Chapter 57

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on February 6, 2025

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Telegram

Chapter 57

#57. The Northerner’s Celadon (3)

‘Hmm, this ain’t porcelain.’

Even I, who pulled the ceramics straight outta the kiln, stared in wonder.

‘Whoa… it’s celadon!’

What came out of the kiln was blue-green pottery.

‘But how? No ash was added or nothin’?’

Sure, Earth’s got its own celadon too—Goryeo celadon and all that.

‘This is kinda different from Goryeo celadon though.’

Still, this wasn’t exactly like Goryeo celadon. To begin with, there’s no magic stone on Earth. This was probably just a coincidental match.

‘Maybe it’s ’cause I mixed in some black soil from the old greenhouse farm when making it?’

Just as the porcelain of this world differs from Earth’s in luster and color, so does the celadon here.

The Northern Region’s celadon made with powdered magic stones is lighter in color compared to Earth’s celadon.

‘Did this happen in the game too?’

As much as I’m an old-timer of “Silver Age 1,” I never really paid attention to making pottery.

In my max-level production character’s memory, there was only vague knowledge like “Do this~ and this~ and you’ll get pretty pottery.” There were no detailed specifics about celadon or porcelain.

“I’ve never seen such a beautiful shade of blue in my life.”

“Our celadon is way prettier than Eastern porcelain! Seriously!”

Once we’d taken all the ceramics out, Mary and Theo were admiring the celadons with trembling eyes.

“Huh… It’s weird. We used all kinds of different magic stones, so why are they all uniformly this one shade of blue?”

While observing the celadons coming out of the kiln, I tilted my head in confusion.

Though I didn’t know the reason, I didn’t feel the need to dig into it too deeply either.

After all, the result turned out well, and there was still a mountain of other work to do.

Not only had the first successful celadon production in both the Northern Region and Arcadia been achieved, but there was still one more step for me.

“Quality testing.”

I picked up one of the finished celadons and tapped it lightly with my finger.

Ting Ting Ting

It was a clean, ringing sound you’d never hear from a jar.

That sound, which supposedly only comes from porcelain, was indeed correct.

“Hmm…?”

Next, I picked up the vase made by Manager Te.

“There’s a small flaw here?”

A pinhole-sized defect was present on the side of Manager Te’s celadon.

I glanced at him briefly.

“I’ll let it slide since it’s for personal use.”

According to quality management principles, ceramics with such flaws should be decisively broken.

However, since it wasn’t something we were selling anyway, I decided to overlook it.

I didn’t want to unnecessarily make an enemy out of an employee.

“Boss! Success! Success! Now our company is rich! No, the entire Northern Region and Lenslet will be rich!”

Theo, completely unaware that his own piece of pottery had almost been smashed, cheered excitedly.

“Thinking back to the Arad Salt days, it does feel kind of wasteful.”

Looking at Theo, I felt a nostalgic pang.

“The opening of livelihoods for Northern merchants, lower-ranked adventurers, and commoners through Arad Salt was undoubtedly significant. But was that all there was? The more I think about it, there was no real benefit for me or High City, was there?”

I can guarantee that Ariana, the Duchess of the Northern Region, secretly regrets this decision too.

“It’s not like that anymore. This celadon can only be made by Arad Company!”

And the trading houses that can sell this celadon will also be limited to those approved by High City.

There are two royal-approved trading houses in Lenslet: one is the long-established Rune Trading Company, and the other is my own Arad Company.

“Development and production will be done by us, and distribution and sales will be handled by the Rune Trading Company.”

Of course, Arad Company could handle distribution and sales too, but in this world, greed often leads to trouble.

“Boss, we must prevent Imperial merchants from unjustly profiting this time. If they profit, it should only be in ways beneficial to us.”

At that moment, Mary beside me spoke up.

“Yeah, that’s why I asked Her Highness the Duchess through you before.”

Though Mary’s comment seemed random, I nodded vigorously, fully understanding her intent.

“How’s that going?”

“They’re working on it in Solasis, the mid-northern part of the Empire.”

“Hmph. Let Valkyrie and Frosthaven handle it well.”

“Anyone who sees this celadon will surely take action.”

“That’s right. After all, if you’re a merchant…”

“But wait… Count Entaire is known as a staunch supporter of the status quo. Would he really do anything against the Empire and the Royal Family? Especially considering his wife…”

“Trust me. I assure you, he’s likely the man who hates the Crown Prince the most in the entire Empire right now.”

“If you say so, boss.”

When Arad Salt began being produced in the North, there was another party reaping the biggest benefits.

The Imperial merchants.

The Northern Region shares its borders exclusively with the Empire. Sea routes are blocked by icebergs and frozen seas, making maritime trade impossible.

Thus, we could only sell Arad Salt to Imperial merchants.

‘Simplify the distribution structure as much as possible.’

Imperial merchants buy Arad Salt cheaply from the North and then resell it across the central and southern parts of the Empire, even reaching the capital of the Kingdom Alliance, Badenheim. They mark it up tenfold.

Despite the price hike, it was still cheaper than spices from the eastern continent and tasted far better, making it practically unsellable.

‘If we’re doing all the tricks while the Empire rakes in the profits, there’s nothing more frustrating than that.’

Given how already strained relations are, the idea of them profiting off our efforts doesn’t sit right with the average northerner.

‘And yet, we can’t directly send trade missions to the Empire ourselves…’

Northern merchants, mercenaries, adventurers, and traders alike face disdain and discrimination from the rest of the world.

-Northerners cannot gather in groups larger than twenty outside their region.

-Only Northerners with the Emperor’s explicit permission can exceed this limit.

Especially the infamous “Twenty Northerner Mob Ban Act” from ancient times highlights the extent of past northern invasions, though it’s now an outdated law.

