TL: Skye
Isabella's drive was remarkably impressive.
"Let's start with the paperwork. I happen to know a good broker, so we should be able to move the money within two days."
After printing the documents from the USB, she immediately got to work transferring Tortilha Corporation's shares to nominee ownership.
"Isabella, have you done this sort of thing before? You're incredibly skilled at it."
"In college, I worked as a money laundering broker for pocket money. That experience is actually how I got into the SIA."
"......"
Two days later, with the groundwork complete, she immediately ordered the National Tax Service to relocate Tortilha Corporation's headquarters to San Marcos.
Normally this would have taken several days, but Isabella was the Presidential Chief of Staff and Director of the SIA. At the request of the behind-the-scenes power broker, the Commissioner of the National Tax Service stamped the documents without even reading them, and on her way back, she called to open an account at the San Marcos Reserve Bank.
With the receiving end ready, it was time to make the deposit.
"Well then, I'll be on my way."
"Enjoy some shopping while you're there."
She flew out to meet a transfer agent, sold off the securities in portions, split the proceeds across three ghost accounts in Panama, and finally succeeded in depositing everything into the San Marcos Reserve Bank account.
In any developed financial system, this kind of operation would have required serious explanations—it reeked of illegality. But here, the very agencies meant to oversee such things, the National Tax Service and the Ministry of Finance, rolled up their sleeves and helped, making the whole process remarkably easy.
Total amount: $6,509,889,408. They say money makes money, and sure enough, it had grown by three million dollars in just a few days.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Don't mention it."
"So, when should we start implementing the plan?"
"I'd like to take our time with this. No one in San Marcos has ever managed this much money before."
"True, the fate of the nation is at stake, so we should proceed carefully. How much time do you think we need?"
"I think we should divide the project into multiple tracks and approach each one as cautiously as possible."
"Hmm, wouldn't that take too long though? I'm someone who'll be leaving soon."
"Pardon?"
Isabella blinked.
"What do you mean by that..."
"I'm the Acting President. Obviously, once enough time passes, we'll hold an election, I'll hand over power to whoever wins, and I'll leave. Even with everything going on, I'm not someone who'll be staying more than a year."
Isabella wore an expression of bewilderment, quite unlike her usual self.
"...Are you being serious?"
"Of course I'm serious. Besides, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this several times."
"Hmm."
She furrowed her brow at what I thought was an obvious statement.
"I believe Your Excellency is mistaken."
"What? About what?"
"You cannot leave. No, you will not be able to leave."
"Why, why not?"
"The moment elections are held and a new president lifts martial law, the military factions we've been forcibly suppressing will make their move."
"Well... Commander Pedro will handle that, won't he?"
"Even with the authority of Martial Law Commander, he's barely maintaining a precarious balance. The moment martial law is lifted, there's a high chance of civil war breaking out."
"Uh... um... instead of being so pessimistic, maybe we could be a bit more hopeful..."
"Even if civil war doesn't break out, I cannot guarantee your safety."
"What?"
What the hell was she talking about?
"I, I don't understand. I haven't done anything wrong..."
"San Marcos hasn't had a change in leadership for the past fifty years. In a country like that, how do you think a new administration would try to gain popularity?"
"Well...?"
"By exposing the previous administration's incompetence and pinning crimes on them. 'I'm different. I'm not corrupt like the last regime.' That's the slogan. And the easiest way to do that... is to send the former leader to prison."
"......"
"Since President Juan is already dead and buried, there's a very high probability that the new regime will target you instead."
When she put it that way, it made sense.
'This is no ordinary situation.'
If that happened, my FIRE lifestyle would definitely be destroyed.
Although San Marcos and Korea hadn't signed an extradition treaty, if an official national request came through, Korea would have no choice but to consider it.
If I was unlucky, the Korean government might send me back to San Marcos.
A San Marcos prison? With no money, how well could they possibly run their prisons?
It would basically be hell.
"Wait, shouldn't you have told me this sooner?"
"I assumed you already knew all of this."
"......"
She nodded as if this worked out perfectly.
"Why don't you give up on returning home and reform San Marcos with me instead? As long as you hold power, you'll be safe."
"I, I was supposed to retire and live a leisurely FIRE lifestyle..."
"Work for about twenty years and that day will come. Once the people of San Marcos praise your achievements, even future administrations won't be able to touch you."
The scarlet rose smiled brightly and extended her hand to me.
"Now then, let's have another great day."
As if entranced, I took the rose's hand.
But why... did it feel like I'd been pricked by a thorn?
*
After implementing martial law, I lived each day as if it were forty-eight hours, measuring my time down to the minute.
I worked to establish order in Libertad, where more than half the population lived, and held daily cabinet meetings trying to address urgent issues.
But despite all these efforts, not much changed.
