"Are they insane? It jumped a full hundred gold coins at once?"
"I'm not dreaming, am I?"
In an instant, everyone present went mad.
The merchants who had been patiently waiting in their seats for their numbers to be called no longer waited.
Who knew what kind of opportunity they might miss just because of a few extra minutes?
More and more people surged toward the counters. Several trampling incidents even broke out.
Of course, there were still some who kept a clear head.
They sensed something fishy in this strange price fluctuation. Cautiously clutching their money pouches, they chose not to get involved.
Yet just as they congratulated themselves for being the most rational people in the room, the staff member responsible for posting prices returned once more—
And wrote another string of numbers on the board.
1,200 gold coins per liter.
From that point on, the gel's price shot up like a rocket, increasing by nearly 100 gold coins almost every hour.
The speed of this surge was even more terrifying than the financial miracle when the price had soared from 3 gold coins to 300.
Now everyone was mad.
Even those who had prided themselves on their composure regretted not rushing to the counters immediately and throwing every last coin they had into the gel market.
The reporters gathered around the notice board also lost interest in continuing their coverage. They now only wanted to join the lines at the counters and wager all their savings.
After all, how much was a news article worth compared to this?
What lay before them was a heaven-sent opportunity for financial freedom.
If they could earn a fortune in this wave, would they still need to run around miserably for that pitiful salary?
Meanwhile, Tina, standing quietly in a corner of the hall, fell into deep thought as she watched the frenzied scene unfold.
Her expression darkened as she looked at the numbers on the board, her hand slowly reaching into her money pouch.
Several gold coins inside dissolved into specks of starlight.
A revelation from the River of Fate flowed into her mind.
After absorbing the message, Tina let out a long breath.
So it really was like this.
From the moment she noticed today's abnormal price fluctuations—and the disappearance of the reckless girl—she had felt a vague sense of unease.
Perhaps it was because she had encountered Hel and Hiness. Or perhaps life had been too comfortable lately, causing her guard to slip.
After spending half a day with the reckless girl, she had lowered her vigilance.
Yet such exquisite calculation—this, she truly had never seen before.
So subtle it left almost no trace of manipulation.
The other party had likely investigated every detail about her. They knew not only the force backing her, but also her daily routines.
They were familiar with information about Lyco and the others, including the Reform Society founded by Leflina.
Tina even suspected that the reckless girl truly was a member of the Reform Society. Otherwise, she could not have known so much during their conversation.
And behind that reckless girl, there must have been someone highly skilled in psychological manipulation orchestrating everything.
Otherwise, they would not have guided her—through a series of seemingly trivial, casual incidents—into signing that futures contract.
What Tina could not understand, however, was this:
On what basis had they believed she would sign a twenty-million-gold contract?
…
Elsewhere, President Sherlock was enjoying the attentive service of his beautiful secretary in a private room.
Standing opposite him was the very same reckless girl who had accompanied Tina all day.
Gone was her foolish, airheaded demeanor from before.
Now she sat on the sofa across from Sherlock with one leg crossed over the other, idly playing with a dagger in her hand.
"Old man, you've got to admit—this time that idiot was ridiculously easy to handle.
"I hadn't even finished executing my first plan before she walked straight into the trap herself. Kind of kills the sense of accomplishment."
"It's better we didn't have to use the later plans. The more intricate the scheme, the more likely something goes wrong.
"So the fact that things progressed this smoothly can be considered good fortune on our side."
Sherlock accepted a glass of red wine from his secretary, gently swirling it before bringing it beneath his nose for a deep inhale. Only then did he speak leisurely.
Judging from his tone, however, his relationship with the reckless girl was clearly not that of a typical superior and subordinate. Nor did he seem bothered by her calling him "old man."
"Still, I didn't expect an underage girl to be so decisive.
"Buying nearly twenty million gold coins' worth of futures in one stroke.
"With that kind of decisiveness, her future achievements certainly won't be small."
"Heh. Achievements? Let's see if she survives this first."
The reckless girl sneered.
Then her gaze toward Sherlock sharpened, her tone turning distinctly less polite.
"By the way, have you taken care of that girl from the so-called Reform Society?
"Don't go making the same mistake as last time—failing to control your lower half and leaving yourself with leverage."
"Relax. When I handle things, you can rest assured."
Sherlock paid no mind to her accusation. He took a light sip of wine and looked down through the one-way alchemical glass at the chaotic scene in the hall below.
"The price has already reached two thousand gold coins. That's a bit too fast.
"Hitting that level on the first day isn't very stable.
"For the next few days, let's limit the daily increase to five hundred gold coins."
He turned to his secretary and issued the order in a deep voice.
Seeing this, the reckless girl teased:
"What? Is that twenty million in futures from that idiot getting too heavy for you to swallow the gel market whole?"
"It is, somewhat."
Charlotte did not deny it. He nodded seriously.
"Our available liquidity isn't much. Even with funding from the Mechanical Academy and the Royal Chamber of Commerce, we only have sixty million gold coins in total.
"And just buying up her futures has already cost us twenty million.
"I'm worried she might grow desperate and keep purchasing gel futures to force the price back down."
At this, the reckless girl let out a cold laugh.
"Didn't you investigate her already? The total turnover of her Heim Industrial Park is only around twenty million gold coins.
"Even if she wanted to keep buying—does she have the funds?"
"Let's hope so."
Sherlock nodded, a trace of concern in his voice.
"It's a pity our influence can't penetrate the Merchants' Guild.
"Otherwise, this would have been much easier to control."