After dinner, Enlise finally found a chance to tell Angell what she had overheard.
Angell looked unsurprised. "Ah, I knew it. There are troublemakers like that everywhere!"
"So you really saw this coming, Mr. Angell?" Enlise said admiringly. "That's why you said from the start that the Game Table and the school trial should be kept separate?"
"Not exactly," Angell replied ambiguously.
It was just a psychological scar.
Anyway, that day, he'd been listening nearby as Mithril and the Gnomes from the Education Bureau argued back and forth. They kept saying "games" and "students," and on instinct, he'd felt that the combination was a bad omen.
It felt like those two words together would bring disaster.
And, on second thought, the Game Table, after its latest price increase, really wasn't suitable for children anymore. This world wasn't very prosperous yet, after all, and there wasn't much money to squeeze out of the children of commoners. They were simply an essential part of the "player base," part of the gaming experience for paying players in a "free game." They couldn't be abandoned or allowed to drift away. So Angell had thought of his Mana Net project and brought up the Mana Base Station while he was at it.
...That way of thinking was too ruthless. Telling a little girl about it would ruin his image.
Of course, Angell wasn't about to say any of that.
When adults didn't want children to realize their motives, shifting the conversation to question the children's own actions was a surefire way to stay on top.
Angell did just that. "By the way, how did you overhear that conversation?"
"Huh?" Enlise paused, then answered honestly. "I went to the Game Tables near Central Avenue today. I saw two people pointing at them and whispering. One of them looked familiar, like the man who tried to convince Mr. Boris to produce Ceremonial Magic Wands..."
"Ah, that scammer!" Mithril bristled, baring her claws. "He still dares to wander around here?!"
Angell stroked the fur on the back of Mithril's neck, then turned serious. "So you went right up to them? That was dangerous! They're adults, while you're just a child. And they might have seen you before! If anything had happened..."
"No!" Enlise hurriedly said. "We used magic to listen from a distance!"
"That's no better... Actually, that's even worse!" Angell's tone grew sterner. "If they're ordinary people, fine. But if they're Mages too—even Black Robes like me—you could've been devoured by the backlash from your own magic on the spot!"
"I-I'm sorry," Enlise said, her eyes reddening.
But she couldn't help feeling a little hurt. "I... I just wanted to help you, Mr. Angell..."
"Then focus on growing up well and learning as much as you can." Angell reached out and patted the little girl on the head. "You don't need to worry about things like this. As a Black Robe, there's very little in this world that can hurt me. But I'm desperately short of assistants who can actually help me. Do you understand?"
"Mm!" Enlise nodded firmly.
Angell let out a sigh of relief.
He was afraid of Enlise bursting into tears. He had no idea how to comfort little girls.
But when it came to her safety, he had no choice but to warn her sternly.
He should make Enlise a set of defensive Magic Items next time.
That was what Angell thought.
He'd lived two lifetimes, but this was the first time he'd felt what it was like to raise a daughter.
Only after Enlise had completely calmed down did Angell have a chance to ask about the details. "Where did you learn that spell for listening in? Do they teach that at school?"
"No, there aren't any specific Magic Spells in the textbooks." In fact, there were no dangerous spells at all. If a teacher used a fireball more than a decimeter in diameter during a demonstration, it was considered harmful to children and could earn them a warning or even get them dismissed.
Enlise thought it over. Liti hadn't told her to keep it secret, and "I saw it in a magic book from the Old Bookstore" was a perfectly normal way to learn something (probably). There didn't seem to be any reason to hide it.
So she answered honestly. "Liti saw it in a book."
"Liti?" Angell paused. He had a strong impression of that child, too.
After all, the little girl was always near the top of the Game Table Leaderboard, and she was Enlise's friend. On top of that, her Mana was strange. Angell had indeed paid attention to her.
"That little Witch..." Angell remembered another plan of his. "She seems like she might be a good fit. Enlise, next time you see her, ask if she'd be willing to act in a movie."
"Act in a movie?"
"..." Angell faltered too.
In his previous life, wouldn't saying that to a little girl have gotten him taken in for questioning?
Angell explained a little more. "I mean, make a Television show. Hmm, Television doesn't seem as widespread as Movies yet, does it? Then a Movie might be better... Right, ask your classmate if she'd be willing to act in a Movie."
"A Movie?" Enlise exclaimed in surprise.
She'd never heard of Television, but she knew what Movies were.
There was a Movie theater on Central Avenue, with enormous posters outside. Some of them looked like a lot of fun. Whenever a new Movie came out, her classmates would discuss it in class (and show off).
Enlise had never seen a Movie, so she was a little envious.
But ever since the Magic Gear started selling Game Tables, Enlise seemed to have stopped hearing her classmates talk about Movies.
