Extra 31: Asora’s currency was born in this way
“…This truly is an interesting arrangement through and through.”
Asora, the mansion of Misumi Makoto.
The demon girl that had experienced a drastic change in social standing not long ago, Sari, was groaning at the personal room she was given.
She is a direct relative of the Demon Lord, but without any of that connection affecting the result, she had shown talent and obtained the right of being one of the Demon Lord candidates.
At the same time, she is also the girl that was in close proximity to being the next in the throne and was instantly thrown right down to being the slave of a hyuman.
The room she is in is around 12 tatamis in size. It is a lot smaller than the room she was in the past.
In Asora, or more like, in the house of Makoto specifically, the personal rooms are not very big.
Maybe because of his taste as a japanese, he thinks that even the twelve tatami rooms are too big as well.
Thinking about the standing of Makoto and his assets in this world as a standard, his personal room should be more than twice bigger than what it currently is, and it is normal for the private room size to be sixty tatamis or more.
But Makoto only has one place in Asora that can be called his room. There’s a big bookshelf that reaches the ceiling which was one of the secret dreams of Makoto, and the thing that bothers him the most is the bed that is steadily being changed to be bigger and bigger.
The whole room doesn’t have any artistic articles and luxurious furnitures. It is a simple room to the core.
It would be normal for Makoto’s personality, but it isn’t fitting for Makoto’s standing.
It is a room that one tell how sudden his change in environment was.
In a sense, Sari lived a more jet coaster life than Makoto, but she actually wasn’t too pessimistic.
Maybe she has high adaptability, or it might be that she simply gave up and accepted it.
At any rate, Sari, rather than worrying about her pointless future (or so she thinks herself), she was more interested in the four types of currency that were lined up on the desk in front of her.
“This is one mon, this is one shu, this is one bu…and the last one is one ryo. In basis, four of each would be equal to one of the higher rank, but the only exception is the mon that needs 250 mons to be worth one shu…… This is truly complicated. Not only do they use the secret writing that Lorel uses, they also use calculations that I can’t get and it is an incredible pain. On top of that, what’s surprising is that almost all the residents understand how to use these. In other words, this means that the people that live here are able to perform such calculations in a daily basis. That would also set the standard of knowledge in this place at that bar, so… No good, my head hurts.” (Sari)
Sari was groaning in regards to the currency of Asora.
Demons and hyumans used a different currency before, but in the present, they mostly use the same one.
It was the result of the demons matching the hyuman currency, and the reason for it was by no means a peaceful one.
And so, Sari learned of the past currency of the demons, the hyuman currency, and the system behind it as well as understood it.
But in the place that Misumi Makoto had brought her didn’t use either of those and had a complicated and bizarre currency.
Even the position of the stars is completely different. It is a different world that no one knows where is located, so it could be said that this is a matter of course though.
But even now that she has properly learned the way of using the currency, the worth, and the prices of commodities, she was thoroughly surprised by the true shape of the Kuzunoha Company.
“The mon to the bu are used in daily life. The ryo is a special unit, so I can exclude it. Thinking of it in that way, the bu being the one who sees the most regular use makes it easier in a sense. But why are there four types? And it is not as if the sizes get steadily bigger… The most mysterious thing is that the more I use them, the more I simply get used to it.” (Sari)
The word ‘used’ made her face loosen into a smile.
At first, this was a land where she didn’t know a single person, but in this Asora, she has gotten involved with the society, and has begun to make acquaintances and friends.
It was a smile brought by her memories of that.
It couldn’t be helped that Sari would get flustered by everything.
The currency of Asora was something that wasn’t established by Makoto, but Tomoe who begged on her knees to Makoto because of her edo period influence.
It is obvious that a parallel world wouldn’t be familiar with it, and even in Asora which is mostly composed of residents of the wasteland, it could be said to be something terrifyingly different.
In the first place, Asora is a place that could suffice with trading goods to fill almost all their needs.
The basis of Tomoe was that there would be guys in Asora that will be going outside in the near future and they would need knowledge in how to use money. Makoto then said that if that’s the case, then why not just use the hyuman currency in Asora as well which was a rare decent rebuttal of him, and yet, faced a crushing defeat.
The initial introduction of the currency was despairing.
The reason that the mon currency of the edo period is still used as the main currency in Asora is because of the tenacity of Tomoe.
In the end, Makoto, who is soft with his friends, was pushed by Tomoe even when he knew that having a different currency in Asora held no merit.
But in reality, there’s meaning in having a currency unique to them.
There are many cases where people would grow dependant on the currency of foreign countries.
The demons may have the same currency as hyumans externally, but a part of them continue holding their own currency which dampens the problem a bit.
But these various problems that Makoto couldn’t think of didn’t have much meaning in this case.
Asora won’t grow dependant on the outside, and the currency movement is only when Makoto and the others bring it into Asora which is a one-sided thing.
At the very least, there’s no demerit in using the same currency as the outside.
Rather, it would be just as Makoto says. It would be less troublesome to introduce an already existing system. The merits in it are more.
