Chapter 172 – Partners
#172.
Gaon, who led the party and sat across from him, could feel Rougiena’s gaze scanning her whole body with interest.
I don’t know what I can see in her eyes, but her curious eyes are quite pure, unlike her dangerous aura.
Gaon waited until her observation was over, and when her eyes met, she brought up a business.
“I would like to conclude a business partnership.”
“It’s a business partnership… What benefit can you bring me?”
From an objective point of view, Lucipeon is a gigantic force that dominates the shadows throughout the empire, and Gaon and his party are just small and medium powers in the provinces that haven’t even set foot in the capital yet.
If an alliance was formed in this situation, rumors that Gaon was the mistress of Louisiana might spread.
As such, it was an absurd proposition.
However, Ga-on knows from numerous experiences in her previous life that Lucipeon is not satisfied with the yin-ji and is trying to advance into the yin-ji.
Of course, they were unable to advance to Yangjiro.
Lucipeon was able to increase his power to this extent through a deal with the imperial family, but the future emperor, the first prince, was reluctant to do so.
Under his obstruction, Lucipeon gives up on advancing to Yangjiro and remains in the dark.
‘It’s a dangerous thing.’
If this happened, it would turn the first prince into an enemy, but in fact, I was prepared for that from the beginning.
Since the first prince was a person closely related to the cult, the conflict was a predetermined outcome.
So you have to take the risk.
“I heard that Lucipeon is planning to advance to Yangjiro. That plan, we will help.”
“Hoo… Lena Altrima wouldn’t have told me that, but she managed to figure it out. Yes, like you said, we’re aiming for sunny places. But how are you going to help me when even this Lucipheon is struggling?”
It was dangerous to openly mention the prince. Rouge I asked, appropriately omitting her subject.
Unless he proves how he can escape the mace of a powerful man who is unstoppable by anyone except the emperor, he will never be able to persuade Louisiana.
No matter how much interest you have in him, it’s just a tiny bit of curiosity.
Gaon slowly put his hand into his chest.
“Can I take it out?”
“Okay. Let’s take it out.”
Even though the opponent, who might be an enemy or a ally, tried to take something out of her arms, Rougiena didn’t change her arrogant pose at the beginning and just nodded at her chin.
As soon as Gaon gave permission, he took out a magic crystal from his chest.
“You would know. The fact that we are cooperating with Priscilla Barrymore of the Barrymore estate.”
“Yes, there is a lot of news that good quality magic stones are coming out these days. So? Is it only magic stones?”
“No, isn’t that enough?”
Ruggiena narrowed her eyes.
“… What do you mean?”
“We have the technology to mass produce magic stones. It is also more portable than normal magic crystals, and the quantity and quality of magical power. And things that have the upper hand in mana recovery. Wouldn’t this be possible enough? Because we can virtually monopolize the magic stone market.”
“…”
The market logic is simple. The higher the quality and the lower the price, the more people prefer the product and neglect others.
No matter how much the prince tried to use his power to interfere, it would be useless if this happened.
The 1st Prince wasn’t even an emperor yet, and he was in a fight with my twin brother, the 2nd Prince, over the throne, so if he did more here, he could have been caught.
“How is it? If it’s an item like this, it’s a good place to go. Would that be possible?”
The reason why Lucipeon had to resign without any fuss at the Merchant Alliance and the prince’s interference was because there was no merit to use.
Why would he go so far as to incur hatred from the prince when he could get something at the same price from other merchants?
It is natural for Lucipheon to fail to advance into the Yangji.
“How can you believe that?”
“Don’t you know? You must have guessed?”
You probably know, if not in great detail, that Barrymore Street delivers magic stones to the Prenewal Guild where they live every day.
Then, of course, they would have assumed that there was something special about Gaon and the others, and that it might be magic stone mass production technology.
Perhaps it won’t be long before you realize that assumption is correct.
If it was going to be discovered anyway, it was wise to disclose it in advance and use it in the transaction.
As expected, as if his prediction was correct, Rouge I smoked her cigarette again and opened my mouth while exhaling the smoke.
“You are right. I’ve been thinking about what to do. But that’s it. What are you going to do with only 50 or so a day? Wouldn’t that parasol be easy? If you calculate the time it took for the magic stones to come and go, it took 3 hours to mass produce 50 of them. It seems time is running out, but it’s still too slow. At that amount, it just shines and gets buried in the beginning. Is there any way?”
A monopoly is also a story when supply can keep up with demand.
At the valid opinion, Gaon shook his head and answered with a grin.
“Lugiana Calliope. Actually, I was a little bit wrong.”
“What if I was wrong?”
“The technology we have isn’t mass production technology, it’s precisely magic injection technology. Until now, it was only because of the high efficiency of high-grade magic crystals, but if you spend more time, you can produce the highest-grade magic crystals and, although it will take a very long time, you can produce magic cores.”
“… To produce a magic core?”
