I Was Excommunicated from the Order of Holy Knights

Short-selling

One of the methods of stock investment, unlike the usual way of making money when stock prices rise, short-selling allows one to profit when stock prices fall.

The principle is as follows:
First, borrow 10 shares of stock priced at 100,000 won each for a 10,000 won fee.
When sold, you now have 1,000,000 won in cash.
Then, if the stock price drops to 50,000 won shortly after, you can buy back 10 shares for 500,000 won.
You then return these 10 shares to the person you borrowed them from.
As a result, even though the value of the stock has fallen, you repay 10 shares for 10 shares, and with the fee of 10,000 won, the transaction is nominally flawless.
Thus, you are left with 490,000 won in cash.
This is the principle of short-selling, which allows one to profit when others suffer losses, and I applied this to the madness and destruction happening right now.

First, based on the atmosphere of terror due to the Church’s authority, connections, and the successive punishments of heretics, I borrowed building documents from merchants who amassed wealth under the pretense of ‘accurate facility rentals.’
Honestly, this wasn’t an easy process, but after promising to return them exactly once the job was finished and providing a signed transaction statement, there were instances where giving something to God at official events carried symbolic meaning, so they would have little choice but to reluctantly hand them over to avoid disfavor from the Church.
Furthermore, from a calculative perspective, simply lending them could earn decent fees, thus making this a not-so-bad situation.

Next, these building documents borrowed were sold directly at the Cazerose Trading Exchange, and Lipton ended up with cash equivalent to the building’s price.
Then..
Immediately after the sale at the exchange, Lipton framed the person who lent him the building as a heretic and thoroughly smashed the ‘building’ that he ‘borrowed.’
Given that the recent bandits had become more aggressive, this process was executed so thoroughly that not a stone was left standing.
Then.. shortly afterward, the documents of the ‘building that was’ returned to ash due to the series of events appeared as scraps of paper at the Cazerose Trading Exchange.

Typically, land or buildings listed at the exchange are traded around two weeks later to verify the market trends and authenticity, so the chances of someone else snatching this up in the meantime are negligible; even if someone did, they would very likely have to offload it quickly due to the plummeting building prices.

And Lipton would buy it back at a bargain price and return it to the owner.
Of course, if he had killed the owner in the meantime, there would be no need to even do that.
Either way, this leads to huge losses for both the original building owner and the Cazerose Trading Exchange, while Lipton gets to pocket half of the profit.
And at this very moment, in front of us, was a joyfully triumphant Lipton reveling in the immense gains he’d acquired..
Simultaneously, a quiet smile began to blossom on our lips.
Of course, that smile arose not from the scene before our eyes but from the anticipation of what was to come later.

“Ahahaha! This is truly amazing! Aside from item trading, to rake in 30 talents in one go! I’ve never experienced anything like this before!”
Lipton burst into laughter filled with joy.
Watching this, Cazerose smiled quietly, while Polena, who was offering a drink beside him, showed a slightly surprised expression and said to him,
“Did you really make that much money? I don’t know what it is, but congratulations!”
“Ahaha, thank you, Polena. Now, to be fair, this is also thanks to you, so here, take this as a gesture of gratitude!”
As he said this, Lipton extended a pouch full of silver coins.
Polena’s face lit up with happiness as she quickly accepted it.
“Oh my.. thank you. I’ll use this wisely. It really is true that helping someone doing the Lord’s work brings blessings!”
“Haha, indeed! Now, let’s not just stand around, everyone, please, let’s all have a drink. That guard in the back should come over to enjoy this with us as well. Truly, Miss Cazerose, you are an incredible genius. How can you come up with such brilliant ideas?”
While clinking glasses and enthusiastically celebrating this venture, Cazerose, with a serious expression, addressed Lipton.
“I’m afraid now is not the time toasting with joy, Mr. Lipton.”
“Huh?.. What do you mean by that..?”
Cazerose’s tone turned slightly stricter.

Lipton’s face began to show signs of confusion and unease, and seeing this, Cazerose calmly spoke.
“This is a piece of advice drawn from my experience, so I hope you’ll take it to heart. Though this method may indeed allow you to borrow vast sums of money in a short time, if this kind of thing happens repeatedly, people will surely approach it with caution from the moment they receive a request to borrow building documents and will refuse.”

“That’s undoubtedly true.”
For now, having only performed this once, there hadn’t been much trouble, but as rumors spread about this act, it would become increasingly difficult to borrow building documents.
Additionally, if this practice is repeated too frequently, the Cazerose Trading Exchange, the party likely to suffer losses, could catch on.
Pointing out this potential issue to the exhilarated Lipton, Cazerose spoke again in a calm tone.
“So, to earn big money, you need to strike hard and pull out quickly.”
“Y-You mean..”
Lipton responded with a hint of anxiety in his voice to Cazerose’s words.
Cazerose nodded slowly, looking at him.
“Yes, right now, before rumors spread, you need to mobilize people en masse and conduct concurrent operations. After all, it’s only just one transaction; it’ll take time for the rumors to circulate. Gather all the manpower you can and immediately go after those individuals you’ve been contemplating in your mind.”
“Mmm.. I understand what you mean. Considering my upcoming birthday, I think I can gather people under that pretext and proceed with the plan.”
Thus, Lipton began contemplating making a significant strike in line with Cazerose’s suggestion.
Though he knew too grand of a venture could bring risks, the potential profit from this deal was too great, and decisively, Lipton had already tasted just how sweet that victory could be.
The pleasure of smiling while watching others fall into despair was sweeter than anything he’d experienced before.

In that way, he thoroughly pushed aside any concerns about possible risks and began filling his mind solely with thoughts of the enormous wealth that was undoubtedly coming his way.
“Yes.. I’m going to score big this time. There might be some commotion for a while, but if I take a break afterward, it will fade away on its own. After all, humans quickly forget something that doesn’t concern them. By patiently building wealth over time, I will undoubtedly reach my desired goal.”

Thus, Lipton began to reaffirm his ultimate goal that now seemed within reach.
Becoming an inquisitor, inciting people, accumulating wealth through this, what he always desired..
It was.. securing the position of the diocese administrator of this city, Münhel, with a massive sum of money.
“I’ve maintained connections with the Holy See all this time just for this day. Now that the deal is done and the money is prepared, obtaining the diocese administrator’s position is only a matter of time. Finally.. I can erase the years of being mocked as a dirt-poor noble braggart and achieve my goal.”
Recognizing that his dream was drawing closer to reality, Lipton boldly downed his beer.
With not even a sliver of concern for the rivers of tears that many would shed for his goal..

---