Fled Without Realizing I Had Prevented the Apocalypse

“Would you like to have this special gold coin I made?”
Special gold coin. I carefully examined the golden coin handed to me along with those words.
As expected of the head of one of the Empire’s Five Major Guilds, there were no impurities in the gold coin.
A gold coin made purely of gold. Moreover, the portrait of Beatrice engraved in the center of the coin explains why she called this her specially made gold coin.
“Not just anyone, but the most beautiful face in the world is directly imprinted on it, and it’s made entirely of gold. Plus, there are only ten of these in the world, so its value is immeasurable!”
Beatrice, who handed me the gold coin, proudly placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin.
Since I’m not a merchant like her, I honestly don’t know if this gold coin could have such value.
However, it’s certain that since it’s made purely of gold, it would have a much higher value than the gold coins commonly used in the Empire.
Moreover, since it’s pure gold without any magic power infused, its price would be even higher.
However, I asked Beatrice with a sour expression.
“…By the way, did you make this yourself?”
“Of course. I directly commissioned it through the guild’s master craftsman…!”
“Then you must also know that directly manufacturing gold coins like this is illegal, right?”
“Huh?”
At my question, Beatrice seemed to think for a moment, and then her pupils shook.
“Is, is that true?”
I looked at her for a moment, then sighed deeply and said,
“It looks like you melted some of the gold bullion hoarded in the guild to mint it yourself, but any attempt to manufacture gold coins in any way is illegal.”
The Empire’s gold coins are engraved with special magic to prevent them from being replicated, but there were many who tried to copy this special magic and imprint it on cheap gold coins.
No matter how high-ranking mages the imperial family employs to cast magic, since gold coins need to be continuously produced, they can’t use magic that only that mage can create.
Due to such actions, some high-ranking mages deciphered the magic formula imprinted on the gold coins, and based on this, they attempted to copy money.
Enraged by this, the previous Emperor couldn’t dispose of all the high-ranking mages, so he legally banned the act of craftsmen minting gold coins.
It was a very simple method, and I heard it was a half-forgotten law due to much opposition from people.

“An experienced craftsman wouldn’t be unaware of this law.”
“…He’s someone who recently received the title of master craftsman. Not even thirty yet….”
“That young, huh.”
After hearing Beatrice’s explanation, I fell into thought for a moment.
Usually, a master craftsman refers to someone who is exceptionally skilled in a particular field, counted among the best.

Therefore, receiving the title of master craftsman was an honor given to those whose skills were recognized as such.
“Then he might not know.”
However, if he’s a master craftsman not yet thirty, he might not know about the law enacted by the previous Emperor.
In the first place, as a flawed law, it had little influence, and originally, most of those who made gold coins were trying to counterfeit them, so it didn’t have much effect.
Even Beatrice, a guild leader well-versed in all kinds of laws, doesn’t seem to know much about this law, so it would be unreasonable for a young craftsman to know.
I wouldn’t have known either if I hadn’t heard about it before.
“It’s a law that was almost obsolete a few decades ago, so it’s not strange that neither you nor that craftsman knew about it.”
“But we can’t just leave this gold coin as it is, can we?”

I nodded at Beatrice’s words.
“Just because it’s almost obsolete doesn’t mean it’s completely gone.”
The law against minting gold coins has been almost obsolete since the previous Emperor, with almost no cases of it being enforced.
Even if some nobleman occasionally makes gold coins like this as a hobby, most people laugh it off as an obsolete law.
However, Beatrice’s guild is a bit different.
‘If someone reports the minting of gold coins, the guild will inevitably be embroiled in controversy.’
One of the Empire’s Five Major Guilds directly minted gold coins.
This impact is definitely not something that can be ignored.