Enlise asked curiously, "Are you going to make a Movie, Mr. Angell?"
"I'm thinking about it. I want to sell those Magic Wands sitting in storage."
As he spoke, Angell glanced unhappily at Mithril, who was sprawled across his lap, enjoying her petting.
Mithril snorted and raised her chin arrogantly, indicating that the human-shaped scratching post should scratch under her chin.
But that really was the conclusion Angell and Mithril had reached while discussing the budget for the Mana Base Station.
It all started when they went over the accounts—
*
For the past few days, Angell and Mithril had been reviewing the Workshop's accounts and budgeting for its next stage of development.
But Angell had no financial background. After going over the numbers several times, he finally lost his temper.
"Expenses and profits are about the same. Let's just call it breaking even!"
"Breaking even, my tail! At this rate, we'll be in the red sooner or later!" Mithril was also getting frustrated by Angell's sprawling, chaotic plans. And this argumentative cat had spotted the biggest problem. "Wait, if you're so determined to keep working on your research, why did you inherit the Workshop? Why not just use the three hundred thousand gold in your savings? Or does building that Chicken Farm cost more than three hundred thousand?!"
Land in this Plane wasn't terribly expensive, after all. Even a mansion in the Royal Capital could be bought for just thirty thousand gold.
Three hundred thousand gold was a huge investment.
Given Angell's enthusiasm for his research, wouldn't it be better to spend that money on it? Even Mithril couldn't imagine Angell feeling much attachment to this Workshop, where he'd lived for only a little over ten years, now that all his family had passed away.
"More or less, I saw the little girl with tears in her eyes when I got back that day and made a rash decision. Besides, I didn't know how much it cost to open a factory." Angell looked away. "And three hundred thousand really isn't much for my project—"
"Three hundred thousand isn't much, meow?!" Mithril bristled.
"But! It doesn't cost that much to build a single Base Station!" Angell said.
"Forget the Chicken Farm. How much is your entire project going to cost?!"
"A little over a thousand..."
"Million?"
"Billion..." Wasn't the investment in 5G over a hundred billion?
"A hundred billion?! Why not just rob the National Treasury?!"
Mithril finally couldn't take it anymore and swiped at Angell.
*
And that was how Enlise came home to find Angell covered in bloody claw marks.
But Angell and Mithril had also reached an agreement as a result:
First, the money earned from all the Workshop's projects couldn't be used "directly" for Angell's research. It could only go toward expanding the Workshop and improving the living conditions and benefits of Angell, Enlise, and the other employees.
Second, goods left sitting in the warehouse would be counted as bad debt. Money could be invested to sell off those goods, but the profits wouldn't count toward the Workshop's earnings. They would go into Angell's personal fund instead.
Finally, Angell could use the money in that personal fund however he wanted, including for his private magical research.
In short, however much Angell earned from selling those goods in storage would be his research budget.
(Discarded Magic Cores were excluded. Those counted as materials, not unsold goods.)
The only money Angell currently had was the profits from the Carbonated Water.
As expected, Happy Water (Angell's) was quite profitable.
Although Happy Water hadn't been distributed everywhere yet, it had unexpectedly gained a number of devoted fans. When the Workshop officially opened this time, plenty of merchants had only asked the price of the Game Table, but showed a keen interest in buying the Happy Water Makers. Quite a few had even bought dozens of crates of Happy Water wholesale. Before long, it would surely be on sale in towns across the Eastern Territory.
That money was enough for a Base Station trial at a school.
But if the trial succeeded and they needed to expand later, Angell's funds would be stretched thin.
Angell didn't think there was any chance his Mana Base Station would fail, of course, so he was already thinking ahead about how to raise money later. For example, he could sell the fake Magic Wands.
These "Ceremonial Magic Wands" were useless to Mages, but they were fancy, pretty, and safe. With the right advertising and the right target audience, someone ought to buy them.
For example, little girls like Leisiphia.
(Mithril: Are you seriously going to keep fleecing the same sheep?)
The girls didn't have to be as wealthy as Leisiphia. Ordinary girls from the upper-middle nobility would do.
The main question was how to make those little girls interested in Magic Wands.
Fortunately, there was an obvious answer:
Magical Girl anime.
Or Magical Girl tokusatsu.
This genre was basically advertising to begin with, especially in Japan, the home of Magical Girls. A whole slew of anime in the eighties and nineties had been made purely to advertise toys.
But those shows had also been genuinely beloved by children. Even in the world of Angell's previous life, where real magic didn't exist, they had won over most little girls—and certain creepy old men—and sold an astonishing number of related products.
But animation was too expensive for Angell.
