The Money Duplication Club (2)
The Money Duplication Club (2)
"Hey, Ian."
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you buy way too much? That's a lot to eat all at once."
Danya tilted her head.
Fair enough. I'd dragged her along without any explanation, so a little curiosity was only natural.
Danya was a key player in the Ice-Sugar Fruit Project. She deserved a more detailed rundown.
"Danya, remember when we had Ice Grapes up north?"
Ice Grapes.
A fruit enjoyed exclusively by counts, dukes, and the bourgeoisie of equivalent standing. For a commoner or low-ranking noble, eating one even once in a lifetime was considered a stroke of fortune.
Sweet ice encasing enormous grape clusters—a symbol of pure indulgence, the pinnacle of sweet-and-tart luxury.
Since they could only be cultivated in select regions beyond the northern border, they commanded an appropriately exorbitant price.
My first taste had been thanks to Sylvia. After that, the only other occasion was at the Northern Grand Duke's social gathering.
"Yeah! It was amazing, nya!"
Recalling the memory, Danya's face broke into an instant grin.
"I'm planning to sell something similar inside the academy."
"But isn't that a super super super expensive fruit, nya?"
"It is."
"Only someone like Sylvia could afford to eat it!"
"No. Even she can't anymore."
"?"
"Things happened."
The image surfaced of Sylvia shivering in her office, wearing those fluffy rabbit slippers.
Anyway.
I cleared my throat and corrected Danya's misunderstanding.
"I'm not going to sell those directly. I'm going to make something similar."
"How?"
"With these fruits."
I'd coat the surface of fresh fruit in snow blossoms made from sugar water.
Having made similar things before, my instincts told me it would work. Maybe not quite Ice Grape level, but I could absolutely produce ice-sugar fruit that was close enough.
Walking around the market only confirmed what I'd already noticed—neither the academy nor the surrounding shops sold simple, easy-to-enjoy desserts.
If I started releasing ice-sugar fruit into this kind of market?
I'd probably need to buy a scale just to count all the money. The profits would be too massive to tally one by one.
Raw ingredient costs would be practically nothing, so net profit would be enormous, wouldn't it?
"Eheheh."
"You've been laughing like a villain for a while now, Ian..."
"Sorry."
Ahem.
A path of gold had opened up before me. For the first time in a while, I was having trouble keeping a straight face.
As I worked to recompose my expression, Danya was struggling beside me.
"Ughhh. So heavy, nya..."
She was on the verge of tears.
Her left hand was loaded with fruit for the ingredients. In her other hand she clutched the tomatoes I'd bought her as compensation for her labor.
I couldn't exactly help—both my hands were already at capacity.
"Using mana doesn't seem like a bad idea."
Efficiency varied by elemental affinity, but most elements allowed for some form of physical enhancement. With Danya's plant element, she could reinforce her arms the way a stem supports a branch.
"The old you, back when you struggled to even resonate with the plant element, couldn't have managed it. But the current you should be more than capable."
"Right! The current me can do it!"
Danya puffed out her chest, shoulders rising smugly in an instant.
"But relying on magic power won't make you strong!"
"Strong?"
"Yeah! I've realized muscles are just as important as magic power, nya!"
...Ah.
Now that I thought about it, back in the north, Danya and Rina had been attached to Yergina. While I'd been training under my teacher, Danya must have absorbed some influence from Yergina too.
"Physical conditioning has to be part of daily life! Hand over your bags too, Ian!"
I hurriedly dashed ahead.
"Why are you running away!"
I just prefer soft, squishy flesh over muscle, that's all.
And so, we naturally entered the Magi-Engineering district.
"By the way, how are you going to make ice?"
Danya posed a sharp question.
In this world, the concept of freezing things was scarce to begin with. Magi-engineering refrigerators existed, sure, but they only maintained chill, and they weren't cheap.
Ice itself was the exclusive domain of frost-type ability users.
"I'm going to buy something."
"...Buy what?"
"An incredible refrigerator."
"?"
Shops large and small lined both sides of the street. Beyond them, magi-engineering equipment was displayed like an electronics market, catching the eyes of everyone passing by.
"Refrigerators! Our shop has the cheapest prices!"
"Buy one, get one free!"
"Lowest price guaranteed! If you find it cheaper elsewhere, we'll refund the difference!"
As Danya grew flustered by the fierce hawking, I pulled her along and walked straight into a back alley.
Because a shop only I knew about was tucked away here.
【 Magi-Engineering Laboratory 】
Like any hidden gem of a restaurant, the shop's shabby exterior inspired trust. I'd visited this place often—quests related to magi-engineering popped up here regularly.
The sound of someone tinkering came from inside, and then a woman emerged through the sliding door.
Long brown hair that hid her eyes.
Rumpled clothes that could have been pajamas or a tracksuit—impossible to tell.
Glasses so thick you couldn't even guess the prescription, dizzying to look at.
