How hard could a Magic Television be?
Couldn't they just modify a projection Magic Stone?
But what Annan had thought would be easy to make stumped not only Michael, but even Dunbelly, who had come to help.
"How hard can it be to add a playback function?" Annan's question earned him a hard stare from Michael.
"Am I wrong?"
"Don't challenge the authority of magic with your ignorance!"
Dunbelly looked up, unsure whether he should intervene. When he saw that Annan didn't seem bothered, he decided against it.
"So what's the problem?"
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
"You're right. So there's no reason for me to keep wasting funds on something I don't understand, is there?"
"The problem is the stability of the 'Magic Television.' Put simply, the more stable a Magic Material is, the rarer it is. The rarer it is, the more expensive it gets. Magic Stones already push that to the limit. We're in no position to improve on them."
Ultimately, Annan was asking for an impossible combination: low cost, permanence, and stability. They could have only two at once.
To achieve all three, they needed an entire system: a cheap supply of Magic Materials, a reliable production process with few errors, and methods simple enough for trained workers to assemble the devices.
For now, there was no way a "Magic Television" could cost less than a Magic Stone.
"What's the lowest cost we can manage?"
"Thirty-three Gold Coins."
"That's too expensive..."
"Is it? You can sign a Magic Stone and sell it for a hundred Gold Coins."
"That's different." Annan shook his head.
He wanted "Magic Televisions" in homes everywhere. But at thirty-three Gold Coins? Even at cost, ordinary people couldn't afford one.
And even if they paid for one, would they buy