Chapter 25

Chapter 25

#25. The Trend of the North (2)

Lenslet Castle, also known as the High City, was not only the Duchy of the North but also the capital of the Northern Region, making it far larger than an average city.

At the heart of the High City lay the inner castle where the Northern elite resided, and deeper within that, there was the ‘Palace of Glory,’ where the Duke of the North would discuss major affairs with his ministers.

The Palace of Glory served as the throne room, office, and even the Duke’s home.

“…”

And now I found myself in one of the countless rooms of the Palace of Glory, alone with the ruler of this land after a council meeting had just concluded.

“Hem! Umm… As it’s your first meeting, thank you for your hard work. Your opinions were… good. We will greatly reference Sir Arad’s advice regarding our response to the Empire.”

Fortunately, Arina was the first to break the awkward silence.

“It is an honor.”

I bowed my head at an appropriate angle in respect.

“What do you think the Empire will say if we file a protest?”

“I’d cut ties, labeling it as a rogue incident influenced by the Dark Wizard.”

“Is that so? I see…”

Arina’s question followed by my brief reply.

“…”

“…”

An uncomfortable silence hung between us.

“Well, then, I’ll take my leave.”

Unable to bear the situation any longer, Arina left the meeting room.

“…”

Now I was the only one left in the room.

‘She seemed less tense than when I met her at the farm earlier… Still, she’s kinda stiff.’

I reviewed the conversation I’d just had with Arina.

‘Why was she mad? Could it be because I was with the witches in the greenhouse earlier?’

Considering all factors, that seemed most likely.

‘What should I do? Cutting ties completely could cause real trouble.’

While keeping distance from the Duke might be wise, I couldn’t afford to alienate her entirely. Securing the Duke’s cooperation was essential to saving the North.

‘This whole situation feels like some weird Earth-style “friends with benefits” scenario.’

As distasteful as it was, I saw this as the best option for both of us – I need to return to Earth, and she needs to govern the North.

‘The ideal scenario would be me saving the North and getting free travel between worlds…’

But such fantasies were quickly dismissed. If that were possible, whoever sent me here would’ve done it already.

Turning back to reality, I needed to figure out how to mend fences with the still slightly upset Duke.

‘Going to apologize directly isn’t an option.’

Apologizing about being with the witches would be counterproductive, potentially making Arina jealous instead.

‘It seems there’s only one way.’

Having reached this conclusion, I headed toward the Golden Carriage. There’s nothing quite like a surprise gift to cheer up an angry woman.

‘What should I get her?’

On my way to the Golden Carriage, I pondered what kind of surprise gift would please Arina.

‘I remember she liked food last time.’

I could give her a K-Omakase experience like in Haven.

‘Nah, no need to make enemies with the palace chefs.’

Then I shook my head.

‘How about making some candy or cake? Desserts made with sugar would be quite rare here in the North.’

Given the era, sweet treats would be limited to honey, making them a decent gift option.

‘The problem is getting sugar. Even with my alchemy skills, creating something like aspartame in this world would require too much infrastructure, materials, and time.’

Practical limitations blocked that idea.

‘How about crafting her a sword?’

As a knight, Arina would appreciate a fine blade, especially since her favorite sword was damaged in the Magic Realm battle.

‘Nope, that’d take too long. And without the materials to create mithril or adamantium, it wouldn’t be worth it.’

That idea was scrapped too.

‘Moreover, giving her a fancy sword might just encourage her to run around using it, causing more trouble.’

Infrastructure and time issues kept blocking my ideas.

‘Damn, feels like being a semiconductor engineer dropped into ancient Korea.’

With all my knowledge, I lacked the resources to implement anything meaningful.

“Hmm… Hmmmm…”

Lost in thought, I walked on until I spotted the Golden Carriage ahead.

“Got it!”

Suddenly stopping mid-stride, I shouted Eureka, having come up with a brilliant idea.

Inside the Golden Carriage.

Surprisingly quiet, the area that was supposed to become the witches’ theme park was deserted, thanks to Spring Witch Isabel’s stern warning.

This allowed me to start working quickly and efficiently.

“Let’s see… Those monster skins I got instead of money from the Magic Realm… Ah, here they are!”

First, I pulled out several monster skins from a box inside the carriage.

“Let’s make a bag.”

Laying out the monster skins, I visualized various famous luxury brand bags from Earth while sketching out a design.

“Sharpening first.”

After finishing the design, I began sharpening the tools I’d use to cut the leather.

Leatherworking requires constant cutting and paring without interruption, making sharp edges crucial at every step.

Thus, sharpening becomes second nature, like hitting Ctrl+S repeatedly.

Swoosh swoosh

After sharpening, I started cutting according to the design.

Thanks to the excellent honing, everything went smoothly.

Swish swish

Next came the paring process.

Paring involves adjusting and refining the leather’s thickness, forming the core of leather craftsmanship.

It determines the overall atmosphere, luster, and shading of the leather product. Hermes’ status as the king of luxury goods largely stems from their mastery of paring, which separates high-end products from mass-produced ones.

Tap tap tap tap tap

Once the paring was mostly done, I moved on to the equally important creasing process, another labor-intensive and time-consuming step.

However, it’s essential. While paring defines the bag’s skin, creasing creates its muscles. Proper creasing ensures the leather remains intact over time.

Tap tap tap tap tap

Thanks to my absurdly high manual dexterity stat, every process proceeded flawlessly, with machine-like precision and speed.

