I woke at dawn to my system alarm.
[MARKET ALERT]
[GRAIN FUTURES: 18 GOLD PER BARREL]
[YOUR POSITION: +6 GOLD PER BARREL (+50% PROFIT)]
[CURRENT VALUE: 144 GOLD]
[UNREALIZED PROFIT: 48 GOLD]
I sat up in bed, my heart racing. In less than twelve hours, I'd made 48 gold. Fifty percent returns.
On Earth, that would be insane. Here, with war volatility?
It was just the beginning.
I pulled up the news feed the system provided:
[BREAKING: DRAKEN FORCES ADVANCE FASTER THAN EXPECTED]
[EASTERN FARMS EVACUATING]
[GRAIN SHIPMENTS DISRUPTED]
[PRICE FORECAST: CONTINUED SURGE]
The market was reacting exactly as I'd predicted. Fear and scarcity were driving prices higher.
But I'd learned the hard way not to be greedy. In trading, pigs get slaughtered. Take your profit, live to trade another day.
[SELL ORDER: GRAIN FUTURES - 8 BARRELS @ 18 GOLD EACH]
[TOTAL SALE: 144 GOLD]
[PROFIT: 48 GOLD]
[SYSTEM FEE: 4 GOLD (LEVEL 1 MERCHANT - 3% FEE)]
[NET PROFIT: 44 GOLD]
[NEW BALANCE: 148 GOLD]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 100 XP]
[LEVEL PROGRESS: 100/1000 XP TO LEVEL 2]
The rush of a successful trade hit me like a drug. I'd forgotten how good this felt.
A knock at my door interrupted my celebration.
"Adrian? Are you awake?" Elise's voice.
"Come in."
She entered, already dressed in a riding outfit, her black hair tied back. "Father wants to see you. He's in his study."
My stomach dropped. Had he somehow found out about my trading?
But Elise looked more curious than worried. "He said something about you asking intelligent questions at the war council. He was... impressed."
That was unexpected. The old Adrian had been practically invisible to Father.
I got dressed quickly and followed Elise through the manor. Early morning light streamed through tall windows, illuminating oil paintings of ancestors who all looked vaguely disapproving.
Father's study was on the second floor, overlooking the estate grounds. Through the window, I could see fields, forests, and a small village in the distance. All of it belonging to House Valtor.
For now.
Father sat behind a massive desk covered in papers and ledgers. He looked up as I entered, his sharp gray eyes assessing me.
"Sit," he said.
I sat.
He studied me for a long moment. "You've changed."
"I've been sick—"
"Not physically. Here." He tapped his temple. "When you asked about our finances last night, Elise said it was the first time you've ever shown interest in the family business."
I chose my words carefully. "Nearly dying gives you perspective, Father. I realized I've been... wasting my time. With the war coming, I want to help."
"Help how? You're twelve. You have no military training, no trade skills, no connections."
Fair points. Brutally delivered, but fair.
"I've been studying," I said. "Economics. Trade. Markets."
His eyebrow raised slightly. "Have you now?"
I pulled out a piece of parchment from my pocket—I'd prepared this earlier. On it, I'd written a simple market analysis using the old Adrian's handwriting:
Grain prices: Current 18g, projected 25-30g within two weeks due to eastern farm disruption.
Steel prices: Current 47g, projected 60-70g as weapons demand increases.
Recommendation: Acquire grain contracts now, sell at peak. Use profits to corner steel market before prices spike.
Father took the parchment, read it, and for the first time since I'd arrived in this world, I saw genuine surprise cross his face.
"Where did you learn this?"
"Books. Observation. The merchant caravans that pass through our lands." Not entirely lies. The old Adrian had read extensively, even if he hadn't applied the knowledge.
Father set down the parchment. "These projections... they're sound. Aggressive, but sound."
He leaned back in his chair. "Adrian, I'm going to be blunt. House Valtor is in trouble. Your brother Marcus has spent us to the edge of ruin. We have thirty days to raise 3,000 gold, and I don't know how we'll do it."
"Sell assets," I suggested. "The summer estate, the gemstone collection Mother left behind, the—"
"Already planned. It might get us 2,000 gold if we're lucky. We're still short."
This was my opening.
"Let me trade for you," I said.
Father blinked. "What?"
"Give me a hundred gold. Let me trade in the commodity markets. I'll turn it into what we need."
"That's insane. You're a child."
"I'm also our best option." I met his eyes, channeling every ounce of confidence I'd built from years of trading. "You said it yourself—my analysis is sound. Give me one chance. If I lose the hundred gold, you're no worse off than you are now."
"And if you succeed?"
"Then House Valtor survives."
The silence stretched between us. Outside, birds sang. Inside, a clock ticked.
Finally, Father opened a drawer and pulled out a small pouch. He counted out gold coins, each one stamped with the royal seal.
"One hundred gold pieces," he said. "This is your mother's emergency fund. The last reserve I have."
