Chapter 37

An Earthling Unleashed Gacha in a Fantasy World!

The monumental party held at the Grace Viscountcy ended, and a full-blown winter arrived in the world.

Even the warm southern part of the Empire could not avoid the winter cold, and the softly accumulated snow in the Viscountcy was creating a beautiful scenery.

Amidst that, The Saintess...

"Since it has come to this, I will just stay at the Grace Viscountcy until spring and then enter the academy."

Because she had a foot in matters like raising funds for the orphanage, The Character Expedition, and The Little Candy Girl, she ended up staying in the Empire as the person in charge of them.

Actually, it was something close to an excuse.

Such things could just be done by working-level staff or even a Cardinal stepping forward.

The Cardinal of the Empire branch, who was weak to The Saintess's whining, allowed The Saintess to remain in the Empire under the justification of, "Shouldn't we make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her a person who takes responsibility for the work she started?"

And strictly speaking, it wasn't exactly a wrong statement either.

It wasn't a good thing to roughly start something and throw it to subordinates telling them to handle it on their own.

Considering that the things currently rolling were matters The Saintess was deeply involved in, it was right for The Saintess to take responsibility and finish them.

So, the Grace Viscountcy ended up receiving The Saintess as a guest until spring arrived.

That itself didn't particularly pose a problem.

Rather, as a noble, hosting such an incredible guest was also a kind of honor.

Just the fact that they were hosting a member of the Imperial Family, a high-ranking noble, and a high-ranking clergyman proved the dignity of the Grace Viscountcy.

Viscount Grace readily accepted The Saintess, telling her to stay comfortably until she entered the academy.

And right now, the Grace Viscountcy was in a situation where something like The Saintess's long-term stay didn't really matter.

"Stop right there! Are you trying to pull out a Dispel? Did you think I wouldn't know your trick to blow everything away with a Dispel once I complete my magic combo?"

"Hmph! Trap Card activated! Nullify your Servant's attack! Furthermore, forcibly return the Servant that failed its attack to the hand!"

Because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the situation was entirely boiling over with the card game Magic & Servant, which Noel distributed in the Viscountcy as a trial test to check this and that to see if it was profitable.

Ah, really? The Saintess is staying longer? More importantly, care for a game of Magic & Servant?

It was this kind of state.

Coincidentally, there were also plenty of artists gathered in the Viscountcy's annex to draw comics and study comics.

Because a TCG itself can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere as long as you know the rules and have a deck.

It wasn't like she was trying to sell it as merchandise either, so she made rough cards, had the artists put illustrations on them, and distributed them for data collection purposes, which resulted in this.

She didn't know exactly how much it would cost, but she could tell that developing magic tools to produce anime or movies wouldn't just cost a penny or two.

Noel judged that it would be difficult to cover that just by selling existing goods and selling her works.

She boldly unleashed a TCG.

Because a TCG can be considered the offline version of a mobile gacha game.

She started this based on the memory of buying Game King card packs at the stationery store when she was young in her past life, tearing them open, making a deck with them, and playing with the kids.

It wasn't something to think of lightly, wondering when she would earn money to cover development costs with children's pocket money.

"Because that children's pocket money ultimately comes out of the parents' wallets."

And it may be called children's pocket money, but in reality, adults tend to enjoy these card games more than children.

When buying a single card pack, it doesn't cost much.

However, if adults start buying wildly to complete their own combos and their own decks, the story changes.

Considering that in a normal gacha game, a few whale users carry the revenue, if adults who fall into the game start fully buying up card packs, she would be able to rake in money like a rake.

To urge that, if she also released works themed around card games like Game King and created a trend by holding things like tournaments, it would truly be a massive hit.

Because it was already a proven business model on Earth, despite her worries, Noel decided to release it to quench her desire for cultural life, wanting to watch anime and movies.

For reference, Noel's worry wasn't about whether the business would fail or anything like that, but...

She was worried that such sounds might come out.

However, Noel ultimately decided to be faithful to her desires.

Thinking that it wouldn't be much of a problem since she was merely adding one more spoon to what already existed, she proceeded.

Things like this should naturally be easy to learn but hard to master.

With that single thought, Noel recalled the 'Stone Game' she enjoyed in her past life and set the game rules as simply as possible.

So that even a young child who knew nothing could learn it just by playing while sitting there.

