Why Diana is the Meta Pick
Ah, I was in serious trouble.
“You must be the third son of the recently renowned Helisbort family, correct?”
I had fallen for her at first sight.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Helio Helisbort.”
Quick! Something useful!
I answered in the coolest voice I could manage while frantically dissecting Oh Ji-o’s memories. At least he had to know more than me about talking to a girl you’d fallen for!
Nothing?! Seriously? Not a single thing?
Shockingly, despite being thirty-two years old, Oh Ji-o had zero information on situations like this. The man had lived three times longer than me!
“I’ve heard so much about you. I’m actually using several of your products myself.”
“…Ah, yes. Thank you for the kind words.”
No good.
The moment the words left my mouth I realized I’d messed up. At the same time, the stubborn pride of a child who refused to be looked down on surged up inside me. At the very least, I didn’t want to look like a pathetic loser in front of the girl I liked.
“Ahem, my apologies. This is my first time meeting someone like the Grand Duchess, so I was a little flustered. For you to use our products—there is no greater honor for the one who made them.”
This was it. Oh Ji-o’s thirty-two years of memories lacked the soft, fluttering knowledge of romantic conversation, but they contained more than enough practical dialogue skills to keep me from stammering like an idiot.
If it’s ambiguous, just talk about work!
The fierce flash of inspiration led me to bring up business, and the words began flowing smoothly.
“There’s no need to call it an honor. It’s all thanks to how excellent Helisbort’s products turned out.”
Fortunately it seemed to work; the Grand Duchess smiled as she looked at me.
She’s genuinely beautiful.
It was a smile that made me want to stare at her forever, but if I let myself get lost in it I would return to looking like an idiot. I somehow tightened my core and continued.
“In that case, could I ask which product caught your eye? I conduct market research, but hearing it directly always sparks new ideas.”
“Hmm… I see. As a regular user, I can’t pass up the chance to offer my thoughts.”
…She seems incredibly intelligent.
The combination of I spoke well and I get to hear her tastes directly felt perfect for a moment. I was honestly surprised by her answer. Her vocabulary was on another level. I had been deliberately choosing difficult words too, but that was only possible because I had an external knowledge dictionary called Oh Ji-o attached to me. Even then I was squeezing them out with effort, yet she spoke naturally without any visible strain.
Are all first-tier characters like this?
Right now it simply seemed like she had a rich vocabulary, but I couldn’t even imagine how much she would grow in three or five years. Especially the growth in martial arts, where she would pour that overflowing talent without reservation—how dazzling would that be?
Ah, it’s depressing.
“Lord Helio’s products all emphasize convenience. So I found myself slightly hoping there might be something comfortable for bathing.”
“Bathroom supplies, I understand. And may I ask what kind of cleansing products you currently use…”
After that I continued the conversation with her, but the Grand Duchess followed my words without the slightest difficulty. Seeing her keep up even in my area of expertise made me feel intimidated whether I wanted to or not.
“…Oh my, it’s already this late. I’m truly sorry, Lord Helio, but as the host it is time for me to show my face. I’m afraid I must take my leave.”
“Not at all. On the contrary, I’m grateful you gave me so much of your time.”
“Hehe, hearing you say that leaves nothing to be desired. It was a truly enjoyable time.”
She offered an elegant greeting and departed. Nothing seemed particularly strange. I hadn’t shown an ugly side, and my answers hadn’t been weird. It was simply a normal exchange followed by a normal farewell.
But that’s not enough.
I watched her back as she entered the mansion.
“Diana… she was from a ducal house, wasn’t she?”
And an only child at that. How many people in the empire could approach her without reservation? She existed in a realm no one could easily reach. And considering her talent, she would climb even higher.
It made me feel small.
Still, the power of nobility lies in wealth and authority.
The Helisbort family was only a count house, but thanks to the nature of our unique ability we were counted among the highest ranks. Especially now that we had struck it big like this. If I could cure my mana incompetence at the academy—
“I need to work… even harder.”
I strengthened my resolve. If love had conditions, I had to at least meet the bare minimum. This was the moment I decided to actively use the game knowledge I had gained instead of letting it sit idle.
* * *
“We’re expanding the business further.”
From the day I returned to the family, I threw myself into work. Ideas poured out endlessly. Random knowledge I had seen on YouTube, Oh Ji-o’s real-life experiences, vaguely remembered trending products—there were countless items that could sell.
The conversation I had with Grand Duchess Diana was a huge help. It let me understand far more clearly what the people of this world actually wanted.
Shampoo and soap already have plenty of decent options.
Top-grade versions even involved magic, so they weren’t an area a latecomer like Helisbort could touch. Therefore I chose to partner with those companies instead.
Press-to-dispense pump containers. Hand-squeezable tube containers. Shower balls, shower caps, exfoliating towels, detachable razor blades, and more.
They were small details, but I attacked every part that could overwhelmingly raise the convenience of daily use items.
“Everyone! Products from the Dunas territory break so easily! Look! In the bathroom where you have no choice but to be naked, the container shatters and leaves someone covered in blood!”
