“Are you planning to handle all this debt somehow?!”
In the office filled with the cold night air, a woman with a face full of anguish tapped the desk lightly.
Thud!
A man slammed down a stack of documents as if throwing them.
“Do you even realize how much debt your family has because of your parents?!”
She knew.
Of course she knew.
Aria Renesti glanced at the scattered documents on the desk.
20 billion.
A staggering 20 billion Marni, marked in harsh red ink.
And for reference—this had arrived just this morning. Fresh, still warm news of disaster.
So now she had become buried in debt even here. Her head rang for a moment.
“Damn it! We’re about to inherit the title, and this is what happens?! Do you think I wanted to end up managing this cursed family after suffering like a dog?!”
“……”
“Say something, you crazy girl! What are we supposed to do about all this debt?!”
“…I see.”
We’re really screwed.
What am I supposed to do now…?
The fact that they hadn’t gone bankrupt already was impressive. At this rate, it would happen any moment anyway.
She picked up one of the documents.
[Demand Notice]
Bengsti Bank: 20 billion Marni
Repayment deadline: within 180 days of issuance
They want this paid back in six months?
She doubted her own eyes for a moment.
This was impossible unless someone had lost their mind.
“Holy sh*t, this is hopeless.”
“W-what did you just say?!”
The man stared blankly. The fact that the usually obedient, quiet girl had just cursed was enough to shock him.
He snapped back to his senses and suddenly trembled with rage.
Bang!
He slammed the desk again and shouted fiercely.
“Exactly! I told you to fix all this debt before I inherit the title, didn’t I?! Got it?! Damn it, you’re ruining the dignity of the entire noble house! What about my business?!”
“Uncle.”
“What now?!”
“If we can’t repay all this debt… what happens to us?”
“What?”
It was a strange question. No—it wasn’t even really a question.
His face twisted grotesquely.
“You really don’t know? We go bankrupt, of course. We’d have to sell the noble title too. And if that still isn’t enough? We get sold off as mine slaves. Huh? Someone like you wouldn’t even survive half a day—you’d be dead in no time.”
He made a gesture like cutting his own throat.
Aria Renesti asked cautiously.
“…It’s that bad?”
“Are you serious right now?! Once you’re dragged into the mines, it’s over! Dead for sure sooner or later! Damn it! Why did that idiot brother even guarantee the loan?!”
The man ranted in fury.
After spewing curses for a while, he left the room, insisting she solve everything somehow.
Crazy bastard. At least close the door.
Aria stood up quickly and shut the wide-open door.
She also locked it firmly in case he came barging back in.
When she returned to the desk, countless demand notices were waiting for her.
Tch.
She clicked her tongue and leaned forward.
“Haah…”
Then she pulled a large bag from under the desk. Opening the zipper revealed gold and valuables she had secretly collected bit by bit.
Aria Renesti hugged the bag with a satisfied expression.
Alright, if it’s come to this…
I’ll just run away!
…That’s what she had thought just thirty minutes ago.
Damn it!
Holding back tears, she stepped back into the estate.
As she entered the main building, a maid crossing the central hall approached her.
“Oh my, young lady. Were you out?”
“Huh? Y-yes…”
Out? Yes, she had been. It had been a fairly satisfying outing—aside from being caught in the middle.
They really are fast at catching on.
They had already imposed travel restrictions.
So people really think alike.
Anyone with massive debt was now temporarily banned from leaving. A legal measure created to prevent escapes like hers.
Now that the restriction was in place, she could not leave the capital until she repaid everything.
In other words, there was nowhere left to run.
What rotten luck.
After asking the maid to prepare a bath, Aria headed straight to the office. Most servants had already left due to the overwhelming debt.
At first, she considered sending the maid away too, but she insisted on staying out of loyalty.
Aria had planned to escape safely and contact her later after settling down.
“Haah.”
Contact? What a joke. Somehow, she was right back here.
She shoved the bag under the desk and collapsed into the chair.
I’m doomed.
It wasn’t completely impossible to leave.
There were always underground routes.
But they required an absurd amount of money.
Even this entire bag wouldn’t be enough.
And she had no one to ask for help.
That cursed guarantee ruined all my connections.
Her family’s reputation as business geniuses was already in the past. All that remained of the Renesti Count family was overwhelming debt. Who would lend money to a house on the verge of collapse?
She had even fought with acquaintances over those guarantees.
Turns out those people had excellent judgment, Father and Mother.
Aria clenched her fist in frustration.
Whatever the case, the situation was the worst it could be.
When she first possessed this body, things were fine. Living as a noble—honestly, it wasn’t bad.
But in the first year, the Count and Countess died of illness.
Shortly after, 20 billion Marni of debt crashed down on her like a storm.
Who said isekai was a cheat? Who said there were buffs?!
She wanted to scream.
“Seriously, this is not how it’s supposed to go!”
Aria Renesti was originally a minor extra in “Rise Again, New Wealth!”
More precisely, she was a supporting character who later clung to the main protagonist who becomes a tycoon.
In short—she was a nobody among nobodies.
And Benjamin is still broke too.
The protagonist, Benjamin Briggs.
After his own family collapses under debt, he eventually rises again through a revolutionary business idea and becomes successful.
That’s when Aria will later approach him for help, and he’ll lend a hand, saying she reminds him of his past self.
But that happens years later.
Right now, at age 21, Benjamin is also at his lowest point.
If she went to him now, she’d be the one helping him.
I can’t just wait.
A few months might be manageable—but it would take years for Benjamin to rise.
She couldn’t survive doing nothing that long.
“Besides, I only have six months.”
And she wasn’t alone. There were servants like Sophia who had stayed with her.
They hadn’t left even when she offered them money. People who stayed purely out of loyalty.
She couldn’t let them starve either.
Aria sat up properly again.
Live. If you’re alive, you have to keep living.
Yes. It was do-or-die now.
There was no point denying reality.
She knew better than anyone that there was no retreat left.
If things went wrong, she’d be sold as a mine slave. And her so-called family? The ones telling her to pay the debt were the same people who’d sell her off without hesitation.
It was every person for themselves.
Let’s pay the debt first.
She had already died from overwork in her previous life—she had no intention of becoming a slave in this one.
Six months, right?
Damn it. Even her credit card debt had been hard enough—now she had personal guarantees in another world.
Holding back tears, she took out a pen and paper.
[Tomorrow’s Plan]
Ask if the 20 billion can be split into installments!
Sell all dresses and jewelry!
“I’ll handle the immediate crisis first.”
Yes. Life is brutal reality.
“Impossible.”
Fck.*
But you didn’t have to say it so bluntly, sir.