Cooperation

Mr. Yara paced the classroom, brandishing his teaching pointer.

He was ready to snatch up any little brat he caught daydreaming to make them stand in the corner, or, for more serious offenses, to rap their palms.

This was his usual routine.

Mr. Yara saw nothing wrong with corporal punishment; on the contrary, he felt today's children were far too lucky.

He remembered when he was sent to the Mage Tower; there were no teachers hovering over them during meditation. Only the seniors would offer a word or two when they had the time, and everything else relied on self-study. Only those with exceptional talent could truly achieve anything, and they had to start from the bottom as menial apprentices.

Yet, compared to the average person, Yara had been considered talented enough to enter the Mage Tower.

Only those with mana talent at the Beginner Mage level or higher could trigger the Mana Detection Crystal of the Mage Tower.

This meant that without any formal magic education or even a need for magic Appraise, Yara's talent had already determined his lower limit to be a Beginner Mage before he even set foot in the tower.

In the Magic Era, someone with Yara's talent would never have given up the chance to become a mage, even if it meant dying in the Mage Tower.

But Yara had given it up.

His mother's health was poor, and she needed someone to look after her.

In the Magic Era, he could have just toughed out the first few years; once he became a Beginner Mage, there were plenty of places willing to hire him. Whether as an adventurer or a consultant mage for a minor noble family, he could have earned a large sum of money to properly care for his kin.

But in this era, let alone a Beginner Mage, even an Intermediate Mage couldn't find work outside the Mage Tower. Inside the tower, without the potential to become a High-level Mage, there was no future to speak of—one would be stuck as an assistant for life on a fixed salary, with their freedom of movement restricted, unable to leave the tower easily.

By comparison, with his credentials from the Mage Tower, Yara could easily find a job as a magic teacher. Though the pay was less than what he might have earned in the tower, at least he could care for his family at any time, and it was easier to find a partner.

After weighing his options, Yara had no choice but to abandon his long-held dream of being a mage.

In fact, in this era, most reserve mages among the commoners with low-to-mid-tier talent ended up this way. Only two types of people were willing to stay in the Mage Tower: orphans who truly had no money, no parents, and no attachment to the outside world, or children of wealthy nobles who didn't need to work and chose to continue their studies just to obtain a prestigious mage qualification.

Of course, he was certainly not content, so Yara transferred his hopes onto his students, wishing to cultivate a few mage talents.

But these little brats were simply—[Censored].

Mr. Yara felt he wasn't educating humans, but a group of monkeys.

However, it was indeed too early!

Even in the Magic Era, the age for "Magic Germination" was twelve—exactly the third grade when meditation classes began to decrease. Before that, a child's magic potential was unfixed, and even the Mage Tower's detection crystal couldn't determine a talent value.

Moreover, regardless of talent, a young child's comprehension was limited; they didn't understand what mana was. Add to that their poor stamina and inability to sit still, let alone spend an entire day concentrating on finding the elusive magic elements.

Mr. Yara had no choice but to use force to compel these brats to sit and meditate.

Even so, half the students were usually dozing off during meditation class.

Because of this, Mr. Yara did not hold high hopes for the new Education Pilot Project.

Although the newly opened "Mana Base Station" was impressive and he, as a former mage reserve, felt a surge of excitement, letting his class of wild monkeys use it was a complete waste!

These little devils were being spoon-fed, and they still had to be coaxed to swallow. Simply living in a mana-rich area was probably about as effective as hiring two elves to teach an Elvish Language class—the improvement would be very limited.

Therefore, when Yara received this introductory meditation method called the Block Meditation Method, he only gave it a cursory glance.

He felt it was truly "entry-level."

In truth, the core of meditation hadn't changed; it was still about focusing one's attention to attract surrounding magic elements and convert them into one's own mana. As for whether these elements were arranged into an 'S' or a 'B' shape, it was completely meaningless and only wasted extra mana.

Furthermore, the meditation time was far too short!

Completing a "successful meditation" took less than a minute, whereas normal meditation required at least half an hour to have any effect.

These impatient brats would probably finish once and think their meditation was over!

With that, Mr. Yara focused his full attention.

He glared at the students, watching for anyone trying to slack off.

Just as Mr. Yara feared, a round of "meditation" ended quickly. He watched as fireworks bloomed in front of the child closest to him.

He was just about to walk over and remind the child to continue, when he saw the kid eagerly click into the next round.

Not bad, he supposed.

Mr. Yara nodded to himself and looked at the other children.

