Chapter 145: Increasing Allies
Chapter 145: Increasing Allies
Tyla Devices Co., Ltd. was a famous home appliance manufacturer in the Republic of Smite. At the same time, it was also well known for producing many magical devices and hybrid machines that combined magic with ordinary technology.
The president of the company was a small Gnome named Durukal. He was the grandson of the founder and was evaluated as the person who had taken what was originally a small magic shop and expanded it into the present-day Tyla Devices.
“Meta Soft?”
“Yes. We received a call asking you to contact them if you are not too busy.”
At the report from his secretary, who had the head of a black cat, Durukal tilted his head slightly. He knew the name Meta Soft as well. Still in his forties, he was relatively sensitive to modern trends.
Or rather, regardless of age, he was a businessman, so he had to pay attention to the overall flow of society.
And in the case of its subsidiary, Meta Soft specialized in computers, but it was ultimately an electronics manufacturer, so in a sense, they could even be considered people in the same industry. Moreover, he had recently heard intelligence that they were planning to develop and release magical devices as well, so it was one of the companies he had been watching rather carefully.
Because of that, Durukal could not simply ignore the contact. Of course, his true thoughts and actions were separate matters, so he did hesitate for a moment. Countless people wanted to contact someone at the level of Tyla Devices’ president.
If he answered every one of those calls personally, he would end up unable to accomplish anything.
Still, if it was Meta Soft, then it was worth hearing them out.
“Jis. Please connect the call.”
“Yes.”
After a brief ringing tone, the voice of a young woman was heard.
“Yes. This is Meta Soft.”
Judging by the fact she was answering the phone, she seemed to be a secretary, but she sounded so young she almost seemed like a child, causing Durukal to tilt his head briefly. Then he recalled that Meta Soft’s president himself was also young and nodded as though he understood something.
“Yes. This is Durukal from Tyla.”
“Ah! Hello. I’ll connect you immediately.”
The ringing tone returned right away. Durukal had initially wondered whether such a young secretary would really be alright, but seeing how quick and efficient she was, he found himself thinking that young people were not so bad after all.
“Yes. This is Ras.”
Once connected to Ras, Durukal exchanged brief greetings before immediately asking the main point. This was not because he lacked manners, but because he occupied a position where he needed to save time.
“Ah, yes. Have you perhaps heard about the Magical Connector our side plans to release this time?”
“Yes. I heard it’s a magical device that provides network connections...”
“Yes, that’s correct. However, the telecommunications industry is causing trouble regarding this product.”
“Really?”
Up to this point, the thought in Durukal’s mind was simply what that had to do with him. Of course, it was a fairly major trend in the business world, so it was not entirely worthless to hear about, but it was not important enough to warrant a direct phone call like this.
And talking about difficulties meant they needed help in some form or another. There was no way Durukal, who had run a company for quite a long time, would fail to understand that context.
So even while listening, he was already thinking about why he should help and what sort of compensation he might demand if he did.
And as the story continued, he immediately understood why he should help.
“That insect repeller incident again.”
Durukal shook his head unconsciously. For magical device manufacturers, it was an absolutely tiresome topic.
Of course, the victims were unfortunate, and those manufacturers deserved divine punishment.
But having their ankles grabbed by that incident continuously for decades naturally made it infuriating. So people in the industry, like Durukal, tried to suppress the topic whenever it appeared.
He himself was constantly lobbying the educational world, political circles, and the media so the incident would not resurface publicly.
Of course, from a proper standpoint, it would be better to accurately explain the truth behind the incident. But after spending many years in business, he knew all too well that the public disliked complicated explanations.
Moreover, people loved simple structures dividing things into good guys and bad guys, so no matter how much you explained, they would only see it as excuses. That was why he had no choice but to work toward burying the incident itself.
“Yes. If it’s about that issue, then I’ll cooperate as well.”
Durukal did not openly demand compensation. This matter was tied to his own interests too, so it was difficult to demand explicit payment. Simply granting the favor and forming a friendly relationship was effectively compensation in itself.
And when both sides were incapable of ignoring one another, there was no need to explicitly verbalize promises while exchanging help like this. Moreover, if he openly demanded compensation, the other side would likely bring up that this was an issue affecting all magical device manufacturers, which would dilute the position of him being the one granting assistance.
Durukal gave such a straightforward answer while making those calculations.
If it had been Ustar, he likely would have felt frustrated and judged the other party to be quite formidable. But Ras, who still lacked that sort of seasoned experience, was simply delighted.
“Ah! Thank you very much.”
But that did not mean there was any problem or loss involved. In any case, they had achieved their goal, and forming a friendly relationship with a giant corporation like Tyla was also beneficial for Meta Soft.
In this way, Ras contacted several companies and secured promises of cooperation. Most of them possessed lobbying power of their own, so there was no need for coordinated teamwork. They would naturally apply pressure on political circles themselves.
The Magic Alliance also reacted positively.
“We already have an inventory of 200,000 units. And we plan to spread this network across the entire world. Within twenty years, we intend to secure at least 100 million users.”
