Chapter 230 The Young Marquis Couple Who Realized It
"Sophia."
A middle-aged nobleman called out to her from behind. Immediately, Sedrick whispered the name in her ear.
"Yes. Your Excellency the Marquis Lansfield."
Sophia deeply bowed.
"You don't have to be so formal. But your manners are truly beautiful."
"It's an honor."
"Sophia, I would like you to increase the amount of Elma brandy you make from now on. It seems to be a rare drink for a while. I asked William yesterday, but even he said, 'If I sneak a drink before the hunting tournament, my family will get mad.'"
"Hehe. That's fact. There really is very little of it."
"What a sinful drink. Such a fine liquor, yet so hard to enjoy. It's like a princess living in a high-class brōtḥel in the royal capital."
'Hey, old man, is that a dirty joke?!'
In the high-class brōtḥels of the royal capital, the popular courtesans are advertised like celebrities. In shops that sell their portraits (photo cards), they rank the sales, and magazines are sold that publish the results every 6 months. The courtesans who ranks first is called "Princess" until the next magazine release. Naturally, reservations flood in, and the prices skyrocket.
This man probably wants to see Sophia's reaction to such risqué conversation. There are men around with smirks on their faces.
'Looks like the one who gets flustered loses, huh?'
Sophia put on a big fake smile and faced the Lansfield Marquis.
"That's a wonderful metaphor. I've heard that the princesses living in the deepest part of the Flower Mansion are rare flowers that only the 'chosen ones' are allowed to admire. If it's someone like Your Excellency the Marquis Landsfield, you must have had the chance to admire them many times, right? Please, enjoy the Elma brandy just like you would cherish a flower princess. It will soon be available at auction, so I hope you look forward to it."
In short, it means 'If you have money, bid at the auction and drink it,' but the men who saw Sophia smiling sweetly while saying, "Please cherish it and savor it like a flower princess," turned bright red and froze in place, as if they were overwhelmed. Some even hunched over awkwardly.
"Y-Yeah, I see. Then I will participate in the auction."
"Well, we might meet again at the auction venue."
With that, Sophia bowed and left the scene.
'There's no way I'm going to be shaken by this. Compared to the sleazy old men from my past life, these guys are just pretending to be gentlemen, how cute.'
* * *
Just then, the late-arriving Lady of Duke Arbal arrived. After exchanging simple greetings with the host's wife, Elizabeth, she looked around the venue and walked over to Sophia.
"Good evening. It's a nice night."
"I'd like to greet Mrs. Victoria."
"Feel free to be more casual. By the way, what's that?"
Victoria pointed with her fan to where Chloe and Christopher were demonstrating a chess set.
"That is a chess set that moves with magic. The Young Marquis's children are demonstrating it."
It seemed that the board was clearly in Christopher's favor. Chloe checked Christopher first, but it was obviously a trap set by him. After a few moves, Christopher easily won, and the two stood up to greet the spectators together.
"This is interesting."
"It's too much for a child's toy. Even adults could enjoy it."
"Isn't it faster to move the pieces by hand?"
She could hear whispers like these.
Sophia approached the chess set, placed her hand on it, and commanded, "Post-mortem. Recreate from ten moves ago." Then, the pieces followed Sophia's command and returned to the state from ten moves earlier, as if time was rewinding.
"Wow."
"I see, it has this kind of function too."
The pieces automatically moved to the checkmate position and then stopped.
"This chess set is currently just a prototype. I brought it to show you because it's still in development. Since it moves using magic, you need a certain amount of magical power to operate it, and if you're not careful, you could faint from magical exhaustion. Because of that, I'm not sure if it can be sold."
"But it must require a level of magical power that even children can manage, right?"
"Actually, Sir Christopher here fainted from magical exhaustion the first time he played with this chess set."
"I'm a bit embarrassed..."
Christopher's face turned slightly red.
"Wait a minute. If you ran out of magical power, doesn't that mean your magical capacity increased afterward?"
"Yes. I feel that my magic power has increased a lot due to the backlash from running out of magic. Right now, even when I channel magic into this chess set, it doesn't feel like it's decreasing at all. I haven't measured it properly, but I think it's probably more than double."
"What?!"