Then, to his surprise, he discovered that these brats, who spent all day dozing off and daydreaming, were acting as if they had taken the wrong medicine today. Not a single one was slacking; they were all focused intently on the little boxes in front of them. Even the most mischievous troublemakers in the class weren't distracted... no, they were even more focused than the others!

Watching from the side, Yara noticed their rate of mana accumulation was the fastest in the class.

Was this meditation method really that useful?

Could it actually tame these little demons?!

Yara drew the activation Rune for the Block Meditation Method in the air.

He had only tried one round yesterday and, finding it meaningless, hadn't continued. Seeing the children so focused this time, he decided to look into it more deeply.

That deep dive lasted an entire class period.

The bell rang for the end of class, then rang again for the start of the next, but the entire room remained unmoved. Even Mr. Yara was so engrossed in "laying bricks" that he nearly turned into a square block on the podium. It wasn't until Mr. White walked into the classroom for the next period that Mr. Yara was "startled" back to reality.

Mr. Yara looked at Mr. White's surprised expression and felt deeply ashamed.

"Apologies, I..."

"Hahaha, it's fine! I was curious and took a look yesterday, and I was hooked for the whole night too!" Mr. White laughed heartily.

"You too?" Mr. Yara widened his eyes in surprise. "But aren't you in charge of subjects other than mathematics?"

"Can't a math teacher meditate? Besides, the math mode for this meditation method was specifically recommended to us math enthusiasts by the Workshop Master!" Mr. White lifted his chin.

In truth, Angell's original words were "only math geniuses can play it," which was how Mr. White had been lured in.

Mr. Yara, however, was hearing about it for the first time. "Math mode?"

"You haven't tried it? It's so much fun!" Mr. White said, drawing a rune in the air.

As a math teacher, his opening move was even more crisp than that of a magic teacher; it was clear he had played it many times.

In Mr. White's meditation method, there was indeed a "Math Mode" option. He skillfully opened it, and blocks similar to those in the normal mode began to fall from the air, only these blocks were marked with numbers.

Yara saw a 'Z' fall first, followed by an 'L'.

But instead of placing the 'L' under the 'Z', Mr. White placed them side-by-side, leaving a gap.

As someone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, Yara felt quite uncomfortable. "Ah, you just missed that."

"No, in this mode, you have to add a string of numbers up to 10 to clear them," Mr. White explained. Just then, another block fell, and his eyes lit up. "Ah, here it comes!"

He quickly controlled the block to land on top of the 'L'. In normal mode, such a haphazard placement would not have met the clearing conditions, but as Mr. White had said, both the vertical and horizontal lines vanished in a cross shape.

"How about that? Quite challenging, isn't it?" Mr. White said.

"Ah..."

Yara hadn't actually seen what the string of numbers was, let alone added them up.

He felt that in front of Mr. White, he was nothing more than a monkey.

*

The monkeys' mana could be stockpiled slowly; Angell was in no rush anyway.

After all, the refining of a Mana Base Station required a massive amount of materials and money. The funds for Angell's next station were still tied up in his workshop's warehouse, waiting to be exchanged.

And the Sir Mandela before him was the key to Angell's liquidity.

ATM Mandela, however, remained oblivious.

Mandela believed he had finally seized an opportunity to connect with the Workshop Master, so his attitude toward the Black Robe was currently four parts ingratiating, three parts excited, two parts nervous, and one part guilty.

"Mr. Angell, would you be interested in expanding your game table business to the trade city of Xiesse?" Sir Mandela asked with a smile, his tone a mix of flattery and caution. "Your magic items have a resounding reputation; I believe the people of Xiesse would love them as well."

"Game tables?" Angell asked, puzzled. "Didn't you want to buy our workshop's sign earlier?"

"No, no, not the sign itself—I want to buy the imaging technology used for the sign."

Sir Mandela explained in a panic.

So that Black Cat had told its master about his business!

But wouldn't someone get thrown out for casually asking to buy another person's shop sign?

Previously, Sir Mandela wouldn't have feared offending the "owner of a tiny, backwater workshop." Even if the other party was a Black Robe, as the boss of the Iron Puppet Entertainment Company, couldn't he afford to hire a few bodyguards?!

However, over the past while, Sir Mandela had researched Magic Gear extensively because he wanted to purchase Angell's imaging technology. The more he learned, the more astonished he became.

This Mr. Angell was truly an operational genius!

Developing game tables wasn't rare, but the workshop's leaderboard, membership system, and marketing schemes were. And to top it off, he had found a way to manipulate public opinion, making both the Royal Capital and Xiesse discuss the new inventions of Magic Gear!

This series of combo moves was executed perfectly.

