Episode 40 Grumble.
“It’s Myeongjeong tea. It’s a tea brewed with herbs that purifies the mind. It’s a specialty of our Magic Tower. Please try it.”
Ledios held out a teacup and looked closely at the complexion of Daebak, or Hogu, who had come to the Magic Tower for the first time in a long time.
‘First of all, it’s clear that he’s young. If you persuade them well…’
To be exact, the current budget situation this month was so bad that the magic tower owner had to personally hang himself for only 1.5 million gold.
No matter what anyone says, the highest value-added product produced by Magic Tower was an artifact.
However, there were no customers looking for artifacts with a minimum price starting at 10 million, so it would be a good thing to sell even a few pieces a year.
In the end, the main product was a relatively cheap(?) scroll, and in that sense, the Earth Magic Tower, of which he was the leader, was a little less competitive.
In normal times, not in war, the effectiveness of earth magic was mostly related to farmland development, farming, or large-scale civil engineering work.
However, few nobles were willing to spend expensive scrolls on such ‘trivial’ things.
‘Just mobilize Young Ji-min and that’s it.’
So the Earth Magic Tower was always suffering from a lack of budget.
The magic tower did not become insolvent after he became the owner, as was popularly rumored.
It is natural for the tower owner to use some of the magic tower’s budget for his own research. The rumor that it would hinder the competitiveness of the entire tower was nothing more than nonsense.
Of course, the reason why this month’s budget was so tight was because I overspent, but it wasn’t a bad thing since I found hope.
‘I have to do well for the Magic Tower to do well. ‘Nothing like cancer.’
“Hmm. This is a car that the owner of the tower would be proud of. It smells very good.”
“Haha. As expected, you have great insight. But are you going to buy 150 Collapse Scrolls?”
Ledios spit out his words and felt like it was a mistake for a moment.
While I was thinking about something else for a moment, I was surprised by the compliment and, unbecoming of a nobleman, I got straight to the point.
It was an obvious mistake as it showed impatience towards the buyer.
“Yes that’s right.”
But fortunately, this grateful tiger did not react in any way.
In that case, I thought it would be okay to check my liver even if it was late.
“Hahaha. It’s my first big deal in a long time, so I’m excited. But there’s actually a problem.”
“What if you say it’s a problem?”
“As you know, a 4th circle scroll can only be made if at least a 5th circle wizard takes the lead in its production. And there aren’t many such high-level personnel even in our magic tower.”
Redios sneakily throws a hint and checks the opponent’s reaction.
“…So?”
The other person’s eyes sank and the atmosphere instantly turned cold.
It wasn’t Hogu’s reaction as he expected.
‘Still, I have to check the liver one more time.’
gulp.
Ledios swallowed his saliva once and continued his story cautiously.
“As you know, scrolls are expensive to produce, so they cannot be made in advance…”
“So, are you saying that I can’t sell them as much as I want?”
However, the other person’s voice quickly became cold before he finished speaking.
“Oh no! That can’t be possible! I just wanted to say that 150 pages might take some time… Hehe. Huh.”
Ledios was startled and hastily made up an excuse.
“Then I have no choice. I was planning to buy 150 tickets every month. If just 150 tickets is not enough. I will go to the royal magic tower…”
“Now wait a minute! Sir!”
“yes?”
“Every month?”
Ledios wondered if he had heard nonsense.
“Yes. A total of 900 sheets are needed for six months, 150 sheets per month.”
However, it was not an auditory hallucination or a mishearing.
“Ahh….”
I almost unconsciously raised my hands and cheered.
“…Aaaam.”
“What are you doing…”
“I’m sorry. I’m tired, so I need to stretch…”
I escaped the crisis with the acting skills I had gained over the years.
He believed he had perfect control over his facial expressions.
“Well, if even 150 pieces are delayed right away, it would be completely impossible to supply the same amount every month for 6 months. I enjoyed my tea.”
However, the steps of Jae-shin (財神), who stood up resolutely, did not stop.
The moment the sound of those footsteps thundered in his ears, there was only one choice for Ledios.
“No! You can do it! No, you have to do it!”
“yes?”
“What I’m saying is… if I don’t come forward myself, then yes, yes. That’s right.”
“Are you saying it’s possible?”
“It must be possible hahaha. 150 sheets per month. 1.5 million per month. 9 million in six months. Haha. I see. That’s a wonderful amount.”
Ledios raised his teacup to cover his expression, not even realizing what was coming out of his mouth.
“Attette!”
Although my trembling hands made it impossible for me to even maintain the slightest respect.