Victoria exclaimed in surprise. For nobles with young children, the increase in a child's magic power is a very important concern. Victoria is no exception.
If magic has manifested, it is possible to deplete magic power, but for children who cannot smoothly activate magic, trying to use it until they run out is like being told to "run until you collapse," which is a tough ordeal.
You can use magic power by channeling it into magical tools, but this also consumes the magic stone in the power unit, making it a very costly method. However, if magic has not manifested, this is the only way to use magic power.
"Does this magical tool not use a magic stone?"
"Well, both the chessboard and the pieces use a magic stone."
"Then is it a consumable item?"
"Actually, there has been a recent technological innovation regarding magic stones. A paper has just been submitted to the Academy, explaining the mechanism of a 'magic stone that can replenish magic power.' The paper was written by a young alchemist magician in the Grandchester territory, and professors from the Academy are currently visiting Grandchester from the royal capital."
The surrounding nobles began to murmur, and soon one man approached Sophia.
"I've heard that a professor from the Academy accompanied Prince Andrew. Did they come to investigate the magic stone in this territory?"
"Yes, that's correct. And this chess set is a magical tool made using cutting-edge technology that can replenish magic power. The magic power flowing onto the board becomes the magic power of the pieces and the magic stone installed in the board."
"But what about the attributes of the magic power!?"
Sophia turned to the man who spoke.
"Have you ever thought it was strange that when you use magical tools, they work no matter what attribute of magic power you flow into them?"
"Now that you mention it, it does respond to the initial switch regardless of the magic stone's attribute."
The man nodded.
"That's because, no matter what attribute of magic power is used, there is a magic circle inside the tool designed to release magic power to the magic stone. Therefore, even if you let go, the tool continues to operate by consuming the magic power of the magic stone."
"I see."
"As an application of that mechanism, we have invented and put into practical use a technology that converts any flowing magic power into the necessary attribute of magic power. This technology is confidential and exclusive to the Sophia Merchant Guild. By combining this technology with the previously mentioned magic stone that can replenish magic power, we were able to create this kind of magical tool."
Victoria looked at Sophia with a surprised expression and then quietly spoke.
"Can I purchase that chess set?"
"Since it is still a product under development, there is a possibility of fainting due to magic power depletion. If we can't solve this problem, it might be shelved."
"Since the goal is to increase the children's magical power, you don't need to worry about that."
"Then, if any disadvantages arise from the depletion of magical power, can you agree in writing that you won't hold the Sophia Merchant Guild responsible? If so, I will proceed with the delivery of the chess set. If you have any requests regarding the design of the pieces, please let me know soon."
Suddenly, one of the noblewomen took out the lip balm she had received earlier.
"Sophia, could it be that the light attribute magic stone used in this is also a magic stone that can replenish magical power?"
At that moment, Sophia felt a sense of triumph inside.
"If you happen to use it all up, please contact the Sophia Merchant Guild. It will be for a fee, but we will replenish the light attribute magical power before returning it to you. Of course, the lip balm itself will be the same, so feel free to reach out."
"But the Sophia Merchant Guild is only in Grandchester, right?"
"We plan to open a store in the royal capital soon."
"Do you have plans to open stores in other territories?"
"At the moment, we haven't considered it, but if we receive an invitation from a lord, we would like to think positively about it. However, since tax systems differ by territory, it may not happen immediately."
At this statement, the eyes of the noble lords who owned territories changed. If the merchant guild, with its unique and profitable new products, were to set up a branch in their territory, it might create new specialty products. Even if that didn't happen, tax revenue would definitely increase.
However, the moment they heard Sophia's words, Edward and Elizabeth's hearts skipped a beat. They realized the truth: the Sophia Merchant Guild could do business not just in Grandchester, but even outside of Avalon.
The salon hosted by the Young Marquis couple of Grandchester was a success. The invited nobles were very satisfied, and the Young Marquis couple's reputation was excellent. But both Edward and Elizabeth understood all too well. The real winner of this salon was not them, but the Sophia Merchant Guild, and in the end, it was Sara who came out on top. Especially Elizabeth, reflecting on herself today, felt ashamed for thinking she was the center of the social scene.
'In the end, I'm just a puppet dancing in place of Sara.'
Realizing once again how incredibly terrifying their niece was, the two felt a chill run down their spines.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)