“This is just what…?”
How many floors is this exactly?
1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor…
A whopping 12-story building!
Isn’t that a bit low for a building?
You have to consider this is a fantasy world.
There’s no electricity, no capital pumps here.
So pulling water and energy up high is all in the realm of magical engineering.
And it’s outrageously expensive.
Not to mention inefficient too.
So, originally, this kind of extravagance could only happen in Petenburg.
What the heck happened in the workshop…?
“Wow! This is the so-called Basel’s watchtower!”
“Watchtower? Is it a military facility?”
“Not at all. It’s a mana stone processing workshop.”
“What the heck? Why that name?”
I hear voices coming from right next to me.
They seem to be beastmen tourists from the North.
It sounds like this place has already become a landmark in Basel.
It seems like some people are going out of their way to come to the workshop.
Was that their plan? Because there’s a café and restaurant opening on the 1st floor of the building.
I thought about going in to get a look, but there were just too many people inside, so I gave up.
“Heh. This is unbelievable. Other workshops won’t be able to throw money around trying to copy this. It’ll probably function as an unparalleled landmark for a while.”
“Are you interested in buildings?”
“Uh?”
“You look like someone dripping in elegance! I’m someone who works in a place like this…”
Suddenly, a man comes up and hands me his business card.
I’m busy holding Mi Jeong and supporting her bottom, so I have no hands.
Mi Jeong takes the business card and shows it to me.
“Please contact me anytime if you need it!”
“……”
The man hands me just a business card and disappears like the wind.
The card says:
– Fast Fast Construction! We do everything quickly!
– A construction company with a record of successfully building 32 buildings in the Free City of Petenburg!
– We’re the only ones with experience building a 50-story high-rise! Of course, higher floors are possible! As long as you have enough funding!
I thought it looked a lot like a building I’ve seen before.
Of course, it seems to be the work of the company that built all those gloomy, dark concrete blocks littering Petenburg.
“Looks like they made a ton of money.”
Petenburg built a dozen of these extravagant buildings to extract as much volume as possible from a limited plateau.
In a flat city like Basel, there’d be no need to go this far.
But even so, standing among all those similarly sized buildings, this one is quite grand.
Basel is already a highly popular tourist destination.
Now, this building is on its way to being a landmark in Basel.
“I hope they didn’t overextend…”
I can’t help but worry.
Since the kid recently got a taste for money, he might have developed a taste for extravagance…
I really hope it’s not something like that.
It would be a problem if something unfortunate happened to the exclusive craftsman who’s supposed to take care of my mana stones.
I just hope it doesn’t end up in bankruptcy from the pressure of their building expenses.
“Next customer, please place the mana stone on the scale. Please fill out the registration form for processing.”
“Please take a number and wait in the waiting area.”
“This side is for Tay the craftsman’s exclusive registration. For consultations and estimates from Tay the craftsman, you need to go this way.”
“……Wow.”
As soon as I step inside the building, Mi Jeong lets out a short exclamation.
She was indifferent to the neat and beautiful natural scenery of Elvenguard.
But it seems she never imagined such a spacious and open lounge would be revealed inside, as she can’t stop gaping.
“Should I pick a number too?”
I don’t want to cause friction again like last time by just striding past the waiting line.
I’d like to avoid making a scene in Tay’s workshop if I can.
“VIP window?”
In the midst of my contemplation, I spot an empty counter.
With nobody hovering around, I can kinda guess who it was set up for.
Without hesitation, I walk up to that window…
“Welcome! Are you here to process your mana stone?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ll take you inside. Please follow me.”
An employee who recognizes me from before jumps up and greets me.
He smoothly pushes aside a wall, revealing a hidden corridor.
After a short walk, we arrive at a cozy and spacious waiting room.
“I’ll call Tay the craftsman. Please wait a moment. Would you like some coffee or tea?”
“No need. We can wait ourselves, so you can go back.”
“Yes, then…”
Giving him the sign to leave, the employee bows slightly and exits the waiting room.
As I look around the waiting room, I can’t help but chuckle.
The interior is stunningly gorgeous.
It’s not quite at the level of a palace covered in gold paint.
But it still feels clean yet luxurious.
Ding!
About five minutes have passed since I started waiting.
Soon, I hear the sound of the elevator stopping.
“Investor!”
