The Evaluation Meeting
Producing computers on mass at the factory blindly is solved by money.
The real problem came after that.
Even if you hand them out for free, not many people will carry this heavy thing away.
Widespread adoption only happens when people come to crave and need the item as part of their daily lives.
So, you have to make it known.
What the computer is and what it can do.
The Royal Magic Tool Evaluation Meeting.
A gathering of royal court officials, guild masters, researchers from magic towers, and agents from noble families in one place to assess the value of new magic tools.
It was the perfect spot to let the world know about computers.
“What is this supposed to be?”
The examiner at the reception desk looked down at my entry and asked.
“A computer.”
“C-C-computer?”
“No, computer.”
“…A strange name.”
The examiner stared at the computer placed beside me for a long time.
No flashy decorations, no fancy magic stones, no high-end wood.
Just an odd model with a plain gray box and a black screen.
“Functions… Complex calculations and games? Possible?”
The examiner asked in a flat tone.
“I get that it does calculations… but what about games?”
“It’s hard to explain, but you’ll understand once you try it.”
My sister jumped in from the side.
She was right. People in this world wouldn’t get games just from explanations.
The examiner’s gaze toward us grew even stranger. The look in his eyes when he saw me was unmistakably that of a con artist.
“…As a young lady from the Dicles family, please wait in the waiting room for now.”
“Haha… look how impressed you are by my skills.”
Just like I said, that’s all it takes…
When I looked at him with disbelief, my sister only got even more smug.
As we entered the waiting room, the various magic tools caught my eye.
“Oh, there are so many things.”
A pen floating in the air that moves on its own.
A stove burning on firewood made of food scraps.
Flower pots that bloom on their own without being watered.
Because they’re magic tools, most of them are flashy and refined.
The pen let out a faint golden magical power, the stove had a small spirit shape above the flames, and the flower pots were filled with multicolored light on each petal.
Compared to those, what I brought?
To their eyes, it was just a plain, unknown square box.
“Is that the entry from the Blue Magic Tower?”“What is that…?”“Probably another weird thing. Just ignore it.”
The gazes, full of mockery rather than interest, gathered, then turned away at Rose’s sharp look.
I hugged the computer even tighter that Rose was holding.
“Annoying. My Tetras isn’t like this thing.”
Not Tetras, but computer.
“Yet they came all the way here carrying weird stuff.”
“Sister.”
“What?”“Even looking at it, isn’t our thing the strangest?”
“…”
Rose placed the computer on the demonstration stand and deliberately straightened its position.
“Ah, anyway, Tetras is fun, right?”“I always make a show of organizing things when I’m nervous.”“Hey, what’s that over there?”“Look, a small silver plate.”“Looks like a fancy notebook on the surface, but when you look closely, it’s filled with numbers and symbols.”“Small magic stones are set in the four corners of the rectangle, and those magic stones blink at regular intervals.”“When I take a closer look, it looks a lot like the thing from my previous life…?”“A calculator?”“It’s pretty weird.”
Rose whispered as she lowered her voice.
“What’s strange?”“What?”“The examiners are only looking at that one thing.”“…”
She was right about that.
There were plenty of other magic tools, but the examiners’ eyes kept lingering on the plate.
Beside it stood a man with a confident air.
His neatly arranged golden hair and gold-rimmed glasses caught the eye, as did the yellow magic tower emblem on his chest.
The Yellow Magic Tower specialized in power engineering and calculation techniques.
While the Blue Magic Tower was a haven of pure theory and mad researchers, the Yellow one was closer to collecting money through practicality and commercial value.
“May I try this?”“The examiner, unable to hold back his curiosity, asked the man. The man smiled gently as if he’d been waiting for it.
“Of course. Magic engineering calculators aren’t for looking, they’re for using.”“That’s what the man said with full confidence.
The examiner pressed the numbers and symbols on the panel as written in the manual.
1047 x 36195 + 42011
Blue numbers floated above the magic tool.
The numbers matched in mid-air, and before long, they aligned into a neat result value.
37938176
“Oh!”
The examiner exclaimed in admiration.
Mages might not care, but most merchants still struggled with multiplication and division of numbers with four or more digits.
It was still the age when most calculations were done by hand. Yet in less than ten seconds, he finished the calculation.
It was an enormous innovation. The examiner had no doubt that most investors and buyers would flock here.
“It seems incredibly fast.”“If that’s the case, the guild would buy it right away.”“No, rather, it looks like it might catch the tax office’s eye.”“It really is… You should’ve avoided the evaluation meeting when the Yellow Magic Tower was involved.”“The man who finished explaining to the examiner walked over, and our eyes met.