“Are you okay, wizard?”
“Cough. Yes. Yes! It’s okay. I’m sorry. Now, just wait a moment!”
Face wasn’t important right now.
If this deal was concluded, the criticism from the elders due to his excessive experiment expenses could be put to rest in one fell swoop.
Ledios rushed out of the door with that wish in mind.
* * *
“150 4th circle scrolls per month? We’ll have to mobilize other elders to produce them. Will they obey?”
“But you have to do it! It’s not even a month. It’s a whopping six months’ worth! That’s 9 million gold! Even with just one-third, you can resume the interrupted research!”
“If you want to persuade the elders, you must at least share the benefits.”
“There’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to give up what you have to give, or squeeze your subordinates as much as possible! This is the clue to becoming a superhuman that I found after 20 years!”
“But there’s other work…”
“But what but! Cancel all other requests! Ask for a penalty! We don’t have a big deal right now!”
“Hmm. Okay, but…”
“And hopefully, those guys…”
“Yes? Ah…”
The last words were hard to hear, but that was enough for Logan.
‘Ah, so the person who is the lord of the magic tower is like this…’
Thanks to my force-enhanced hearing, I became aware of their situation through unintentional eavesdropping.
Sigh.
After a while, the door opened again, and Ledios and a middle-aged man with a rather bleak appearance entered the room together.
“Ahaha. Confucius, this is Romerun, the elder of our magic tower. He is in charge of making scrolls.”
“It’s Romerun.”
Romerun, who slightly bowed his head, seemed to have more weight than the magic tower lord Ledios.
‘Circle 4?’
However, I was a bit puzzled by Romerun’s level of visibility.
“Elder…you are me?”
“That’s right.”
Even in the Kingdom of Grandia, where high-ranking wizards were rare, Romerun seemed to be neither advanced nor old enough to be called an elder.
‘Well, it’s none of my business.’
There were rumors that the Earth’s Magic Tower was in poor condition, something that had been coming out ever since this mean-looking Magic Tower lord took office more than ten years ago, so it was nothing new.
‘I just need to buy things.’
Fortunately, after listening to their conversation, I realized that it was quite possible.
However, the magic tower owner said something unexpected.
“But how about hiring a wizard directly instead of using a scroll?”
“yes?”
Even Logan couldn’t help but be surprised this time.
A wizard who is classified as an incompatible human being due to excessive pride and self-confidence.
If it were a construction site rather than a battlefield, it would be a story that would be laughed at even among wizards.
Therefore, I had no expectations of directly signing a contract and hiring someone.
‘Is it a little different here? No way?’
I was embarrassed that my common sense was being destroyed, but the answer was determined.
‘I have to do it!’
Why are disposable scrolls so expensive?
The production cost may have been a factor, but the bigger reason was that most of the noble wizards were confined to their labs rather than trying to do the dirty work themselves.
If you can hire a 4th circle wizard, you will be able to see the effect of 300 4th circle scrolls instead of 150.
It’s also much cheaper.
“Is there a 4th Circle wizard who can come to the local construction site?”
I couldn’t hide the flushed tone, but there was no need to blame myself because it was entirely deserved.
But…
“Ah haha. I guess you misunderstood this a bit. I’m sorry.”
“yes?”
“It’s difficult for me to just say 4th circle wizards like this or that. They are valuable talents of the tower.”
“Huh…”
Logan was disappointed, but in fact it was only natural.
No matter where you go, 4th circle wizards, who are classified as high-ranking wizards, will be an important force in the tower.
If you force someone to do something they don’t want to do and then transfer, it will only be a loss to the tower.
“Then why did you say that to me…?”
“I was wondering if I could make a better offer to our precious guest.”
Logan now looked more like a merchant than a wizard.
“How about reducing the number of scrolls and sending out 2-3 circles of disciples instead?”
Logan, who was about to take the offer because it was a better offer, had to swallow a laugh.
In the end, wouldn’t that mean that they would send a few low-level wizards to prepare an assortment and receive all the money?
“I’m sorry, but…”
“Ten people!”
I was about to reject it in advance without even hearing anything more, but the owner spoke faster.
“…yes?”
“There are nine 2nd circle wizards and one 3rd circle wizard. We have students who have worked together at various construction sites for a long time. We will dispatch those children.”
Logan couldn’t help but be tempted by those words.
Under those conditions, it could have been much better than hiring a single 4th circle wizard.
This was especially true when it was used for long-term construction rather than battlefields.
Moreover, it is unthinkable that among self-respecting wizards there are wizards who specialize in construction.