In the first place, for Makoto who knows about the mon to the ryo, and the silver units used in the Kansei prefecture, and also a rough knowledge on the money order of that era, it wasn’t that much of a problem for him, so that may have been of help to Tomoe.
It was a strange situation where Makoto’s liking to edo came to use.
The next plausible argument Makoto gave out was to use the modern era currency that’s paper money which is easier to carry around, but was brushed away with the flawless reason of ‘it lacks taste’.
Those were the details behind the currency of Asora. It was truly logic losing and pushing winning.
“One ryo is 4,000 mon, but the truly mysterious part of this place’s money is the ryo. Because ryo is not money used to buy things.” (Sari)
Of course, in the edo period, one ryo and two ryo were a normal unit of money.
It would be slightly troubling to do shopping with ryo, but it was still possible.
But in Asora, it is different.
The highest value that is the ryo can’t be used to buy goods.
What the ryo does is special exchanges.
With ryo, you can make requests to people in standings that are lower than Makoto and his followers -in other words, practically everyone in Asora.
With one ryo, you can enter the archive of Makoto’s memories where the lowest ranked ones are located; this comprises things like flora and fauna. With five ryo, instead of doing the job assigned to you based on your specialty and race, you can choose a job you would like to experience for a limited time, and depending on your results in that time, you could even change the job you have; because of this, the restriction of jobs and standings can be slightly bend.
Of course, even when one obtains knowledge that is not open publicly, spreading it has its restrictions, and putting it to practice also requires another permission to use.
If the person doesn’t manage to get suitable results in the job that they wanted, they are returned to their previous job, so it isn’t as if money can bend all rules.
By the way, with 20 ryo, you can have a mock battle with whichever follower you want, and have them train you. With a hundred ryo, you can have a mock battle with Makoto.
Something that one wouldn’t even be able to wish for unless you are in the high parts of the Asora ranking -or the highest- it is made possible as long as you save the money.
But well, there hasn’t been a single soul who has challenged Makoto.
There has been precedent of the race amassing the money they have to have a mock battle and training with the followers though.
“The act of amassing the wealth of many people was seen as a foolish thing in the society I lived in before, and how to say it, it simply wasn’t realistic.” (Sari)
Sari is gaining pay for the work she is given.
It is still a minuscule amount, but there’s enough to put in her savings.
She doesn’t have a reason or has decided on a way to use it, but she isn’t able to use all the money she is given within seven days of work, which is mostly due to Sari’s own nature.
Sari has the habit of preparing for if anything happens.
In her current situation where her meals are basically free of charge, moreover, she is enslaved to Makoto, if he were to ask her for her money, she would have no choice but to comply, so it could be said that it is pointless to save money.
Even with that, the amount in her savings was increasing every week.
It really must be her nature.
For now, she was lightly thinking about inspecting the memories Tomoe and Mio were enjoying so much when she manages to save two ryos.
“This is my personal opinion. It is easier to carry mons by tying them with a string, and regarding the place where exchange of the currency can be done…” (Sari)
She was looking at the currency as she sketches the shape of them in a notebook and writes down an explanation and her own thoughts about it.
The other coins aside from the mons were things that Sari requested of Makoto to lend her by telling him that she needed them for studying.
He easily agreed and took out the money from a wallet that seemed to not see much use which confused Sari, but she was not about to complain about a result she wished for.
She obediently gave her thanks and borrowed it.
“…With this, it should be fine.” (Sari)
Why is it that Sari does something like this.
That’s because this is for her to study and this is her creating a textbook for it.
Since the time she was ordered by Makoto to move the race named Lorelai to the ocean, she has ended up joining the conversations of other sea races, and also the talks about the structures that are planned to be built at the seashore.
Within that, Sari felt that the sea races really needed to understand the unique currency that’s already being used in Asora, so she was studying the currency again.
After finishing her work of the day and her meal, she would return to her room and that’s where her free time begins until morning comes.
She is not reprimanded for using the lights at night, and there’s water and tea in her own room for when she is thirsty.
It is truly a blessed environment, a way too blessed environment for a slave.
Thinking of that, Sari’s mouth changed into a smile.
But that expression soon returns to that of when she is pondering about something. Eyes that were as if she were staring into space.
“Now that I think about it, each mon has a delicate making, and on top of that, it is made of an unknown alloy. It doesn’t rust, doesn’t break, and duplication magic is not allowed at all. In regards to the duplication, the containers were also the same… Just how much does it cost to make one of this?” (Sari)
By nature, the tools that the sea races use have to take into consideration the ocean water and the sea breeze.
When she remembered that she had to tell them that there’s no need to worry about the currency rusting, a question had surfaced in her mind.
Even the coin that has the lowest value -no matter how you look at it- takes more time and work to make than the worth of it.
It was clear that the production cost didn’t match.
Sari was trying to silently deduce what the hidden intentions of Makoto, Tomoe, and their group are.
Of course, there’s no hidden intentions.
If there’s one, it would simply be the attachment Tomoe has with her hobby.
It was an answer that anyone could easily tell that she would lose all strength when she learns about it.
