Academy Villain's Economics (2)
Liana Aishinkiore was purely awestruck by that mechanism.
An expansion pack?
It was exactly as the name implied. Simply adding another board, along with some cards and pieces, transformed it into an entirely different game.
Not only did it seamlessly connect to the existing rules without breaking them, but now there were diverse victory conditions beyond just bankrupting your opponent or hoarding cash.
"Care to give it a test run?"
"I'd love to!"
We played a casual round for fun, and I felt that same thrilling heartbeat from the first time I'd enjoyed Path of Gold.
This was a surefire hit.
Even the nobles who'd stuck their noses up at it, calling it a "commoner's toy," would be utterly captivated.
And conversely, I could crush those knockoff deluxe editions flooding the market in one fell swoop.
Since the knockoff boards weren't designed with expansions in mind, they couldn't just blindly copy it like last time.
Liana stared blankly at Yujin Feltro, who was gazing smugly at his creation.
He didn't hesitate.
His eyes and voice brimmed with unshakable confidence that this wouldn't fail.
Soon, Liana was convinced: Yujin was cut from the same cloth as her.
A born merchant, proven by results.
Maybe those academy rumors really were just the usual misunderstandings.
"Why are you staring like that?"
"Huh?! Oh, uh?!"
Caught meeting his gaze, Liana hurriedly looked away.
She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the subtle heat creeping into her ears.
"Ahem... I just personally think it's amazing. You definitely have a talent for this sort of thing, Lord Yujin."
"You're too kind, Lady Liana."
"It'll take some time before we can fully commercialize it anyway. In the meantime, we can sit back and wait for our rivals to let their guard down."
They'd dared to rip off Liana Merchant Guild's products without a second thought, so they'd pay the full price.
Their already freakishly inefficient production structure left them with barely any profit margins.
If they ramped up production excitedly, only for us to release an expansion exclusive to our original items...?
The knockoffs' value would plummet to rock bottom in an instant.
Her thoughts reached that point, and Liana's lips curved into a soft smile.
Checkmate. Victory declared.
"By the way, Lady Liana."
"Yes, Lord Yujin? What is it?"
"How much of an advance can you offer this time?"
"Pardon?"
She blurted out the idiotic response without thinking.
"I mean... I already gave you that check today? That's at least 400 gold coins. Do you need more money?"
"Well, uh... you see..."
At her question, Yujin trailed off with a serious expression.
What was there even to agonize over?
400 gold was enough to buy a three-story mansion right in the heart of the imperial capital without batting an eye.
It was also about Liana Merchant Guild's average monthly revenue.
To hold that much gold and still ask for more upfront? Unless he was planning to build his own magic tower smack in the capital, it made no sense.
"Eh, it's not like hiding it would help anyway. And I might need the guild's help down the line..."
Yujin smacked his lips.
"Come this way. There's something I want to show you, milady."
He led Liana deeper into the workshop, to the area curtained off by black fabric.
The real reason I followed my mentor Arkythia wasn't just because she was one of the only people who looked after me.
It was because she was one of the empire's Seven Great Mages—and a master of space magic, a field unprecedented even in the continent's entire history.
From 1st Circle to 9th Circle.
Typically, you weren't considered a proper mage until 3rd Circle. From 6th Circle on, you were treated as a powerhouse among mages, and 8th Circle meant archmage.
9th Circle was the "transcendent" realm no one had ever reached, so practically speaking, 8th Circle was the human limit.
And one of those 8th Circle archmages was my mentor, Arkythia. Cube.
She'd succeeded in creating a completely independent space, isolated from the real world.
Inside that Cube, you could cast devastating spells like Absolute Zero, which froze every living thing in range, or Meteor, which yanked a massive star from the sky—without a care in the world.
Even spells that could kill dozens if botched could be fired off freely inside.
That's why top mages from every magic tower and nation still made the trek to the Central Imperial Magic Library.
With achievements like that, no one could deny she'd reached 8th Circle.
"I think you can unravel this magic device's formation structure."
And on the day I first met Arkythia at the academy.
I saw the potential in that bizarre magic device called the Cube.
This is basically... a full-dive VR gaming console, right?
A space-time detached from reality. Free movement of the body inside, customizable fields.
Anyone could see it was the prototype for a virtual reality gaming machine!
That sparked the desires I'd failed to fulfill in my previous life—memories still vivid as ever.
I wanted to create a game for the ages. Draw people back into my world. And enjoy that world with them.
