Adopting a single-currency system was sure to become a hot topic at today’s meeting, so I made sure to study the pros and cons of such a system. The main disadvantage seemed to be that it was much harder to leave such an alliance if you’d adopted a single currency. Plus there was the issue of who would mint the collective currency. If every nation were allowed to mint their own coins for the collective currency, it could cause inflation if too many hit the market at once. If this was going to work, then the best way would be to have me make the coins myself.
One of the biggest problems with currency made of precious metals was people shaving off little bits of the coins. Merchants often had to keep scales on hand to make sure gold and silver coins weighed the proper amount. Unfortunately, the casting techniques these nations had available were far from perfect, so even a coin that hadn’t been tampered with might not come out exactly right.
If you’ve ever seen people bite gold coins in shows or movies, that’s because gold was a very soft metal. If it gave in under the pressure of a bite, then it was likely real. Usually the tester would try to bend the coin as well. Gold was naturally more pliable than other metals, so if someone had just coated iron with it, the harder metal inside wouldn’t bend as easily. Counterfeit currency was a problem I could solve fairly easily, though. I could make coins out of metals that wouldn’t be easy to impersonate and imbue each coin with effects to prevent tampering. Humans wouldn’t be able to copy a coin that glowed when you said a certain word, for example—at least not with this world’s technology.
I took the liberty of making some sample coins, assuming I’d end up being asked. If I wasn’t, I’d find a way to show them off anyway. That way, none of the other nations would end up with the ability to mint coins for the alliance. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust these guys, it was that I didn’t have faith in human nature. Even if none of the current leaders caused problems with currency distribution, there was no guarantee one of their descendants wouldn’t. Since my body could live indefinitely, I needed to think like an immortal, someone who would personally face the consequences decades or even centuries later if things weren’t set up properly to start with.
You might think that would be difficult for a former human like myself, but I’d already started thinking like a Sprigian in many ways since I arrived in this world. In some cases, my thinking was clearer, and more long-term. Other times, I was nearly overcome by my desires and had to actively suppress them. Sprigians tended to be very logical and forward-thinking most of the time, but in matters of love, they could be quite passionate and impulsive. There were plenty of examples in Questonicia’s lore of Sprigians succumbing to their desires and ending up with a child both parents loved, even if the parents were distant or even hateful toward each other. Humans sometimes did that too, of course, but I felt like it was much more common in Sprigian lore.
As far as I was concerned, my mind was the best of both worlds. A human’s adaptive, present-day thinking paired with a Sprigian’s long-term planning. Anyway, I was definitely thinking about both short-term harmony and long-term stability for the upcoming meeting.
I sat down at the table, ready to negotiate my nation’s future. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for what was to come.
To my surprise, the leaders for the respective nations were all so cordial to each other that there wasn’t any need for me to step in and mediate. The currency issue came up fairly early, but I didn’t really even need to show off the samples I had made before they decided unanimously that I should be the one to mint it. I’d practiced so many responses for arguments against it; I’d never thought they would agree so readily. Honestly, I was absolutely floored. When I showed off the currency samples, the other leaders were incredibly impressed. Even though I’d really had to resist the urge to put cute teddy bear faces on the coins. Money needed to have a certain gravitas to it. If not for that, I would have made them as adorable as possible.
Once the currency situation was settled, the leaders turned to more trifling domestic affairs. More than anything, it was incredibly boring. Each of the leaders was a skilled politician and diplomat, but even an amateur like me could see they were bored out of their minds just as badly as I was. It got so bad that I pulled out my tablet. If anyone asked what I was doing, I could just say I was going over some notes for the meeting. In fact, a few of the other leaders were already surveying their own documents to stave off the boredom.
Personally, though I wasn’t actually checking notes. I had something much better in mind. I was designing a game table. It was technically a magic item, and it would be an upgrade for the table in the very room the meeting was taking place in. Once complete, the tabletop would basically become a magical touch screen, and we’d be able to use it to play various games. Technically, I could also use it to display images of things related to the matters at hand, like a map of the southern half of the continent, for example.
As two of the leaders discussed the price of grain, I poked the confirm button on my tablet’s screen, and the table upgrade began. Normally there’d be a wait before improvements were completed, but I still had plenty of wait-reduction items on hand. I used a few now, and the table was complete before anyone knew what was happening. Using the tablet, I dimmed the lights in the room a bit, and then I activated the table, which was currently being controlled by my tablet too.
Gasps filled the room as the rulers were unable to contain their surprise.
“Wh-What in the world is this?” the old man who was speaking when the table was activated managed to ask.
“Oh, just a little something I set up while you were talking about the price of grain in Mezaria,” I replied. “I thought it might help if I could show everyone a map of the area.” With that convincing excuse, I put a map on the tabletop screen. The image showed the country in question, and the areas that produced grain were highlighted and labeled. The leaders seemed pretty excited about the visual aids, and they became a lot more engaged in the meeting.
After I valiantly saved everyone at the meeting from certain death by boredom, a treaty regarding trade and currency was drafted and ratified. Some of the leaders still had other things to work out, but it was decided that they could meet on their own time to discuss them. “Conference meetings like this should be used to decide things that impact everyone.” That’s what we decided. In the future, we wouldn’t have to listen to anyone drone on about grain prices in their own country, or complain about their neighbor’s domestic animals. Yeah, that happened at one point too. The international equivalent of “your dog dug up my garden” had had everyone else rolling their eyes.
Honestly, it seemed like the leaders only aired these minor grievances because I was there to shield them from rebuke or reprisal. Um, no offense, but please leave me out of it. I really couldn’t care less which country’s grass the cows are eating.
Anyway, the summit would continue for a few more days, but the actual work of it was pretty much done before dinner. Speaking of eating, everyone was pretty impressed with the food. I got the feeling that we’d be holding more conferences like this in the future, if only as an excuse to get together and eat. Other amenities available in my palace were no joke either. Beds, baths, and recreational activities were all top-notch. I’d made sure to include every type of fun game I could think of. They were the types of things you might find at an arcade or in a resort: air hockey, pool tables, ping-pong, mini golf, and plenty of other fun stuff. With the currency situation resolved, I could eventually set up arcade-style video games and crane machines. No home consoles though. I needed people to come here, not become shut-ins.