Chapter 093
When I got back to my quarters, there was a letter wedged into the crack beside the door. If I had not run into Jas on the way to Rohan’s room, I would never even have known it had arrived.
It was not especially unusual. Since apprentices had restricted freedom to go out, people with outside connections occasionally received letters.
There were even a few letters that had co for the original owner of this body, Dilen. All of them had been sent by his parents back in his hotown.
“Co to think of it, I completely forgot about that. I ought to make ti to write back. I’ve been rather indifferent until now.”
They were not my real parents, but from now on, I ought to think of them as my parents.
That thought distracted for a mont.
Pulling myself together, I removed the letter and opened the door. Once inside, I latched it shut.
That was because Rohan had just been teasing , asking whether it might be a love letter. If he barged in for no reason and ended up seeing it, it would be a headache.
“Hup.”
I lay down comfortably on the bed and opened the letter.
At first glance, there was nothing written on it at all.
As though it had been delivered by mistake.
But that was rely a feint. I poured Mana into the paper.
Sssssk.
At once, letters that had been invisible began to appear. Once I could make out every last word, I stopped the flow of Mana.
It felt like scratching off one of those instant lottery tickets with a coin.
As expected, it was a letter from Eluna. The elegant penmanship imdiately brought her face to mind.
But what was written there was even more welco than her face.
So you finally did it!
“As expected of Spinel. I knew he’d pull it off. Though this is much faster than I expected.”
That much was thanks to the Status Window telling his Material Procurent Trait was ranked A. And on top of that, I had poured money into the matter. If he had failed even then, that would have been stranger.
I got up imdiately and prepared to go out. I fastened my sword and pistol at my waist, draped myself in a robe, and once everything was ready, I headed straight for headquarters.
Eluna was waiting for . Instead of greeting her, I asked the question I had been most curious about.
“Didn’t you say at the eting earlier that production would be difficult for the ti being?”
“That’s what I was told as well, but it seems so dramatic progress was made. He suddenly finished it and brought it over.”
“I’m not scolding you, so don’t misunderstand. I’m just in a good mood.”
Eluna smiled prettily. I asked again,
“And where is today’s star?”
“He’s waiting inside. This way, please.”
I followed Eluna to where he was. Spinel was seated at a desk, writing sothing on a sheet of paper.
Scratch scratch.
It was a very pleasant sound of friction. It was exactly the sound of a fountain pen nib touching paper. In Spinel’s hand was a fountain pen with a sowhat rough, unrefined appearance.
“You ca quickly. I thought you’d be here tomorrow.”
“You’ve already finished it?”
Spinel grinned playfully and shrugged.
“I found a good material right at the end. The other parts had already been made, so assembly didn’t take long. I’m in the middle of a writing test now. What do you think? Here, look.”
Spinel lifted the paper with a proud expression. I frowned.
“That’s so atrocious handwriting.”
“One of the hallmarks of genius.”
“Not a personality flaw instead?”
“Hahahaha.”
He had tested it so thoroughly that the sheet looked almost like punishnt writing. It was hard to make out the words, but overall the lines were uniform enough that I felt satisfied.
I took out the magnifying glass I had prepared in advance and examined the pen strokes. Spinel clicked his tongue.
“You’re awfully strict, Master.”
“This is going to beco the foundation of our business from now on, so there can’t be any flaws. Besides, it’s sothing I’m going to present as a gift to soone very important. Are you going to take responsibility if sothing goes wrong?”
“As if that could happen. But who exactly are you planning to give it to?”
“His Excellency the Marquis.”
“I see.”
Murmuring that to himself, Spinel nodded. Just imagining sothing he had made ending up in the Marquis’s hands had already drawn a smile to his face.
“It’ll beco a truly revolutionary object. Until now, people had to carry around an ink bottle in order to write, but once they have this fountain pen, there’ll be no need for one.”
I lowered the magnifying glass. The line quality was slightly unstable, but there was no problem at all with writing.
Still, I thought the nib would need to be refined a little more later on. Not everyone was like this, but nobles were generally quite fastidious.
“What’s the production cost?”
“Quite expensive. If you calculate the raw cost, it’ll co to around 10 Gold. The small chamber that holds the ink and the converter are the key, and those are rather difficult to obtain.”
Ten Gold. In terms of value, that was about the level of a compact used car.
But the production cost itself was not especially important.
The value of all things is decided by scarcity.
And on top of that, this contained a revolutionary function, so there was no need to worry that people would be unable to buy it for lack of money. The thing to worry about was being unable to produce enough of it.
“Don’t just stand there looking. Try writing with it yourself, Master.”
I took the fountain pen into my hand. The grip was better than I had expected. I could tell that Spinel had even paid attention to the finishing of the outer material.
I held the fountain pen and wrote on the paper myself.
“Mm, not bad. It feels a little scratchy, though.”
“That should improve naturally as it’s used. The nib will wear down, and the writing feel will beco better. Once we develop the nibs further, we’ll be able to create products with all kinds of different feels.”
“That’s one of the characteristics of fountain pens too. The user’s habits get reflected in them.”
“Exactly, Master.”
It seed Spinel had already grasped the advantages of the fountain pen completely. To understand its purpose so perfectly just from looking at the blueprint really could only be called talent.
I handed the pen back to Spinel and asked,
“What do you think would be an appropriate sale price?”
“Well. Perhaps 500 Gold? Hmm, is that too cheap? I’m not sure. I don’t really have much sense for money.”
