At Futures Trading Report, Johnny the actuary stared at the price fluctuations on the futures market, his face pale.
His family's assets were all in too, and naturally they had debt—about 200,000 gold coins worth.
To some of the major nobles, 200,000 gold coins in the steel futures market might not seem like much, but for his family, it was an absolutely massive number.
An unimaginable number.
Once upon a time, he'd served as Finance Minister of the Gray Fort Empire for over twenty years, and the money he'd made then wasn't even a tenth or a fifth of this.
The company's interest alone now required paying over 20,000 gold coins every year.
He had no way to afford that.
Even if Futures Trading Report could operate normally and accept advertising, earning that many gold coins would be incredibly difficult.
And now? There was absolutely no way.
But that wasn't even the most desperate part.
He was a smart man.
