Propaganda Front

After finishing dinner, Enlise finally found an opportunity to tell Angell what she had overheard.

Angell looked unsurprised. "Ah, as expected, there are troublemakers like that everywhere!"

"So, Mr. Angell, you had already anticipated this?" Enlise said with admiration. "Is that why you insisted from the start on separating the Game Table from the school pilot program?"

"That's not quite it," Angell said vaguely.

It was just a psychological shadow.

Regardless, the day he stood by and listened to Mithril and the Gnomes from the Education Bureau arguing, with them throwing around words like "game" and "student" every other sentence, his instincts told him something was wrong.

There was a feeling that putting those two words together would lead to disaster.

Besides, thinking about it carefully, the Game Table, now that the price had been hiked, really wasn't suitable for children to play with anymore. After all, this world wasn't exactly wealthy, and there wasn't much money to be squeezed out of commoner children. However, as a "base," they were absolutely essential—they were part of the gaming experience for the "whales" in a "free-to-play" game, and they couldn't be abandoned or lost. Thus, Angell thought of his Magic Net project and took the opportunity to propose the Mana Base Station.

...This line of thinking was too scummy; saying it to a little girl would ruin his image.

Angell, of course, would not say it out loud.

When adults don't want children to notice their ulterior motives, shifting the topic to questioning the children's actions themselves is a way to put oneself in an absolutely invincible position.

That was exactly what Angell did. "Speaking of which, how did you hear this conversation?"

"Eh?" Enlise was stunned. She confessed honestly, "I went near the Game Table on Central Avenue today and saw two people pointing at it. One of them looked very familiar; he looked a lot like the one who persuaded Mr. Boris to produce the Ceremonial Magic Wand..."

"Ah, that swindler!" Mithril bristled and unsheathed its claws. "He actually dares to hang around nearby?!"

Angell stroked the fur on the back of Mithril's neck, his tone turning serious. "So you rashly approached them? That's too dangerous! The other party is an adult, you're just a child, and for all you know, they might have seen you before! If something were to happen..."

"It didn't!" Enlise said in a panic. "We used magic to eavesdrop from a distance!"

"That's still not okay... or rather, that's even worse!" Angell's attitude became even sterner. "It would be one thing if they were ordinary people, but if they were also Mages, or even a Black Robe like me, you would likely have been devoured by magical backlash on the spot!"

"I, I'm sorry," Enlise said, her eyes turning red.

But she felt somewhat aggrieved. "I, I just wanted to be of help to Mr. Angell..."

"Then grow up well and try to learn as much as you can," Angell reached out and patted the little girl's head. "You don't need to worry about these things. As a Black Robe, there are very few things in this world that can harm me, but I am very, very much in need of assistants who can actually help. Do you understand?"

"Mm!" Enlise nodded vigorously.

Angell breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

He was quite afraid of Enlise crying; he didn't know how to coax little girls.

But when it came to safety, Angell had to sternly warn her.

He should make a set of defensive Magic Items for Enlise next time.

Angell thought to himself.

Having lived two lifetimes, this was the first time he felt the sentiment of raising a daughter.

After Enlise's emotions had completely stabilized, Angell finally had the space to clarify the more detailed questions. "Where did you learn that eavesdropping magic? Does the school teach that?"

"No, there are no specific magic incantations in the textbooks." In fact, not only were there no dangerous incantations, but if a teacher used a fireball with a diameter exceeding one decimeter during a magic demonstration, it was considered a danger to children and carried the risk of a warning or even dismissal.

Enlise thought for a moment and realized Liti hadn't told her not to say anything, and "seeing it in a magic book bought from an Old Bookstore" was a normal way to acquire knowledge (probably), so there didn't seem to be anything to hide.

She said honestly, "Liti saw it in a book."

"Liti?" Angell paused. He actually had a deep impression of that child.