It made Sir Mandela almost want to poach Angell for his own company.

But yesterday's foundation ceremony made Sir Mandela realize he had truly overthought things:

Lord Angell wasn't just capable of making money; he wasn't lacking it either!

To be precise, the sheer amount of wealth represented by the Mana Base Station at the foundation ceremony had stunned Sir Mandela.

After seeing the scene at the ceremony, which was as extravagant as the magic sign, Mandela's first thought was, "These special effects must be expensive." He then found a few mages to confirm it, and sure enough, they were.

That was a Mana Well! (Presumably.)

A Mana Well that only the Royal Mage Tower possessed, one that even ordinary mages couldn't afford to maintain even if they could afford to build it! (Presumably.)

And that Black Robe had donated this Mana Well to the compulsory school for free! (Confirmed.)

"Using such expensive magic facilities for mere children—is that Black Robe out of his mind?" the mages had concluded in the end, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Heh, the man was cultivating potential users!

If you don't even have that much foresight, you deserve to be poor mages forever!

Sir Mandela scoffed inwardly.

Although Mandela knew nothing of the "Masterless Tower," "eternal youth," or "mysterious origins," in the eyes of this Xiesse merchant, a "young man" who had just inherited a dilapidated workshop and achieved so much was proof enough of many things—

Sir Mandela boldly guessed that as one of the most glorious alchemy workshops of the Magic Era, Magic Gear must have left behind a significant legacy for its descendants. It was only because the previous owners lacked vision and operational ability that they had run the workshop into the ground, until the protagonist, Angell, emerged to seize the business opportunities and put the workshop back on track.

Take that old sign, for example; not lighting it up before was a complete waste of a treasure!

(Previous Workshop Masters: We wanted to hang the sign up, but do you have any idea how much mana that consumes?!)

Of course, with things as they were, the plan to poach Angell could only be regretfully abandoned.

Angell was clearly not a deity that his small temple could accommodate.

However, Sir Mandela did not give up on the idea of collaborating with Angell because of this.

With such a glaring and obvious Protagonist Halo, wouldn't I be a complete idiot if I didn't latch onto his thigh?!

Therefore, when Sir Mandela met Angell, he adaptably changed his entry point to the game table business.

"I am, of course, very interested in Imaging Technology. It is a pity that Mr. Black Cat said it is not for sale, and we cannot force the issue," Sir Mandela said. "However, I am very optimistic about the future of Magic Gear. If your game table business needs an agent in Xiesse, some of the channels at my disposal might be of use to you."

Angell, however, shook his head.

"I'm sorry, the game tables are not yet mature, and I have no plans to conduct business in Xiesse for the time being."

In truth, it was also because production couldn't keep up.

Whether it was the Rune Core or the game table itself, neither could be mass-produced; they required manual craftsmanship. Right now, Angell was already short-handed just trying to keep up with the game table business in the Cecilia City area, let alone expanding to other regions—especially a bustling commercial city like Xiesse.

Mandela was not surprised by this answer.

As far as Sir Mandela was concerned, while the first generation of game tables was interesting, unlike a "backwater" like Cecilia, the Free City saw new inventions and trends emerge every day. The pace of life was much faster, and people grew tired of the old and craved the new with incredible speed. With only a few small games on the first-generation tables, he feared people would forget their existence in less than half a month.

As expected of Lord Angell, he isn't blinded by the prospect of a large order at all!

Mandela praised him silently in his heart.

Of course, Mandela hadn't proposed the game table agency to test Angell, but rather to curry favor with him.

Profit was secondary.

Thus, Sir Mandela stroked his neatly groomed handlebar mustache and persisted, "Even if you have no plans to sell the game tables for now, it wouldn't hurt to advertise your products while the newspapers in Xiesse are still promoting your righteous act of the 'Education Pilot Project'."

"It doesn't need massive promotion; just leaving an impression on people would suffice."

"If you don't mind, I own several theaters that are currently lacking novel attractions to draw in customers. We are willing to provide free promotion for you, without charging a single cent!"

Once the game tables were placed and the agency agreement was signed, wouldn't a relationship be established?

Mandela smiled perfectly.

His willingness to pay out of his own pocket to such an extent finally caused the Black Robe sitting opposite him, who had never looked him in the eye, to focus his gaze upon him.

Mandela felt a surge of joy.

He took this as a sign that the other party was willing to accept him.

"That is a good suggestion." In reality, Angell remained uninterested.

How was he supposed to retrieve the magic cores from the game tables in Xiesse?