Through repeated cycles of sharpening, creasing, and paring, the multiple monster skins were layered and compressed into a single piece of leather.

After cutting the leather, I set up a forge and tossed in some magic stones to create a smelting furnace.

Whoosh

Here began the most critical part of the process, distinguishing ordinary leather bags from extraordinary ones: the magic stone coating.

“At this stage, luck plays a significant role. Unlike before with the Golden Carriage, these are all intermediate-grade magic stones, so success won’t come easily.”

A challenging process where skill and luck split 70/30.

“But with my luck stat, the success rate should improve from 70% to 80%.”

Similar to before, I applied melted magic stones both inside and outside the leather.

Swish swish thud thud

Before it hardened, I etched an extra-dimensional mana circuit onto the leather.

“Will it succeed on the first try?”

A small bead of sweat formed on my forehead as I engraved the mana circuit.

About 20 minutes later…

“Success!”

I instinctively sensed the enchantment’s success.

With the initial enchantment complete, I proceeded to sew using linen thread, adding punching details, attaching buttons and accessories, reinforcing the bottom with magic stone material, creating lining, bonding, and assembling all parts.

Work continued non-stop until deep into the night.

“Wow… It’s already morning?”

Stretching, I looked at the rising sun of the North.

“I don’t even make my own extra-dimensional bags this seriously…”

Looking at the nearly finished leather bag, I muttered helplessly.

The bag resembled a Birkin bag from Earth, though smaller – about the size of two cupped palms – and without handles. Designed with the user’s preferences in mind, it was meant to be worn on a belt rather than carried by hand.

“Just the final touch now.”

In the center of the almost completed bag was a socket waiting for a gem-like addition.

“After going through all this trouble, she better give me a better reward at the knighting ceremony.”

Trembling, I pulled out a magic stone about the size of four fingernails from my pocket. It was a top-tier magic stone obtained as war spoils from the previous battle against Imperial Sigma.

“Final enchantment!”

The grand finale – perhaps the most crucial step.

Though I wanted to engrave shield magic, current conditions wouldn’t allow it without access to materials like mithril or orichalcum.

“Quantity over quality then.”

Given the current infrastructure, this was the best I could do.

“With this top-tier magic stone, I can engrave three mid-to-low tier spells: identification, purification, and self-repair.”

These would be considered mid-to-low level by the magical standards of a hundred years from now.

Even creating something like this today would require someone of Yulkaneis’ caliber.

“With the magic stone coating on the bag plus this magic stone… If the enchantment succeeds, we’ll have a bag that can last ten thousand years.”

I proudly considered this artifact comparable to those from the Golden Age, possibly surpassing them in practicality.

“Must be the beginner’s luck boosting my luck stat – haven’t failed once yet.”

This extra-dimensional bag could only be created by me in this world, and even I relied heavily on my luck stat to complete it.

“Can’t keep doing this. A few more intensive productions like this and my body won’t hold up.”

The lack of proper facilities led to inefficient processes requiring intense focus.

“Still, if I downscale the performance and have the witches and artisans mass-produce them… Might be worth asking the Duke about later. Even with witches’ pride, they’d have to comply if ordered from above.”

Despite extreme fatigue and dizziness, I poured all my remaining strength into the final process, praying for success.

With a silent prayer to my luck stat, I inserted the unattributed magic stone into the bag’s socket.

Then…

POOF!

The bag erupted in blinding light signaling a great success.

Arina hadn’t slept all night.

“Did I disappoint him?”

She regretted treating Arad coldly yesterday.

“Why am I feeling this way? Why?”

A completely new emotion.

Confused by these feelings, Arina didn’t know what to do.

“It was just witches hugging Arad’s arms. I should have been happy.”

She couldn’t understand why she felt angry and gloomy at the time.

“Why did I ask that?”

After meeting Arad at the greenhouse, Isabelle insisted on seating him right next to her despite her protests.

“Did she designate Arad as my consort without permission?”

She deeply regretted the question she asked Isabelle then.

“Why… Why did I ask if they had children among the ancients?”

The question was purely to tie Arad down to the North, intending to pair him with another northern woman to settle him here.

Clearly, Isabelle had misinterpreted her intentions.

-You’re simply too beautiful?

The unexpected confession from the Magic Realm resurfaced, heating her mind.

Throughout her life, she’d heard compliments about her beauty many times, yet for some reason, his words stuck particularly strongly in her mind.

“Ugh…”

Shaking her head violently, Arina tried to cool her heated thoughts, regaining rational control.

“Arad possesses knowledge from the Golden Age. He’s a talent we must recruit. That’s the only reason!”

The reason she sought his opinion during yesterday’s meeting was purely to check if he had any revolutionary solutions from the Golden Age.

“When I clearly rejected his confession back then, he seemed to accept it gracefully.”

Though she felt inexplicable regret and longing, Arina believed this was the right decision.

“For Arad’s sake, this is the correct choice.”

She had become an imperial target. Relentlessly.

If Arad became involved with her under these circumstances, the already suspicious him would face all kinds of threats from the empire.

Knock knock knock

“Your Majesty, Sir Arad requests an audience.”

Just then, a maid’s voice came from outside the door, announcing an unexpected yet welcome visitor early in the morning.

“W-Wait a moment! Tell him to wait!”

Caught off guard by Arad’s request for an audience, Arina instinctively looked for a mirror.