Chapter 117: Spirit Stone Seals
Chapter 117: Spirit Stone Seals
“We talked before about putting seals with spirit characters into bread, remember?”
“Yeah. The Spirit Stone thing, right?”
“Right. There was a suggestion to make them look like stamps instead. What do you think? Do you think it’d be good?”
Ella twitched the ears on top of her head, thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Yeah. I think it’d be nice. Stamps kind of feel like money, so I think people would want to collect them.”
“Really?”
That was actually true.
They had monetary values printed on them, and though limited to post offices, they could always be exchanged for services worth that amount.
That was why they could be viewed as a type of security.
Moreover, they were often used to commemorate things or featured illustrations, making them easy to perceive as visually valuable as well.
They also had functional characteristics, like arabic gum on the back so they could stick immediately when moistened, and perforations so they could be torn off easily.
In other words, they were a pretty convincing item.
Of course, what Ras was making would only resemble a stamp in shape and would not actually function as a real stamp, and he planned to clearly state that as well.
Still, he intended to include perforations and coat them with arabic gum so they could be attached like stickers.
Assuming the unit cost doesn’t become too expensive, of course.
Since it was an item included as a bonus inside cheap factory-made bread, there was no choice but to lower the price as much as possible.
Ras approved the proposal and told the IP Management Team to push forward with it.
“First, find out whether there’s a place that can mass-produce them, and how much the unit cost will be.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Once the proposal they had submitted passed approval, the IP Management Team became energized and immediately got to work.
The first thing they thought of was finding a place that printed stamps.
But actual stamp-printing facilities were impossible.
In this world as well, stamps were printed by the national mint.
“Then should we just print them at a normal printing company and make them ourselves by obtaining arabic gum?”
The IP Management Team considered possible methods.
As one employee suggested, self-production did not seem like a bad idea either.
However, Georg shook his head.
“No. If we do that, the costs will increase too much.”
Printing itself was simple enough, but things like perforation machines and arabic gum coating required dedicated equipment.
Not only that, workers would not be able to produce them properly from the start, so time would be needed for training, and that was another expense.
“But we can’t exactly commission the mint, can we?”
The employee spoke with a puzzled expression.
However, Georg already had an idea.
“Why are you only thinking about the mint? Think carefully. There’s another place besides them that makes something similar to stamps.”
“Huh? …Ah!”
The employee finally exclaimed as realization dawned on him.
“The Norun Disease Eradication Seals!”
Just as people thought similarly everywhere, this world also had something akin to tuberculosis seals.
(Translator’s Note: Tuberculosis Seals / Christmas Seals — Charity seals sold in many countries during the 20th century to raise funds for tuberculosis prevention and public health campaigns. They often featured commemorative or decorative artwork and became collectible items.)
Norun Disease was an illness created around four hundred years ago by a mage.
At the time, it had been created to carry out terrorism against an enemy nation during wartime, but its infectiousness became too strong and it spread throughout the world.
It caused yellow spots to appear all over the body, accompanied by itching and pain, and had a mortality rate of over ten percent.
The world suffered greatly because of the disease, but around one hundred fifty years ago, the Mage Association devised a great spell that prevented it from spreading.
However, this spell required considerable payment to heavenly beings, so maintaining it demanded constant expenses.
To completely eradicate the disease itself, the spell would need to be maintained for another fifty years, but the Mage Association could not possibly cover the costs on its own.
So beginning thirty years ago, they started issuing these seals to receive support from people around the world.
At first, they were not stamp-shaped but more like small certificates.
“Then we’ll immediately contact the Norun Disease Eradication Association.”
And so, the IP Management Team was introduced to a printing company cooperating with the Norun Disease Eradication Association.
The association side was cooperative as well.
This was not because they held favorable views toward games or anything of the sort.
It was to help the printing company they worked with.
After all, the seals were only sold during the Celestial God Church festival days.
Of course, they normally operated by printing other materials, but the perforation machines and arabic gum coating equipment would otherwise sit idle.
“Ah! It’s possible. If you provide the design, we can print as many as you want.”
The printing company also welcomed the proposal.
The costs were extremely low as well.
The raw material costs for stamp paper were practically negligible, and the equipment had been used for so long that all investment costs had long since been recovered, so there was no need to include depreciation costs in the price.
Thus, the spirit seals were successfully prepared.
“Norun Disease seals?”
When Ras later heard about the printing company while the work was already progressing, he became interested.
Of course, having lived in this world for quite a while now, he knew what Norun Disease was and that these seals existed.
However, he had previously just thought, So this world also has something similar to tuberculosis seals, and moved on.
But now that it became connected to business in this way, something came to mind.
Couldn’t they issue actual spirit seals?
He had seen something like it on Earth before.
Christmas seals had once used designs from a TV entertainment program.
The faces of entertainers, including the host, had appeared on Christmas seals.
Of course, it would be even better if they could be put onto real stamps, but that was impossible for now.
Maybe later, when games became recognized as a proper business and Spirit Stone achieved a status comparable to Pokémon on Earth.
But right now, that was difficult.
Still, these seals were not issued by a national institution.