He slid the pouch across the desk. "Don't make me regret this, Adrian."
I took the pouch, feeling its weight. 148 gold in my system balance plus 100 gold in physical currency = 248 gold total capital.
"You won't," I promised.
I spent the rest of the morning in the estate library, studying maps and trade records while my system analyzed market data.
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[OPTIMAL TRADE IDENTIFIED]
[OPPORTUNITY: STEEL FUTURES]
[CURRENT PRICE: 47 GOLD PER INGOT]
[PROJECTED PRICE (7 DAYS): 65 GOLD]
[CONFIDENCE: 87%]
[RECOMMENDED POSITION: 5 INGOT FUTURES]
[REQUIRED CAPITAL: 235 GOLD]
I was about to execute the trade when I heard voices in the hallway.
"—don't care what Father says, that little brat can't be trusted with a hundred gold!"
Marcus. My older brother.
I moved to the doorway and peered out. Marcus stood with two of his friends, all of them looking like they'd just come from the tavern despite it being barely noon.
"Maybe the kid's smarter than you think," one of his friends said.
"He's a bookworm who's never worked a day in his life," Marcus spat. "While I've been training with the knights, he's been hiding in libraries. Now Father thinks he can save us by playing merchant?"
"What are you going to do about it?"
Marcus smiled, and it wasn't pleasant. "I'm going to relieve him of that burden. A hundred gold could hire two mercenaries for the war effort. That's actual help, not some child's fantasy."
They walked away, laughing.
I closed the library door and locked it.
[THREAT DETECTED: MARCUS VALTOR]
[WARNING: HOST'S ASSETS AT RISK]
[RECOMMENDATION: SECURE FUNDS IMMEDIATELY]
The system was right. If Marcus tried to take the gold, Father might side with him—the practical military use versus an unproven trading experiment.
I needed to move fast.
I pulled out the physical gold and integrated it into my system balance.
[TOTAL CAPITAL: 248 GOLD]
Then I executed the steel trade:
[BUY ORDER: STEEL FUTURES - 5 INGOTS @ 47 GOLD EACH]
[TOTAL COST: 235 GOLD]
[POSITION OPENED]
[REMAINING BALANCE: 13 GOLD]
The trade locked in. Even if Marcus stole my remaining physical gold, the bulk of my position was safe in the system where only I could access it.
A bang on the library door made me jump.
"Adrian! Open up!" Marcus's voice.
"I'm studying!"
"Father sent me to check on you!"
Lie. Father wouldn't send the person who'd bankrupted us to supervise financial matters.
"I'll be out in an hour!"
"Open this door or I'll break it down!"
I looked around the library. There was a servant's exit in the back—the old Adrian had used it to avoid his bullying brothers.
I grabbed my notebook and the remaining gold and slipped out just as I heard Marcus start kicking the door.
The servant's passage led to the gardens. I emerged near the stables, where I nearly collided with someone.
"Oh! I'm sorry—"
I looked up into violet eyes.
Lyra Silverwind stood there in a traveling cloak, clearly about to depart. A carriage with her family crest waited nearby.
"Adrian?" She looked surprised. "Running from something?"
"My brother."
Understanding crossed her face. "Ah. Marcus. I've heard about him." She glanced at my notebook. "Still thinking about my loan offer?"
"I don't need it anymore."
Her eyebrows rose. "Really? You found 3,000 gold in one night?"
"I'm working on it."
She studied me with those unsettling eyes, and I got the feeling she saw more than I wanted to reveal.
"You're full of surprises, Adrian Valtor." She pulled a card from her pocket—embossed with silver thread, clearly expensive. "This is my private merchant token. If you're ever in the capital, come find me at our trading house. I have a feeling we could do interesting business together."
Our fingers touched as I took the card, and I saw her smile slightly.
[SOCIAL LINK UPDATED: LYRA SILVERWIND]
[RELATIONSHIP: INTRIGUED]
[ROMANCE FLAG: ACTIVATED]
[SPECIAL PERK UNLOCKED: Can request market intelligence from Lyra once per week]
"I'll take you up on that," I said.
"I hope you do." She climbed into her carriage, then paused. "Oh, and Adrian? Whatever you're planning with those steel futures? You're right. Draken uses iron-core armor. Our steel will be in massive demand within a week."
She winked and closed the carriage door, leaving me standing there wondering how the hell she knew about my trade.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[LYRA SILVERWIND SPECIAL ABILITY IDENTIFIED: INFORMATION NETWORK]
[WARNING: She has extensive market surveillance. Assume she knows your positions.]
Great. My harem was going to be filled with people who could potentially bankrupt me.
I was starting to like this world.
A crash from the manor told me Marcus had broken through the library door.
Time to make myself scarce until my steel position matured.
I had a fortune to build, a family to save, and apparently, beautiful merchant girls to impress.
The life of a reincarnated trader was never boring.