As soon as the doors open, Tay comes running out with a bright smile.
Then, she gives me a tight hug around the waist!
Tay looks just like before.
Wearing ragged work clothes and her old goggles.
And she’s still got a few tools hanging at her waist like they were her pets.
“She’s grown a bit, hasn’t she?”
She doesn’t seem exactly the same.
The kid seems to have gotten a bit taller.
For less than a month, that’s quite a lot of growth.
Is this her growth spurt?
“……What?”
“Hehehe!”
Ignoring Mi Jeong’s confused expression, Tay keeps burying her face in my chest and rubbing against me.
I’m relieved.
I was worried she might come back decked out in designer gear with sunglasses looking all haughty and might look down on me.
“Oh, uh?!”
Just as I try to put my hand on Tay’s head…
She suddenly slips down and steps back.
And she blushes a little as she says, “I was too busy; I couldn’t wash my hair…”
“I’m fine with it.”
“I’m not fine!”
“By the way, has the workshop gotten quite grand?”
“Hehe, right? It’s all thanks to you, Investor! I’ve used all the money I saved up over the past two weeks to build this building, so I have nothing left now!”
“Wha…?”
Wait a minute.
What are you saying?
You built this luxurious building with money saved up for just two weeks?
Without taking any bank loans…?
“You had enough money to build this in just two weeks?”
“Hehe. Actually, I didn’t plan on building such an expensive building from the start. A lot of artisans want to join our workshop. There are so many apprentices who want to learn from me that I just can’t manage it anymore. So I was thinking about buying land nearby. But, would you believe it? All the other workshops around here banded together to refuse selling their land! They wouldn’t sell even when I offered to pay ten times the market price! Since there was no way to expand sideways, I had no choice but to go up. And that’s how I ended up building this place. Hehe.”
So there were circumstances behind it.
It was initially a reluctant decision, but now that it’s built, it has unexpectedly transformed into a landmark, likely generating tourism revenue they never expected.
I guess you could say it’s a stroke of luck.
Of course, that luck still requires enough insight and resources to grab it.
“This building is practically built with your own money, isn’t it? The workshop must owe you quite a bit.”
“99 percent of it is my money! So, until I repay the debt, I’ll be participating in the management of this workshop!”
“What’s the repayment period?”
“I’ll never be able to pay it off! I’ll just be repaying the interest, and I won’t touch the principal for the rest of my life! It’s like my workshop forever!”
“……”
So the workshop has amassed a crazy amount of debt.
It makes sense why all the employees would elevate Tay’s status even when she’s not around.
If she were the boss, it would only be right.
“So? What are your aspirations as the head of this giant workshop?”
“I don’t have any grand aspirations to speak of… My dream is to make the highest-grade mana stones as common as the ones dealing with high-grade mana! Highest-grade mana stones are never consistent in quality, no matter how much you spend, and skilled artisans always have long wait times and working hours. With the resurgence of the dungeon conquest craze, the market for highest-grade mana stones is growing, so I’m going to work hard!”
That’s quite a dream.
But since Tay deals with 90% of the highest-grade mana stones in this area, it hardly seems far-fetched.
If anyone could do it, it would be her.
“You could do it soon. You have apprentices too, right?”
“Yes! My goal is to create an academy specializing in highest-grade mana stones in the future!”
Being such a successful person with a massive building and hundreds of employees under her, she comes across as a child excitedly sharing dreams.
To me, she still looks exactly like the first time I met her.
The only changes are that she’s grown a bit, and she carries herself with more confidence now.
“I’ve been rambling on a bit too long. Here’s the mana stone I want to process this time.”
“How many is it this time?”
“Just one. Unfortunately.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s that black mana stone again… Ahh! It’s another black mana stone!”
As soon as I open the box, Tay’s face turns sour.
It’s nice to see her exude confidence, but sometimes it’s good to see moments like this too.
“I’m really not confident about this!”
“You being not confident means no one else can be. You’re the only one who’s processed a black mana stone.”
“That was only once!”
“Most people haven’t had even that one experience.”
“Ugh… ”
She might seem like an expert producing only flawless mana stones in front of others.
Yet in front of me, she turns back into that clumsy little kid.
I ruffle Tay’s hair gently, encouraging her.
I already know that despite the pouting, the result will be great.