Although Mithril had agreed that the Workshop's profits could be used to sell the goods in storage, if Angell asked for a huge sum to make an animated film, he'd get beaten to death. Besides, it required a level of expertise that Angell couldn't provide on his own.
But low-budget tokusatsu was still possible.
For example, BaXX Little Magic Fairy.
That was why Angell had brought up acting in a movie to Enlise.
"?" Enlise didn't understand what fake Magic Wands had to do with Movies.
But she trusted Angell, so she answered obediently. "I don't know if Liti would be interested in acting in a Movie. She's never mentioned it before, but I can ask her."
"No rush." Angell thought it over, then said, "I'll need some time to plan. We won't be starting anytime soon. You don't have to ask her just yet. Just keep an eye on things for now!"
After all, they hadn't even built the Base Station at the first school yet!
And making a Movie meant dealing with a whole host of equipment, personnel, and licensing issues.
Just thinking about it gave Angell a headache.
Enlise nodded, then paused. She couldn't help asking, "But why Liti? Why not Maya?"
Because that child was a genuine Witch, Angell had remembered the idea of making a Movie.
But instead of answering, Angell was more curious about why Enlise had asked. "Maya? Why her?"
"Because Maya's pretty. I heard the actresses in Movies have to be pretty," Enlise said.
"Is she pretty?"
Enlise nodded earnestly. "Everyone says Maya's pretty. Everyone likes her, too. Especially when we go to the market. Even shops she's never been to give her an extra egg or some garlic or something when she buys things. So I often ask her to come shopping with me."
...That was a strange measure of popularity!
Angell tried to remember what the girl with practically no magical talent looked like, but came up blank.
But that was what being socially anxious was like.
Nine out of ten socially anxious people couldn't remember what other people looked like, so they were especially terrified of running into someone they vaguely knew in public.
If Angell had to say what he remembered about Maya, it was probably "noisy," "seems kind of stupid," "low Mana," and "I hope my Enlise doesn't catch something from hanging around with an idiot like her."
As for whether she was pretty, didn't all twelve-year-olds look more or less the same?
Angell couldn't be bothered to think about it. He told Enlise, "If you think she might be a good fit, you can invite her to come take a look. Actually, if you're interested, Enlise, you could do it too."
"Huh? But I've never even seen a Movie..." Enlise said anxiously. "And didn't you say you wanted me to study hard and become your assistant when I grew up?"
"Making a Movie would be helping, too. You can choose to do what you like and what you're good at," Angell said.
Actually, he hoped the girl would have dreams of her own.
After all, taking responsibility for someone else's growth and future was a heavy burden.
Angell didn't want Enlise to regret her choices because of him someday.
(Thorn Moon: Wait, what about me?!)
Unfortunately, little Enlise didn't understand how Angell felt.
She nodded, only half understanding, her mind full of thoughts about how she could be useful.
"Forget it, that's all a long way off!" Angell said with a sigh when he saw her expression. He stretched. "For now, we need to deal with the people scheming in the shadows."
"? But, Mr. Angell, haven't you already prepared for this?" Enlise asked, confused. "You've separated the Game Table from the Mana Base Station. Even if they smear the Game Table, it won't affect the Mana Base Station!"
"That's a separate matter." Angell frowned. "If they fail, it'll only be because they're incompetent! They're trying to attack me, so of course I'll defend myself—and even strike back! Besides, even if they can't affect the Mana Base Station, does that mean it's fine for them to damage the Game Table's reputation?"
Only at times like this did Angell show the vengeful side of a Black Robe.
"Hah, they actually think they can smear the Magic Gear?" Angell sneered. "In this city, we're the ones on home turf!"
"Otherwise, why would I spend three hundred thousand inheriting this Workshop?"
...Weren't you just saying a little while ago that it was because you felt sorry for Enlise?
Mithril, nearly asleep from all the comfortable petting, opened one eye and eyed her master suspiciously.
*
Angell's ability to act didn't match the Corporate Slave nature he claimed to have.
The day after he and Enlise had this conversation, the residents of Cecilia City noticed that Game Tables placed throughout the city had begun a huge promotional campaign.
—Any resident with an alchemical product made by the Magic Gear at home could trade it in for free Game Table sessions.
The word "free" had a powerful allure.
Even residents who hadn't been interested in the Game Tables couldn't help going home to check.
The results were astonishing.
In the Magic Capital, at least ninety-five percent of residents had some product made by the Magic Gear at home. Most of them had been left behind by their grandfathers, or by their grandfathers' grandfathers, and the promotion sparked a wave of nostalgia.
