Idelia stood frozen.
She understood everything Annan had said. That was precisely why it shook the worldview and rules she had built over the past twenty-odd years.
She, her father, his father, and his father before him... As far back as her family could remember, everyone had used gold Narls. Everyone had taken their value for granted.
Because they were gold, and because they were currency issued by the Goddess of Wealth.
But now someone was saying that, with enough trust, even a worthless scrap of paper could be worth a fortune.
And Annan was right: if a king declared that a stone could be exchanged for its weight in gold, his ministers would be willing to buy a stone with a piece of gold.
Then Free City could easily obtain food, ore, crafted goods, and other resources from others. All it would cost was parchment with no value of its own.
If they actually pulled it off, Free City's future could rival that of the Thirteen High Kings...
Even Idelia felt a surge of excitement at the thought... and worry.
Gold Narls were the currency sanctioned by the Lady of Wealth and accepted across the Allen Continent. What Annan proposed would undoubtedly draw criticism and hostility.
"That's why I've only told you for now. Even Olmedo doesn't know."
"And have you forgotten? I just became the Lady of Wealth's 'Holy Son.'" Annan spoke with deliberate emphasis. "As long as the upheaval continues and the gods cannot contact the mortal world, my word is a divine oracle."
"If I say a sheet of paper can be exchanged for one gold Narl, then it can."
Annan was no schemer, but anyone hearing those words would have caught the scent of ambition.
Compared with the future Annan envisioned, all his previous inventions