented at the unfortunate prospect, but looked at the vampire with sad eyes at the same time.

Some things like wine, pickled foods, or antiques could rise in price if enough time passed.
However, just like providence, should too much time pass, it would rot.
A thousand years was too long.

After delaying for quite a while, the vampire spoke.

[From history to alchemy… How do you know all these things? Is it…?]

“Yes.
I also learnt these at ‘school’.”

[Again!]

“Not just alchemy.
Math, biology, natural science, languages, magic, mechanical engineering, ballistics, etc.
They teach you all this in middle school.”

[What is this ‘school’ place? Is it one where all the talented children from around the world come to learn? Like a sage’s tower?]

“No? From fourteen years old to seventeen, anyone who’s graduated from primary school with good grades can choose to go.”

[Th-That is… mad.]

The shock was so big that the voice from the coffin had become slightly quieter.

Maybe the culture shock was too much.

‘I guess she lived in an era where being able to learn something was only available to the upper class.
The road of education was thin, rough, and steep.
And alongside that, it was short and closed.
Even reaching the end, most lamented at the tightly closed door.
I wonder if it’s gotten better now compared to then.’

“Anyway, do you understand now? It’s quite unfortunate.
Phew, that was tiring.
I’ll also have today as a rest day.”

[U-Ugh.
Wait.]

As if the vampire couldn’t accept the changed world, she also asked the regressor to try and get confirmation.

[Shei, is that all… real?]

“…It is all real.
But…”

「Even if they do get an education, there aren’t many who can learn as proficiently as that man.
The State seeks specialization.
They get those who have the aptitude in a field of study and dig deep in it.
It’s abnormal that he can deflect my sword and know alchemy and magic all at the same time…」

‘The over-evaluation just because I deflected her sword.
Damn.
Imagine if I hadn’t.
I would be treated like an insect.
Oh wait, no.
My arm would be gone.
I would have actually turned into a crawling insect.’

“…It’s not as great as he makes it out to be.
You would be very disappointed if you actually went there.”

The regressor made it out to be trivial.

Well, some places really aren’t that special, so I didn’t refute it.

The amazed vampire suddenly thought of something and asked.

[Shei, did you also come out of this ‘military middle school’? Are you perhaps acquaintances?]

“No, I only graduated from a local primary school.”

[Ah, is that so…]

「Hmm… There is a definite difference in the way they talk.
There does seem to be an educational gap between them…」

As if being sympathetic, the vampire dragged on the conversation.
As the regressor realized the pity behind the vampire’s words, she quickly protested.

“I only graduated from a local primary school because I was an orphan and couldn’t afford further education!”

[How unfortunate.]

“NO! I mean—I didn’t have to go to middle school! It was enough without it!”

[I understand.
Do not worry.
I will teach you bloodcraft to the best of my abilities.]

“I’m telling you that’s not what I meant!”

Sigh.

‘I wasn’t trying to show off, but it just turned out like this.’

I slid my thumb across my nose.

“Technically speaking, I, too, was an orphan.
But I had earned a scholarship.
After all, I was number one in the entire year.”

“You just shut up!”

“As grains ripen, they bend down, and full pockets stay silent even as they sway… If you really want, I’ll be quiet.”

“What part of ‘shut up’ do you not understand?!”

Sigh.

Uneducated bums.

I let out a quiet sigh and didn’t speak up like she told me to, but the regressor didn’t seem to like even that.
She huffed and puffed in anger before pulling out something from an invisible space.

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Reaper Scans

Translator – aquamage

Proofreader – yukitokata

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