At just that moment, the Eastern Border Daily happened to publish an article called Reviewing Time. It pushed the wave of nostalgia to its peak, so much so that even the Reader Letters published over the past week had all been about it:
"I only meant to play one free game, but I found a Magic Sword. Looks like my ancestors were adventurers too!" (XXX from Street 23 in the Inner City)
"My daughter kept insisting on looking for alchemical items at home, and ended up finding the Magic Thimble her grandmother left behind. It still works!" (Ms. N, who preferred not to give her address)
"There's a Magic Wand in my basement, but no one in my family is a Mage? Could I be the chosen one?" (Z, a boy living on Twisted Road)
"Everyone's talking about magical items, but my family's different! I found an abandoned iron maiden in our old warehouse, and there's blood seeping out of it! (Photo) (Photo) (Photo)" (XXX, a farmer in the outskirts)
"Quick, forward this letter and the photos to the police station! Go take a look with a reporter!"
The Editor-in-Chief of the Eastern Border Daily, Hector, picked out the farmer's letter and handed it to his assistant.
The assistant hurriedly took the letter and left.
Editor-in-Chief Hector was quite used to "breaking news" in Reader Letters like this. In fact, it was because he enjoyed the unpredictability that he'd continued overseeing the "Reader Letters" column after being promoted to Editor-in-Chief.
If you didn't read these letters, you'd never know how bizarre human beings could be.
Editor-in-Chief Hector sighed contentedly to himself, then exclaimed, "Lance's choice of material has improved! He's captured the public's attention with perfect timing."
The Eastern Border Daily's office was a vast room. At the front was the Editor-in-Chief's desk, with three long tables below it, divided according to their subject areas. Editors sat on either side of the tables, arranged by seniority. So whenever the Editor-in-Chief spoke loudly, everyone in the office could hear him.
Now that Hector had said that, the sound of chairs scraping and Rookie Reporter's stammering voice came from the end of the third long table. "Th-thank you for the praise, Editor-in-Chief."
Lance hadn't dared say that he'd written the article at Magic Gear's request.
As a result, he'd received a special guide to a hidden icon.
—Recently, finding hidden content in games and unlocking icons had become a new source of fun for all the Players at Magic Gear.
Editor-in-Chief Hector didn't know this.
Although he wasn't very satisfied with Lance's vague and meaningless answer, Lance had been doing well lately and had brought the Newspaper Office plenty of big scoops. So Hector nodded in approval.
However, some people disagreed.
The editor sitting at the very head of the first table said, "But doesn't this seem a little like an advertisement for Magic Gear? As a mass media outlet, we should expose the truth and report the facts—"
"What truth?" Editor-in-Chief Hector's gaze sharpened.
The editor opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.
But Editor-in-Chief Hector gave him no chance. The moment the editor was about to speak, Hector deliberately launched into a rapid-fire tirade. "That the Game Table is addictive? That playing it too much is bad for your health? That someone spent all their money on a Game Table?"
"This is—"
"Magic Gear only reopened less than half a month ago, and the Game Table only recently appeared in venues across the region. Where did you find all those addicts?!" the Editor-in-Chief demanded. "If we publish articles like that without evidence, how are we any different from a third-rate newspaper like Sunrise News?!"
The editor's expression stiffened.
Sunrise News was the second most widely circulated newspaper in the Eastern Territory. It had always been a rival of the Eastern Border Daily, and the two papers constantly took shots at each other.
Recently, that very paper had published a series of negative articles about the Game Table.
Editor-in-Chief Hector didn't hold back when he brought up their rival. "That bastard Ido has absolutely no news sense. He's a fool who only knows how to take bribes and run ads! And he's blind, to boot! Those other trashy little papers are even more ridiculous! Cecilia Anecdotes is publishing articles that smear the Game Table while also printing game guides for it! Just look in the trash cans near the Newsstands. They're full of newspapers people bought, tore off the first few pages, and threw away, keeping only the guide section! Media outlets without any principles like them are doomed to fail—"
While Editor-in-Chief Hector was in the middle of his long-winded tirade, the telephone rang.
But that didn't stop the Editor-in-Chief from letting loose. He kept on cursing at full volume, even louder than the phone.
The editor who had spoken earlier didn't even dare breathe.
Several minutes later, the Editor-in-Chief paused to drink some water, and Lance finally got a chance to speak. "E-Editor-in-Chief, the call just came in. Magic Gear has filed a lawsuit against Sunrise News for its false reporting, and the mayor has voiced his support!"
"So it's finally happened?!" Hector slapped the table excitedly. "Get a detailed report on this right away... Oh, and have you finished the article I asked you to write last time, 'Boy With No Talent Passes Magical Appraisal Thanks to the Game Table'? Run it alongside this report and give them the most space on the page!"
...Editor-in-Chief, why do I feel like you're the one who's been paid off?
Lance thought suspiciously.