Right after breakfast. The lord’s study.
Morning sunlight seeped in through the gaps in the window and fell across the desk, but Elian sat perfectly still, staring into empty air.
“Ugh… my back.”
Elian groaned and pressed a hand against his lower back. Every muscle in his body ached like he’d come down with a fever. He’d clenched his jaw so hard trying to hold back sounds that his temporomandibular joint was especially sore — and between his legs… needless to say, the numbness spoke for itself. All aftereffects of last night’s intensity.
“I tell myself it’s all for the sake of survival, but this is really something else.”
Elian muttered under his breath and glared at the System Window floating before his eyes. Shame? Of course he felt it. He hadn’t even been able to turn off the Camera Mode — everything had been on full display. On top of that, he’d come in the mouth of the great Grand Duke himself and then passed out. He could kick himself a hundred times and it still wouldn’t be enough.
But in a capitalist society, shame is fleeting — and your bank balance is forever. With trembling hands, he pulled up last night’s itemized statement.
[Daily Point Settlement]
- Basic Contact Rewards
― Sustained Close Contact with Partner (3 hours): +3,000 BP
― Level 2 Vibration and Friction Achieved: +5,000 BP
- Special Event Rewards
― [New!] Special Area (Nipple) Sensory Awakening Bonus: +30,000 BP
― High-Difficulty Level Achieved (Oral Sex): +50,000 BP
― Forced Climax by Partner (x3): +150,000 BP (50,000 per instance)
- Additional Bonus Points
― Induced Excessive Arousal in Partner: +12,000 BP
[Total Earned: 250,000 BP]
[Current BP Balance: 300,500]
“…Insane.”
Elian clapped a hand over his mouth. The memories flashed before him like a montage — the days of earning 50 points from holding hands, 100 from a hug, living by the philosophy of every drop counts. And yet, one night — one night of nothing but oral, not even full intercourse — had netted him 250,000 points? This was practically lottery jackpot territory.
My chastity was worth… this much?
Elian’s pupils trembled like the ground was shaking beneath him. The embarrassment lasted all of a second. The moment he saw the number “300,000” reflected back at him, every shameful memory from last night began to rapidly reframe itself as a badge of high-efficiency, high-value labor.
“At this rate of return… it’s actually worth it.”
Elian rubbed his sore jaw and let the corner of his mouth curl upward. This body had been calibrated to respond to Calix and Calix alone anyway. If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it — or rather, if you can’t avoid it, sell it at the highest possible price. That was the true capitalist’s creed.
“Alright then. Your Highness, Grand Duke — I’ll be counting on you going forward. This body of mine is now public property… no, a capital asset for the reconstruction of the North.”
Elian grinned at his own reflection in the mirror, expression resolute.
Right. The bullet was loaded. Time to go pull the trigger.
* * *
That afternoon. The rocky terrain downstream of the dam.
Hmmm. Hmmmmm—
A deep vibration like the heartbeat of something enormous rolled through the earth. It was the sound of the completed dam’s floodgates opening, the mana turbines spinning at full force. Thanks to the gentle heat radiating from the power station, the permafrost along the riverbanks had begun to thaw, sending white steam curling up like morning fog.
Elian arrived at the dam alongside Calix, having brought Conrad — the Treasurer — who had come rushing after receiving the summons they’d put in a few days prior. They pushed through the thick mist rising off the water and made their way toward a secluded corner of the gorge.
“Baron, what on earth did you drag us out here for?”
Conrad grumbled as he picked his way across the soggy ground.
“You said you found a gold vein. If that’s the case, shouldn’t you bring laborers and have them start swinging pickaxes? The three of us showing up like this — what exactly are we supposed to do? Don’t tell me you expect me to dig. My back is not in good shape.”
“Conrad. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but your imagination is severely lacking.”
Elian clicked his tongue and gestured toward the dam.
“You’re standing in front of that magnificent dam and your mind goes straight to pickaxes? Civilized men use tools. Very large, very beautiful tools.”
Elian smiled with complete confidence and extended a hand into the air. To bore through five hundred meters of granite bedrock, a pickaxe wouldn’t even make a dent in a hundred years.
[Purchase: Mana Shield-Type Auto Excavator (Grade A)]
[Cost: 300,000 BP]
Every point felt like blood — but this was worth the investment.
“Come forth, my money-maker!”
Rumble rumble rumble—!
An enormous magic circle etched itself into the air, space warped and buckled, and a mechanical roar heavier than the dam’s own turbines shook the gorge.
“Wh-what — what is that?!”
Conrad lurched backward in alarm. Even Calix narrowed his eyes and shifted into a guarded stance. It was a sight alarming enough to be mistaken for a magical beast.
Three meters tall. A body encased in pitch-black steel armor. Mounted on its front face was a massive spiral drill coated in diamond, and from its power core, blue light pulsed in resonance with the dam’s mana output.
