Today was Charles's day off, a rare gift from Gallieni himself.
Gallieni even called to say, "Go ho and take a break, Brigadier General. Your fans are protesting outside HQ!"
And it was true.
It started with soone from the town of Dawaz sharing, "Charles hasn't been ho since he stopped the Germans' gas attack."
The rumor spread quickly, becoming exaggerated with each retelling. So even claid he hadn't been ho since the Gallipoli campaign.
The public naturally assud Gallieni was the reason, so thousands of people gathered in front of the City Defense HQ, holding banners in protest:
"Charles deserves a break—he's barely eighteen."
"If we need Charles to win battles, we get it. But it's a stalemate now, so why keep working him to death?"
"Can't France survive without him? Does he have to carry the entire nation?"
Left with no choice, Gallieni called Charles and granted him the day off.
To support Charles even further, Gallieni addressed the crowd from the balcony:
"Ladies and gentlen, I want to clarify a few things.
"I never withheld leave from Charles.
"The only reason he hasn't gone ho is that he chose to stay with his troops. It was his decision!"
The crowd broke into admiration:
"What a remarkable young man!"
"Charles is the future of France. We can't lose him."
"If all officers were like him, France would be great again!"
Charles heard about the situation and was speechless. Protests seed to be a national pasti in France, but even he hadn't expected sothing like a vacation to cause such an uproar.
In the small town of Dawaz, Charles barely had ti to step out of the car before Camille rushed from the house, wrapping her arms around him.
Pulling back, she looked him over thoroughly, checking his arms, legs, and especially his eyes. Only after ensuring he was unhard did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"I heard gas can damage your eyes," Camille said, still shaken. "Several n in town ca back blind."
"Don't worry, Mom," Charles reassured her. "I was wearing a gas mask."
Deyoka clapped a hand on Charles's shoulder as they walked inside, pride in his smile. "So, you really fought off the Germans through that gas attack?"
"Yes," Charles answered, casting a cautious glance at Camille, worried she might still be uneasy about it.
"Don't worry," Deyoka said with a smile. "She's co to terms with it." Content originally cos from NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Charles looked to Camille, a little skeptical.
Camille sighed and shrugged. "We're all in danger, Charles. We can't avoid it, I understand that."
Camille had finally accepted Charles's role after a heart-to-heart with Deyoka.
"Do you know why Charles has been reluctant to co ho?" Deyoka had asked her. "He's probably afraid you'll try to keep him from going back to the front."
Camille had paused, dishes half-washed, considering this.
"It's his duty, Camille," Deyoka had continued.
"He's a natural-born strategist. When he goes to the front, it ans victory, and that saves countless lives—including ours."
"When the Germans reached Dawaz, it was Charles's invention, the tank, that saved our lives and those of our neighbors."
"We can't, and shouldn't, stop him."
Camille thought of the neighborhood children. Many of them were only alive because Charles had faced down the German gas forces, even though so had returned blind. Neighbors had co by one after another to thank them, often in tears.
She realized that without Charles's work, the outco might have been very different. From then on, Camille resolved to be supportive of his calling.
Learning all this brought Charles a sense of relief he hadn't expected. No longer weighed down by that worry, he felt free.
"Motorcycle factory, 570,000 francs."
"Tractor factory, 1.21 million francs."
"Aircraft manufacturing, 3.29 million francs."
At the dinner table, Deyoka read from the account book, tallying up their assets.
The final total left Charles in shock. Including the inco from industrial patents and dividends from the Saint-Étienne Arms Factory, his monthly net inco now stood at 21.87 million francs, with total assets close to 100 million.
"If it weren't for that 30 million we spent buying steel mills last month, we'd already be over 100 million," Deyoka remarked with a touch of regret.
Charles, however, felt quite the opposite. Having so much money on hand made him nervous—not because of the sheer amount, though that was part of it.
"We need to spend it," Charles said.
"What?" Deyoka looked at him, baffled. Who in their right mind would feel burdened by money and be so eager to spend it?
"Money loses value, Father," Charles reminded him. "In warti, labor goes to the front, and resources are depleted on the battlefield. Inflation is inevitable."
"Oh," Deyoka nodded, understanding. "You're right. Soon enough, that billion won't be worth a billion. It could drop to half, or even less."
But he hesitated. "But…how exactly do we spend it?"
Charles didn't hesitate. "Convert it to dollars."
The United States was the country least affected by the war among the Allies, with its dostic economy largely untouched.
More importantly, Arica was on its way to establishing the "dollar supremacy," which ant that the dollar's value would continue to grow in credibility and strength for a long ti.
(Note: The roots of dollar supremacy can be traced to January 1918, when President Wilson outlined his "Fourteen Points" plan, aiming to establish a U.S.-led system of international trade and alliances after the war. Though so argue this supremacy began after WWII with the gold standard under the Bretton Woods system, it was already taking shape by the end of WWI.)
Deyoka agreed with the plan, nodding in approval.
"One more thing," Charles added. "I heard that the insurance industry is struggling recently?"
"It is," Deyoka confird. "The Germans bombed Dunkirk, sparking a fire that bankrupted two insurance companies and left three others barely hanging on."
The Germans had picked up on the French tactic of aerial bombardnt and promptly unleashed it on Dunkirk.
"With the war on, insurance is a high-risk business," Deyoka added.
Charles didn't respond, just looked at Deyoka with a calm, steady gaze.
Deyoka paused, slowly realizing what Charles was getting at. Shocked, he turned to his son. "You're not thinking of investing in insurance, are you?"
"Why not?" Charles replied. "If I know military plans, then the risk is already much lower."
But that wasn't the real reason.
What Charles truly ant was: If I know how the war will unfold, investing in insurance is virtually risk-free.
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