Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

I finally arrived in the Empire, to be precise, I reached one of the four cities that guard the Imperial Capital.

On the way here, I passed by several villages, and they were in a terrible state. Most of them were like ruins. What the refugees living in Bell Erucy had told me was indeed true. Everyone had given up and abandoned their hometowns.

「I guess this disguise will do.」

I put on earmuffs and dyed my hair black. The current Empire considered elves as their enemies. It's better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

The imperial city was surrounded by walls on all sides, and there were guards at the gates. It seemed they were more vigilant than usual, and a few people were turned away at the gate.

It would likely be impossible for me to pass through here without any form of identification. I concealed my presence and carefully moved around the walls to a place devoid of people.

「[Perception Expansion]」

I connected my senses with the mana in the air, gathering information from within a 300-meter radius.

「All right, I can jump now.」

No one was aware of me right now. I put all my strength into a vertical leap, and then…

「[Gust]」

I summoned a gust of wind, lifting myself into the air. I easily cleared the city walls and infiltrated the city. I had already confirmed with [Perception Expansion] that there was no one behind the city walls.

To avoid hurting my feet, I used the wind to reduce the impact just before landing.

「Now, let's take a look inside the city.」

This is how I managed to infiltrate the imperial city that governed this part of the Empire.

「It's terrible.」

The view inside the city was depressing. Most of the shops were closed, and the streets were filled with shabby buildings and women offering their services.

Whenever they spotted someone who seemed to have some money, the women and beggars would flock to them. I was fortunate that no one had their eyes on me, given my worn-out cloak.

「I need to grab a bite to eat.」

I rubbed my stomach as it grumbled. I had run quite a distance to get here, and my stomach was now protesting loudly. I searched for one of the few open shops and entered.

However, I was surprised when I saw the merchandise inside. The selection was limited, and the quality was poor. I reluctantly picked up a withered apple and handed it to the shopkeeper.

「Hey, buddy, you got some coin, right?」

「Of course. I want this apple. How much is it?」

「One silver coin.」

I was taken aback by the high price. If I were to pay one silver coin in Erin, I could buy six fresh apples. Normally, I would suspect that I was being ripped off, but given the state of the city, this price seemed reasonable. I took a silver coin from my wallet, ready to pay.

「I’m sorry, buddy. These coins are no good.」

「What?」

「Don't you know? The currency in the city has changed, only the new coins are accepted. The old coins are no longer valid.」

「Since when?」

「Since an edict was issued two months ago. “You have to exchange the old coins for the new imperial coins. A month from now, transactions with the old coins will be prohibited.” It said.」

「Why would they do that, throwing away a common currency that can be used in many countries?」

The current currency was created during a time when this continent's nations were unified, and they could be used in many countries, including the Empire and Erin. Their convenience was immeasurable. It made no sense for the Empire to introduce a coin that could only be used within their borders.

「If these coins can't be used, there's nothing I can do. Sorry, I'll come back some other time.」

「Wait, buddy. The country is still accepting coin exchanges, so I'll sell it to you this time. But I'll need five copper coins as a fee.」

「… Fine. Here you go.」

I reluctantly handed over the one silver and five copper coins and purchased the low-quality apple at more than six times its usual value.

I strolled through the city, idly munching on the withered apple, with my destination set for the exchange office. If the old currency wasn't accepted within the city, there had to be an exchange office hidden somewhere. Without a place to trade the old coins for the new ones, visiting merchants from other regions would face difficulties in making purchases. Furthermore, the imperial merchants would struggle to obtain foreign currency for transactions outside the Empire.

After walking for some time, I finally reached my destination, the exchange office. There, I exchanged several gold and silver coins after paying the exchange fee.

「As expected.」

I knew as soon as I held the gold coin in my hand. They were adding impurities. The previous gold coins were about 95% pure gold, but these new coins contained only about 70% gold. The rest was cheap metal.

「Are they going this far?」

Hypothetically, by collecting all the old gold coins for exchange, they could increase their gold coin reserves by about 30%. The apparent amount of gold would increase, but these new coins would not be accepted in other countries.

「Hey, mister.」

The exchange office's female owner called out to me as I was about to leave.

「We have a great deal for you. If you have old gold coins, you can buy six of these imperial bonds with five of them. How about it?」

She presented six pieces of paper. The text on them guaranteed the value of one gold coin and allowed free exchange with gold coins after a year.