Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Became History's Greatest Genius
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"Are those metals loaded on the cart all mithril...?"
"That's right."
Koneil was the head of the Golden Carriage Merchant Company, which was raking in massive profits by distributing the Life School's antibiotics nationwide.
He had reconnected with Ester through past ties.
He was a middle-aged man with a protruding belly.
Unlike his unremarkable appearance, he was the one who had turned the small merchant company inherited from his father into a major powerhouse, and he was a wealthy asset holder with enormous sums of money.
"Hmm...."
Koneil stroked his chin.
He gazed at the mountain-like pile of metals that Ester claimed were mithril.
He was aware of the existence of artificial mithril.
Though he hadn't attended Babel himself, he had already learned of the Metal School's groundbreaking invention through Justina Monthly.
Moreover.
-Everything was in harmony: the gaze, the speech, the movements, the screen, and everyone present. It was a great learning experience. I'm so glad I got to see it with my own eyes.
-It wasn't flashy. Quite the opposite—concise. Should we call this the aesthetic of simplicity? Marquis Seffirond dominated the audience in just twenty minutes. Incredible skill.
Ester's presentation had been perfect enough to serve as a model for all CEOs.
His acquaintances had raved about Ester's presentation skills, saying they planned to attend every event involving the Metal School from now on.
For these reasons, Koneil had already taken a deep interest in artificial mithril even before Ester came to him.
When he heard that the Metal School had approached his Golden Carriage Company first.
He must have felt a thrilling happiness, like floating in the sky.
But.
"How much artificial mithril has the Marquis brought this time?"
"300 kg."
It was an utterly unrealistic quantity.
Koneil let out a groan and continued.
"By any chance, do you know the annual pure mithril production from Trever Mine?"
"About 500 kg, I believe."
Trever Mine was the kingdom's largest mithril production site.
Even if the miners bled and sweated to dig it out, they only yielded a mere 500 kg per year from this rare ore—and she had brought 300 kg of it?
Even if a technology existed to synthesize it artificially.
Babel had ended just two months ago.
Even counting from half a year ago when the Metal School revived, it was a figure too staggering to contemplate easily.
And hadn't she just developed something called a camera to make these things called films?
'I haven't seen it myself, but my daughter said it was hilarious....'
Before that, antibiotics; even earlier, the hell tank.
On top of that, solving the Millennium Problem, deciphering the Necronomicon's barriers, and so on.
Achievements that even a single genius human would struggle to accomplish in a lifetime.
She had piled them up in less than three years.
And as if that weren't enough, now artificial mithril.
Was this something a person could even do?
If everything in front of him was truly mithril, was she really the same kind of human as him?
In Koneil's eyes, Ester must have seemed the most extraordinary person he had ever met.
He fell silent.
"If you have trouble believing it, call a mage to appraise it."
Ester was utterly confident.
These were the eyes of someone speaking the truth.
Geniuses typically spout what sound like con artist's lies with calm assurance, then brazenly make them reality.
Having already witnessed the miracle of antibiotics, Koneil could only shake his head.
"No need for that. Why would the Marquis lie to me?"
"No, please verify it..."
"You've made a truly great invention. I'm just thrilled to be part of the history you're writing."
Items were created by geniuses.
And it was his role to turn them into money.
What mattered now was producing results that satisfied both the Metal School and the Golden Carriage Company.
Koneil instantly transformed into the merchant.
"Our Golden Carriage Company mainly supplies mithril to the Flame School, Celestial School, and various minor schools. Demand always exceeds supply, and we're perpetually short. First, tell me how much you can deliver. And we need to set a selling price... Is the quality the same as announced at Babel?"
Ester nodded.
"99.999% identical to natural mithril."
"I see."
They began serious negotiations.
They worked to find a mutually satisfying agreement, considering the manufacturing, distribution, sales, taxes, and various other conditions of artificial mithril.
"The production cost per kg of artificial mithril is only 10 million credits!?"