“Are you interested?”“He bowed respectfully in greeting.
“Gardener Bellogue from the Yellow Magic Tower. I’ve brought a magic engineering calculator to this evaluation meeting.”“Reven Graham.”“Rose Dicles.”“…”
“I know. Especially Mr. Reven, you’re still a hot topic, aren’t you?”“His gaze turned to me, then shifted to the gray box beside me.
“The chess world champion, the one who calls himself the patron of the Blue Magic Tower, and the one who brought something unfamiliar to this evaluation meeting.”“Even though his tone was polite, I felt it was sharp.
“Our item can handle not just basic arithmetic, but tax calculation, interest calculation, currency exchange, and logistics cost estimation. Anyone in the guild or tax office would want it, right?”“That makes sense.”“It really does. In our world, calculators are often used too.”“I understand why you’re impressed by the technology. It’s a dream-like skill. Even our Yellow Magic Tower spent ten years on the blood and sweat of this.”“Ten years.”“Rose gave me a strange look when she heard that.“The meaning was clear without me saying anything.‘What the hell did you make for a week…?’“I deliberately avoided her gaze.“Did Gardener interpret my reaction differently? His face looked more relaxed.“But… wait.”“His gaze turned to the computer.
“I see your entry says it can do calculations too. And… games? Such a strange function.”“He slowly scanned the thick body and smirked.
“For a single calculation, such a large and plain box is needed. It seems the Blue Magic Tower’s technology is still at this level.”“Rose’s expression turned cold. The gazes of the people around us gathered.
“That sounds like overkill.”“My apologies, young lady Dicles. It was too much to say in front of such a beautiful person.”“He apologized politely, but a smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.
“But magic tools ultimately need to be practical. No matter how amazing, if it’s hard to use, expensive, and cumbersome, it won’t survive in the market.”“Ah… yes.”“Please don’t let the Blue Magic Tower become a laughingstock this time.”“Gardener kept up his polite manner until the end and turned away without a trace.
“…Why does he act like that?”“I don’t know either.”“Do you have a grudge against the Blue Magic Tower or something?”“***
As the evaluation meeting began, the atmosphere changed.
Many merchants and nobles were sorting through things they could afford based on strict criteria.
Amid that, a middle-aged man appeared.
The reaction from the people was faster than anyone else.
“Berkin guild master!”
“He really came?”“They say he ate half the commercial district of the royal capital.”“Half? That’s been surpassed long ago?”“Anyone who does business in the royal capital knows that name.“Almost nothing from the royal capital passed through Berkin’s hands without being touched by him.“Grain, iron, magic stones, parchment, spices, transportation, finance.“No field untouched, and wherever he passed, a huge ripple always occurred.”“It means there’s a good item here if such a person appears.”“His first gaze was naturally at the magic engineering calculator from the Yellow Magic Tower.”“That one?”“Berkin’s words sent his servant running through the crowd. When everyone heard Berkin was here, they made way for him.
“Demonstrate it for me.”“Gardener stood in front of the magic engineering calculator.
“Let’s take logistics cost calculation as an example. 1,047 bags of flour. 36 silver per bag. 7% passage fee at the southern gate. Three days’ storage fee in the royal capital. Add transportation costs…”
His fingers moved faster than ever. Blue numbers floated in the air, and soon he calculated the result.
Berkin stared at the numbers for a while, then opened his mouth.
“Good.”“A short word stirred the crowd.“The guild master Berkin isn’t one to easily praise.“When he spits out one word, the market shakes. He knew how big a word could be as a backlash.“So this was also a form of praise he couldn’t withhold.“Gardener’s tense face suddenly brightened.“Thank you, guild master.”“Berkin glanced at Gardener briefly, then continued walking.“It really was a good thing. Anyone could calculate easily.“But that was all.“For Berkin, calculation isn’t about finding an answer. It’s reading the flow behind the numbers and gauging human desire.“If that’s the case, a few skilled accountants would be enough. Their abacuses in their heads would be more reliable than that magic tool.“‘No special items for this evaluation meeting either.’”“Guild master.”“The servant following Berkin cautiously opened his mouth.
“What?”“There… there’s another magic tool with calculation functions.”“Where is the item?”“The servant couldn’t answer right away. He looked at the reception list in his hand, then checked Berkin’s eyes.
“…The entry from the Blue Magic Tower side.”“Name?”“It’s called a computer. Functions are complex calculations and games…?”“Games?”“—”