“Now he’s commanding steel monsters.”
Once Calix determined it had no aggression, he released his grip from the sword hilt with an intrigued look.
“Monster? Please call it the ‘Automatic Gold Printer.’ If that dam gives us energy, this one will give us capital.”
Elian pointed at the excavator and announced triumphantly.
“Activate! Target depth — five hundred meters underground! Begin vertical excavation!”
Whirrrr—! CRASH!
The moment the command landed, the drill spun up to speed. The instant the tip touched ground, the rock split like a walnut. Stone dust flew and the earth trembled — but the mana shield surrounding the machine absorbed every vibration without transferring a single tremor to the device itself.
“Good heavens… to think the Baron was such a formidable mage. That solid frozen bedrock of the North…!”
Conrad’s jaw hung open. This was rock that hundreds of laborers couldn’t scratch even if they threw themselves at it all at once. And yet that machine bored into the earth as smoothly as if it were gliding through water. It was the transcendent power of civilization — magic and engineering fused into one.
One hour later.
The machine came to a stop and a System notification appeared.
[Excavation Complete: Target Point Reached]
[Massive Cavity Discovered]
“We’re through.”
Elian peered down into the hole that had opened in the earth. From deep within the pitch-black darkness, a faint golden shimmer seeped upward.
“The machine won’t bring the gold up to us. We’ll have to go down and see for ourselves.”
“D-down into that? Are you out of your mind? One wrong step and there won’t be a bone left to find!”
Conrad peeked into the hole, turned pale, and stumbled backward.
“Then please wait here. We’ll go on our own.”
Elian grinned and turned, entirely naturally, toward the human elevator standing right beside him.
“Your Highness. If you would.”
“You’ve gotten very comfortable making requests.”
Calix sighed — but without any further resistance, he wrapped his arm around Elian’s waist in one practiced motion.
“Conrad, you stay up top and keep watch. Don’t let anyone near.”
“I — I don’t have to go? Thank you! My loyalty is yours!”
As Conrad exhaled his relief, Calix cast his ice magic and stepped lightly off the edge of the excavation shaft.
Whoooosh—
Sliding vertically down a long stretch of smooth ice like a chute, Elian was pulled into the darkness nestled in the firm warmth of Calix’s arms. In the enclosed, narrow passage of the shaft, Calix’s scent washed over him without warning.
Ding!
[Partner Close Contact Detected: +100 BP]
Even now, points are stacking. Elian shook his head in disbelief at the System’s relentless persistence, and gripped the fabric of Calix’s clothes a little tighter.
Thud.
A moment later, both their feet touched the floor — five hundred meters underground. The air was cool and damp. Elian reached into his coat and pulled out a mana lamp.
“Now then… let’s see if this was worth my 300,000 points.”
Elian turned the lamp to maximum brightness. Light surged forward and drove back the dark.
“…!”
Elian’s eyes went wide enough to fall out of his head. Before him spread an enormous natural cavern, shaped over tens of thousands of years by the slow movements of the earth. And covering the walls and ceiling of that cavern, in every direction—
Flash. Flash. Flash.
It wasn’t mere gold dust or raw ore. Like a colossal golden dragon had been fossilized inside the rock itself, veins of pure gold — each one as thick as a grown man’s thigh — branched and spread in every direction like arteries. Caught in the light of the lamp, the gold vein blazed with a brilliance bright enough to blind.
“Is all of this… gold?”
Elian staggered forward as if in a trance. He pressed his hand against the gold embedded in the wall. Beneath the cold texture of rock, the heavy, smooth weight of metal. He scratched lightly with a fingernail, and a vivid, unmistakable yellow gleamed back at him.
“Purity 99%…”
This wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t just sitting on a pile of money — this was a cave made of it.
“Beyond even my imagination.”
Even Calix was struck speechless. Beneath the barren soil of the North, a treasure trove lay hidden that not even stripping the entire imperial treasury bare could match.
“At this scale… we could buy the entire North and still have change to spare.”
Elian’s voice trembled. It was more than joy — it was a shudder running straight through him. The shockwaves this staggering capital would send out were already taking shape in his mind. This isn’t just money. This is power.
“So then — is your plan to mine this and take it to market? Buy rice and meat?”
Calix tapped one of the protruding gold lumps with his knuckle and asked. The North was poor, after all — sell this off immediately and they’d eat well for a century. But Elian shook his head, and the smile that spread across his face held something far larger than greed. It was ambition on an entirely different scale.
“Not all of it — only enough to secure initial capital. Dumping gold on the open market is an amateur move. Flood the supply and all you do is crash the price.”
“Then?”
“The majority of this gold stays exactly where it is. Instead — we sell credit.“
Elian picked up a fist-sized lump of gold rolling around on the floor, tossed it into the air, and caught it.
“Your Highness. I’m going to build the Northern Central Bank.”