Magic core. Literally, it is an item called a magical core, but it is an item that is very rarely created even in the spirit vein, only in places where mana stays in one place for a long time.
The magical power contained within it is 100 times greater than that of the highest grade magic stone, and magic tools created using it have an effect comparable to, or even surpassing, that of an artifact.
This item, which comes out only once in tens of thousands of years, is of course invaluable, and if sold, it will be sold for an astronomical amount.
In fact, if it had a similar effect to an artifact, someone would ask if it would be okay to just obtain an artifact, but the advantage of magic tools made with magic cores is that you can apply the effect you want in the way you want.
If you can create an artifact in a form that minimizes risk, maximizes effect, and has excellent versatility at the same time, it becomes a treasure that will not exist again in the world.
The holy sword sealed in the heart of the Pentra Empire was also a holy thing made by endowing divine power with the magic core.
“How is it? At this level, you can definitely make your mark in the capital city.”
“…”
Rougie I quietly maintained her silence.
Looking at her like that, her warmth tried hard to hide her cold sweat on the back of her hand.
If Lugiena covets her magic infusion technique and tries to capture them, it can’t be the worst.
If that happened, Gaon was willing to evacuate Chorin and Hayeonman at any cost.
Please make a rational decision.
“Whoa…”
Ruggiena sucked on her cigarette again and let out a deep breath of her smoke. As if she was deeply troubled, she sucked three times in succession, then she rubbed it off in an ashtray located nearby and leaned her body forward, which was buried deep on the sofa.
“Ma-nucleus. It means the magic core.”
“Yes, it’s a magic core. I can’t be sure of time, but I think it will be possible in a year.”
“Under! 1 year? It’s a very short time compared to tens of thousands of years. If that’s it, sure. The Merchant Union’s checks would be meaningless.”
The first prince’s interference can also be ignored.
No, rather, the first prince would try to contact Lucipeon in order to somehow obtain the magic core.
Even if it means losing the support of her upper class.
To that extent, the magic core is a great thing.
‘I don’t know why the church couldn’t do it.’
In the previous life, the church used Chorin to mass-produce magic stones, and expanded its influence by extending the lifespan of those in power.
But strangely, he didn’t make as much as the magic core.
If there was that, it would have been possible to secure an absolutely inviolable territory within the Union, but Gaon had never heard of such a thing.
He couldn’t have done it just because he didn’t want to make it, and it seems that it was impossible.
This is another problem.
If it is really impossible to make a magic core after persuading Louiseena like this, a very serious problem will arise.
Of course, it’s not just the Magic Stone that Gaon has, so how can he get rid of it if he replaces it with something else?
Until she was caught, she had to at least grow up to be able to face Rougiena head-on.
And it was only a matter of how long it would take, and it belonged to the easy task.
“How is it? Would you like to enter into a partnership? We will benefit each other. And if a little more trust is built up, we can do other businesses together.”
He didn’t come simply to borrow Lucipeon’s power when he sold magic cores.
Starting with this transaction, he intended to dig up the ancient ruins scattered throughout the empire using the great power of Lucipeon.
“I think Lucipheon would make a good companion. We can complement each other.”
“… You don’t think I’ll catch you here. You can do that if you put your mind to it.”
She is a woman smart enough to start from scratch and in just over 100 years, she creates a force that controls the shadows across the empire.
She would not dare to do the foolish thing of cutting open the goose that lays the golden eggs.
In that judgment, she threw a little playful remark.
“Well. If you hadn’t helped me last time, I might have already died. She’s a lifesaver, so can’t we trust her for once?”
Louisiana’s sharp eyes became blank for a moment.
Perhaps she hadn’t thought that she would give such an answer, she let out a laugh as if she was full of energy after showing a rare expression of embarrassment.
“Under… ! Fun. You are interesting.”
“I’m glad if you like it. So, how are you?”
“… Yes, we do enter into partnerships. In Lucipheon, I will be in charge of the distribution of magic stones and the auction of magic cores. What do you want?”
“… First of all, I would like to ask for manpower support to solve various problems such as security. Other than that, I’ll tell you later slowly. Oh, and I hope you find one.”
Gaon recalled the blue-eyed woman he had met a few days ago, listed her characteristics one by one, and passed it on to Roujiena.
Since telekinesis was used, there is a high probability that the place of origin will be the Hunter District, and if you figure out what you have done so far, the time you returned to the past is perfectly consistent with Gaon.
She was also the type that can never be called common in appearance, so it probably won’t take long.
At least in a few months, we should be able to figure out what it really is. After Gaon talked with Lujiena for another hour after that, he was able to leave Lucipheon Headquarters.
After leaving the red light district, they found a luxury hotel, took a shower, and fell asleep as if they were passing out.
And the next morning.
“Gaon-san, let’s go!”
“Calm down. It’s not far away, so you don’t have to be in such a hurry.”
The party headed to the Gray Magic Tower to greet the reunion with Cheon Jae-hee.
