Chapter 951 – #205_Let’S Create An Academy (2)
#945
1.
Even after making the plan, I was still half-doubtful.
But seeing Great Aunt’s reaction, it was clear.
At this point, a bolder move was needed.
Albiereo frowned, looking at the documents Siwoo had placed on the table.
It wasn’t from displeasure or discomfort.
It was just out of concern.
“Siwoo, this place is…”
A lavender field where purple waves ripple all year round.
An artificial river winding through the entire site, and elegant spans placed over it.
The outer perimeter is a greenhouse, kept warm 365 days a year, built like a fortress, serving as a wall.
“Yes, it’s the Tiferet mansion.”
“I can see that.”
The site was ten times larger than the property I had seen earlier.
One main building, and four detached buildings extending like wings from the main building.
Among them, the main building, resembling a five-story fortress, boasted a grand presence.
Two libraries the size of small libraries.
Two large ballrooms large enough to hold a ball.
Six spacious dining rooms.
One hundred and ninety-two rooms to be used as guest rooms.
Ten luxurious bathrooms.
It was more like a castle than a mansion.
From a witch’s perspective, there was a large greenhouse where magical crops could be grown, and seventeen large rooms that could be used as research labs.
The ley lines and water veins, which could negatively affect experiments, were also very stable.
As you can guess from this, the estimated price was, of course, eye-poppingly high.
Based on the last transaction, even considering a simple inflation rate, it exceeded approximately 200 billion Korean won.
It was natural for Albiereo’s face to turn pale.
“Siwoo, there are two types of business failures.”
“Yes.”
“One is just someone who failed. The other is someone who borrowed every penny they could and failed spectacularly.”
“I understand what you mean.”
“No, I don’t think you understand at all what you’re trying to do.”
Sometimes, ambition can ruin a person.
In Albiereo’s eyes, Siwoo’s actions seemed like not just trying to get full on the first bite, but like a baby wanting to go to a meat buffet right after being born.
Albiereo, who had been restless, finally became agitated.
“Did you hear what I said earlier? You can’t just think about the building price! Maintenance costs and taxes are fixed expenses every year! Every year! And think about the management fees. The Tiferet Duke’s mansion is bigger than the Geminai Baron’s, so what are you going to do about the labor costs for the staff?”
“I have already received permission from my teacher.”
From Siwoo’s calm demeanor, Albiereo guessed why he had made this decision.
The Tiferet Duke was his lover.
She had even sold her luxurious mansion to establish the Location Point.
If his insistence on this building was due to an irrational impulse stemming from ‘love,’ then he had to be stopped at all costs.
“Siwoo, I’m asking just in case, but is this decision influenced by personal feelings?”
“To some extent, yes.”
“Oh, dear…”
It seemed I had seen him as too much of an adult.
Albiereo began to worry about how to break his stubbornness.
“I’m not an idiot either. I can’t deny that I want to return it to my teacher since it’s a meaningful place for her. But there are more practical reasons.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“First of all, it’s the location of the mansion.”
A map of Ars Magna Town unfolded in Albiereo’s mind.
“It’s close to the Levana Grand Bathhouse, and it’s also close to the Geminai Magic Tool Shop headquarters. The Secret Archives are nearby, and it’s also adjacent to other academies.”
“Of course. The location of the mansion itself is prime real estate in Ars Magna Town.”
“Yes, that’s right. In the modern world, many startups build their headquarters in prime locations, even if it’s unreasonable.”
Again, the most important thing in Siwoo’s academy creation quest was to recruit talent.
If an academy with no history or tradition was located in a secluded, out-of-the-way place, who would come looking for it?
At the very least, they had to provide the most luxurious and comfortable facilities to even get a glance.
An academy opened in the Tiferet Duke’s family mansion, which had been empty for a long time and was famous for its beauty.
That in itself would be a big issue.
“Also, recognition, accessibility, collaboration opportunities, human resources. I think it’s reasonable to consider it as the cost of seizing those elements and opportunities.”
“Don’t you know that? But who invests that much money in their headquarters when they’re starting up? Especially with loans. I’m telling you straight, I won’t help you. Do you have a way to raise funds?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to get investments or donations?”
It would be fine if the academy had reached a stable point where it could stand on its own.
No, it would be essential at that point.
However, if he was trying to secure external funds to open the academy, Albiereo was planning to freeze his account without hesitation.
“Witches are not philanthropists. If you receive investments or donations beyond the seed money at the time of establishing the academy, their influence will naturally become stronger.”
No matter how wealthy witches are, they don’t just throw money around out of pure goodwill and favor.
