Chapter 2: Ms. Hepburn
Clearly unwilling to et anyone, yet eavesdropping on the conversation downstairs—this made Lina very displeased with the “distinguished guest” upstairs, and she had almost refused the invitation on the spot.
But on second thought, this café was a place Sibyl frequented. No matter what, the waiter couldn’t possibly be unaware of her identity as a young lady of the Sibyl family. Yet the attitude just now clearly carried a sense of…
“The person upstairs is far too important— even Miss Sibyl cannot afford to offend them.”
That piqued Lina’s curiosity instead.
I’d like to see exactly who this is!
“That’s fine, but I’d like to bring my two companions,” Lina said, offering the attendant a polite and composed smile.
“Of course. Please, this way.” The attendant nodded and led Lina, Sibyl, and Annie up the stairs.
The mont she stepped onto the staircase, Lina’s breathing nearly stopped.
A blonde girl sat by the window, smiling as she looked into Lina’s eyes.
She wore a light brown round-neck, cinched-waist dress. Pale golden strands of hair fell along her slender, fair neck, resting upon collarbones shaped like butterfly wings.
Soft sunlight cast a lively halo over her pale skin, bringing her delicate features vividly to life.
Between the interwoven light and shadow, a pair of clear erald eyes seed to intoxicate ti itself— as though soone had brewed a sonnet into wine and poured it into that unfathomable, bottomless pool.
What a beautiful girl…
Lina stared, transfixed. Even counting her mories from her previous life, this girl’s beauty could rank among the top three— no less than those S-rank Great Witches.
A dense and powerful aura of magic surrounded her. Even from the stairway entrance, Lina could feel that faint yet undeniable pressure.
An A-rank witch!
In a remote border town like this, even C-rank witches were considered rare creatures. Lina had never expected that, aside from her own disciple, another powerful A-rank witch would appear here!
How is she this beautiful?!
And… why does she feel sowhat familiar?
“My apologies for overhearing your conversation, beautiful lady,” the blonde girl spoke. “As compensation, may I invite you and your two lovely friends for a drink?”
Her voice was soft and gentle, like a spring breeze brushing past willow branches, making one unconsciously relax.
“Roland Hepburn?! You’re… Miss Roland Hepburn?!” Sibyl’s excited voice ca from behind Lina.
Lina turned back, only to see that Sibyl—who monts ago had looked like she was determined to “teach the person upstairs a lesson”—was now flushed red, breathing rapidly, and speaking incoherently…
Yes, just like those fangirls from her previous life who had t their idol.
“This Miss… Hepburn, is she very famous?” Lina blinked.
“She’s the lead actress in the film ‘Valentia Holiday’,” Annie’s voice was also tinged with excitent. “She even won Best Actress at last year’s Golden Rose Awards!”
‘Valentia Holiday’?
Oh! The one she saw in the newspaper before!
This was a real big star!
And she was actually an A-rank witch too?
However, Sibyl moved even faster than Lina—she had already rushed over with paper in hand, asking for an autograph…
Damn it! Get one for too!
That signature could probably sell for several hundred gold dragons!
After a flurry of activity, all three of them successfully obtained the autograph of the popular star, Miss Hepburn.
Hepburn gave Lina, who was seated across the table, a sweet smile. “It’s a pleasure to et you, Miss Lina. Your eyes are beautiful, like honey sealed within amber.”
“Ah… thank you…” Lina scratched her cheek shyly.
“Sibyl, even professional actresses would envy your figure, and Miss Annie, your hair is as beautiful as the waters of ‘Lannia Bay’. If the three of you ever have any thoughts of entering the film industry, you can co to anyti.”
Hepburn joked, then smoothly brought the topic back on track: “But what interests more is Miss Lina’s intellect and insight, more dazzling than gold. Miss Lina, could you elaborate in detail on this concept of ‘credit collapse’?”
“Which aspect are you asking about?” Lina straightened her posture slightly, stretching her neck to et Hepburn’s gaze. “But let say this first—I’m not an expert in this field. These are rely so insignificant personal views and conjectures of mine.”
Inside, Lina was already retreating frantically.