"Yes. This price accounts for initial facility funding, materials, operating costs, labor, and everything else. It's high compared to the raw material costs, which aren't that expensive."
Natural mithril's market price was 1 billion per kg.
They'd have to crunch the numbers to know for sure.
But assuming artificial and natural mithril were equal in quality, demand would be equivalent.
Distribution and storage costs.
And factoring in the lesser rarity of artificial mithril compared to natural.
Even adding up all those, the margin was dozens of times over, no matter how he looked at it.
'Turning stone into gold... Is she a sage?'
Cold sweat trickled down Koneil's back.
Ester was starting to terrify him now.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and barely continued the conversation.
"Ah, conservative schools might have some resistance to it being artificial."
"I don't think that's a big concern. Mithril is in such chronic shortage every year that demand far outstrips supply. In my view, we could sell it at the same price as natural mithril without issue..."
Ester stood up.
And began writing on the blackboard.
【Artificial Mithril Project】
【Projected Period – 5 Years】
【Final Goal】
【Annual 1kt (kiloton) Production】
【Market Price 15 Million per kg】
"The Metal School's ultimate plan is to bring mithril down to the price level of gold. If our technology advances further, it might even get cheaper."
Her vision was on another level.
Koneil couldn't hide his shock at Ester's grand plan.
'What the hell did I just hear...?'
Twenty years as a merchant.
She was the first person to make him forget about money during a deal.
***
"Erphis! What nonsense is this about suddenly cutting off our mithril trade!?"
In the northern Justina Kingdom.
The lord of Pandelver Barony bellowed at the Red Tower Lord with a voice trembling like a fist in rage.
Pandelver's main revenue came from mithril.
The territory's mine ranked second in annual mithril production after Trever Mine.
Mithril was an exceedingly rare ore indispensable to magic.
Thus, Pandelver was considered an important fief in the Justina Kingdom, and the viscount had profited handsomely from it until now.
But one of his key clients, the Flame School, had abruptly declared they were ending trade.
"What's nonsense is the prices you've been charging the Flame School all this time, Viscount."
"What do you..."
"Even with direct trade bypassing merchants, you're the only bastard charging 1.2 billion per kg of mithril to our Flame School."
Erphis's eyes burned fiercer than ever.
The old man began unleashing all the pent-up emotions he'd endured.
"I've put up with your exploitation all this time for the hell tanks, but I can't continue dealing with someone who's gouged a hole in my heart with prices evil enough to instantly silence a wailing child mourning its lost mother, you fucker."
The Viscount of Pandelver was flustered.
Erphis had always smiled at his words until now.
Hadn't he been the one who poured drinks on whims and sent tribute gifts, thanking him for supplying mithril to the Flame School?
He was the perfect dominant party.
The right to treat a prestigious kingdom tower lord like a subordinate was a device that fueled his superiority complex.
Today, as usual, he had summoned him to stroke his ego.
So of course he was taken aback by this sudden outburst.
"Has this old coot lost his mind? Our territory supplies a huge chunk of the Flame School's mithril—can you really afford to say that?"
Even when he offered forgiveness for the rudeness if he'd strip naked and prostrate himself (phrased politely, of course, but summed up, that's it).
"Don't make me say it twice. Trade between the Flame School and Pandelver Barony ends now."
Erphis merely growled, flames flickering in his hand.
The viscount could only shrink back at the warning from the tower lord known as the Parade Sorcerer.
And when the Flame School truly cut off trade afterward.
Pandelver Viscount looked into it, wondering what the hell was going on.
"The Metal School has flooded the market with 300 kg of mithril at 600 million per kg... And they say they'll supply steadily every month. My lord, what do we do now?"
"What!?"
He initially denied the rumor.
But as clients one by one severed ties.
The viscount came to bitterly regret his past abuses of power.
In a last desperate bid, he tried a 'Mithril Discount Extravaganza' to win back public favor.
But the response from people was ice-cold.