Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Whether This Will Make Money or Not

Upon arriving in Halim, Vernel was walking slowly down the hallway with his organized documents in his hands.
That was the path leading to the lodgings.
He knew well where his room was; he wasn’t lost.
However, he wandered along that path as if he were waiting for something.
— Vernel-gun.
A heavy voice snorted behind his back.
Through the bushes, a brilliant mane could be seen.
Hair that in its time provoked the laughter of many, iconic enough to earn him the nickname Solar Mage.
Anyone would have smiled recalling those days, but Vernel couldn’t do so.
— Ah, hello! Director-nim, we hadn’t seen each other since the Academy.
— Yes, it has been a while.
— I heard that you granted me the main slot. I thank you very much for that favor…
— What is that?
Cutting off Vernel’s words, the man fixed his gaze on the documents he held in his hand.
— It is what I will present in this report. I have polished it the best I could, but it is still not a simple matter, so I would like Director-nim to take a look at it first.
— Me?
— Yes.
— …Give it to me.
Director Bernard began quickly flipping through the presentation manuscript.
Under that serious gaze, Vernel’s mouth went dry.
In the end, Bernard let out a burst of laughter.
Was that laughter good news?
— Absurd.
No.
What came out of his lips was a laugh that resembled mockery more closely.
— Vernel Marquis-gun, I cannot hide my disappointment toward you.
— W-what do you mean?
Inquired Vernel, striving to maintain politeness.
— The efficiency is barely 12%, what do you intend to do about that?
— The efficiency is increasing gradually.
— Will you show a mere glimmer of possibility in the presentation just to be mocked? Are you going to tarnish the reputation of the Regent of Valdrova, who believed in you, with such a farce?
Vernel stared at him with a blank mind.
This was not the application of something already existing, but a totally new creation.
Even 12% was an astounding achievement.
Director Bernard continued:
— Let’s see, is there anyone who understands the formula you discovered? Even I find it hard to follow; it’s a mess. You only obtained the formula, but the speed to improve efficiency is too slow. If I had understood it, I would have raised that figure much faster than you. Do you know why I have that confidence?
— …
— Vernel, it’s because your perspective is too narrow. When you obsess over a single thing, you see nothing else. You focus so much on that 1% that you don’t know how to raise the 10%.
Bernard shoved the presentation manuscript against his chest and snapped:
— Disappointing, truly disappointing. It would have been better back when you had wild dreams. Your current version is nothing more than a disaster.
Bernard turned his back and walked away.
Vernel couldn’t articulate a single word and lowered his gaze to the floor.
For a long time, he was unable to move from that spot.
— —
Ferda witnessed it all.
From the moment Bernard insulted Vernel and inflicted that immense frustration upon him, to the moment he left.
Then he reflected:
“Was I mistaken regarding Director Bernard?”
Bernard had opened up a slot for Vernel.
Granting him the main event alone already meant a great deal to academics.
Ferda thought that had been born out of goodwill.
But that was not the case.
Bernard was nothing more than a petty bastard incapable of recognizing Vernel’s talent.
The higher the position, the harder the fall.
Did Bernard intend to destroy Vernel with this?
“Then…”
What should he do in that situation?
— Well, well, Regent-nim! What a coincidence to find you here.
At that welcoming voice, Ferda came back to his senses.
While observing in secret, that man had the face of a petty villain, but now he projected a polite and affable impression.
— Truth be told, a merchant named Stefan Pascal came to ask me how to manage the main event…
— Do you truly believe he is that stupid?
— Eh? What do you mean?
When Ferda interrupted him with that question, Bernard put on an expression of incomprehension.
Ferda answered him directly:
— Unintentionally, I overheard the conversation you two had.
At Ferda’s words, Bernard finally understood, and his face turned entirely red.
— Well, this… you have seen a side of me that is difficult to show.
Indeed, it was a face difficult to witness.
It sought to expose what happens when human duplicity is laid bare.
— I don’t know how it might have seemed to you, but I wasn’t trying to cause any harm to Vernel.
Ferda was left speechless.
— What do you mean?
— It’s just that… Vernel Marquis was a prodigy in whom we senior academics placed high expectations. Even in his days at the Academy he took first place, and with his brilliant mind everyone said he would overturn the century.
Everyone knew the outcome had not been favorable despite such praise.
Bernard let out a sigh.