"Professor—no, Mentor."
"Hm?"
"I'll perfect this magic, no matter what."
Ever since, I'd been developing and refining my own "personal Cube."
Stuck in that boring, pretentious library all day? That was me tinkering with the Cube.
But with my talent—stuck at 2nd Circle after five years of basics, let alone 3rd—tweaking that massive magic formation was insane.
Maintenance costs alone were astronomical.
If not for Wiki the knowledge spirit assisting me, the spell circuits would've tangled up long ago, turning it into scrap.
But now, partnering with Liana Merchant Guild and raking in massive profits.
I could cover my lacking magic talent with cold, hard cash.
That's right. Borrowing the power of her guild, I'd bring my dream full-dive gaming console to life in this fantasy world!
"...Isn't this a Cube? It's about three times bigger, though."
Liana instantly recognized the object dominating the room.
"It's a magic device I'm making, based on Mentor's Cube. More advanced than the basic magic-testing version. Completely different functions, too."
"...Is that so?"
But my precious investor, Liana Aishinkiore, seemed distinctly unimpressed.
The subspace formation in the Cube was tech Mentor had commercialized ages ago, so she probably couldn't sense the difference.
Fine then. Seeing is believing.
"Want to step inside together?"
I invited her into my world.
Even though Liana Aishinkiore wasn't a mage, she had Cube experience.
As the daughter of the Aishinkiore family—who lit up at any new invention and snapped it up first—it was a must.
I opened my eyes to an endless expanse of plains stretching to the horizon.
It was astonishing.
Like being teleported via ancient lost space magic to another dimension.
But that was it.
The cool breeze, the mana, the air, even the ground underfoot—all felt vividly real, but just that.
The initial wonder didn't last. Unless you were one of those destructive mages with a fetish for blasting high-powered spells, it was just a big empty field.
But the world Yujin Feltro showed her now was utterly overwhelming.
A brief swirl of white light enveloped her, and before her eyes unfolded a familiar sight.
"The academy...?"
This was Philemon Academy.
Even years after graduating, the memories were fresh.
The main building, the commercial district crossing the academy center, the fountain in the front plaza.
But not a single soul walked the streets.
At first, Liana poked around with delight and surprise, but as she wandered, an inexplicable unease crept in.
"This... feels creepily scary for some reason...? What's going on?"
As the suffocating silence tightened around her, she glanced about.
"I haven't implemented NPCs yet—it's tough. For top-quality resources, you'd need insane amounts of high-grade magic stones—"
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!"
The voice right by her ear made Liana scream and swing a wild haymaker.
If Yujin hadn't dodged desperately, her backspin blow would've nailed him square in the jaw.
"Wha-what the hell are you doing?!"
"Why so jumpy? It's a familiar place. Philemon Academy."
"I... I don't know, it just feels scary! Anyway!! Is this inside the Cube? Why's the academy here all of a sudden?"
"When the Cube was in testing, the first place Mentor implemented was the academy."
"You could use places other than wastelands?"
"Of course—it's space magic. But imagine archmages blasting destruction spells at the academy. Wiping it off the map with Meteor? Looked bad, so she settled on empty plains."
"Ah..."
Such a logical, convincing reason.
"Let me show you some other spots. Tell me if you get motion sick."
"Huh?! Wait, wha—?!"
Then Liana and Yujin's bodies floated gently upward.
The academy backdrop whisked away, replaced in rapid succession by others.
The imperial capital, Romanium.
The Great Forest where elves lived.
The scenic Tauren Islands, famed for natural beauty.
The free city of Zion, city of priests...
Even a city packed with impossibly tall buildings she'd never seen before.
And more.
Islands floating in the sky amid swarms of airborne galleons.
A canyon with a shallow river bisecting a three-way fork.
A perpetual glacier with blizzards that could kill even Red Tower mages.
A quaint fishing village under a massive red moon in the sky—its mere sight turning her stomach ominous.
Especially the last one; it made her scalp crawl, so she urgently begged Yujin to switch.
Finally, after the whirlwind tour.
"These are the backdrops for the 'games' I mentioned."
"...!!!"
"Through the Cube, I want people to feel and experience the games I create with their own skins."
Liana Aishinkiore finally understood why Yujin Feltro, uncharacteristically for a mage, obsessed over 'money.'
It wasn't money he craved.
All mages are bound to their own worlds and laws, living for them.
Like his mentor, he was obsessed with the world manifested by his magic.
"Will you help me?"
Mages gonna mage.