After all, that little girl was always at the top of the Game Table's Leaderboard, she was Enlise's friend, and on top of that, her mana was strange; Angell had indeed taken note of her.

"That Little Witch..." Angell recalled another one of his plans. "I feel like that child might be very suitable. Enlise, ask her next time if she's willing to film."

"Film?"

"..." Angell also stalled for a moment.

If this were his past life, saying that to a little girl would get him invited for a chat with the authorities, right?

Angell explained in a bit more detail, "I mean filming for Television. Hmm, the penetration rate of Television doesn't seem as high as Cinema yet, right? Then it would be more appropriate to film for Cinema... Yes, ask your classmate if she's willing to act in a movie."

"A movie?" Enlise asked, surprised.

She hadn't heard of Television, but she did know about movies.

There was a Cinema on Central Avenue with huge posters outside. Some looked like a lot of fun, and whenever a new movie was released, classmates would discuss (brag about) it in class.

Enlise had never seen a movie, so she felt a bit of longing.

It was just that ever since the Magic Gear started selling Game Tables, Enlise hadn't heard her classmates discuss movies anymore.

Enlise asked curiously, "Does Mr. Angell want to make a movie?"

"I have that idea. I need to sell off those backlogged magic wands."

As Angell said this, he looked unhappily at Mithril, who was lying on his lap and enjoying being petted.

Mithril let out a cold snort, arrogantly raised its chin, and signaled for its human back-scratcher to scratch its chin.

However, this was indeed the result of the discussion between Angell and Mithril regarding the budget for the Mana Base Station.

Everything had to start from when they were balancing the books—

For the past few days, Angell and Mithril had been auditing the Workshop's accounts and drafting a budget for its next phase of development.

However, Angell was not a financier by trade, and after crunching the numbers for several rounds, he finally snapped:

"Expenditures and profits are about the same, so let's just call it breaking even!"

"Breaking even, my foot! At this rate, we'll be in the red sooner or later!" Mithril felt agitated by Angell's massive, disorganized plans. Furthermore, this Argumentative Cat had vaguely identified the biggest point of contention: "Wait, if you're so determined to continue your research project, why bother inheriting the Workshop? Why not just use your three hundred thousand gold in savings? Or does the construction cost of that Chicken Farm exceed three hundred thousand?!"

One had to understand that land prices in this Plane were not particularly exorbitant; a luxury mansion in the Royal Capital could be bought for a mere thirty thousand gold.

Three hundred thousand gold was a massive investment.

Given Angell's passion for his research, wouldn't it be better to spend that money on his work? Even Mithril didn't believe that Angell held any sentimental attachment to this Workshop, where he had lived for only a little over a decade, especially now that all his relatives had passed away.

"Mostly, it was just a heat-of-the-moment decision when I saw the little girl's teary eyes the day I returned. Besides, I had no idea how much it cost to run a factory," Angell said, looking away. "And besides, three hundred thousand really isn't much for my project—"

"Three hundred thousand isn't much, meow?!" Mithril's fur stood on end.

"But! It's just building a base station; it doesn't take that much money!" Angell insisted.

"Forget the Chicken Farm, tell me how much your entire project costs in total?!"

"A little over a thousand..."

"Ten thousand?"

"Hundred million..." He remembered the investment for 5G was over a hundred billion, right?

"Over a hundred billion?! Why don't you just go rob the National Treasury instead?!"

Mithril finally couldn't help but swipe his claws at Angell.

Consequently, this led to the scene where Enlise returned home to find Angell covered in claw marks and blood.

However, Angell and Mithril reached an agreement as a result:

First, any money earned from the Workshop's projects could not be used "directly" for Angell's research; it could only be used to expand the Workshop's scale and improve the living standards and benefits for Angell, Enlise, and the other employees.

Second, the backlog of inventory in the warehouse would be counted as bad debt. Funds could be invested to sell off these items, and the profits from these specific goods would not be counted as Workshop earnings, but rather as Angell's private stash.

