chapter 09
When we arrived at the capital’s café district, Damian, the Master of the Magic Tower, looked somewhat weary.
“…There are quite a lot of people here.”
“It’s a famous place, after all!” I replied cheerfully.
Especially among the nobles who frequent high society.
It was necessary to show that my relationship with Damian hadn’t ended with that brief encounter at the ball.
It also helped solidify the perception that I’d truly broken up with Pollius.
If rumors spread, even if I don’t immediately break off the engagement with Pollius or get engaged to Damian, I’ll be able to hold my ground for a while.
The glances we were getting were quite satisfying. I leisurely took a sip of the water in my cup.
This place was known for its tea and desserts, but I couldn’t eat any. The carriage ride had exhausted me, and I had taken quite a bit of pain medication before arriving. Since it hadn’t been long since I took it, I could only drink plain water for now.
“I’ll explain the benefits you can gain from doing business with the Magic Tower,” Damian began, completely unbothered by the people whispering around us.
“To start, we have earth mages who can mine much faster than ordinary miners. The difference isn’t just in time—it’s also in the amount extracted.”
I recalled how long it had taken for my family to mine our own gold deposits.
“When you factor in the labor costs the Tower provides, Lady, you won’t be at a loss. So I was thinking of setting the profit distribution ratio like this.”
He was right. Using mages would indeed speed up mining and increase output. The faster we mined, the faster we could repay our debts.
If I were only planning to mine and sell the stones, this contract ratio wouldn’t be bad.
But I wasn’t planning to stop there.
“I want to start several kinds of ventures with you, Tower Master. Once you hear me out, you might see things differently.”
When it came to selling mana stones, there might even be better buyers than the Magic Tower. And for mining itself, there could be more cost-effective methods, even if they took longer.
However—when it came to the magical artifact business I had in mind, partnering with the Tower was clearly the best move.
“The Magic Tower is still an important institution in the Empire,” I said carefully, “but compared to the past—when large-scale monster subjugations were common—hasn’t its influence declined somewhat?”
I made my tone bold yet respectful. I couldn’t afford to ruin such an important moment with a single careless remark.
“I can help restore the Tower’s former influence,” I said softly.
So let’s strike back at the family that cast you out.
Let’s make your father regret not keeping you around, all because he wanted to give that chance to his precious legitimate son, Pollius.
“…I’d like to hear about the business you’re planning, Lady.”
As expected of someone truly capable—Damian understood my intent immediately.
“I want to sell some of the higher-quality mana stones to the Tower. But I’ve also thought of a way to use the leftover fragments from cutting and polishing them.”
To expand the trading company my mother had left behind, I planned to build a business using both the Magic Tower and mana stones.
“It’s a projection stone business. I want to use that as a starting point to further develop the magical artifact industry.”
I wasn’t worried about whether I could pull it off.
In the novel, the “projection stone” business that made Pollius rise to success—was actually my idea in the first place.
“I’m often too unwell to go outside,” I explained, “so I thought it would be wonderful if I could watch plays through projection stones. There must be plenty of people like me, don’t you think?”
And the mana stone mine used for that business? I had bought it myself—on a loan, under my own name.
Everything was coming together, just as it should.
This time, it wouldn’t be Pollius taking all the credit. It would be me—the true owner of the mine and the idea.
There’s no way I’m going to end up being dragged around by Pollius again in this life.
I wanted to return to my parents far more than what they had given me. To do that, I needed to secure enough capital to recover even if things went sideways.
“If you’re talking about projection stones,” Damian said, “you mean the ones that display images at large events? You can’t make those from scraps of mana stones.”
He was right. The current version of projection stones was primitive—used only in temples for sermons or official addresses when nobles couldn’t attend in person.
“I’m talking about smaller ones,” I explained. “Ones that can hold an entire play. Or rather—an improved version of a play.”
I was thinking back to watching movies on my smartphone in my previous life. But what I was planning now was something larger—
Hmm… about tablet-sized should be enough.