At the same time, I summoned my father after he had undergone Descent with the souls of a demagogue, swindler, and merchant, and launched a full-scale black propaganda campaign.
I knew the importance of oratory, yet this society still had low understanding of social psychology, propaganda, and agitation. I lacked the political sense to strike at it effectively, but I did possess the speeches of the Nazis and the Soviets. When I handed those to my father, he blended them masterfully and carpet-bombed the audience.
“Everyone! They have zero interest in your safety! They lack the nobility to protect their own dignity, and they have no sense of responsibility to shoulder problems! Why would you buy anything from people who don’t even have the passion to create their own products!”
“Isn’t the noble lord right?”
“Yeah. They say if a problem occurs they’ll take returns right away.”
“Meanwhile I heard someone who bought from the Dunas territory even got beaten up?”
“Oh my goodness. That’s truly wicked.”
“Hey, you there. You didn’t buy from the Later territory, did you? You really shouldn’t.”
“If you’re an imperial citizen, let’s all patronize Helisbort!”
As the agitation against counterfeits continued, people began seeking out certified authentic Helisbort products rather than worrying about minor price differences.
It’s too late for latecomers to jump in now.
Unlike the modern era where packaging and marketing mattered because product quality stayed consistent, this was an age where high quality and convenience themselves were the dominant advantages. Not many families could match the versatile production capability of Helisbort. And by the time such families tried to enter, our products had already taken root across society. As long as we didn’t do anything particularly strange, everyone would simply keep using what they had always used.
Because I focused on the bathroom and toilet sector, I ended up with a somewhat dishonorable nickname.
In the world they called me the youngest son of the toilet aristocracy.
Perhaps because everyone knew I was the one directing from the front, the nickname stuck to me more than anyone else. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant nickname… but it wasn’t worth paying much attention to.
Fame naturally follows once power grows strong enough.
Since bathroom-related products were something every person had no choice but to use, the business scale had no choice but to keep expanding. That held true even in peaceful times. Moreover, this was an era when a great war was already scheduled. Armies and battlefields still required people to relieve themselves, so unlike luxury goods there was no fear of the business shrinking.
It had taken five years to reach this point.
This should be enough wealth.
The brand “Hello” had already gotten on track. Even if left alone, it would continue to do well as a family business. Next came the matter of military strength.
* * *
In truth, actual training was impossible for me with my mana-incompetent constitution. The only thing I could do was prepare a build in advance for the day I might regain my mana.
I originally wanted to go the mage route.
Helio could eventually reach the peak of all five basic job classes, but that only happened in the late game. The first class was more or less predetermined. Knight or mage. These two offered the fastest and most stable early leveling, so unless someone was aiming for a special build they were the standard choices.
Among them, mages could perform mass slaughter while staying safely in the rear, so that had been my initial target.
But simply being strong isn’t enough.
After meeting Diana, however, my thinking changed. What mattered wasn’t raw strength but having a name valuable enough to reach her.
In this era where the romance of knighthood was still alive, a knight had the advantage when it came to earning fame.
It’s the same as how in the Three Kingdoms more warriors are remembered than strategists.
Only a handful of strategists like Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu became famous, while the number of renowned warriors was countless. Moreover, the highest-output figures—Lu Bu, the Three Brothers of Liu Bei—were all warriors, weren’t they?
Scratch, scratch.
“After all, I should base it on the sword…”
First I wrote down the weapons and skill trees for each level. Beside them I added the acquisition charts. I even sketched a light blueprint for the great war that would follow.
Now that the “Hello” business was gradually stabilizing, I had plenty of spare time to do this much side work.
“Helio, you’re entering the academy the year after next, right?”
And the fact that I had free time meant others did as well. For example, my older brother who had once cursed me to die.
“…Yeah, why?”
“I figured you’d be entering at the same time as that crazy dog lady I mentioned last time.”
“That person again?”
Unlike me, who had barely shown my face in social circles since that day, my brother was the successor, so he appeared often.
Who was she again? Lady Abelluna?
She was someone whose name had been circulating for about three years now. She used to be perfectly normal, but now that she had gone half-mad they called her the crazy dog. Perhaps because she was such a hot topic, my brother frequently brought her up.
“Still, that person really is something else.”
“Huh? What about her?”
“It’s not easy for a lady to earn the nickname ‘mad dog.’ I thought it would disappear quickly, but the fact that it’s stuck for this long is fascinating.”
What kind of chaos did someone have to cause for a nickname like that to last over three years? It hadn’t existed in the game either, so it was truly strange.
Well, the game knowledge tripped me up from the very beginning, so I suppose I just have to accept it.
Since I had learned about my mana incompetence right from the start, there was nothing more to say. What made me angry was that, aside from that one thing, nearly all the game knowledge was accurate.
“Ahem. Yeah. It really is amazing, isn’t it?”
“? Why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing. Nothing at all, my beloved younger brother Helio.”
And lately my brother had been laughing in strange ways more often, but I had no idea why.
Two years left.
Even though time still remained, a tension that felt like it was squeezing my chest settled over me. It was proof of how much mental energy I was pouring into my upcoming academy admission.
Please… let me recover.
All that remained for me now was prayer.