Chapter 52.1

When Mark, a disabled veteran who had lost both arms, stepped into the factory through the rear entrance, he found himself in a gigantic, bustling scene unlike anything he had ever seen before.

‘Wow…!’

“Mark, take off your shirt,” a man who appeared to be a clerk instructed him before he could even process the sight.

“Y-Yes!”

“I hereby bestow upon you these two arms, crafted under the orders of the Grand Duke of the High Tower, sweat forged by the witches of the High Tower and the employees of the Arad Trading Company, in the name of the Renslet.”

And just like that, the two arms Mark had dreamed of were given to him easily, almost too easily.

All he had to do was stand there.

The employees, who were already prepared, attached the bio-prosthetics to his severed arms with a casual, almost mechanical precision.

The new arms seamlessly connected to his body, accompanied by a slithering sound like writhing tendrils.

“All done. Try moving them slowly. Start with your fingers, then your wrist, elbow, and shoulder.”

“After moving them, pinch yourself to check for sensation.”

The new arms were yellow in color, but Mark didn’t care.

“Ahhh…!”

He was overwhelmed with emotion, tears streaming down his face as he felt sensation in his arms for the first time in years.

“Do you pledge loyalty? To Arad Jin, who invented these life-giving arms, and to the Grand Duke of the High Tower, who generously covered all costs?”

The clerk, with an abacus hanging from his belt, spoke as if conducting some kind of ceremony.

“Of course! I will dedicate my life and soul!”

Mark, still crying, nodded fervently.

“Good. Then do you vow to work at the soon-to-be-completed Second Factory?”

“I swear! I’ll give my all!”

Mark swore without a moment’s hesitation. He had already heard from Den and Snow about how the Arad Trading Company operated.

“Good. Then do you also promise to send your only daughter to the soon-to-be-opened Renslet Academy?”

“Academy? What’s that…?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

But when the topic of his daughter came up, Mark suddenly became cautious.

“It’s a place where children will learn literacy, arithmetic, and magical engineering.”

“Magical engineering? What’s that?”

“It’s the core technology behind creating magical artifacts, like your new arms. A form of magic, essentially.”

“T-Then?! Are you saying my daughter will become a witch?”

“Not a witch, per se. Think of it as training experts in enchantment.”

“Enchantment…? That sounds… good, right?”

“…Naturally.”

“Then why offer such a good opportunity to my daughter, a mere commoner?”

“By that logic, it wouldn’t make sense to give you these expensive arms either, would it?”

The clerk’s annoyed glare silenced Mark’s doubts.

“Are you doubting the goodwill of the Grand Duke and Jin?”

His tone carried an unspoken accusation: “We gave you arms and a job, and you still don’t trust us? How ungrateful!”

“No, no! Absolutely not! It’s just… hard to believe…”

“Tch! Next!”

The clerk moved on, no longer willing to entertain Mark’s questions. After all, even he had wondered the same things when he first started.

***

The First Factory of the legendary Arad Company.

Though built in a hurry, the factory was surprisingly sturdy, thanks to reinforced concrete and the spirit magic of the witches. It was functional and had everything necessary.

Magic certainly proved useful in construction.

“Welcome, sir!”

“Good to see you, sir!”

As I inspected the factory, the employees who noticed me hurriedly stopped their work to greet me.

“Get back to work! Don’t mind me!”

I waved them off, urging them to focus on their tasks.

‘They’re excellent workers. The productivity is ideal.’

Watching them return to their tasks, I felt a satisfaction akin to being pleasantly surprised.

‘As expected from people who’ve survived the harsh North. They’re used to hard work.’

Any doubts I’d had about employing people from another world had long since disappeared.

‘Especially the soldiers we recruited this time—they’re skilled in butchery and anatomy.’

Though most of them couldn’t read or write, their understanding of butchery and human anatomy was exceptional. Growing up in the North, where hunting, warfare, and slaughter were part of daily life, likely played a big role.

‘Each of them feels like a seasoned artisan. Is this how a quartermaster feels when they get farmhands as recruits?’

Among these Northerners, we had specifically selected elite soldiers from the High Tower’s forces, and from them, those with exceptional dexterity. The talent pool for the Arad Company’s production workforce seemed limitless.

Thanks to that, we were able to mass-produce chimera prosthetics far earlier than expected.

‘Ah! How long has it been since I’ve seen such a satisfying sight?’

Seeing the manufacturing process run so smoothly reminded me of my old company, Jin Industries, back on Earth.

‘If I could bring these magic stones and magical engineering techniques back to Earth, Jin Industries could dominate the global market, surpassing South Korea to become a megacorp!’

Such thoughts were pure fantasy, but they were tempting nonetheless.

“Sir, here is the current production queue.”

My brief daydream was interrupted when Chief Secretary Teo approached me with a report.

“Hmm… Are there really that many disabled veterans in the North?”

“Yes, sir. Many of them are struggling to make ends meet.”

He answered with eyes slightly shadowed by dark circles. I had noticed before that he spent his evenings reading late into the night. What a diligent employee.

I resolved to give him a generous bonus this week so he could buy more books.

“The human will to survive is truly remarkable. Some even haven’t received their stipends due to administrative issues and corruption, I hear?”

“Yes, it’s infuriating. How could anyone stoop so low as to exploit the destitute for personal gain?”

“I hear the Grand Duke was furious about it as well. I’ve been told enforcers have been deployed across the North. A large-scale purge is likely coming.”

“I fully support it. Those scoundrels are a disgrace to the North.”

While discussing with Chief Secretary Teo, I couldn’t help but think that this tragedy, in some ways, might be a blessing in disguise.

‘I feel bad for the disabled veterans who lost their stipends, but this situation is pushing the North further toward centralization.’