Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

The Fog Dissipates

"Huang?" asked M.

"Yes, this is one of the currencies circulating within the Kou Empire. And they have been forcing the countries near Balbadd to use this, too. Using their strong military might to threaten them... And that is why we cannot trust this kind of money. The only money that can be trusted is made of gold or silver!" S explained as they searched for a good spot to bury Sinbad's equipment, hoping to make a short-term deposit to keep it safe. "Let me bury these treasures here first. We'll dig them up again when we're leaving this country, so we can sell them in another.

"Onii-san, then why don't we sell them for gold coins here?" M asked.

"That's because this country doesn't seem to have any gold currency left," S replied with a frown as they left the buried treasure behind. "As we can't escape due to the lockdown of the harbor, the only thing we can do for now is to continue to avoid being caught by the military..."

"Excuse me," someone called out, getting their attention.

"Huh?" the brothers said, turning to face the man, who had long hair, wore slightly tattered robes, and had on veils to cover his face.

"Am I correct in believing that the three of you are the leaders of the rock quarry thieves?" the mysterious stranger asked. "I have a humble request. Can the three of you please follow me?"

"Judging from what happened last night... the ones who attacked you in your area weren't members of the Fog Troupe... but ordinary citizens, am I right?" said Ja'far when he, Sinbad, Masrur, and the twins had gathered again later that evening inside the hotel. While the others were resting, Ja'far had taken the liberty of looking into Balbadd's affairs a little more thoroughly.

"That's right," answered Sinbad. "They were citizens that could no longer endure the hardships of extreme poverty."

"Hmm, but to go to the extent of attacking and raiding the homes of the rich...?" Faith mused with a frown. "How'd it get this bad?"

"It seems that Balbadd is experiencing a major economic gap... judging by the amount of homeless and unemployed we saw while walking around the other day..." Hope said thoughtfully. "I'd say they've probably fallen into a big economic slump, similar to our country's Great Depression... but this country's government doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. Unlike our government, they don't seem to have made any noticeable attempt to fund work projects or to try to create new jobs or welfare programs. As a result, the people probably feel they have no way to earn enough money to support themselves through legitimate means, and so, like that mother who was tired of losing her children, they eventually snapped and decided to take drastic measures with their own hands in order to survive..." Some economists have said that FDR's methods actually prolonged the depression, but at least they had given people the illusion that something was being done.

"That's right. This country's economy is in utter chaos right now," said Ja'far. "Not only that, other countries seem to be intervening with this one's affairs..."

"What do you mean?" Sinbad asked.

"Take a look at this," Ja'far said, pulling out a printed money note.

"Paper money?" Faith asked, surprised. It was her first time seeing it in this world, but she knew money when she saw it. The writing and the dragon printed on it looked kind of Asian.

"Ah, I see..." Hope said, furrowing her brow with a frown. There was something strangely familiar about that design...

"See what?" Faith asked, not seeing the problem. They used paper money all the time back home in the form of dollars.