I know Tay’s skills best.
“And this.”
Next, I pull out the mana stone I received from Elvenguard.
Tay’s eyes light up with curiosity again.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a new mana stone I obtained. I want you to analyze it, try to gauge its properties and give me some figures.”
“Wow! It looks really clean! But the processing method seems a bit unique. Is it dwarven-made?”
As expected, she has a good eye.
She instantly identifies that it was made by elves.
Tay examines the mana stone for a while, then carefully puts it back in the box.
“Great! The analyzers are better suited for this kind of thing, so I’ll leave it to them. You should get your results in about ten minutes. By the way, is this a gift?”
“Right.”
“Who for? No way it’s for a woman, right? I can’t imagine a woman giving a present like this to an investor…”
“It’s for a woman.”
“……”
Tay’s smile disappears.
Her expression quickly turns awkward.
What’s going on?
It’s meant to be a gift for Cornelia.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“Ah, no! Nothing!”
“You seem off. You don’t have any worries or anything, do you?”
“Of course not! The mana processing will be done tomorrow, so come back in the afternoon! Now get out! I’m busy!”
“Hey…”
Tay hurriedly pushes me out, and I have to leave right away.
Looks like she really is busy.
Is this the life of a popular craftsman?
I can’t help but be impressed.
“……Bully.”
“Huh? Why?”
Mi Jeong pokes my waist and glares at me.
Out of nowhere…?
.
.
.
‘What was that about?’
After shooing the investor away like that.
Tay hurriedly needs to get back to work.
But my sluggish body just won’t listen.
I feel so foolish.
I shouldn’t have treated the investor like that.
“Aah…”
My heart feels unsettled.
All my energy seems drained away.
I want to just rest like this all day.
“Aah… A mana stone for a woman…”
My head feels complicated, making it hard to concentrate on work.
A mana stone for a woman.
Not just any stone, but one that’s a finely processed highest-grade mana stone.
“Must be an engagement gift…”
If you’re gonna gift such luxurious mana stones to a woman, it must be an engagement.
It’s common for men to give mana stones to women when nobles, especially humans, get engaged.
‘And it’s not even a dwarven stone but an elven one…’
Dwarven mana stones are known for their cost-effectiveness.
Of course, not just cost-effectiveness, but the absolute performance of dwarven stones outshines mana stones from other races.
But for some reason, elven stones gain inexplicable popularity, despite being inferior in all aspects.
Perhaps it’s due to their well-crafted brand image.
Even with every flaw, elven stones can be more favored than dwarven ones as luxury items.
The investor has picked yet another elven stone, just as suspected.
At this point, it’s already certain.
That this stone isn’t for practical use but is intended as an engagement gift.
“Aaaah… No way…”
I didn’t have high expectations.
There’s a big age gap between me and the investor.
We live in completely different worlds.
But why does this feeling of gloom wash over me as soon as I think about the prospect of him getting engaged?
I know I have no right to feel this way, but that unnamed woman keeps making me feel resentful.
“I was the first to like him…”
Though it was for different reasons initially, it has changed.
I’ve grown a lot since then.
Dwarves grow faster the more successes they achieve in their fields.
I was stagnant for a while, but I’ve started to grow rapidly lately.
Very soon…
The investor couldn’t wait for that growth…
“This is just awful…”
I flop back and hide my eyes.
It feels like the tears could come out at any moment.
I just hate this whole situation.
I hate looking so pathetic and miserable.
It’s like I’ve dropped out of a race I never even joined.
“……This could still fall apart.”
But I quickly come to my senses.
It’s still early to give up.
The investor announcing his engagement isn’t definitive, and even if it is, there’s a chance the woman could turn him down.
Of course, turning down an engagement with such a wonderful man would also be an incredibly foolish act…
But not everyone sees the investor’s value.
An arrogant noble might disregard the investor as nothing more than a lowly commoner.
So there might still be a chance left for me.
“I need to… I have to improve my skills more…”
I’m still not enough.
Even when I received the black mana stone last time, I ended up sounding weak because I was so uncertain.
No matter which mana stone I am handed, I need to dive into the work confidently.
And I need to produce the best results possible without leaving behind a single regret.
Besides, as I enhance my skills, dwarves tend to grow stronger…
Sooner than later, the investor won’t see me as just a child anymore.