Spinel’s opinion did not strike as particularly useful. It was too careless, and his thoughts were fixed entirely on making the thing itself. No one could be good at everything.
My gaze naturally drifted toward Eluna. As though she had been waiting, Eluna spoke.
“At this level, I think it would sell quickly even at 1,000 Gold.”
“So if it’s 1,000 Gold, we’d need to sell at least four a month just to cover the Young Masters’ monthly tribute.”
Resting my chin on my hand, I fell into thought for a mont. Then I rembered sothing that mattered more than the price.
“How long does it take to make one fountain pen?”
“The assembly doesn’t take long. Around three hours. But as I said earlier, the real issue is the ink chamber and the converter. Acquiring the material for those takes a great deal of ti.”
“What sort of material did you use in them?”
“It’ll be quicker if I show you.”
Spinel deftly took the pen apart. When he twisted the barrel around and around, the internal components were revealed.
To my surprise, the chamber holding the ink was translucent, so the remaining amount of ink inside could be seen.
What? Did they have plastic here too?
“This is a little different from my original design.”
“I thought it would be inconvenient if you couldn’t see how much ink was left, so I looked for a material that allowed the inside to be seen. Among what I found, there was one that was light, strong, and suitable, so I made the chamber out of it.”
Spinel shook the pen lightly from side to side. The ink inside the chamber began to slosh.
“What’s the material?”
“Tree stem. It’s one of the rare materials that can only be obtained in limited quantities from the southern region. It takes a great deal of ti and care to dry and refine it properly. It’s the ideal material—light, strong, and durable.”
“If it’s a material that’s only obtained rarely, that ans we can’t make many fountain pens, doesn’t it?”
“You’re sharp. I managed to acquire it with difficulty by paying a premium. I’ve secured enough for two more.”
So in total, I could get my hands on only three fountain pens. How should I sell them to leave the greatest possible profit?
“One will be gifted to His Excellency the Marquis...... one I’ll take to the Royal Capital...... so that leaves only one I can sell.”
“There is another option.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Spinel pulled another fountain pen from inside his clothes. The outside looked nearly identical. The difference beca clear only when he took the barrel apart and showed the internal components.
The ink chamber of the earlier prototype had been translucent, but the chamber in this one was completely opaque.
“So you made the ink chamber out of tal.”
“This was the prototype I made on the very day you gave the blueprint, Master. It’s a bit heavier, and the writing feel isn’t as good as the first one. I hadn’t planned to reveal it......”
“No, why are you only telling this now?”
I was honestly a little dumbfounded. If he had ntioned it earlier, we would have had a much easier ti of things.
“Hahaha. It couldn’t be helped. I wanted to improve it further. If I’m going to make sothing, shouldn’t it be perfected from the start?”
“There’s a reason compromise exists!”
“I never compromise. Not when it cos to products.”
Now he was even flicking his fingers at . Fine. All right. I lose. So just continue explaining.
“It is a bit heavier, but not uncomfortably so, and the inconvenience of not being able to see the ink is still sothing people could tolerate. So why not try selling this version first?”
I thought over Spinel’s suggestion for a mont. Then an unexpected realization flashed through my mind.
The quality of a product is relative.
There was sothing I had been thinking about all wrong until now. I was too accustod to modern civilization. In other words, I had been asuring things by the standards of precision products stamped out uniformly by factories.
If I used this initial version of the fountain pen, I would find it a little inconvenient, yes. But if the people of this world used it instead, wouldn’t it feel like stepping into an entirely new world for them?
Just like the first ti soone who had used only a pager encountered a mobile phone.
“Yes, let’s sell it.”
“You seem to be deciding rather easily. Are you sure?”
“We’ll sell it. As it happens, a good idea just ca to .”
I gave them a aningful smile.
“Approach local low-ranking officials and minor nobles, and sell the item to them. Don’t sell it in marketplaces. Use secret channels. Keep it very discreet.”
“Understood. A mystique strategy.”
Eluna received the order. Since I had entrusted it to her, things would surely go well.
“And Spinel, make the remaining two fountain pens as quickly as possible. One I’ll take to the Royal Capital, and the other I intend to sell in a very special way.”
“How so?”
“Where is the easiest place in the world to obtain sothing that exists in only a single copy?”
Both of my subordinates fell into thought for a mont, and then they exclaid at the sa ti.
“The Auction House!”
“Exactly.”
It would not be easy to jump straight into an auction imdiately. First I had to gift a fountain pen to Marquis Chronos and let the early model circulate enough among others that word of mouth would begin to spread.
And then, if a product identical to the one used by the Marquis appeared in an Auction House?
The price would skyrocket.
“I should be going now. Hand it over.”
Spinel was about to hand the better of the prototypes, then seed to think of sothing and pulled his hand back.
“Just a mont. I prepared sothing good.”
Spinel went over to the corner and brought sothing back. It was a small wooden box. When he opened the lid, the inside was lined with a soft cushion. It looked extrely luxurious.
He laid the fountain pen on top of that cushion.
“A storage case?”
“If you present only the fountain pen to His Excellency the Marquis, wouldn’t it look rather plain?”
“You really did finish it beautifully.”
After praising the contributions of both of them, I returned to my quarters. I wondered what kind of reaction the Marquis would show after receiving the fountain pen as a gift.
Looking forward to tomorrow, I was able to sleep soundly for the first ti in quite a while.
I’m very happy to be able to share good news in my first letter. Departnt Head Spinel has successfully made the fountain pen. We’ve prepared the prototype at headquarters.
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