Finally, there would be no restrictions on how Angell used the money in his private stash, including his private magical research.

Simply put, for every piece of backlog inventory Angell managed to sell, he would have that much more in research funding.

(Discarded Magic Cores were excluded; those counted as materials, not backlog inventory.)

Currently, the only funds Angell possessed were the profits from the Carbonated Water.

The Happy Water (Angell) was, as expected, quite profitable.

Although sales of the Happy Water had not yet been fully rolled out, it had unexpectedly gained a group of die-hard fans. With the official opening of the Workshop, many merchants only asked for the price of the Game Tables, but showed a strong desire to purchase the Happy Water Maker. Many even bought dozens of cases of Happy Water wholesale, and he believed it would soon be seen for sale in every town across the Eastern Territory.

This money was enough to serve as a pilot for a school's Mana Base Station.

But if the pilot succeeded and he needed to scale up, Angell's funds would become very tight.

Angell, of course, didn't think there was any possibility of his Mana Base Station failing, so he began to plan for future funding needs in advance—for instance, by selling off that batch of fake wands.

These "Ceremonial Magic Wands" were useless to a Mage, but they were gorgeous, pretty, and safe. If he marketed them well and chose the right target demographic, there should still be people willing to buy them.

For example, little girls like Leisiphia.

(Mithril: Are you addicted to shearing the same sheep over and over?)

It didn't necessarily have to be someone as wealthy as Leisiphia; ordinary noble girls from the middle class and above would suffice.

The key was how to make these little girls interested in the wands.

But for this problem, there was a ready-made answer:

Magical Girl anime.

Or, Magical Girl tokusatsu.

This type of genre was essentially a commercial in itself, especially in Japan, the home of the Magical Girl. A large portion of their anime in the eighties and nineties existed purely to sell advertisements for toy factories.

However, these types of shows were genuinely loved by children. Even in the Plane where Angell lived in his previous life—a world without real magic—they had managed to capture the hearts of most little girls and certain creepy uncles, selling countless pieces of merchandise.

However, for Angell, the cost of animation was a bit too high.

Although Mithril agreed that Workshop profits could be used to sell off backlog inventory, if he asked for a huge sum of money to film an anime, he would be beaten to death. Furthermore, the professional requirements for the production staff were too high; Angell couldn't do it alone.

But a low-budget tokusatsu was feasible.

For example, BaXX Little Magic Fairy.

That was why Angell had brought up the idea of filming to Enlise.

"?" Enlise didn't understand the connection between fake wands and a movie.

However, out of trust for Angell, Enlise answered obediently: "I don't know if Liti would be interested in making a movie. I've never heard her mention it before, but I can go ask her."

"No rush," Angell thought for a moment before saying to Enlise, "My planning will take some time; it won't start that quickly. You don't need to ask her too early; just observe for now!"

After all, the base station for the first school hadn't even been built yet!

Moreover, filming a movie involved a mountain of equipment, personnel, and licensing issues.

Angell felt it was a hassle just thinking about it.

Enlise nodded, then paused, unable to stop herself from asking, "But why Liti? Why not Maya?"

Because that child was a genuine witch, Angell only just remembered the matter of the movie.

However, rather than answering the question, Angell was more curious as to why Enlise would ask that: "Maya? Why would you want her?"

"Because Maya is very pretty. I heard that movie actresses need to be very pretty," Enlise said.

"Is that child pretty?"

Enlise nodded earnestly: "Everyone praises Maya for being pretty, and everyone likes her. Especially when she goes to the market; even at shops she doesn't know, she gets an extra egg or some garlic thrown in when she buys things, so I often ask her to go shopping with me."

...I really feel like this standard for popularity is very strange!

Angell carefully recalled, but he still had no memory of the appearance of that child who possessed almost no magical talent.

But that's how social anxiety works.

Nine out of ten people with social anxiety can never remember other people's faces, which makes them exceptionally terrified of running into people they vaguely know while out and about.