This law severely disadvantaged northern trading caravans within the Empire.

There were too many locals looking to exploit northern trading houses, and the Empire offered no protection.

Crossing the Empire was virtually impossible for northern merchants.

Snapped out of my thoughts, I refocused on the present and spoke.

“Anyway, good job, everyone.”

I praised Mary and Theo, who had spent two days making ceramics together.

“And let’s clarify something here.”

After briefly commending the two, I inspected the celadons again, finishing what I started earlier.

Mary and Theo’s pieces might pass muster, but I couldn’t tolerate any defective items among the celadons I, Arad, personally crafted.

“Specifically…”

One particular stew bowl caught my eye; its edge looked slightly warped.

“Quality management!”

Crash!

Without hesitation, I hurled the bowl to the ground.

“Aaaaah!”

“Gulp!”

As the celadon hit the floor, Mary screamed loudly, and Theo gasped sharply.

“Hmm?”

Meanwhile, I looked down at the floor curiously.

“Why isn’t it breaking?”

The celadon remained intact despite my full swing. Did I throw it wrong?

“Our first principle at Arad Company is…”

I picked up the blue bowl again.

“Quality management!”

Then I threw it even harder onto the factory floor.

Ding!

Still, it didn’t break. Only the unique ringing sound of ceramics echoed through the room.

Ding!

“Quality!”

Ding!

“Management!”

I tried several times, but the bowl remained unbroken.

“Could it be…?”

By this point, something definitely felt off.

I grabbed another celadon and threw it to the floor with the same result.

Ding!

Again, it refused to shatter.

“Huh?”

“Wow!”

Seeing this, Mary and Theo clutched the celadons they had made tightly to their chests, trembling as if they’d never let go.

“It won’t break?”

Ignoring their shaking forms, I pondered the reason behind this unbreakable celadon.

“Could it be the powdered magic stones and the greenhouse soil…?”

Before long, I vaguely pieced together the answer.

Aside from the magic stone powder, the blessed soil of the North, imbued with Mary’s blessings, seemed to be the cause. This likely explained the blue color too.

“Hand me a hammer.”

Suddenly thrust into durability testing.

This time, I swung the hammer with full force at the bowl I had thrown earlier.

Clang!

Finally, the bowl cracked.

But it didn’t shatter completely. Just a large crack appeared.

“Huff!”

So I swung the hammer two more times.

Clang!

Eventually, the bowl broke into three large pieces.

“Haa…!”

Wiping the sweat from my brow after the exertion, I finished my earlier statement.

“Our first principle at Arad Company is… quality management!”

“Incredible… unbreakable ceramics…”

“Seriously… seriously… the highest quality! Magic storage boxes from the Empire won’t be needed anymore.”

“Hmm?”

Something feels like my intended meaning of quality management has been twisted somewhere along the line.

* * *

Morning broke.

Teo Sharpe, the operations manager of Arad Company, had taken a day off.

Not just Teo, but the boss, Arad, and the boss’s secretary (and interim academy president) Mary had also said they would be taking a break, so Teo felt free to leave the factory area and stroll around the inner city.

For two days, he’d barely slept, working during the day and crafting ceramics at night, but strangely, he felt energized all over.

Held carefully in Teo’s arms was the North’s very first celadon, crafted with great care.

Cradling the celadon, Teo entered a building inside the inner city and called out to a woman standing at the counter.

“Maria!”

“Teo?”

Startled by Teo’s arrival, a petite and cute-looking woman at the counter turned to look at him.

“What is it? Isn’t it your working hours?”

“I took a special day off today.”

Saying that, Teo glanced around.

“Are the books selling well?”

“You’re my first customer.”

A small bookstore inside the inner city.

With the high illiteracy rate in the Northern Region, bookstores were rare, and even in the capital of Lenslet, High City, the number of bookstores could be counted on one hand.

In short, operating a bookstore suggested that the woman’s background wasn’t ordinary.

“I’m the first customer today? What an honor!”

“Your saying that means business is bad, so what honor is there? Anyway, why are you here today?”

“Well… I thought maybe there were new books?”

“New books? Have you already finished reading the ones you bought last time?”

“Of course.”

“Wow!”

Maria’s eyes lit up with excitement upon hearing Teo’s words.

‘I guess staying up late reading was worth it!’

Seeing her gaze, Teo felt an indescribable joy.

I read and memorized everything just to get this look from her.

“Then, try reading this book. It’s imported from the Empire…”

“Anything recommended by Maria is fine.”

“Stop saying weird things! Anyway… I’ll give you a special discount!”

Teo and Maria’s connection went way back.

* * *

Back when Manager Teo was still one-armed…

Through the recommendation of his half-brother Roji, he managed to find employment, but mentally, it wasn’t easy.

All he’d ever done was swing a sword.

Although he could read and write, dealing with paperwork was honestly beyond him.

Therefore, from the very first day, he found himself hitting invisible walls.

He eventually learned to use an abacus for calculations, but administrative tasks still left him feeling overwhelmed.

The considerate Mr. Jin didn’t rush him with his initial assignments, so Teo decided to start by buying and reading books related to trading house operations or administrative duties.

He planned to buy some snacks, return to the barracks, and delve into recruitment-related tasks.

That’s how he ended up visiting the first bookstore he saw inside the inner city.

“Here, let me help you with that.”

“Eh…? Oh… Thank you, Lady.”

“No need to thank me. Are you part of the expeditionary forces?”

And that day, Teo met Maria at this place.

“On the contrary, I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, we can enjoy such peace.”

“…”

“What kind of book are you looking for? I’ll assist you. Besides, you’re the only customer here anyway.”

“My name is Teo.”

“Oh? My name is Maria.”

“Maria.”