“Hmm. It would be nice if I could hire wizards at a low price. The reason I came here is because I want to speed up the construction period.”
When positive words came out of Logan’s mouth, Ledios immediately received them.
“Then how about dispatching those friends for 120 scrolls throughout the construction period?”
“120 sheets?”
Instead of 30 4-circle magic scrolls, there were 10 wizards.
No matter how you think about it, it wasn’t a loss-making transaction.
“I guess it’ll be okay.”
The moment Logan nodded, big smiles appeared on the faces of the magic tower lord and elder who were watching.
I thought it was a perfect deal where both parties got what they got.
“But by the way, if it’s a long-term transaction for such a large amount, maybe you can give me a discount? How much can this be done?”
However, at Logan’s next words, Redios’ complexion distorted again. The
Mage Tower released his cards too early.
‘How will it turn out?’
Logan smiled inwardly and waited for the other person’s reaction.
They must have guessed that the purpose of coming to them was related to ground work. Even
if there is a royal magic tower of the Wizard School, a class that handles multi-attribute magic, ground work requires the use of the earth. It falls short of the Magic Tower.
It has an unrivaled status in its field.
In addition, magicians pathologically dislike it when cheap-sounding words such as discount are attached to high-end items containing the ability called ‘magic.’ It hurts
their pride . It was because he thought it was a proposal.
But Logan was confident that this proposal would work.
The conversation they had outside was also the content…
“Heh heh. “Wasn’t there something urgent you had to do?”
“It’s not that urgent. I just want to finish the construction quickly. “Because I have enough money.”
“Ahaha. The distribution is really big. Well, it’s okay to just mobilize
the people of the territory.” This was the common sense of most of the nobles of the Kingdom of Grandia at this time.
Spending a lot of money on the development of a territory was a method chosen only when it was urgent.
Otherwise, it was ‘cheap’ by replacing the people of the territory. It was the current aristocratic society that spread the foolish idea that it could be dealt with.
‘That’s why it was easily destroyed by the empire.’
– The purpose of all the laws of the empire is for the people, that is, for the people. Serving the people is for the sake of the country.
– Ensuring that the people live well is the basis for strengthening the country.
Later, by the emperor of the empire , The Ares Empire decree to be promulgated. It was the very first word.
Logan in his previous life was also shocked to hear those words. It was an idea he had never thought of at the time. By being
good to the people of the territory, which are the property of nobles, the reputation of the territory improved. What on earth does it mean to go up?
‘I thought so.’
However, that disappeared as soon as they experienced the Imperial War.
When the main force of the army, such as the Knights or Wizards, was defeated, all the soldiers of the Kingdom of Grandia were busy running away.
Conversely, even if the main force was defeated, the soldiers of the Empire ran to somehow stop the enemy. I heard that.
The difference in mindset always had consequences beyond the direct difference in power.
And it was only after everything was over that I realized that it came from the difference in how the monarch treated the people.
Probably the same was true for many other nobles.
‘The people ‘Only when you live well will your country become stronger.’
I realized that simple truth only after the kingdom was destroyed.
So now I had to adjust to their level.
“If the price doesn’t match my idea, I plan to mobilize the people of the territory to deal with it, even if it takes a long time.”
In fact, Logan received a fair compensation. I had no intention of asking Youngjimin to do the labor that he didn’t have, but there was no way anyone else would know of such thoughts.
“Heh heh. okay. Of course, it’s a discount at the Magic Tower. Heh heh.”
Only the absurd voices and empty laughter continued.
Seeing that he couldn’t make a decision easily and only looked at people’s opinions, Logan decided to add a little stimulation.
“You don’t like it? Then, I am the royal magic tower…”
“Ah. no! “Wait a minute…”
He didn’t take action, but he almost seemed
like he was hanging out, holding on to the leg of his pants. The tongue licking his lips nervously made that impression look even more mean.
In addition, Logan’s support(?) in his heart. Added,
‘I heard you found a clue to the path to superhumanity? You can’t give up, right?’
The path from which a top-level knight becomes an Auror user.
The path from a 5th circle wizard to a 6th circle wizard.
The boundary that causes frustration to most people is called the ‘Wall of Demons’ and was a symbol of dividing superhumans from those who are not.
And that wall. The people who wanted to get over it the most were not those who couldn’t even get close to it, but those who had reached a level where they began to peek beyond the wall.
“Heh heh. “The scroll is a regulator… ugh. I can’t help it.”
In the end, the magic tower lord gave in to his desires and gave in to his pride.