If Angell had any impression of Maya at all, it was along the lines of "very noisy," "looks stupid," "low mana," and "if my Enlise hangs out with such a dim-witted kid, won't she be influenced?"

As for whether she was pretty or not, didn't all twelve-year-old brats look about the same?

Angell was too lazy to overthink it and said to Enlise: "If you think that child is fine, you can invite her to take a look when the time comes... Actually, if you yourself are interested, Enlise, that is also possible."

"Eh? But I haven't even watched a movie before..." Enlise said in a panic, "And didn't Mr. Angell say you hope I study hard so I can be your assistant when I grow up?"

"Filming a movie is also a form of helping; you can choose to do things you like and are good at," Angell said.

In truth, he hoped more that this child would have her own ideals.

After all, being responsible for someone else's growth and future was a heavy burden.

Angell did not want Enlise to feel regret because of him in the future.

(Thornmoon: Wait, what about me?!)

Unfortunately, little Enlise did not understand Angell's state of mind.

She nodded as if she understood, her mind filled only with the hope that she could be of use.

"Forget it, that's all a long way off!" Angell sighed at the sight and stretched his back. "At this stage, the first thing to do is to clean up those guys causing trouble in the shadows."

"But Mr. Angell, haven't you already made preparations?" Enlise asked, puzzled. "You've already separated the Game Table from the Mana Base Station; even if they smear the Game Table, it won't affect the Mana Base Station!"

"Those are two different things." Angell frowned. "If they fail, it's because they are incompetent! They want to attack me, so naturally, I must defend and even strike back! Besides, even if it doesn't affect the Mana Base Station, is it okay for them to affect the reputation of the Game Table?"

Only at times like this would Angell reveal the vindictive side of a Black Robe.

"Hmph, to think they actually want to smear Magic Gear," Angell sneered. "In this city, we are the home team!"

"Otherwise, why would I have spent three hundred thousand to inherit this workshop!"

...You said not long ago that it was because you felt sorry for Enlise.

Mithril, who was so comfortable it was nearly asleep, opened one eye and looked at its master with suspicion.

*

Angell's drive did not match the corporate slave nature he claimed to have.

The day after his conversation with Enlise, the residents of Cecilia City discovered that the Game Tables placed throughout the city had begun a massive promotional event.

--Any resident who owned alchemical products produced by Magic Gear could use those items to exchange for free game sessions at the Game Table.

The word "free" held a massive attraction.

This caused many residents who had previously been uninterested in the Game Table to go back and check their homes.

The results were astonishing.

In the Magic Capital, at least ninety-five percent of residents had Magic Gear products in their homes. Although they were things left behind by grandfathers or great-grandfathers, it still triggered a wave of nostalgia.

At this time, the Eastern Border Daily happened to publish an article called Reviewing Time, which pushed this wave of nostalgia to its peak, to the point where for the past week, even the reader letters in the newspaper were all about this topic:

"I only wanted to play one free game, but I ended up finding a magic sword. It seems my ancestors were adventurers too!" (23rd Street, Inner City, Mr. XX)

"My daughter was pestering me to find alchemical items in the house, and we ended up finding a Magic Thimble left by her grandmother. It actually still works." (Ms. N, who refused to disclose her address)

"There's actually a magic wand in the basement, but no one in my family is a mage? Could I be the one chosen by destiny?" (Teenager Z, living on the Twisted Road)

"Everyone is talking about magic items, but my house is different! I found a discarded iron maiden in our abandoned warehouse, and there's still blood seeping out of it! (Photo) (Photo) (Photo)" (Farmer XXX, on the outskirts of the city)

"Take this letter and the photos to the police station immediately! Go with a reporter to take a look!"

Hector, the Editor-in-Chief of the Eastern Border Daily, picked out the letter from the farmer and handed it to his assistant.

The assistant hurriedly took the letter and left.