Even if it’s proven to be untrue.
Incitement can be done with a single sentence, but refuting it requires dozens of pages of documents and evidence.
And by the time you try to refute it, people are already incited.
As per this quote, which was actually not from Goebbels but has become complete, it would take a long time to refute the fact that she minted gold coins.
And during that long time, the public would perceive her guild as an entity that tried to illegally manufacture imperial gold coins.
“I’ll collect all the gold coins right away.”
Beatrice’s words, as she took back the gold coin she had given me, implied that she would melt down all the coins with her face engraved on them to destroy the evidence.
I nodded at her decision and then asked her the question I had from the beginning.
“So, why did you suddenly give me this gold coin?”
Although the size of the gold coin isn’t that large, it’s pure gold, so its value is quite significant.
Moreover, considering the cost of making it, it must have cost a non-negligible amount, so why give it to me, a creditor?
“Well… I learned a lot from this tutoring session.”
“As a token of gratitude?”
“You could say that.”
I inwardly frowned.
Beatrice, of all people, giving such a gold coin as a token of gratitude?
A gold coin that, despite being illegal, she had claimed would be of high value?
If nothing else, Beatrice is a person who is faithful to given transactions.
And the transaction for the tutoring has long been settled with her canceling two hundred million Sel of debt per month.
She’s a spider that collects gold coins, gaining profit but never losing.
Unless she thought the tutoring I gave was a loss and requested more teaching, she’s definitely not the type to give more money because she gained more benefit than what she paid for.
Especially not to the extent of giving such a gold coin.

Nevertheless, the fact that she tried to give me this gold coin directly meant….

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to increase my debt by the value of this gold coin?”
“……”
“That’s absolutely not happening. I never received a gold coin, so there’s no increase in debt…!”
“…Idiot.”
What?

“Fool! Idiot! Useless dimwit!”

Beatrice suddenly spat out insults that didn’t suit her, then left the place, fuming.

“Why the sudden insults…?”
Having been insulted without a chance to respond, I could only scratch my head while looking at Beatrice’s retreating back.
**
The girl’s sky was narrow and hazy.
Lying sprawled on the ground looking up, faint solid lines along with acrid smoke floated.
It was a cloud exhaled by those about to face death. The cloud that intoxicated people and broke them left no room for the girl to dream.
She had occasionally seen people who inhaled the cloud that went down instead of up and became disoriented, but the girl didn’t inhale that cloud.
Some called that cloud pleasure, some called it hope, and others called it drugs.
But to the girl, it was the end.

The end of life. The final chapter of existence. The opposite of hope.
Depending on something and escaping to somewhere that wasn’t reality wasn’t the life the girl dreamed of.
In one of the many back alleys spread throughout the cities that filled the Empire.
The orphaned girl who had settled there had no dreams.
There was no room for such luxury when it was busy enough just to eat for a day.
To have dreams and hopes in the back alleys meant that one could afford such luxury.
It might be allowed for some, but not for the girl.
The girl just, somehow, survived.
She forgot the past, the present was gloomy, and the future was a luxury.
Still, she lived.
She didn’t know why.
She just wanted to live.
It seemed better to endure while living than to escape through death, even if she continued to live such a life.
At least, that suited the girl’s disposition. So that’s how she lived.
“Please spare a coin!”
Begging from those who had dreams.
Whack-!
Stealing money from junkies who had lost their present.
“I have no parents….”

Sometimes manipulating her forgotten past to gain sympathy.
That’s how she endured.

Without even knowing the reason.
To the girl who was living day by day like this.
“You fucking bitch!”
“Aagh-!”
A crisis came.
It was a misjudgment.
She thought he was just a junkie high on drugs, but he was a junkie who knew how to throw punches.
That trash swung his fist at the girl who had tried to steal his wallet.
He grabbed her hair and beat the body that had tried to rob him.
The pain was severe.
Tears welled up, but she had to endure.
Usually, after venting like this, most would leave her alone and go.
However.
“You’ve got a pretty face, but bad habits with your hands. I’ll fix those bad habits of yours today!”
The malice of the trash exceeded the girl’s imagination.
The man, drunk and fumbling with his waist, looked every bit like trash.
And now, she was about to become trash too.
A scene she had peeked at countless times in the back alleys.
And the girl didn’t want to become trash.
“Please save me!!”
So she shouted.
To avoid becoming trash.
“This is a back alley. Do you think anyone will come to save you? It’s pointless! A useless hope!”
Ignoring the trash’s words, the girl shouted.
With all her might, with sincerity.
The trash tried to cover the girl’s mouth, but the girl bit his thick hand and continued to shout.
“Please save me!!”
Save me, she begged.
“You bitch!”
Blood drips as the hand is bitten. Whether angered by the falling red blood, the trash let go of her hair and threw her against the wall.
An enormous impact. The pain was so great that she couldn’t even scream.
“Please save me….”
Still, the girl shouted.
Crackle-!
“That was close.”
Her first hope came true.
The trash who had shouted that it was pointless collapsed with a thud.
At the same time, seeing the black uniform and emblem symbolizing the Empire, and the black gloves, the girl thought.
The trash was indeed wrong.