“Wasn’t the reason you wanted to create an academy to build a faction and gain some power? The influence of investors undermines independence and forces obligations. If that happens, the flexibility of the academy’s operation will also be limited. It means that no matter how hard you work to create it, it will all be sucked up by someone else’s straw.”
It was obvious without even looking.
Investments and donations always demand a certain price.
Investment funds would at least help the academy’s healthy operation for the sake of recovery…
Donations were a different story altogether.
The only thing a witch who donated hundreds of millions, or even billions, would ask of Siwoo was obvious.
He was not a son-in-law that Albiereo saw favorably, but it was a well-known fact that he was a handsome man.
Of course, it would be about hospitality, wouldn’t it?
“Ah, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I understand that much too.”
“Really? Then how are you going to raise the money?”
“I’m going to borrow it from L’Riel.”
“Hey.”
The cold, informal tone from my Great Aunt hit me hard.
I knew what she was thinking.
It was a cold gaze that looked at something less than human.
She must have thought of me as a boyfriend who had sweet-talked a naive, rich, young girlfriend into giving him a lump sum of money.
Moreover, L’Riel was a bit naive about the ways of the world, wasn’t she?
I must have looked twice as bad.
“It’s, it’s a loan. I’ll even write a contract! I’m not a thug!”
I had given L’Riel a full explanation and planned to repay it properly with interest.
Even though we were lovers, I couldn’t just take everything for free.
Rather, there were parts that needed to be handled even more cleanly because we were lovers.
“Okay, fine. Let’s say you open an academy in the Tiferet mansion. What’s next?”
This was one of the secret plans Siwoo had been preparing, and in fact, the decisive reason why he had to have a flashy academy.
“I plan to incorporate the small but strong academies throughout Gehenna.”
For the first time during the conversation, Great Aunt’s eyes widened.
She definitely looked surprised.
But she quickly pointed out the problem with the idea.
“Siwoo, those are academies with their own long traditions and histories. If you thought you could just lure witches with a nice building, that’s too simplistic.”
“I’m not going to ignore their traditions and identities and incorporate them.”
Siwoo also knew about the arrogance of witches.
“We have superior facilities compared to other academies in Gehenna. It’s a great place compared to Tarot Town, Border Town, or Lenormand Town.
We will provide research space free of charge to small but solid academies and build partnerships. We will induce them to form a community within our academy.
When we reach a stable point, we will hold joint research projects, exchange programs, academic conferences, and seminars, etc. And when we reach financial stability, we will induce incorporation based on various merits.”
Albiereo looked at Siwoo with a new gaze.
From the perspective of various small academies, there was no reason to refuse if they were offered a good place for free.
Many academies would probably want to form partnerships.
By gathering academies that maintained a closed and isolated stance in one place with unprecedented conditions, they would grow in size.
As the academy’s reputation grew and its influence increased, more witches would flock to it, and at some point, Siwoo’s academy would become an essential entity as a focal point.
At that point, based on the bulked-up size, they would exert influence over the small and medium-sized academies that had gathered.
It was a simple method, but one that a witch familiar with Gehenna would not easily think of.
It was an idea that could only be conceived by someone young and inexperienced.
“…That sounds like a good idea. But you’ll have to consider many things. There’s a reason why small academies have maintained an independent stance until now. If they see any signs of you trying to merge them, not just form partnerships, there will definitely be trouble.”
When that time came, they would need to provide more active incentives, establish unofficial cooperative relationships behind the scenes, plant spies to induce mergers in small and medium-sized academies, or lobby key personnel in small and medium-sized academies by promising high positions.
Well.
It wasn’t something to think about right now.
There was something more urgent to prioritize.
“Siwoo.”
“Yes, Albiereo.”
“But have you confirmed that the Tiferet mansion is for sale?”
“Huh?”
“The person who bought the Tiferet Duke’s family was Countess Adonai, and she hasn’t sold the mansion for a century. She’s been managing it for almost 100 years, but leaving it empty, there must be a reason.”
“Isn’t it just a matter of having money?”
“That’s not the case. She’s rich too. Even I have several buildings that I don’t use. It could be tax issues, the stable increase in property value, or that she’s economically stable enough that there’s no reason to sell the mansion, or just that she doesn’t have any plans. There are plenty of reasons.”
Siwoo, who had been sharply stating his plans just a moment ago, suddenly became clumsy.
Well, after all, he was still a young witch.
“It seems like solving that issue is the problem. Once you confirm that it’s for sale, we’ll talk about it.”
It was definitely an unexpected problem.
The only saving grace was that Countess Adonai was the wife of Siwoo’s best friend, Takasho.
“Don’t worry. I’ll resolve that quickly.”
Siwoo, who had spoken confidently, immediately rushed to Takasho’s host bar, Rose Glass.
