Chapter 30

Chapter 30

#30. Arad Company (3)

Looking at the building and sign in front of me brought back memories of starting my first startup on Earth.

“Starting a new business is always fun. Thrilling. Refreshing!”

Especially a business in a fantasy world where magic exists.

If this were a VR game, it would be the ultimate life simulation.

“For a first venture, that seems like the best option. Doesn’t require much advanced magical engineering knowledge so fewer security issues, just the right difficulty to prevent easy copying… though we do need skilled hands…”

While pondering these thoughts and staring at the Arad Company headquarters…

“Lord Arad.”

“Lady Isabel.”

The sudden voice of Spring Witch Isabel came from behind.

“What brings you here?”

“I just dropped by while passing through.”

“I see.”

The Spring Witch looked no different than usual – like an ordinary elderly woman from the Northern Region, not what one would expect from a witch.

“So, are you finally opening for business? The Arad Trading Company?”

“Yes.”

“When’s the grand opening?”

“It’ll probably be next week. We’ll start operations simultaneously with the opening ceremony.”

Isabel appeared older than her outward appearance suggested. They say she’d been around since the founding of the Northern Duchy.

Partly due to her status as a Great Witch, but also because witches have diluted elven blood.

“Will you be unveiling new products at the opening? On par with Arad Salt?”

“Yes, you can look forward to it.”

“I’ll be expecting great things.”

“Hahahaha.”

After chatting with the Spring Witch, I cautiously asked:

“Um… how has His Grace the Duke been lately?”

I had noticed he’d been avoiding me particularly since the ennoblement ceremony.

Especially recently, he hadn’t invited me to meetings.

“Could His Grace be unwell?”

“Yes, he’s slightly indisposed.”

When I asked, Isabel gave me a cool look and replied.

“He’s unwell?! What’s wrong?”

Her gaze and reaction made my heart sink.

‘Could it be side effects from the elixir?’

The first thing that came to mind was the hastily-made elixir from the Magic Realm.

Though it miraculously healed his injuries and restored his dantian, looking back, it was incredibly primitive and incomplete.

No telling when or how side effects might appear…

“Just kidding. He’s physically fine. It’s just that he’s too busy to spare time. He has duties as ruler, and most importantly, he needs to rebuild his depleted dantian.”

“I see…”

Though Isabel said it was a joke, I didn’t fully believe her.

There was definitely something else going on.

‘Thinking about how he reacted when I was hanging out with young witches, and how he acted during meetings and the ennoblement ceremony… Hmm… Is he embarrassed?’

I inwardly sighed.

It wasn’t something I could do anything about anyway.

In fact, I considered it for the best.

This way, I could maintain distance from Lady Ariana without having to actively avoid her throughout the North.

“Oh, by the way, Lord Arad – has there been any progress on that research?”

Unaware of my thoughts (or perhaps aware and considering whether to burn me for disrespecting her liege), the Great Witch Isabel suddenly smiled mysteriously and brought up another topic.

“Ah… you mean the research on mana force?”

“Yes, that one.”

Realizing what she was asking about, I swallowed hard.

‘So, this moment has finally come.’

I already knew the cause of the declining mana force but had been putting off discussing it.

However, I couldn’t delay it forever.

“First… please come inside.”

Gathering my resolve, I led Isabel into the Arad Company building.

Inside was quiet.

We hadn’t hired staff yet or fully set up infrastructure.

Still, I had already established my own basic magical workshop in the basement.

“Strange scenery?”

Even though it should have been dark, the basement was brightly lit without torches or candles.

Light attribute low-grade magic stones engraved with magic circuits served as lighting on the ceiling and walls.

“Wow… amazing as always.”

Isabel looked at the glowing magic stones with shining eyes.

‘Again, she’s not asking about the principles behind the magic stones or magical engineering, despite being interested in them.’

Glancing at Isabel, I tilted my head.

Since coming to the High City, I’ve talked with many witches, but none have asked about the principles or secrets behind my creations, only showing interest in the items themselves.

As if such inquiries were extremely rude and taboo.

‘Why is that?’

Watching Isabel observe the various magical devices in the basement with bright eyes…

‘The witches haven’t asked detailed questions about my past either, making it difficult for me to ask them about theirs.’

However, I decided to use this opportunity to ask some questions about the witches.

‘Anyway, our relationship will likely become awkward soon due to the mana force issue.’

Better to learn what I can now.

“By the way, Lady Isabel.”

“Yes? Speak your mind, Lord Arad. Or shall I call you Baron Jin?”

“Lord Arad is fine. I’m not officially a knight yet.”

“The era when ‘my lord’ was reserved only for knights ended quite some time ago. So, why did you call me?”

“I have a question before we get to the mana force matter.”

“Ask anything.”