Editor-in-Chief Hector was quite accustomed to such "unexpected incidents" in reader letters. If anything, it was because he liked this uncertainty that he continued to be in charge of the "Reader Letters" column after being promoted to Editor-in-Chief.

If you don't read these letters, you will never know how bizarre human beings can be.

Editor-in-Chief Hector let out a satisfied sigh in his heart and exclaimed loudly: "Lance's choice of material has improved this time! He grasped the focus of current events very precisely."

The office of the Eastern Border Daily was a huge room. At the very front was the Editor-in-Chief's seat, and below it were three long tables arranged according to the content handled. The editors sat on either side of the tables according to their seniority, so whenever the Editor-in-Chief said something loudly, everyone in the office could hear it.

Following Hector's remark, the sound of a chair colliding with a table echoed from the end of the third long table, accompanied by the Rookie Reporter's stuttering voice: "Th-thank you for the praise, Editor-in-Chief."

Lance didn't dare mention that this article had been written at the behest of Magic Gear.

Because of it, he had received a special guide for a Hidden Icon.

--Recently, at Magic Gear, figuring out how to find those hidden contents in the game and obtain icons had become the new joy for all Players.

Editor-in-Chief Hector was unaware of this.

Although he was not entirely satisfied with Lance's vague and meaningless answer, he still nodded in appreciation, considering Lance's recent performance and the many big scoops he had brought to the Newspaper Office.

However, there were those who held dissenting opinions.

The editor sitting at the head of the first table spoke up: "But, doesn't this feel a bit like an advertisement for Magic Gear? As a mass media outlet, we should uncover the truth and report the facts—"

"What truth?" Editor-in-Chief Hector's gaze sharpened.

The editor opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.

But Editor-in-Chief Hector did not give him the chance, deliberately speaking at a rapid pace the moment he opened his mouth: "Game Tables are addictive? Indulging in Game Tables is harmful to one's health? Someone spent their entire fortune on a Game Table?"

"This is—"

"Magic Gear has been reopened for less than half a month, and Game Tables have only recently appeared in major venues. Where exactly did you find these addicts?!" the Editor-in-Chief demanded. "If we publish these articles without evidence, how are we any different from a third-rate Newspaper like Sunrise News?!"

The editor's expression stiffened instantly.

Sunrise News was the second-largest circulating Newspaper in the Eastern Border region and had always been a rival to the Eastern Border Daily; bickering between the two had become a daily routine.

Recently, it was this very Newspaper that had published a series of negative articles regarding Game Tables.

Editor-in-Chief Hector held no punches when mentioning his rival: "That son of a bitch Ido has absolutely no journalistic instinct; he's just a fool who takes dirty money to run ads! And he's blind! Those messy tabloids are even more ridiculous! Cecilia Anecdotes writes these smear pieces while simultaneously printing game guides for the Game Tables! Go look at the trash cans near the Newsstand; they're all filled with people who bought the paper, threw away the front pages, and kept only the strategy column! Media outlets like them without any principles are doomed to fail sooner or later—"

While Editor-in-Chief Hector was in the middle of his long-winded rant, the telephone rang.

However, this did not affect the Editor-in-Chief's performance; he continued his vigorous tirade, his voice louder than the phone.

The editor who had spoken earlier didn't even dare to breathe.

Several minutes later, when the Editor-in-Chief paused to drink some water, Lance finally found an opportunity to speak: "Ed-Editor-in-Chief, the call just now said that Magic Gear has filed a lawsuit against Sunrise News for their false reporting, and the Mayor has expressed his support!"

"It's finally here, then?!" Hector slammed the table in excitement. "Report on this in detail immediately... By the way, is that article I asked you to write, 'Youth Without Talent Passes Magic Appraise Thanks to Game Table,' finished yet?! Put it alongside this report, and use the largest layout!"

...Editor-in-Chief, why do I feel like you're the one who took the bribe more than I did?

Lance thought suspiciously.