Adrian was now at his wits’ end.
He had tried everything, yet nothing seemed to work against Aldren.
And now, there was only one idea left in his mind.
A bank run.
A bank run happened when people who had deposited their money in a bank suddenly demanded it back all at once.
The bank, having already lent out a large portion of those deposits, would be unable to repay everyone who demanded their money.
In most cases, the bank would fail and be forced to close its operations.
In the modern world, such events were far less common because banks had systems in place to protect depositors and provide emergency liquidity when necessary.
But this world had nothing like that.
If Adrian caused a bank run, countless people could lose their life savings.
Their businesses could collapse.
Their livelihoods could be destroyed.
Their futures could be ruined.
On one hand was Adrian’s ego.
On the other were the lives of innocent people.
Adrian couldn’t bring himself to make the decision.
He left the bank and returned to his residence.
When he saw his mother, he walked toward her and hugged her tightly.
Elara immediately understood that something was wrong.
She gently patted his back for a while before finally asking,
“What’s the matter, Adrian?”
Adrian remained silent for a moment.
Then he spoke.
“Mom, suppose there is a man threatening your future, and you can destroy him today itself without allowing him to hurt your future.”
He paused.
“But doing so would hurt many innocent people and possibly destroy their future. What would you do in such a situation?”
Elara thought about it for a moment before asking another question.
“Are the people getting hurt someone you know?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No. I don’t know them personally.”
Elara remained silent for a while.
Then she finally answered.
“If your future is in danger, you should act in the present.”
She gently caressed Adrian’s hair.
Adrian looked at her.
Elara continued,
“You see, when a noble moves their carriage through a puddled road after a rain, they don’t care about the splashes that fall on the pedestrians.”
She smiled faintly.
“So we, as royals, should not care about it either.”
She paused.
“Besides, you don’t even know them. Why should you care about them?”
Adrian stared at his mother.
For a moment, he had thought that she was the stereotypical saintess-like mother who wouldn’t hurt a fly.
But he had forgotten something.
This wasn’t a novel neither was it anime isekai.
This was his reality.
And the people of this world didn’t necessarily think the way people on Earth did.
He realised that mother meant good only to the people she personally cared about not everyone.
Permission.
A Psychological permission.
A way to shift the blame away from himself mentally.
Yet Adrian still wasn’t completely convinced that destroying Aldren through this method was the right thing to do.
He had a moral dilemma.
But he decided to ignore it.
He contacted one of the students who now worked for Aldren and asked him to meet him the next day.
The student obediently came.
Adrian asked him for the Valewood Bank’s internal documents.
The man didn’t even know what they were going to be used for.
Adrian had never taught them how can such documents be interpreted or used to destroy the opposition.
Still, he agreed.
A few days later, he returned with copies of the bank’s records.
Adrian examined the Valewood Bank’s financial statements.
And he immediately understood.
The bank was already in the red zone.
Aldren had lent out far more money than what was considered safe.
But considering how wealthy Aldren himself was, the bank wasn’t in any sort of immediate danger.
Adrian needed to push it over the edge.
So he began.
He ordered Evran to go to the Valewood Bank.
Evran opened an account and deposited some money.
Then he took out a loan.
After him, Adrian’s guards did the same.
One after another, they borrowed as much money as the bank was willing to lend them.
Soon enough, they had drained almost every bit of loanable capital the bank could provide.
Now there was only one thing left.
The drama.
Adrian needed to make the people of Valewood believe that the Valewood Bank could no longer return their money.
He had prepared the entire script.
He had rehearsed it thoroughly.
He had even bribed the bank’s guards so they would play their part.
Everything was ready.
Yet Adrian hesitated.
For days, he went to the Valewood Bank with Evran.
Every day, he stood outside.
Every day, he looked at the bank.
And every day, he failed to give the order.
Nobody other than Adrian knew what was about to happen.
Then, one day, Adrian saw a family of three.
A father.
A mother.
And their little daughter.
They happily walked toward the bank, holding their daughter’s hands.
They entered.
A short while later, they came back out laughing.
They were happy.
They didn’t dream of becoming the greatest King in history.
They were simply ordinary people.
They had no appetite for risk.
They didn’t wanted to gamble with their future.
But their future was about to be gambled with by Adrian.
Adrian turned his face away.
He covered his eyes with one hand.
Then, after a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Go.”
Evran looked at him.
Adrian’s voice became harsher.
“Goddamnit, go. Execute the plan already.”
He thought there was no point in contemplating anymore.
He had already come this far.
He had already prepared everything.
He was only one step away from achieving his goal.
Evran approached the bank.
He entered and requested to withdraw his money.
The bank employees politely refused.
“Please come back tomorrow, sir. We don’t have enough cash in hand right now.”
Evran immediately began following the script.
He started insulting and arguing with the employees.
He demanded his money.
When they continued refusing, he became increasingly aggressive.
He even appeared as though he was about to punch one of them.
The guards immediately intervened.
Exactly as Adrian had instructed them.
They threw Evran out of the bank and closed the doors.
Evran remained outside.
Then he began shouting.
“They won’t give me my money!”
He continued demanding his deposits.
The bank refused.
He began crying.
He repeatedly hit the bank’s door begging for his money.
He sat outside the bank and cried for hours.
The guards inside the bank rejected every person who came to withdraw their money.
One person was turned away.
Then another.
Then another.
And another.
Soon enough, the people began talking.
Rumours started spreading.
The Valewood Bank wasn’t returning people’s money.
The news spread through the village like wildfire.
And within a short time…
Almost everyone in Valewood knew.
That the Valewood Bank was refusing to return its depositors’ money.