Chapter 19: The Final Ledger
They called themselves The Original Eight.
The oldest merchant dynasties. Families who had once ruled continents from behind curtains of silk, steel, and silence.
But now, only four remained.
The others had been bought, merged… or erased.
And those who were left had one thing in common:
They feared you.
I. The Warning
A note was slipped under my door at dawn. No seal. Just three words, scrawled in aged ink:
"The ledgers burn."
Minutes later, alarms rang at the Valcoren archives.
Three of our central trade documents — critical to tax immunity, port rights, and noble lending routes — had been stolen or destroyed.
[System Alert: Economic Sabotage Detected]
Trade income reduced (-25%)
Political pressure rising in 2 foreign courts
Blackhollow stock facing falsified scandal rumors
Ray growled. "They're trying to burn your name off the books. Classic ledger wipe."
II. The Final Four: The Last Rivals
1. House Merravin – Bankers of the Holy Coins
Specialists in debt manipulation and noble blackmail
Hold 40% of royal loan records in the Western Kingdoms
Rumored to have bought a High Priest's favor
2. The Sindurati Pact – Spice and Vice Syndicate
Control exotic luxury goods and black market caravans
Known for assassins hidden as dancers and perfume masters
Their current leader: "The Perfumer of Death"
3. Velstone Archives – Paper Lords and Contract Forgers
Masters of rewriting truth through forged scrolls and "legal disappearances"
Backed by corrupted judges in 3 nations
4. The House of Ash and Song
Rumored to have no fixed location, just songs and stories that move money
Known to use bardic code to trigger revolts and cancel trade via sabotage
Allegedly once bought a kingdom using only promises
III. Counterplay: Spywork and Silence
[New Objective: Survive and Win the Ledger War]
Goals:
✅ Expose at least 2 rival families' criminal acts
✅ Sabotage 1 key holding each
✅ Steal back or recreate lost ledgers
✅ Keep your conglomerate solvent under assault
Optional: Buy out all remaining rivals — or destroy them forever
I dispatched:
Lena to infiltrate Velstone's scroll-forge — disguised as a wandering legal scribe
Ardenn to Sindurati caravans — under the cover of joining their perfume guild
A newly hired bard-spy, Codan, to track down the Ash & Song through coded lullabies and underground taverns
And as for Merravin?
I went myself.
Because if you want to kill a banker — you don't stab them.
You revalue their currency.
IV. The System Evolves
[System Module Unlocked: Ledger War Protocol]
Economic espionage tools activated
New skill: "Financial Killshot" — collapse a rival company with one perfectly timed investment shift
Blackmail Engine 2.0 Online: Connect noble crimes with paper trails
Warning: Rivals may now attempt hostile takeovers of your own assets
V. One Rival Falls
Within days:
Lena returned with 23 forged deeds that Velstone used to fake land claims — one of which overlapped with a royal palace
A duplicate was handed to a crown prosecutor
Within the week, Velstone Archives was branded a rogue faction and their holdings were frozen
[Velstone Eliminated – Assets Frozen, Name Blacklisted]
Bonus: You may now legally seize any Velstone property outside capital walls
Trait Gained: "Truth Reforged" – Forgery resistance + Blackmail creation efficiency ↑
Three remain.
And they're getting desperate.