— But the moment he brought what he would present at the Conference, everyone was left bewildered. It was full of absurd content. That is why they tried to dissuade him and somehow guide him down a good path, but he did not listen. Do you know what happens to nine out of ten people like that? They get carried away by ideals and end up becoming madmen.
— But he wasn’t a madman.
— That is correct. He achieved it.
— Even so, do you think you can persuade me?
If he were only chasing ideals, Ferda would have understood.
What’s more, it would have been him who had approached Vernel with that cynical attitude.
However, Vernel had achieved it.
Achievements that should have taken years arrived in a matter of months, and he was even increasing the efficiency.
— That is precisely why I am doing this.
— Knowing that he was right, isn’t recognizing him the duty of the President of Knowledge?
— For people like Vernel, that is precisely what must be done.
— What kind of person is he?
— They are people who present innovations that we denied and couldn’t even imagine. That kind of person cannot be kept within the limits of ordinary people like me. They must follow what they believe, not conduct research to convince someone.
Ferda understood those words.
Bernard was a genius.
But Vernel was a genius among geniuses.
So Bernard’s standard for judging Vernel was no different from that of an ordinary person.
— Vernel will attempt to bring me down somehow by proving his capability. If he succeeded in something so wild, now he must develop even further. And he will prepare to deliver a decisive blow to me.
That was a motivational lash for Vernel.
A maneuver to unearth the competitive spirit he hid in his heart.
— And what happens if he strays from the right path in the process?
As if it had happened to himself.
Ferda swallowed those words.
— Vernel doesn’t take the cowards’ path. He always insists on a frontal fight. After all, he too is a scholar moving toward absolute truth.
Bernard gave a respectful bow.
— Even so, if you think he is going down the wrong path, I ask that you tell him that I am actually a narrow-minded human, like a petty wretch incapable of acknowledging him face to face. If you’ll excuse me, I will go get ready.
Bernard walked right past Ferda without another word, and Ferda let him go.
What would he gain by beating him like a dog or scolding him?
“Although I am curious too.”
At the same time, he was intrigued by the kind of person Bernard saw in Vernel.
Would he be frustrated over not being recognized, or would he be reborn as a new man just as Bernard had said?
Ferda, pretending he knew nothing, went looking for Vernel’s room.
Perhaps because the shock still hadn’t worn off, the door wasn’t shut tightly, allowing him to enter.
Vernel was sitting before the desk in the lodging.
His shoulders rose and fell violently as his breath hitched.
— That’s right, fuck… that efficiency… do I just have to bring it out myself?
Tears dripped down his face, but neither his hands nor his mind stopped.
He was correcting every single one of the points Bernard had pointed out to him.
— Realistic? Fine, I’ll raise it to 20% by next month. Just you wait. All those bastards who mocked me… I’ll make every single one of them have no choice but to acknowledge me. Damn it…
The thirst for vengeance was clearly palpable in his words and actions.
He squeezed his brain using that resentment as fuel.
Vengeance was like that.
It made you forget fatigue,
And granted you absolute concentration to immerse yourself in a single thing.
“If there is a difference with me…”
It was that he had chosen the right path, just as Bernard predicted.
Therefore, he closed the door quietly and walked out of there.
— —
— Just remove that thing from there. Compared to the moment it appeared, it’s not that big of a deal. Handle that item with care!
Stefan observed the interior blueprints while giving orders to the workers.
— Boss, we brought the things. Where should we exhibit them?
— Good work. Hang that on the wall over there! There’s a hook, right?
— Yes.
— Check once more if the hook is sturdy. It’s an important item! My head could be chopped off!
The items were mana stones brought as samples and weapons that utilized them.
Just in case, blueprints of future projects had also been prepared to show the business vision.
With a long tube as the main body, complex wiring, and glass bottles hanging, that artifact was called the “Magitech Rifle.”
“Is that a weapon?”
Researchers said it was a high-performance item, but he hadn’t seen a demonstration even once.
Would such a contraption even work?
— Well, well, orabeoni? What a surprise to see you around here.
A familiar voice pierced Stefan’s ears.
An unexpected figure… although it was a foreseeable event.
Being an exhibition where all merchants participated, there was no way the Pascal Family wouldn’t attend.
Even knowing that, Tilda’s presence was as bothersome to Stefan as an unforeseen apparition.
Stefan was made uncomfortable by her presence.
— Did you come alone?
— No. Of course I came with my fiancé. He’s over there, right, Henri?
A man approached walking with a broad smile.
A middle-aged, chubby fellow in his mid-thirties.
Henri Dandolo.
