Chapter 133

Chapter 133

#133. Mobile Knight Pluto (3)

Honestly, collaboration projects should be handled by a manager-level employee under the president.

But Arad Entertainment doesn’t have that level of skilled personnel or systematic structure yet. Not just Entertainment, but most of the group companies are the same.

“The chairman has already perfectly created the first episode for us, so we can start working from the second episode. And I’ll prepare to mass-print this comic before the second episode is ready.”

“Excellent. Proceed immediately. Use my name if necessary.”

Thankfully, our President Kanu may be passive, but he seems to understand the gist.

After finishing instructions to Kanu, I gave orders to Petro who was standing nearby.

“Fully assist any requests from Arad Entertainment.”

“Yes sir. But… until when should we do this?”

“Just until the single-volume and specialized comic magazine come out. We’ll be in your debt until then.”

“Yes sir.”

I started pondering whether I should transfer Petro later for constantly asking questions.

He used to be a bureaucrat, and he’s too rigid being clean and principled.

‘No, actually his inflexible nature might be needed now. Let’s see how long it takes for the media system to fully settle.’

I decided to hold off judgment for now since his strictness on journalistic ethics and company principles could be useful.

I judged it would be better to serialize my manga only at the beginning as promotion before moving it elsewhere.

“Director Te.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

After giving instructions to the executives of Arad Entertainment and Arad Media, I called Director Te whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

“How’s your wife doing these days?”

“Yes! She recently had our second child.”

“Oh? Is that so? Congratulations!”

“Thank you!”

Hearing this unexpected good news made me think of Ariana.

‘Thankfully she’s not here.’

After briefly congratulating, I continued what I was going to say.

“How’s ‘Arcadia’s Morning’ run by your wife?”

“It’s going very smoothly. It alternates between first and second place with Arad Post every time.”

I saw President Petro of Arad Media twitch slightly at Director Te’s words.

“That’s impressive.”

Currently in Lenslet, there are seven newspapers besides Arad Post.

These newspapers issue editions once every three days due to limitations in transportation, communication, and production volume. Since each newspaper has different publication dates, we effectively get to read a newspaper everyday in Lensretia.

“Have her serialize this in Arcadia’s Morning.”

What I prepared coming to High City wasn’t just manga.

“Is this a novel?”

“Don’t read it now. Have your wife neatly summarize what was discussed here today and deliver it along with this novel. She’s smart, she’ll understand right away.”

“But did… Chairman write this?”

Teo must’ve skimmed through the thick novel I handed over for a brief moment.

“In case you didn’t know, riding in a carriage is usually pretty boring. I just doodled around out of boredom.”

“…”

My nonchalant answer made Teo freeze momentarily with a dumbfounded expression.

His face clearly said “How is this something you just ‘doodled’?”

“Knight Rom and Witch Julia… This isn’t based on real events, is it?”

“Of course not. The setting is just our Lenslet, everything else is fictional.”

Naturally, none of the content I personally created was original.

I plagiarized a few famous works from Earth.

As a reference, this current work is ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Still, I didn’t just Ctrl+C Ctrl+V it.

I adapted it somewhat to fit the local culture and style of this world.

‘MAX Level skills included writing and creation?’

Arad’s body is basically Chat GPT.

When I threw rough materials and plots I remembered from Earth into my head, they were instantly organized into localized works.

Then I just wrote down the information clearly appearing in my mind.

“After the serialization of the novel I just gave you ends, let me know. I’ll release another one next. Ah! Use Meteor as the pen name.”

By principle, novels should be published under a pen name.

Referencing my original name Jin Yuseong from Earth, I chose Meteor as my pen name.

“Well, even if I don’t release another one, your wife will surely bring popular novels from across the continent herself.”

Honestly, this novel would’ve been good in Arad Post too.

But coexistence is important.

And Maria isn’t even close to being considered a man.

She’s also the wife of our group’s management support director, and Arcadia’s Morning which she runs is practically a subsidiary of Arad Holdings with over 70% ownership.

“In this situation, if Arad Post just ran wild without any discussion, it’d be a perfect flag for internal conflict.”

“Alright! Since urgent instructions are done, go back and take care of things.”

“Yes sir! I’ll immediately proceed with Chairman’s instructions.”

