Chapter 71.2

The more successful my company became, the more envious eyes would be drawn to it.

Even here in the North, I couldn’t afford to be complacent.

When a loyalty test suddenly drops out of nowhere, you never know who might fail.

It’s the same reason why some countries on Earth display portraits of their presidents or monarchs in public buildings.

After finishing the lecture, I toured the industrial complex with Mary.

We passed by several of Arina’s portraits as we made our way to the first factory.

“How’s the paint production going?”

“It’s progressing smoothly. We had a shortage of work for the first factory recently, so this came at just the right time.”

The interior of the first factory, where we used to produce chimera automail, had undergone significant changes.

While the chimera automail production line was still in place, it now occupied less space than before.

The larger portion of the factory was dedicated to producing paint.

“Even if the Bishop Company provides customers, the demand isn’t high enough to keep the automail production line busy.”

The automail production line was useful, but its scale was too large compared to demand.

Instead, paint production was now driving most of the factory’s output.

Mary gazed at the alchemy production line, now three times larger than before, and spoke.

“This worked out well in the end. In a way, we owe it all to Her Highness’s blessings, don’t we?”

“…That’s true,” I replied with a nod.

At this point, nearly all the disabled residents of the North had been treated.

As a result, most of the chimera automail being produced now was for clients from outside the North.

But finding clients wealthy and daring enough to secretly visit the North was no easy feat.

Only nobles who had both the money and the nerve to defy the Church’s pressure would even consider it. And nobles like that weren’t common.

For this reason, the First Factory had been underutilized lately.

Half of its workers had already been reassigned to the Second, Third, and Fourth Factories, which focused on the production of celadon.

But with the rise of Northern Grand Duchy merchandise, the First Factory had found new life.

‘I should just repurpose the First Factory as a permanent chemical production facility.’

I looked around the factory, observing the process of mixing magic stone powder, minerals, medicinal herbs, and other materials to produce paint.

This world had something Earth didn’t — magic and mana. As a result, alchemy here had far better efficiency than Earth’s chemistry.

Alchemy in this world was essentially the equivalent of chemistry on Earth, just with magic included.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

After finishing the factory tour, I decided to head to my office with Mary.

***

As we approached the office, I heard a familiar voice.

“Boss! There you are!”

It was Teo, walking briskly toward me from inside the factory.

“Teo, did you have a good talk with the Rune Trading Company?” I asked, welcoming him.

Just a moment ago, he had been in negotiations with the executives of Rune Trading regarding the distribution of Northern Grand Duchy merchandise.

“It went well. But…”

Teo nodded, glanced around, and leaned in to whisper something to me.

“Wait, what?”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

***

When we reached my office, I found two unexpected visitors waiting for me.

“Lord Gard! How was your diplomatic mission this time? Were you safe and well?”

“Ah! Count Jin.”

“Hmph! It’s been a while, President Jin.”

The two visitors were Gard, the leader of Rune Trading and the chief envoy of the Northern diplomatic corps, and Entir Bishop, a key figure from the Bishop Company who had been actively working in the Empire.

“Gard, Entir Bishop, it’s been a while. I didn’t expect to see you two here, but it’s good to see you nonetheless.”

“Likewise, Count Jin.”

“Indeed, it’s been a while, President Jin.”

The two of them greeted me with warm smiles.

“But what brings you both here so suddenly? If you’ve come to the High Tower, shouldn’t you have sought an audience with Her Highness first?”

I asked them, puzzled as to why they had come to the industrial complex before paying their respects to the Grand Duchess.

“We did request an audience with Her Highness, but she told us to speak with you at the industrial complex first.”

Gard replied with a relaxed grin.

“Did she now?”

That was unexpected, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.

Most of the High Tower’s discussions were related to Arad Company anyway. It wouldn’t hurt for them to discuss matters with me in advance.

Besides, it’s not like anyone could just see the Grand Duchess whenever they pleased.

“Entir, what about you? What brings you here?”

I shifted my gaze to Entir, curious about his reason for coming.

“Well…”

Entir opened his mouth to respond, but before he could finish, a loud voice rang out from behind him.

“Are you kidding me?! People are actually buying this?!”

“Unbelievable.”

The voices belonged to none other than Carpe, the Mercenary Queen with her iconic red hair, and the Red Wolf Mercenaries who followed her.

In the original timeline, these guys would have caused a huge ruckus at the Great Northern Wall before fleeing to the United Kingdom of Kingdoms.

But I had successfully “caught them” at just the right moment, possibly thanks to my absurdly high luck stat.

“This has to be a mistake. No way. I refuse to believe that people are actually spending gold coins on an old man’s portrait!”

Carpe was staring at one of the portraits of Balzac hanging in the hallway. She looked genuinely appalled.

“Am I wrong, guys? Who in their right mind would pay money for this garbage—”

“Whoa, whoa, WHOA! This one comes with Sir Balzac’s handwritten signature?”

“Holy crap! Should I buy it?! Should I just buy it?!”

“There’s a portrait of Sun, the Northern Ice Wall, too!”

“Wow, look at this one of Her Highness the Grand Duchess! It’s so pretty!”

“Damn, it’s pricey… but I really want it.”

Unlike Carpe, the Red Wolf Mercenaries had stars in their eyes as they gazed at the portraits of Balzac, Sun, and Arina.

“…Turns out the ‘idiots’ who’d actually buy this stuff are right here.”

Carpe looked completely disheartened as she glanced at her starry-eyed subordinates.

For the record, Carpe had blue eyes at the moment. Her appearance shifted slightly whenever she was in the North.

“My apologies, Count Jin. Mercenaries have skill, but they lack refinement…”

Entir closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head, embarrassed on their behalf.

“Hahaha…”

Standing beside him, Gard awkwardly scratched his head and let out a dry laugh.

“Please, come inside. Teo, keep an eye on the mercenaries.”

I led Gard and Entir into my office.

As soon as he entered the room, Entir glanced at the ceiling with longing eyes and asked,

“Would you be willing to sell me those magic stones that heat the space and light up the room?”

Thanks to the fire-attribute mana stones crafted by the witches and me, the room was warm and cozy.

The light-attribute mana stones installed throughout the space provided bright lighting, even in the North’s dim, sunless weather.

“Doesn’t the Imperial Mage Tower sell similar products?”

“They do, but the supply is limited, and the prices are ridiculous.”

Not just the Empire, but even the other kingdoms had magic tools that used mana stones.

The problem was that production was limited because of the mages’ obsession with pride and “artistic craftsmanship.”

“It’s no different here.”

“‘No different,’ you say? But don’t you have witches working in your factory?”

“That’s not as simple as it sounds. You have no idea how much effort it takes to manage those witches. Do you think I opened an academy for fun?”

I emphasized the difficulty of managing witches, but Entir didn’t seem willing to give up.

“Eugh…”

“Just have some tea and relax.”

I poured him a cup of tea, hoping it would calm him down.

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