Heir to the Dandolos, one of the largest merchant companies in the Empire.
— Tilda, my love. I brought the cocktail you mentioned.
The chubby man let out a silly chuckle and handed her the glass.
The black-haired woman, of relatively slender and beautiful figure, stared fixedly at the glass.
She pouted her lips into a tantrum and moistened her eyes.
— This is Cherry Spring, right?
— Uh, yes?
— I wanted to drink Blue Sapphire…
Tilda shook her shoulders slightly and blinked delicately.
Seeing that, Henri Dandolo smiled awkwardly and nodded his head.
— Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll go get you a new one!
— Thank you. As expected, I only have you.
— Brother-in-law! We’ll greet each other later!
— Uh, yeah. Sure…
Tilda smiled.
At that smile, the man went, pleased, to look for the cocktail again.
Stefan furrowed his brow upon witnessing that scene.
— Why do you leave the servants aside and make your fiancé work?
— Why else? Because I don’t even want to see his face.
Tilda curled her lips maliciously.
She faked it before others, but not before Stefan.
Which meant she considered him someone easy to trample over.
— Do you know your ugly, true nature well?
— Not at all. What perspective could a man have who wasn’t even capable of taking off my underwear?
— I’d love to see you tell him our conversation just now.
— If you have the guts, go ahead, try it.
It was always like this.
Acting as if she were above men, trying to manipulate everyone.
It had been that way since childhood.
If something displeased her, she dug traps to purge others or leave them deep wounds.
At first it was limited to childish levels, but as her mind matured, she became increasingly meticulous.
Stefan feared that version of Tilda.
He had seen the monster that lived behind that smiling face, but he could never understand what kind of monster it was.
— Is this the item from the Far East that orabeoni supports?
Covering her mouth with a fan, she looked up at the Magitech Rifle.
— Yes.
— How cute. Bringing such a thing.
Hmm.
Exhaling a sigh, she examined it thoroughly and then turned her head abruptly.
— To me, it looks more like a piece of art.
The doubt arose whether that thing was usable.
— Of course it can be used.
— And how does it work?
— That thing… you put your hand here, pull this way, and do this and that… and it works on its own.
As his words trailed off, Tilda’s smile deepened.
— You haven’t even seen it work once.
— …
— Well, it’s an exposition. Even if they are unfinished artifacts, simply hanging them up is enough and no one will know. Wait, no.
She put on a brazen expression and tapped her chin with her index finger.
— Come to think of it, there’s also a report, right?
That look betrayed that she knew everything.
She possessed the information on the mana stone, so it was natural for her to know that there was a presentation for the main slot.
— Why did you bring an item that you haven’t even operated a single time? If it explodes halfway through, wouldn’t it simply be a humiliation?
— That is true.
— It is perfect for display, but hmm… one has to wonder if this will make money? Just as father said, the East seems useless…
A crescent-shaped smile formed on her lips.
That very same expression.
When that look appeared in the Pascal Family, it had subdued him countless times.
— Don’t worry, little sister.
But today was different.
Stefan had a confidence very different from his usual.
— While you grab men by their crotches, I lean on the shoulder of my patron.
A provocation seasoned with rather vulgar words.
However, the effect was extraordinary.
Tilda looked at him with genuine malice.
“Stefan, of all people, talking back to me?” Her face was contorted, and her hands were trembling.
The Stefan of before would have crumbled, but the Stefan of now would not.
He was the patron who backed a place more solid than anyone’s.
“Ah, shit, it’s still scary.”
Remembering the image of her childhood, when she used to swing her fists no matter what, a cold sweat broke out naturally.
— Could you step aside?
A voice boomed from behind her.
Her face, vilely distorted, relaxed softly upon turning around.
Tall stature, gray hair, and blue eyes.
A man dressed in a formal black uniform with red accents.
He was young, but possessed an aura unbefitting his age.
“This person is Ferda Valdrova.”
He had a cold expression and a stern gaze, worthy of the nickname Ruthless Killer he had earned after slaying Thesalos Walcher.
Enough to catch Tilda’s interest.
She smiled brilliantly and greeted him elegantly:
— Hello, Regent-nim. I am Tilda Pascal…
— I don’t care who you are, so get lost.
— Y-yes?
He cut off Tilda’s greeting.
A rude behavior that went beyond annoying, but Tilda could not even become enraged inside.
Those blue eyes looking at her were so cold and piercing that they froze the blood.
— Do you not understand words? I told you to get out of my sight.