If it projected an image of that size into the air, leftover mana stone fragments would be more than sufficient.
“But why would anyone watch a play like that instead of going to the theater?” he asked.
“Because you could watch it lying comfortably at home.”
At that, Damian’s eyes changed slightly, though there was still a hint of skepticism.
“Even so, live performances will probably remain more popular.”
“Some people might think so, sure. But that’s why we’ll make ours different. We can’t just fix a single point of view like traditional projection stones.”
“Then how?”
“We’ll show it from multiple perspectives. I’m going to call it a film. But I can’t go into detail yet.”
“Why not?”
I smiled and slid the prepared contract across the table.
“Because I can’t disclose trade secrets to outsiders.”
Damian’s eyebrows twitched.
After some well-placed persuasion—and perhaps a bit of verbal sparring—I finally got Damian to stamp his seal on the contract.
“You’ve made a wise decision,” I said. “I also have the Clotilde Trading Company, so I can handle the distribution side. That’ll make things much smoother than before, and our sales will increase.”
Up to now, I’d been the so-called ‘head’ of the company in name only, while I busied myself investing in Pollius’s projects. Well—no more of that. Time to actually run my own business properly.
I finished the deal on quite favorable terms and then moved on to a more serious discussion with Damian.
I could tell the share I got was higher than what he had originally intended to offer, but both of us would benefit greatly from this partnership.
I had the vision for projection stones and mana stones; he had the mining and magical artifact technology.
“…If projection stones are something unfamiliar to the public,” he said thoughtfully, “then the key will be to lower the entry barrier.”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that. Would you like to hear my idea?”
Many mages were known to be oblivious to worldly matters—but not this man.
I suppose he went through his own struggles after leaving the Belderte family.
Since he understood my intentions so quickly, I didn’t have to waste time explaining the obvious.
“I plan to focus heavily on marketing,” I continued. “Since it’s something completely new, we’ll need to make it easy for people to approach.”
We had been engrossed in discussion for quite a while when the light in Damian’s hood began to flicker.
“Tower Master, you have an incoming communication—”
His expression hardened as he listened to the magical transmission.
“My apologies, Lady. May I step away for a moment?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
He really was gone for only a short while—but that brief moment was all it took for something unexpected to happen.
“Excuse me!”
I turned toward the voice, slightly puzzled.
What now?
Before me stood a familiar young lady.
“…Hmm, Lady Clara Martis, isn’t it? It’s been a while.”
I remembered her at once—the young woman who had stood beside Pollius during the Founding Festival a few days ago, when I had arrived with Damian.
“Do you really think you can greet me so casually right now?” she snapped.
Her tone was sharp and indignant. Well then—if she wanted to dispense with courtesy, I could oblige.
“This is what you’d call a polite greeting, actually. Though I suppose you weren’t taught such things.”
I crossed my legs leisurely and smiled. That seemed to infuriate her even more.
“Don’t try to lie your way out of this. I saw everything! How could you possibly be meeting with Pollius’s half-brother?”
“Like this,” I said with a shrug, keeping my tone calm.
Her face flushed red. I tilted my head slightly, smiling faintly.
“Lady Martis, rushing over and getting all worked up over someone else’s business isn’t exactly normal behavior, is it?”
“You certainly have a way with words.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She glared at me for a long moment—then suddenly sighed.
“Someone else’s business… I suppose that’s how it looks to you.”
Her voice softened, losing its earlier edge. For a moment, it was hard to believe this was the same person who had been shouting just seconds ago.
“But… I love Lord Pollius.”
“Why are you confessing that to me? Shouldn’t you be telling him that instead?”
I couldn’t understand why she was saying all this to me. Other people’s love confessions were of absolutely no interest.
Noticing how little I cared, Lady Martis clenched her jaw.
“I just don’t understand why Lord Pollius would ever meet you. If he knew you were seeing the Tower Master, he’d be devastated—”
“That would actually be perfect,” I said with a serene smile.