Hey, hey, I’m just a keyboard economist—do you really think I’m so kind of expert? It’s fine to casually brag in front of friends, but please don’t take it seriously…
“You’re too modest, Miss Lina,” Hepburn said gently, stirring her coffee with elegance. “Let’s start with the stock market. Miss Lina, to be frank with you, my father is a governnt councilor in Solennam.”
“Recently, major banks in Solennam, Koberen, and even Adler have been competing to lower interest rates, selling large amounts of credit-based financial products to the public.”
“Many governnt councilors believe this is a positive phenonon—it shows that social resources are flowing toward sectors favored by the market, which is beneficial for financing and developing new enterprises…”
“So even suggest that the central bank should print more currency to et the growing demand for funds. But my father has always felt uneasy about it.”
“Although he ntioned that such actions might lead to certain consequences, he didn’t explain it in as much detail as you did, Miss Lina. I believe that if I relay your views to him, it might help resolve his long-standing doubts.”
“I see…” Lina slowly traced her finger along the rim of her coffee cup. “It seems your father is a very far-sighted councilor. Most politicians nowadays are probably deceived by the surface-level prosperity of the market, unable to see the dangerous undercurrents beneath.”
Resting her chin on her hands, she spoke in a serious tone: “You ntioned that so councilors advocate for the central bank to issue more currency… is this information reliable?”
“In fact, they’ve already done so,” Sibyl said from the side, arms crossed, her tone calm. “Not just Solennam—Koberen’s central bank started printing large amounts of new banknotes a month ago. To encourage banks to lend more, they even lowered reserve requirents. Quite a few experts discussed this in the newspapers at the ti.”
“Yes, governnts across various countries seem to be encouraging this kind of… investnt behavior,” Hepburn frowned slightly. “That’s also the source of my father’s unease. He feels that these investnts… may not actually be directed toward stimulating real productivity.”
“Indeed, Miss Hepburn, your father’s concerns are undoubtedly correct.” Lina’s expression gradually turned solemn. “Perhaps the bubble is already close to reaching its limit.”
“Imagine this—if you were an ordinary factory worker, working diligently for an entire year, the wages you’d receive would be no more than fifty gold dragons.”
“But if you took all your wages and invested them in stocks and real estate, you could imdiately obtain assets worth thousands of gold dragons.”
“When you receive your wages and return to a public rental room of less than twenty square ters, seeing your poorly dressed wife and your child who had to drop out of school because you couldn’t afford tuition—”
“What would you do? Use that money to replace the furniture at ho, buy your wife a cheap dress, or get your child a basic arithtic book, or…”
“Use that money to make a ‘guaranteed profit’ investnt, hoping that next year when your shares double, you could move straight into a standalone house, send your child to a magic academy to study the most popular disciplines like magical engineering and alchemy?”
The air fell into silence, everyone lost in thought.
Lina broke the silence: “Yes. And when you’re about to invest that money, the bank clerk will even tell you that if you’re willing to take out a loan of a thousand gold dragons to invest in stocks and real estate, then in a few years, you might even be able to buy a seaside house at ‘Lannia Bay’, enjoying the sea breeze with your wife while tasting fresh fruit from Stokuwa. And your child, at that ti, would be studying for a doctorate in magical dynamics at Alesia Magic Academy in the capital of Koberen. He would have obtained a C-rank certification from the Wizards’ Association, and might even have a chance to go to Celestis and touch the edge of the starry sky.”
“But what about reality? His labor has not been transford into tangible goods, but entirely poured into this kind of ‘beautiful dream’. Consur goods ant for his class—cheap dresses, simple furniture—end up stockpiled in factories.”
“His labor is further converted into the wealth of capitalists, yet they too invest that money into the ‘beautiful dreams’ others paint for them. No one consus—there is only endlessly expanding production and warehouses filled with mountains of unsold products.”
“The entire market, the entire society—every single person is imrsed in this kind of frenzied... blind beautiful dream.”
“People can turn a blind eye to the nightmare before them, because nightmares always co to an end, no matter in what form…”
“But no one can refuse such a beautiful dream,” Lina let out a soft breath. “Even if this dream is as fragile as a bubble, it is still enough to make people drown in it.”
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