As a result, the card game Magic & Servant Noel made was already showing unusual signs.

The servants of the Viscountcy whom she made experimental subjects, let alone the artists mobilized to make the cards, were a given, and even the guests staying at the Viscountcy were playing Magic & Servant whenever they had a chance.

Even now, Clara and Imperial Princess Lydia were enjoying the game using Noel as the dealer.

A game of Magic & Servant during the time they would normally have tea time.

It was the daily scenery of the Grace Viscountcy that had completely changed in just a few weeks.

"By the way, Noel, why did you suddenly make something like this?"

Clara asked while carefully placing a Servant card on the field to control ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the board.

Against that, Lydia also laid down a Servant with defensive abilities on the field, prepared a magic card, and spoke to Noel.

"It's too full-scale to say you made it to play together because you were bored during the winter. Is there some other meaning?"

"Hmm..."

At the questions from those two, Noel thought for a moment about what would be a good answer, and then decided to just tell the truth.

"Actually, there's something I'm thinking about. I think I'll need quite a lot of research funds for it."

"Oh my."

At those words from Noel, Imperial Princess Lydia widened her eyes.

"I'm disappointed, Noel. If it's something like that, you should have told me, your patron."

Lydia smiling with joy, wondering if a matter to provide financial support fitting for a patron had finally arisen.

Looking at that smile, Noel scratched her cheek, looking slightly troubled.

"That is... I don't think it will just cost a penny or two."

Even just on Earth, producing video content like anime or movies cost an enormous amount of production expenses.

Let alone a situation where she had to develop the equipment capable of producing such videos from scratch, what more needed to be said?

"Hmm? Don't you already have plenty of money? Just what are you trying to do that you're even considering a 'business'?"

To Clara, who asked as if it was strange, Noel drew cards and handed them out one by one to the two of them as she replied.

"Because I have to develop the technology first."

"Technology development?"

They had thought it was about developing a new stage device to use in a play, but it was a truly surprising story.

Looking at the two people widening their eyes, Noel smiled bitterly.

It was certainly a story with a large scale.

It was true that it was too grandiose a story for an individual, not a country or even a merchant guild, to discuss.

So after the outline was formed to some extent, she did intend to receive investments or support, but for now, she planned to try doing it alone.

Unlike with comics, this wasn't something where results would come out in a short period of time.

The moment she received support through taxes, she would definitely receive a tremendous amount of meddling, and Noel absolutely hated that.

Therefore, she planned to receive investment or support when she had something to show to others to some extent.

Wouldn't that stop people from constantly talking?

Honestly, considering she could fail, she intended to proceed with the work alone until she was certain of success, and she was releasing the TCG for fundraising purposes for that.

"I am disappointed by that, Miss Noel."

"The Imperial Princess's words are correct. Aren't we friends? I will help as much as I can."

At the statement that she was proceeding with the work alone because it was burdensome as she could just lose a ton of money and fail, Lydia and Clara showed a reaction saying they were disappointed.

At the words of the two people who, despite not knowing what it was, willingly said they would join her trusting her, Noel actually felt burdened.

However, since it wasn't an atmosphere where she could decline saying she would only accept their intentions, she ultimately decided to receive a little help from the two.

She decided to ask Lydia to handle things when administrative procedures and such were needed while researching this and that, and in Clara's case, she decided to ask for the securing of animators who would work hard later when the technology was developed.

But these were all stories for later.

Because right now, it was a situation where she didn't know if the technology to film and screen video content like anime or movies would even be developed, or if it would take 1 year or 10 years if it was developed.

For now, cleaning up the things she had spread out one by one, including the TCG, came first.

Of course, the things she had spread out referred to The Character Expedition and The Little Candy Girl.

Long-term projects were long-term projects, and the things to pay attention to right away were the comic and the new fairy tale.

She decided to pay attention to finalizing these two works: The Character Expedition, which would be used like a textbook for illiteracy eradication in frontline educational settings, and The Little Candy Girl, which would draw hot tears from people's eyes in the cold winter.

In the case of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The Character Expedition in particular, there was a high possibility it would become a long-running series depending on the public's reaction.

Since government money was also involved, she had to pay attention.

The birth of the second comic work following The Elf and the Woodcutter.

Noel calmly decided to watch its aftermath.