“Even though security is important, and witch pride is involved, I’m curious why witches refuse to learn magical knowledge from me.”

I finally asked the question I’d been wondering about.

Specifically, why witches show great interest in my magical devices but never ask to learn how they work.

And why they avoid me when I try to teach them even a little.

‘I want to ask about the Winter Witch too, but I’ll save that for later.’

I decided not to bring up other curiosities that might influence her fate.

“The reason is simple. Young witches who haven’t yet become independent cannot learn magic from anyone other than their mentor.”

Isabel answered casually as if it were obvious.

I regretted not asking sooner. Had I been misunderstanding all this time?

“Is it some kind of tradition?”

“It’s a tradition, but not a bad one. It’s closely related to the fact that witches’ magic follows a single transmission line.”

Isabel continued explaining.

“Witches must practice magic in very different ways due to spirit arts and complex lineage magic.”

I listened attentively.

“Therefore, they cannot casually learn magic from anyone other than their mentor. Doing so could tangle the magic circle in their hearts.”

Indeed, there seemed to be a significant reason behind this.

Now I remembered Ariana mentioning “witch circumstances” when I gave her the bag.

“Learning other magics is only possible after becoming independent.”

“Then why don’t independent witches ask me directly to teach them? In fact, when I tried to teach them something, they avoided me.”

“That’s… out of respect for their mentors. Even after independence, if a witch wants to learn another type of magic, they usually buy spellbooks or conduct independent research rather than asking others. I’m the same.”

Hearing her explanation, I understood why the number of witches was so small.

In fact, it felt miraculous that they’ve managed to continue their lineage at all.

‘So that’s why they were so fixated on examining the golden carriage and magical devices I created. They were studying and researching through observation.’

Still, I felt confident that within ten years, magical engineering would gradually flourish in the North.

Though for me, who needed to return to Earth as soon as possible, even this felt too slow.

‘Something still feels off. Are they really doing all this just out of respect for their mentors? To the point of suppressing their thirst for magical knowledge?’

On one hand, I still had lingering doubts.

‘Well, asking won’t get me answers, so I’ll need to find another way.’

At this point, I decided I needed to raise the level of northern magical knowledge using my own methods, and as quickly as possible.

“If I were to write books about magic stone science or magical engineering, would you read them?”

Since direct teaching was impossible due to the witches’ inexplicable unwritten rules, I thought about writing a book instead. Perhaps something like “Principles of Magical Engineering”?

“Hmm…? Very surprising. You’re willing to openly share your knowledge and expertise so casually?”

To my suggestion, Isabel showed genuine surprise.

“What’s your reason for doing this?”

“I can’t go into details. Just know that I personally owe a great debt to the North, specifically Lenslet.”

“…?!”

Isabel looked at me with a strange expression, trying to gauge how much truth lay in my words.

“No.”

And then she shook her head, rejecting my offer.

“Though it’s very tempting, not now. Please don’t give me the spellbook yet. If you’re writing one, please stop for now.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the spellbook might fall into the hands of the Empire.”

The reason for her rejection matched what Ariana had previously told me.

“Are there Imperial spies within the Coven?”

“The Coven isn’t just witches. There are former students who lost their mentors in accidents or lacked talent and became clerks or alchemists. Better to be cautious.”

“What if I inscribe personal magic seals in the spellbook so only the owner can read it? Like the protective wards on the Golden Carriage.”

“A spellbook is different from a carriage – it’s small and light. If I were an Imperial Sigma agent, I’d kidnap the witch along with the spellbook. For example, by abducting her apprentice.”

“…”

Understanding her reasoning, I nodded reluctantly and asked,

“Then when do you think knowledge sharing will be possible?”

“Not too long. At most a year? Once we completely eliminate the Empire’s agents from the High City, we might even come asking ourselves.”

Saying this, Isabel suddenly looked at me slyly and asked,

“Speaking of which, Lord Arad? You’ve been delaying talking about the mana force issue, haven’t you?”

“That…”

‘Here it comes.’

“It seems you’ve found unfavorable results?”

“…Yes.”

With her words, I took a deep breath internally.

“Since further delay serves no purpose, I’ll tell you now.”

Feeling the weight pressing down, I immediately opened the desk drawer.

I took out the soil sample I’d collected earlier, which had its mana drained, and explained to Isabel,

“Using magic detection, we recently discovered where the mana in the soil was disappearing to.”

“Surely… not the greenhouses?” Isabel carefully confirmed based on my tone.

“Yes. The greenhouses in the High City have been draining mana from the entire Northern Region. If this continues, a major famine will occur across the North within several decades.”

“Why didn’t the spirits warn us?”

“Because the ones consuming the mana are the spirits themselves.”

“??!”

“The greenhouse design was flawed from the start.”