It took only one glance to recognize the gloomy woman: Ami, the genius magi-engineer.
With a voice that seemed to crawl out of her throat, she spoke.
"H-how can I help you?"
"I heard you sell high-performance refrigerators here."
"Ah. Uheheh..."
Ami smirked, disappeared back inside with a rustle, then returned carrying something the size of a crate.
"B-b-but, this is e-e-expensive..."
Do you want to sell it or not, lady?
"How much?"
"F-five gold."
Converted to modern standards, that was the price of a decent imported car.
No wonder a refrigerator with that kind of price tag never sold, magi-engineering or not.
"The price—"
"N-no. I can't sell it for less!"
Shake shake.
Ami shook her head while staring at the floor. Her hair fluttered like a propeller, as if she were headbanging.
"I-it's not like I'm pricing it high on purpose, okay? The material costs were really high. I made the circuits out of 99.9999% purity epitite ore and coated them with reynonium... uheheheh. It's incredibly cold. I wanted to make the coldest refrigerator in the world, so... uheheh."
...She's peddling something like that as a refrigerator. No wonder no one buys it.
In truth, this was far more valuable than any mere refrigerator.
Unlike typical magi-engineering fridges that merely cooled the interior with cold air, this one generated frost element to maintain an even colder internal temperature.
If you thought about it carefully, the core function of this device had nothing to do with refrigeration.
It consumed other elements and converted them into frost element.
A device practically at the level of an artifact, and this gloomy magi-engineer considered it nothing more than a refrigerator that was a bit colder than the rest.
Possible only because she'd become fixated on the goal of making the coldest refrigerator in the world.
Like any true genius, this magi-engineer was eccentricity personified.
Five gold?
She was taking a huge loss on materials alone. She probably hadn't counted the components she'd scavenged from here and there as material costs.
This wasn't something you sold for five gold. You could charge five hundred gold and still sell it.
...Which is precisely why.
I paid her a fair price.
—Jingle!
Coins poured into Ami's hands.
She stared blankly at the sight, her eyes growing wider and wider, until finally they began to quiver left and right.
One, two.
Counting the coins, she spoke in a trembling voice.
"U-um..."
"Yes?"
"Y-you gave me ten extra..."
"......."
"You gave me t-ten silver more..."
The amount I'd paid was five gold and ten silver.
"Please deliver it to my quarters. My hands are full."
"I-I'm really... th-thank you... for buying this... ehehe! P-please come again...!"
The extra ten silver was the delivery fee.
'Capitalism is a cold thing, after all.'
In any case.
And that was how I secured every ingredient I needed.
◆
Back at the dormitory.
Holding a wooden skewer loaded with large green grape segments, I closed my eyes.
"Forgive me, Teacher, for using the Snow Blossom Sword Technique for something like this."
Apology complete.
I stood before the refrigerator.
I drew up the sugar water I'd prepared through extraction.
Simultaneously.
—Whoosh.
Sugar blossoms bloomed in the shape of snow flowers.
Passing through the refrigerator, they burst forth as frost.
Pure white sugar-ice snow blossoms fluttered through the air.
I swung my hand, coating the fruit in sugar-ice snow blossoms.
"Hoo."
Thus was born the Ice-Sugar Snow Blossom Fruit—Snow Blossom Fruit for short.
I held a Snow Blossom Fruit out to Danya.
"Try it."
"Nom."
The moment she popped one piece into her mouth, Danya's eyes went round.
Her tail shot straight up in surprise before swaying gently from side to side.
Success.
"De...delicious!"
Maybe I should try one too?
—Crunch!
The delicate ice crystals didn't stick to my teeth; instead, they delivered a crisp, sweet crunch. The fruit flesh burst in my mouth, tartness mingling perfectly with the sweetness.
...This will sell.
There wasn't a doubt in my mind. I was so certain I half-wondered if I should open a dental clinic on the side to handle all the cavities this would cause.
"I-Ian!"
Having already polished off two skewers, Danya came over with both hands full of cherry tomatoes.
"Do the tomatoes too!"
I did.
...The result.
"Ughh, I can't move, nya."
Danya collapsed on the floor, clutching her stomach. She lay there stroking her protruding belly.
As I packed the Snow Blossom Fruits into an ice bag, I offered her some advice.
"...Go lie on the bed."
"Is that really okay, nya?"
Because if the neighbors saw Danya leaving the house clutching that stomach, they'd definitely get the wrong idea.
—Oh my, young man! Congratulations, hohoho! Quite the stamina at night, I see! Though the bride does look a bit young, is that all right?
Just imagining it made my head spin.
"Yes. Whatever happens, you digest all of that before you leave."
My answer was wasted—Danya had already burrowed into the bed.
"Sniff sniff."
"...What are you doing?"
"Eheheh."
Poking her head out from under the blanket, Danya asked,
"Where are you going, Ian?"
Slinging the ice bag full of Snow Blossom Fruits over my shoulder, I answered.
"The academy."