A New Strategy

"This is Pilam's usual tactic: using his sales network to dump products in massive quantities, then crushing his opponents with his deep pockets."

Antoine sighed as he looked at several crates of cola in the corner of the room, goods that were about to be shipped to Priest.

"I know, Mr. Antoine. That's why I told you before that Pilam might send someone to steal samples of the cola."

Rainer shrugged and spoke slowly. By the time he and Claire arrived at Antoine's workshop, it was already nearing evening, yet Antoine was still working continuously.

Sanderson's actions had been within Rainer's expectations all along, so he had not asked Antoine to stop him. On the one hand, once the cola went on sale, it was bound to draw Pilam's attention. They only needed to buy a bottle to learn most of its ingredients, so keeping it secret was meaningless. On the other hand, this was laying the groundwork for the next stage of the plan.

"From the current situation, they still don't know how to produce this gas. The cola they've made is nothing but an inferior imitation. Pilam definitely won't let this go. He'll probably send someone to steal the alchemy array within the next couple of days."

As he spoke, Rainer glanced at the assembly line still in operation.

"Th-That's a crime!"

Claire said angrily. She despised such despicable behavior more than anything.

"Of course it's a crime. Don't forget, we registered a trade secret. As long as Pilam steals our production line, we can apply for arbitration."

As Rainer spoke, he turned to Antoine again.

"Mr. Antoine, is there any way to add a personal mark to the current alchemy array without it being noticed?"

"I've never tried it, but in theory, it should be possible."

Antoine did not know what Rainer intended, but he knew that many mages embedded their own signatures into the arrays they designed. Such signatures were part of the spell model itself and could not be separated from it. Their purpose was to serve as proof of authorship if the spell was plagiarized.

This method was difficult, and not every kind of magic could accommodate it, but it was extremely discreet. There were many ways to verify a signature, and it was hard to detect.

"Could it be that you want to—?"

"That's right. Just as you guessed."

Rainer nodded. If they tried to force secrecy, an enraged Pilam might do something dangerous that could harm Mr. Antoine. Besides, once Rainer's paper was published, the existence of carbon dioxide would no longer be a secret. Strictly speaking, they had no need to spend such a tremendous price protecting the production line.

Since that was the case, it would be better to turn the board around and set a trap for Pilam on the premise that the production line would be stolen.

Once Pilam invested in production, they could apply to the Magic Association and the City Councilors for arbitration and ruin his reputation.

Rainer was not worried in the slightest that Pilam might collude with the nobility. Pilam himself was not a noble, and having grown up in the Ian Gray Family, Rainer knew very well that a mere first-rank mage was not considered particularly distinguished among many nobles. They would not necessarily speak up to defend someone like that "commoner."

As for the mages, they loathed this sort of theft even more. The harshest punishment was even the outright revocation of a mage's rank.

His conversations with Oriana had also informed Rainer that even within Priest, the City Councilors were dissatisfied with Pilam. They feared that this merchant would one day try to lord it over them.

With the circumstances as they were, Rainer had come up with this plan.

"But if Pilam gets the production line, he'll be able to make cola that tastes more or less the same. Combined with his low-price dumping strategy, how can we beat him?"

Although Antoine understood Rainer's intentions, he was still deeply worried.

"Have you forgotten what I told you at the beginning? The value of a brand."

Rainer did not seem anxious at all, because he still had a backup plan.

"Actually, I came this time to bring you a whole new set of products, Mr. Antoine."

"A whole new set of products?"

Even Claire was confused. Before they had set out, she had seen Rainer put several things into his bag. Were those the new products?

Rainer did not explain further. From the bag, which had been enchanted to reduce weight and compress space, he took out four bottles of liquid.

One was clearly orange juice, its orange liquid gleaming with golden light in the setting sun.

Another was a colorless, transparent liquid that looked like ordinary cold water.

There was also a faintly yellow-green liquid whose exact nature was unclear.

The last bottle contained a black liquid similar to cola.

"What are these?"

Antoine had a vague guess, but he still asked aloud, hoping for confirmation.

"This is orange juice. This is sugar water with lemon juice added. And this bottle is apple juice."

Three drinks with different flavors. If carbon dioxide were added to them, they would become a line of beverages renowned across Earth.

The brand value Rainer spoke of was to make cola, this kind of carbonated drink, into a true product line. Customers would not only be able to drink cola, but sodas in other flavors as well, choosing according to their needs.

"And this one?"

Claire pointed at the final bottle of black liquid.

"This is cola too, but with some adjustments to the formula. It has extremely little sugar, yet its sweetness hasn't been greatly affected. In other words, it's sugar-free cola."

As Rainer explained, this special beverage, called Zero Cola on Earth, had been made for people who loved carbonated drinks but, for personal reasons, did not want to consume high-calorie foods. Some people hated it, while others liked it quite a lot.

By launching four sub-products at once, Rainer intended to cover the vast majority of consumers. Of course, this was only one link in the product chain. More importantly, he wanted to establish the brand image of New Moon Cola.

"But Pilam Alchemy Workshop will be able to copy these things soon enough."

Antoine raised the question. He could understand Rainer's idea, but he could not see the headmaster's true intentions.

"That's right. I want Pilam to produce them in large quantities, to pour all his efforts into production."

Rainer revealed a mysterious smile that Claire found somewhat frightening.

"Only when he is completely invested in it will we reveal our real trump card."

"Trump card?"

Claire did not understand Rainer's words and tilted her head as she asked.

Rainer then roughly explained the next step of his plan. The two listened intently, and after he finished, both of them fell silent.

"Will this... really work?"

The plan was simply too far ahead of its time, and Antoine had no confidence in it at all.

"Though it sounds good, isn't it a little too bold?"

Claire asked skeptically as well. To be honest, Rainer's plan did tempt her somewhat, but with no precedent to rely on, she still did not feel at ease.

"Everyone, please trust me. We are creating history."

Rainer offered no further explanation and simply said this.