"I appreciate your patience. I have recovered to the point where the Fierce King within my heart is roaring once more."
Losing consciousness in front of a guest, however briefly, was a grave breach of etiquette for a noble. Under any other circumstances, it would have been a scandal. Yet, in this moment, Count Sharon could not bring himself to scold Cornelia.
After all, though the Count was desperately trying to maintain his composure, he could not stop his own body from trembling. Beneath the desk, his hands shook with a faint, persistent rhythm. That was how monumental this proposal truly was.
In the world of Trinia, magic tools were essential. They were so deeply woven into the fabric of daily life that it was hard to imagine anyone who didn't rely on them. To bring about a fundamental reform of such technology was more than a business deal— it was a global event.
At this stage, they had only heard a brief overview from Trois, with the detailed negotiations yet to come. Nevertheless, even Cornelia—who was hardly an expert in the field—had found the sheer scale of the implications enough to make her mind blank out.
The technology that allowed a user's own magic power to substitute for the energy of a magic crystal was simply staggering. Teleportation tools were the most prominent example; normally, after a powerful spell was triggered, a device required a significant cooldown period before the crystal could be used again.
For a teleportation tool, while the specific time varied by grade, it generally took about two hours to recharge. The authorized combat tools used by the order of knights and high-ranking adventurers faced similar limitations. To be able to bypass those restrictions by manually replenishing the mana supply would fundamentally change the way magic was utilized in the world.
Furthermore, by designing tools around the premise of utilizing the user's magic power, they could create devices that harnessed spells previously thought impossible to stabilize. It would rewrite the common sense of the industry. Large-scale magic formulas that had once required an unrealistic, cost-prohibitive number of magic crystals might now be feasible. Even the virtual space Alice had created with her limitless resources during the Six Kings Festival—something previously dismissed as a luxury beyond anyone's reach—could potentially be turned into a commercial product.
The possibilities didn't stop there. Existing tools could be vastly expanded. For instance, current high-grade teleportation tools could only transport three or four people at a time due to their immense energy consumption. With the user providing additional mana, it might become possible to teleport entire groups of people and cargo simultaneously.
Alternatively, they could produce budget-friendly magic tools using low-quality crystals, letting the user make up the power deficit with their own energy. The economic shift triggered by this single technology would be immense.
(Father looks like he can barely keep up with the logic either. I understand that feeling all too well. It’s hard for someone like me to even fathom the full scope of the influence this will have, but one thing is certain: this is going to generate an astronomical amount of profit...)
If they were to enter a joint development agreement with the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company—the largest in the world—and secure a fair share of the rights, the wealth that would flow into the Sharon Count House was enough to make her dizzy.
At the same time, she felt the terrifying weight of Kaito's influence once again.
To be blunt, the Seditch Trading Company gained nothing from this partnership. Nominally, the specialized brushes from the Victor Trading Company were the catalyst, but the brushes themselves contained no new technology. The revolutionary component was the additional item provided by Canaris.
Under normal circumstances, if the Sharon family tried to claim rights based on such a flimsy connection, they would be laughed out of the room. But everything changed when the proposal came from Seditch itself.
The Seditch Trading Company had the resources to conduct all this research and development alone. They were the titans of the industry; they had no practical reason to reach out to a regional firm like the Sharon Trading Company.
It was easy for both Cornelia and Count Sharon to realize exactly who had orchestrated this situation.
(It’s just a guess, but when Kaito-sama spoke to the Seditch Trading Company about this new technology, did he say something like, "Since the brushes were the trigger, please show some consideration for the Sharon family"? I know he has more money than he knows what to do with, so I don't think he wanted the profits for himself... but still! This is too much to just throw at us so casually! It’s far, far too massive!)
She could imagine the scene perfectly. Kaito, with his characteristic lack of greed, likely didn't want the rights for himself. Given his personality, he had probably said something like, "Well, it would be great if you could help out Cornelia-san's family," as if he were passing someone a light snack. But for the ones on the receiving end, the benefit was so overwhelmingly large that it bypassed gratitude and went straight to inducing a stress-induced ulcer.
Before moving on to the specifics of the negotiation, Cornelia and Count Sharon simultaneously turned to the maid standing by and ordered black tea specifically known for soothing stomach pain.
Serious-senpai: "I know Kaito doesn't care about the money, and I can guess how this went without even asking... but that doesn't change the fact that the profit he just dumped on them is so massive it's literally making them sick. Poor things."