Angell did not want to waste words with Mandela and finally couldn't help but ask bluntly, "By the way, I heard you are the boss of an Entertainment Company? Do you outsource film production?"

"Outsource?" Mandela asked, stunned.

Angell nodded.

He actually wasn't quite sure how to phrase it.

After all, Angell was a complete layman when it came to films; he didn't even know how film companies from his past life operated, let alone the production studios of this world.

Therefore, in Angell's plan, he wanted to acquire a small, near-bankrupt film company, buy their existing equipment and staff, find someone to write a script, and prepare to start filming.

This is also why Angell considered a Magical Girl Tokusatsu.

That sort of thing didn't really require much cost or highly mature professional skills. Based on his experience as a Lead Planner directing game opening animations in the past, he could roughly handle it.

As for more professional films, Angell didn't have much confidence.

But this plan had hit a snag right from the start.

Not long ago, Angell had revealed this idea to Mayor Owen—mainly to see if the man knew of any suitable film companies—but Owen had looked at him in astonishment.

"A film company? Do we have such trendy companies here?!"

...Is 'trendy' the word to describe a company?

Angell asked in detail and realized he had been too naive.

Although this era had industrialized, the degree of industrialization was clearly limited, especially in the film industry, which could only form a sector in metropolises like Xiesse. In "backward regions" like Cecilia City, being able to open a cinema and show old films from years ago was considered fashionable.

"Does Mr. Angell want to make a movie? I will definitely support you with all my might!" Owen had said at the end.

Your support is useless!

Can you operate a camera? Or can you write a script?

Angell complained inwardly.

In the end, it was Mithril who remembered that a guy who had tried to buy their shop's sign claimed to be from some Entertainment Company, which was why Angell decided to meet this Sir Mandela.

Mandela did not know of Angell's distress.

He looked at the calm and indifferent Black Robe opposite him, thinking that perhaps the other party was testing him.

Isn't that the temperament of the legendary Sages? They always give tasks like 'slay the Evil Dragon on the western volcano,' 'find the Water-Avoiding Pearl in the swamp,' or 'win the heart of the village beauty in the next town' before deciding to join the Hero's party.

Could it be that Lord Angell has this hobby too?

Sir Mandela took Angell's suggestion as a test and pondered hard: "The outsourcing you mentioned... do you mean that you would establish a production studio, but hire my staff to help you complete the film, and then release it under your company's name?"

"Roughly speaking, yes..." Angell nodded.

Right, so the film industry could actually be played like this too?!

This was just like writing a game design document himself and then outsourcing all the necessary materials!

Angell thought to himself.

"May I be so bold as to ask what type of film you are looking to shoot?" Sir Mandela asked cautiously.

In truth, he wanted to ask directly how much of a budget he had prepared.

He had received commissions like this before.

For most rich second-generation heirs who thought they were talented and were just playing around, Mandela would decide his level of cooperation based on the amount they invested.

However, Sir Mandela wanted to secure a chance to work with Angell—mostly because he felt that Angell's proposal to shoot a movie couldn't be without purpose—so he asked more tactfully.

Angell, however, was not tactful.

He would not stand on ceremony with professionals. After all, based on his experience as a client, the clearer he was, the more perfectly the other party could complete the task: "I want to shoot an advertisement."

"An advertisement?" Mandela was stunned.

Angell simply explained to Mandela the characteristics of the Magical Girl genre.

To Angell, this type of film was so cliché that there was nothing worth mentioning, so he never thought about hiding it.

He did not expect, however, that the reason a genre film could become a genre film was precisely because its tropes were used repeatedly and people still loved them, which was why they were called classics.

Sir Mandela's eyes lit up as he listened.

He really hadn't misjudged the man! This Lord Angell was truly a genius!

It was clearly just a theme of a female Hero defeating a Monster, but by adding modern elements, it was instantly different from the cliché legends he had filmed before.

For a moment, Mandela even wanted his own company to film it.

But facing those eyes of the Black Robe that were as deep as the Abyss, Sir Mandela calmed down instantly.

Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs would never do!

Wasn't it precisely because of this person's talent in this area that he wanted to cooperate with him? How could he offend him over this?

Besides, couldn't this "advertising model" be used in other directions even if they didn't film a Magical Girl movie?

He currently had a few suitable films that couldn't attract investment!

Sir Mandela closed his eyes to think for a moment, then said with a smile:

"I understand, Mr. Angell. I will return to Xiesse immediately to select the right talent for you. As for the outsourcing price... ah, no, you don't need to invest too much. As this is our first collaboration, I can provide my services for free. But in exchange, may I have the exclusive broadcast rights to this film of yours?"