“You must be tired from traveling such a long way, rest well Chairman.”

As always, everything from preparation to cooking and plating was done for them, and even feeding was offered.

If they couldn’t swallow all this help, it’d be impossible to see it as anything other than intentional sabotage with malice.

They know this, so they’ll definitely work hard.

“Chairman, where did Lady Mary go?”

After the emergency call and meeting ended,

Teo suddenly asked me before going to his wife’s newspaper company.

“She went straight to High City.”

“…”

At my calm reply, Director Te tilted his head.

“Uh… Did the two of you fight?”

He must’ve heard the recent rumors.

That the relationship between me and Mary isn’t like it used to be.

“Stop with the strange talk and get to work already.”

Smirking, I shooed Director Te away.

* * *

A golden carriage rushed toward the inner castle of High City.

The carriage had two flags fluttering – on the right, a white winter hawk on a blue background symbolizing the royal family.

On the left, a golden carriage on a black background representing the Arad Group.

This was the carriage Mary took separately from Jin Viscountcy to High City.

Normally, Ariana in Mary mode rode in the same carriage as Arad.

But this time it was different. Due to her insistence on keeping distance, they rode in separate carriages.

‘This way, rumors about Ariana, Mary, and Arad drifting apart will surely spread throughout Lenslet.’

This is fine, this is good.

Now Arad can meet other women without worrying about anyone’s opinion.

She looked out the window with a wistful smile.

Even in the short time she was away, High City had noticeably developed.

“We’ve arrived, Lady Mary.”

The golden carriage gallantly racing through High City stopped near the Palace of Glory where the throne room was located after passing through the inner castle.

Shortly after, the carriage door opened and Mary, with striking white hair and deep gray eyes, stepped out.

The knights and soldiers guarding the palace showed no reaction to Lady Mary’s appearance as they knew her status (under the misconception she was a bastard).

Thus stepping out of the carriage and moving toward the throne room, Mary transformed into Ariana in an area free from prying eyes.

The entire process was so natural that it felt seamless.

She meticulously transformed every aspect of her appearance and attire back to her original form.

Then she confidently strode toward the throne room again.

“His Majesty the Duke is approaching!”

The white jade throne was empty because Isabel hadn’t cast the welcoming magic beforehand.

Instead, Sun stood beside the throne as if guarding it.

‘Valkyrie must be properly operating in Jin right now?’

For reference, Valkyrie came only up to the front of High City as guard before returning to Jin.

The project ongoing in Jin was as important as Ariana’s safety.

Thud thud thud

Only Ariana’s light footsteps echoed through the quiet throne room.

-Mary, carefully convey to His Majesty the things I’m about to say.

Recalling the conversation with Arad before leaving the viscountcy, thoughts of the white jade throne filled Ariana’s mind.

-Currently, stories and comics aren’t nearly enough for the northern issues. We need much bigger entertainment and luxury industries. For this, cooperation from High City is essential.

-Mary, neatly explain this to His Majesty. If successful, it’ll become a great source of income for High City.

Sitting on the white jade throne, Ariana summarized Arad’s brilliant business ideas and spoke to the standing ministers.

“How many top-grade horses do we currently have in High City?”

Ariana’s eyes gleamed with the currency symbol of Rensha.

* * *

Abundance greatly reduces illiteracy rates.

This is also called enlightenment.

Northern Lenslet was leading this enlightenment movement.

These days, children are learning reading, writing, and arithmetic compulsorily.

Even adults who were previously illiterate are learning these basics at workplaces, barracks, or weekly village community centers.

However, no matter how much you learn and practice, you tend to forget unless you use it regularly.

Advanced printing and papermaking technologies along with magical engineering kept the people of the north from forgetting the literacy they worked so hard to gain through newspapers.

Since there weren’t many forms of entertainment, even those who disliked studying would still read newspapers filled with world news.

Eventually, reading newspapers became a cultural phenomenon that transcended gender, age, and social status among the Lensretians.

This made newspapers the perfect medium to promote and introduce this new concept of manga.

In a certain village directly governed by Duke Stein of Xuen in Lenslet…

There lived a veteran soldier named Stein who served as an elite soldier in High City for over 15 years and participated in three Arctic expeditions but retired due to injuries sustained during the Great Wall Siege Battle.