Sari, who was sunk deep in the sea of her thoughts, lifted her head suddenly as if she had noticed something, and just like that, she looked at the entrance.
She felt the presence of someone approaching.
Two people that are not showing signs of trying to hide. Sari could tell that they were clearly heading to her room.
Since there was absolutely no hostility coming from them, she silently closed her notebook, checked her own appearance, and opened the door on her own to welcome the two guests.
“Tomoe-sama and Komoe-sama. What a surprise. Is there anything I can help you with?” (Sari)
“Umu. I heard from Shiki that you are learning about the currency for the sake of the sea people.” (Tomoe)
“Good evening, Sari.” (Komoe)
Sari was surprised at the visit of Tomoe, and Komoe, who was explained to her that she is the special familiar of Tomoe.
There’s almost no occasions where these two get involved with Sari.
Hearing that the business had to do with the currency, Sari’s body slightly stiffened.
It was something that Sari did while aware that it wasn’t anything to be reprimanded for, but she began to look back on her actions to see if she did something bad somewhere.
But she couldn’t find anything.
She was moving as much as possible under permission, and she wasn’t hiding what she was doing.
That’s why, for now, Sari decided on waiting for Tomoe to speak, so she maintained silence.
“…I am truly impressed-ja. I have come here to tell you to continue on like that. Komoe for some reason asked to come along, so I simply allowed her to do as she pleases-ja.” (Tomoe)
“Thank you very much. I am planning on studying about the currency in these days taking in mind the other races that are yet to come to this land as well.” (Sari)
“How exemplar-ja na. Waka and us have a lot of work to do so we have a hard time to look after them. We will be counting on you.” (Tomoe)
“I will do my best to answer those expectations.” (Sari)
Tomoe nods a number of times in satisfaction at the words of Sari.
Maybe her business was finished after hearing those words, Tomoe turned around and left.
Sari lowered her head deeply and saw her off.
But Tomoe turned her head back for a bit.
“Ah, right. I forgot to tell you something. About the town at the sea, we decided on using silver.” (Tomoe)
“? Silver?” (Sari)
Unable to understand what Tomoe was saying, Sari unconsciously repeated what she said.
With the word silver, she could think of a number of things, but she knew that none of them would be the correct answer for what Tomoe is thinking.
“I say silver, but it is just a convenient way to call it. It is not actually silver. If I had to put it in simpler terms…it is to divide the currency more. I decided on having them try the kan, momme, and the mons. I have already received Waka’s approval with his ‘sigh, just do as you wish’. Shiki said that you are the one in charge after all. So I came to tell you this beforehand.” (Tomoe)
“…Eh?” (Sari)
To be more precise, what Makoto gave to Tomoe wasn’t exactly his approval…
It was more like he just gave up.
But it isn’t a mistake to say that it can still be considered as him giving his approval.
In the first place, the main cause of this scary statement of Tomoe came from Makoto mistaking the currency used in Edo and Osaka. The information of ryo being used by the commoners as a currency in their daily life and that there’s more cases of the ryo being exchanged in order to use them for things that are not of daily use were mixed when Makoto told Tomoe about it. This was the cause of the blank space created in the head of Sari.
“Tomorrow, I will be sending you the information regarding this together with the exchange rate of the momme to ryo. Do your best.” (Tomoe)
In the time of the edo period, there was already a system to keep the balance in place, but it would be hard to adopt that practice in Asora exactly as it is.
Tomoe noticed this as she heard the explanation of Makoto. And after implicitly asking Makoto about how much would be good for the ryo exchange, he answered the consultation of hers.
To the misfortune of Sari, Makoto is incredibly bountiful in the amount of memories in regards to a specific part of the japanese history.
This time for sure, Tomoe left.
Leaving Sari who had her head completely blanked out.
“…Eh?” (Sari)
By the time Tomoe was already gone without the possibility of her responding to Sari, Sari once again voiced out an ‘eh?’ from her mouth.
It was a sight worth pitying.
“It looks like they are going to change something? Waka-sama told Tomoe-sama to do whatever she wishes. Ah Sari, how old are you?” (Komoe)
“I see, so I am the Onee-chan here. And so, Sari, I am going to go to Tsige the day after tomorrow. What do you want as a souvenir? I am the Onee-chan, so I will buy it for you! Ah, I heard this from Shiki. You rode on that fast boat that has a screw attached to it, right? How was it? Ah…and also…” (Komoe)
“When Sari can leave to the outside, let’s go to Tsige. My best friend is there. I am sure Sari will also like her!” (Komoe)
Komoe was incredibly interested in Sari. She was throwing a topic after another to Sari with a wide smile.
But Sari was still shuddering at the scary words of Tomoe, and half of what Komoe was saying wasn’t entering her head.
She somehow managed to give some slight responses to her, but she couldn’t remember properly.
But even with that, the impression Komoe had of her might have been good, because after that, Komoe and Sari got along better at mach speed, and every time the topic goes to their first meeting, Sari would remember it as the ‘time of the kan and momme’ and would always make a pained expression as she spoke.