“100 million users...”
Ustar had been able to meet the Alliance Chairman. Unlike modern mages, the chairman was an elderly Elf with a long white beard and a pointed wizard hat. Considering he was nearly two hundred years old, such clothing might have been the norm during his prime years.
But unlike his appearance, his thinking and abilities were more than sufficient for the head of a modern organization.
His name was Brondal, and he seemed quite interested in the vision Ustar described.
In truth, the number “100 million” sounded rather absurd. This was still a world where globalization had not been achieved, so imagining numbers on that scale was difficult.
However, he could not simply ignore the name Meta Soft.
Brondal had little interest in games. He barely even knew what computers were. But as someone who ran an organization, he was reasonably skilled with numbers. And he also understood that the achievements Meta Soft had accomplished in such a short time were practically mythical.
If someone with nothing came and made grand claims, that would merely be boasting. But when such words came from a company that had already demonstrated capabilities beyond ordinary understanding, no matter how absurd they sounded, they could not be ignored. That was one of the pieces of wisdom he had gained over his long life.
‘100 million... Even if it’s only half that. No, even one-tenth would still be enormous.’
Brondal tapped his knee with long, wrinkled fingers that resembled tree branches as he calculated in his head.
He was not a particularly greedy person. He was not detached from worldly matters like his appearance suggested, but after living for such a long time, maintaining strong desires itself became difficult.
Still, he understood that money was important.
Even now, they were barely managing to gather funds to maintain the grand magic preventing Norn Disease, relying on donations and selling Seals.
Even when doing grand things for the world, nothing could be accomplished without money.
And even aside from such matters, abundant funding would allow them to raise talented mages and proceed with numerous projects that currently remained stalled, thereby advancing magic itself.
Moreover, he liked that this was proper compensation rather than sponsorship.
It was not a matter of pride. Sponsorship was simply unstable by nature. If a company’s situation worsened, donations could drastically shrink or disappear entirely.
But Mana Cartridges were one of the Magic Alliance’s representative products. There were some independent private cartridge manufacturing companies, but most were operated directly by the Alliance.
This structure had not formed purely for profit.
For mages to use magic stably, materials needed to be supplied actively. But in modern society, even mages found it difficult to personally gather all their own materials.
After all, living in a city apartment and working a regular job while spending two months traveling to remote regions to extract and refine the heart of a monster just to cast a spell was unrealistic.
So the organizations created to procure materials for mages eventually became the predecessors of cartridge companies.
While making those calculations, Brondal glanced toward Ustar.
The refined, expensive suit and capable-looking impression perfectly embodied the image of the company he belonged to.
There was no reason to refuse when it both brought profit and created good ties with a large corporation like Meta Soft. Moreover, from his perspective, telecommunications companies were not especially frightening opponents.
Though they seemed financially strained, the Magic Alliance was a group with almost unmatched history, scale, and influence.
And he also disliked the criticism the other side was making regarding magical devices. There were many people under the Magic Alliance producing and selling magical devices as well. More broadly, it was a narrative encouraging distrust toward magic itself.
“Very well. We’ll cooperate.”
“Ah! Thank you very much!”
Since Brondal seemed to be listening halfheartedly, Ustar had felt somewhat anxious even while persuading him diligently, so he was greatly relieved by the answer.
In truth, Brondal’s attitude was something viewed negatively even within the Magic Alliance itself.
Perhaps because he was an old man who had lived so long, he tended to judge things quickly before hearing the full story, then reach conclusions by himself while thinking things over in his own head.
Still, since those judgments rarely caused major problems, he continued serving as chairman.
In any case, Ras and Meta Soft thus secured allies while also independently attempting to lobby political circles.
Though they had not maintained especially close relations with politicians, the company had become so large that they at least had some influence to lean on.
“For now, we’ll target the factions connected to Keimz City.”
Simply being located in that region and paying enormous taxes there already meant they wielded influence. Of course, if they wanted politicians to move, they still needed to provide separate compensation. But when lobbying, the hardest part was always how to approach people and what justification to give them.
And Meta Soft also possessed the status of an export company and a cutting-edge technology company.
Politicians all had slogans and causes they publicly advocated for. Among them were those constantly shouting about exports and the fostering of advanced industries.
Those people, too, were individuals Meta Soft could reach out to.
Thus, Ras established connections with around five or six politicians.
The reason it was “around” five or six instead of exactly five or six was because politicians rarely gave definitive answers.
It felt frustrating and unstable since they were not firmly on his side, but there was nothing he could do. In the first place, the reason he could not recruit more people was because there simply was not enough time.
“Still, if the tide shifts in our direction, they’ll at least raise their hands for us.”
From the beginning, Ustar did not seem to have expected much.
Then again, perhaps it was unreasonable to expect politicians recruited suddenly out of necessity to play major roles.
Still, among them, a Dwarf National Assembly member named Babatul, who had been elected from Keimz City, was quite proactive, so perhaps they could place some expectations on him.