"This bridge has been under construction for eight years now. Why isn't it finished yet?" "The budget ran short..."
"The school lunch program for low-income students was running until two years ago. Why aren't we doing it this year?" "The funding was cut..."
"I hear the soldiers' conditions are terrible. Even if we can't touch their pay, at the very least we should feed them properly, don't you think?" "However..." "Why? No budget?" "Correct."
The national treasury was completely empty.
Even if you use people for free, basic human decency dictates you at least cover their travel expenses and buy them meals.
With no money, I couldn't even attempt anything.
The only silver lining was that SIA agents were keeping a sharp eye on things, significantly reducing the budget that would otherwise disappear into black holes along the way.
But from now on, things would be different.
"I will be allocating a special budget of two hundred million dollars. This will be used to address urgent issues, including the cranes at the Port of Libertad. Each department should submit their reports."
"...!"
Look at those stunned faces.
'If I'm going to rot away in San Marcos anyway, I might as well enjoy moments like this.'
In a country with an annual budget of less than 4.5 billion dollars, the sudden appearance of two hundred million had everyone looking like they might faint.
"Wh-where did such a huge sum come from..."
"Do I need to explain that to each and every one of you?"
"O-our apologies!"
Following Isabella's advice that it was best to keep things hidden during such chaotic times, even if it might come out later, I glossed over the details.
"As you all know, the SIA's recent budget audit uncovered embezzlement, and many officials who couldn't pay restitution have been sent to the mines."
"......"
The vice ministers hung their heads. Well, if they had any conscience at all, they would.
'What kind of country just takes back the principal and lets embezzlers go free?'
On top of that, if they didn't have enough money, they were given jobs at coal mines where they could earn relatively high wages to pay it back. At this point, San Marcos might as well be a paradise for corrupt officials.
Sure, SIA agents had a tendency to estimate embezzled amounts on the generous side, but if they didn't like it, they shouldn't have skimmed in the first place.
"Let me be clear. Anyone who plays games with this special budget will pay the price."
"......"
"I trust you all understand what I mean. That's all for today."
After dismissing the vice ministers, I went to find Isabella, who was working on Tortilha Corporation's first business venture.
"So how's it going? Have you given it some thought?"
"For now, I'm thinking we could try the textile industry."
"Textiles... not a bad choice."
She must have chosen textiles because she was looking for labor-intensive industries.
It wasn't a bad choice.
'Korea started the same way, importing sewing machines and beginning with garment factories.'
San Marcos had quite a few women who knew how to operate sewing machines, and this could significantly increase women's participation in the workforce, which had been limited until now.
However.
"Can we be competitive?"
China was the problem. How do you compete against a mindset that says they'll mass produce anything as long as there's even the slightest profit margin?
'But we couldn't exactly do business with no margins either.'
Although San Marcos had lower labor costs than China, which meant we could potentially compete on price, our technical capabilities were far inferior, making it difficult to be truly competitive.
"That concerns me too... but I was thinking we could try to get orders from the US market. We do have an advantage in shipping costs."
"How do you plan to handle sales?"
"First we'd produce samples, then approach clothing manufacturers with them. The SIA happens to have quite a few agents who speak English..."
"Hmm, that doesn't seem like a good approach."
"Pardon?"
"Even if we're the ones leading this company, we shouldn't rely on government agencies. It could affect SIA morale, and if things go wrong, the SIA's influence could end up extending into Tortilha."
"Ah... I hadn't thought about that."
"That's why I was thinking."
I met her eyes and spoke.
"What if we bought some boats instead?"
"By boats, are you thinking of the shipping industry?"
"Oh please, shipping? That's way too ambitious. We don't even have shipyards for repairs."
"Then..."
"I'm thinking fishing."
"Fish... ing? The catching-fish kind of fishing?"
"Yes, that fishing."
Isabella frowned. I couldn't blame her.
She had just proposed developing secondary industry, and here I was talking about fishing, which was primary industry.
But not all fishing is the same.
"If you look at the situation now, we have quite a few fishermen, but the boats they use for fishing are all coastal vessels under ten tons, right?"
"That's correct."
"So here's what I'm thinking... what if we purchased several hundred-ton fishing vessels and started commercial-scale fishing?"
"Would that... actually work?"
"It'll work. Isn't San Marcos the hometown of countless sailors? I understand there are quite a few people who got their navigator's licenses while working as crew in Chile or Mexico."
"But commercial fishing on that scale would need distribution channels..."
"That won't be difficult."
I looked at her puzzled expression and answered.
"We won't be consuming our catch domestically."
"Then...?"
"We'll sell it to Korea."
"What?"
"There are plenty of fish that aren't popular here but are sought after in Korea. For example... things like skate."
Jeong-woo hyungnim tried to do the same thing, shipping skate from Suriname to sell in Korea.