He came to the market today holding half a copper coin.

The weather was pleasantly cool between late summer and early autumn (by Northern standards), with bright sunshine.

The market was piled high with various goods unimaginable just a few years ago.

Potatoes, meat, dried fruits, and Arad salt grown and harvested locally in Lenslet greeted him first.

Then affordable imperial wheat appeared.

Other products from Arad Group like porcelain, clothes, and magical devices were also frequently seen in the market.

But Stein passed by these items indifferently.

Had it been women, they might’ve glanced curiously at new arrivals, but Stein was a retired soldier.

Once a mission was assigned and a target locked on, nothing else entered his vision.

“Hey! Mr. Stein.”

“Is business good?”

“As always.”

Stein stopped at a stand filled with newspapers.

“Here.”

“Did your wife send you?”

“Hmph!”

He handed over the prepared half copper coin to the merchant running the newspaper stand as usual.

Typically, half a copper coin was more than enough to buy all the day’s newspapers.

Such purchased newspapers were usually shared among colleagues or family members.

“Arad Post and Arcadia’s Morning, and…”

“Yesterday’s and the day before’s Wind of Lenslet and Voice of Northwind, along with Light of High City are already prepared for you.”

“Aah, you’re reliable.”

“If I couldn’t remember someone who comes every three days consistently, I’d have to quit the business.”

“Thanks.”

“Not at all.”

To eradicate illiteracy and enlighten the populace, High City and Arad Group installed newspaper stands in most villages across Lenslet.

Thanks to dedicated support from both public and private sectors, most villages in Lenslet today can easily and affordably purchase newspapers issued by various publishers.

“Anyway, this week’s Arad Post and Arcadia’s Morning are especially interesting.”

“Are they?”

“Yeah! I guarantee boys will go crazy for Arad Post and girls for Arcadia’s Morning.”

“What’s in them?”

“Just wait till you get home and read them leisurely.”

“I will.”

With the merchant’s meaningful words, Stein tilted his head and turned back.

Again, he didn’t spare a glance at other items in the market.

Because his wife’s instruction was simply ‘buy newspapers and bring them home.’

“I’m back.”

As soon as he got home, Stein habitually greeted.

His greeting went unanswered as no one was home.

The eldest and second child found jobs in the city and moved out, while the third and fourth attend boarding school in the city.

The youngest son, only seven years old, should be at the village school.

The only thing welcoming him was the portrait of His Majesty the Duke in knight armor hanging quietly in the house.

‘Hmm…’

Seeing the food set out in the kitchen, Stein placed the newspapers he brought on the dining table.

The simple meal consisted of potato and meat stew seasoned with Arad salt, rye bread, and dried fruits.

Though not steaming hot, the pots containing the stew and bread were still warm.

It seemed his wife had prepared the meal and left not long ago.

‘Didn’t she say she’d start working at the village hall from today?’

His wife must be at the village hall now.

She mentioned they were recruiting hands for festival preparations at the pulpit.

What they called “hands” was mostly just village women gathering to chat and practice songs and plays while occasionally making special meals they usually avoided.

Clatter clatter

Stein served the stew and bread into porcelain and set the table before opening a newspaper.

His right arm looked unnatural.

It was yellowish in color, and the muscle fibers and skin texture were different.

Compared to his natural left hand holding the spoon, the right hand opening the newspaper moved awkwardly and unnaturally.

This explained why he had to retire from military service despite his injury.

Despite losing his job due to injury, there was no particular worry visible on Stein’s face.

His daily life was far from poverty.

Rather, Stein exuded a sense of ease.

Thanks to the prosperity of the north, pensions for injured veterans like him increased.

Children’s education was free, and prices for clothing and food were strictly controlled by High City and Arad Group.

Medical treatment was provided free of charge at hospitals operated by the pulpit.

For these reasons, Stein and his wife managed comfortably on their pensions and occasional odd jobs.

‘What could be so special in the newspapers?’

Reading newspapers while eating is one of Stein’s few pleasures.

Recalling the newspaper vendor’s words earlier, he opened Arad Post first.

“?!?”

Upon opening Arad Post, he found it filled with vibrant illustrations in a completely unfamiliar format.

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