If they made a proper donation, perhaps they could have seals issued using whatever designs they wanted.
It seemed like a good idea.
It would create the impression that they had donated toward eradicating Norun Disease, and at the same time, it could promote Spirit Stone to the various people buying the eradication seals.
And beyond all that, he simply wanted to try it.
These seals were not issued by a state institution, but they still had considerable recognition and carried a feeling of being something official and prestigious.
Naturally, the idea of placing illustrations of Spirit Stone spirits on them was exciting.
As Ras imagined a giant uncut sheet densely printed with countless spirits, he felt he absolutely had to try it someday.
Of course, he did not intend to do it immediately.
If he released something like that now, it would divide the attention that should go toward the Pokémon-bread-style promotion.
Ras decided to leave it for the future and resolved to build good relations with the printing company and the Norun Disease Association first.
And then, a few days later—
“Oh!”
Ras unconsciously exclaimed in admiration while checking documents brought up for approval.
“What is it?”
Since approving documents was not exactly fun, he was usually quiet, so Ella grew curious and looked over at him.
“Come look.”
Ras smiled brightly and beckoned her over.
Ella quickly trotted to his side, and upon seeing what was on his desk, she too exclaimed in admiration.
There lay the exact kind of spirit seal sheet Ras had imagined.
Of course, it was not an official Norun Disease Eradication Seal but a sample of the seals intended to go inside the bread.
A large sheet densely packed with illustrations of over two hundred kinds of spirits.
Rather than containing only illustrations, it also included each spirit’s name, date, the Meta Soft name, and the name of each spirit’s designer in order to give it the feel of a real stamp.
It looked remarkably convincing.
“Wow… seeing it like this makes it really amazing.”
Ella had also become quite fond of games by now, so she found it very interesting.
She already knew there were many spirits appearing in Spirit Stone, but seeing them all at once exceeded her expectations.
To be honest, she wanted one herself.
But she could not ask for it.
Partly because it was a sample for approval purposes, but also because she had heard what kind of project this was, and she felt it would be wrong to obtain one so easily just because she was company staff.
Beyond separating public and private matters, since she liked Ras, the business he considered important also became important to her.
Unlike Ella, who was carefully considering things, Ras fully intended to keep one for himself.
It already looks awesome, but it’s also a one-of-a-kind sample sheet!
Still, he had a conscience, so he did not plan to keep it only for himself.
“Ella. What do you think about exchanging these sheets later for people who collect all the seals?”
“Ah! That sounds really good!”
Collecting them one by one was nice too, but this full sheet had something overwhelming about it.
It felt like an item that would look great if displayed in a dedicated case or even framed and hung up.
Once the seals were prepared, negotiations with the bakery company became easy.
“Game characters, you say?”
“Yes. We’ll print them on the packaging and include stamp-like seals inside.”
Naturally, they were somewhat lukewarm at first, but the name Meta Soft helped.
“Ah! Isn’t that the company that exports overseas?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
The IP Management Team employee handling the negotiations took full advantage of that.
“Besides that, Meta Hardware also exports various machines. And you know Arcade Game Land, right? That’s one of our companies too.”
“Oh!”
Even if someone had no interest in games and looked down on them, money was supreme in business.
The moment they realized it was a large and socially famous company, the other party’s attitude changed immediately.
This was not merely because of power dynamics.
They also judged that if such a company was backing the project, it would definitely help with publicity.
Companies spend money intentionally just to advertise. We can’t miss an opportunity like this.
Lake, the president of Moon Bread, promised cooperation on the spot.
He truly was a wise businessman.
In truth, after Spirit Stone became genuinely popular, this would become a position difficult to secure even while paying expensive royalties.
Moreover, bakery companies in this world were not yet very large.
Since there were bakeries in every neighborhood, demand for factory-made bread was not particularly high.
Factory bread was a little cheaper, but not by a huge margin, while freshness and taste were much worse.
Lake, the president of Moon Bread, had entered the factory bread business after seeing the development of automobiles, preservatives, and refrigerators and believing there was future potential in it, but the market had been frustratingly unresponsive.
At least their recently developed chocolate cream bread had been selling reasonably well, but he had been searching for something more revolutionary.
Because of that, he felt a small hope that this partnership might become that opportunity.
One month later, Gamers launched the manga magazine Rush.
It began with a fairly large volume containing nineteen serialized works right from the start.
Manga fans cheered at the release of a new magazine, while Gamers subscribers expected there might be something game-related since it came from a game company.
“Oh. This is it.”
Tulupan was a twenty-five-year-old elf working as a salaryman in Lanchert.
As both a manga fan and a gamer, he had eagerly awaited the release of Rush.
That was why, on its release day, he secretly slipped out of work during lunch break and came to a nearby bookstore.
Seeing stacks of magazines piled high in the crowded downtown bookstore, he happily picked one up.
First of all, the cover passed inspection.
The manga series were unfamiliar, but the bustling arrangement of many characters drawn in appealing art styles caught his interest.
As expected, there are robots too, and the art style really leans that way.
Though it was called a general manga magazine, since it belonged under Meta Soft, it naturally carried some of that flavor.
And as a Meta Soft fan, he welcomed that.