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“Steward, what do you think about this?”

“To be honest, I think it would be a failure.”

“Is that so? Well, mages are a stubborn bunch. They would never engage in the weight reduction magic business. If they listen to the proposal and don’t start throwing fireballs, that would be quite an accomplishment.”

Count Whiskers had quite a lot of experience dealing with mages.

Mages were stubborn. That made them less than ideal business partners.

To succeed in business, one needed to act boldly without regard to status, but mages didn’t have that quality.

Above all, mages prioritized their own magic above everything else.

“If they all come back rejecting the offer, we’ll just end up gathering mediocre mages. In that case, the business won’t thrive. I know quite well why people ask high-level mages for weight reduction magic.”

“I will prepare to assist.”

“That’s the spirit. At least we should support Ethan’s business from our side.”

While not particularly hopeful, he couldn’t just give up.

Seeing his son trying to do something, even if it wasn’t much, brought a sense of satisfaction to Count Whiskers.

“It’s okay to fail. What’s important is that he’s doing something. Besides, even on the day he returned, he continued his training. There’s no doubt that he’s determined to do something.”

“Then let’s start by recruiting the mages right away.”

* * *

Ethan gathered the unrecognized mages inside the magic tower.

“Are you referring to me?”

“Are you really here to find me?”

“That can’t be true.”

Most of them couldn’t believe Ethan’s words that he came to find them. They lacked confidence and had low self-esteem.

“Are you sure it’s going to be okay, Sir Ethan?”

Yerica asked, slightly anxious.

If it were Marakan, it wouldn’t matter since he already knew from the beginning. If Ethan had confidence, he could grow into a proper mage.

However, it didn’t seem that way for the others.

Of course, not just anyone could enter the tower.

But their condition was so poor that they doubted if they had really passed the test and entered the Magic Tower.

“This tower may be on the outer side of the continent, but it’s closer to the center. They are all here because they have skills.”

Ethan whispered quietly to Yerica.

Even so, Yerica looked at the mages with dissatisfaction.

Although they seemed to be mages who could earn a living, they didn’t appear to be satisfactory mages for Ethan, who had just recruited them.

“I know that all of you are researching impressive magic.”

Ethan’s words were sincere.

If it had been said by someone else, the word ‘impressive’ would have carried a sarcastic meaning, but not for Ethan.

“Just because it takes a slightly different direction, your magic is not wrong.”

Each word he spoke was exactly what they wanted to hear.

Yerica, who had been listening while slightly stepping back, crossed her arms and continued to observe Ethan.

If only she had been in their position, unrecognized as a mage.

‘If I were told that I couldn’t learn my grandfather’s magic and instead belonged to the 1st rank in this Magic Tower.’

She would undoubtedly have been enthralled by those words.

‘He’s speaking sincerely.’

He truly was an impressive person.

He genuinely believed that the magic of those mages was remarkable.

That was why he had that expression and tone.

‘However, their magics are quite ambiguous.’

Yerica thought.

In fact, she couldn’t understand why they were researching them.

If they were affiliated with Magic Tower, they would have access to a wealth of information and could research a wider range of magic.

“Heuk, heuk.”

Some of the mages, upon hearing Ethan’s words, clenched their lips and let out a quiet sob. They had been treated as mere relics for as short as one year or as long as five years.

But now that someone recognized their efforts, they couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with emotions.

“The magic you all are researching, why don’t we try using them properly together? And show it to those who ignored you.”

Ethan spoke.

“To the skilled mages of the Magic Tower.”

He said he would bring to life what they had always imagined.

“We will do it!”

“We will make a contract, Sir Ethan!”

There was no mage who refused.

“Siigh.”

Yerica let out a sigh without realizing it.

As she watched them, memories of when she first met Ethan in the Dark Forest suddenly came to her mind.

* * *

The lord of the Magic Tower.

He thought that Ethan’s proposal was actually beneficial.

The mages that Ethan offered to take were the failures of the Magic Tower.

Magic Tower was fundamentally a place for magical research.

If the magic being studied had the premise of success, they would spare no support. However, they failed every time.

Well, that was fine. Failure. When researching proper magic, there were often many failures.

They were more accustomed to failure than success.

But what they were researching was not extraordinary magic.

“However, I’m curious, Sir Ethan Whiskers. Why these individuals?”

The lord of the Magic Tower asked, stroking his goatee.

“They have potential. They will undoubtedly become great mages.”

“Well, if you say so.”

From the lord of the Magic Tower’s perspective, it would be good to send them away as soon as possible.

“Now, they are no longer affiliated with the Magic Tower. I can assure you of that right here.”

Ethan simply brought them out of the Magic Tower and presented them under the command of Whiskers County.

* * *

Whiskers County.

The mages who arrived at the county wandered around in all directions.

They couldn’t have imagined that the day to leave Magic Tower would come so quickly.

And to top it off, they would be involved in a business venture.

“Sir Ethan.”

At that moment, Marakan raised his hand with an anxious expression.

“First of all, I would like to thank you for offering us a contract. However, before that, I have a question. You mentioned that you would conduct a business centered around our magic. How do you plan to proceed with the business? And…”

“And you haven’t seen our magic yet.”

They were grateful to him for believing in them.

They had decided to join Ethan without looking back at his words of acknowledgment.

That was why they were anxious. Ethan had not actually seen their magic skills yet.

“I-I haven’t even completed my magic yet…”

Some of the mages were still in an incomplete state with their magic.

However, Ethan smiled at the anxious mages.

Those he brought from Magic Tower, starting with Marakan, were all mages that Ethan knew.

There was no NPC he didn’t know in the game. He even remembered the NPCs he simply passed by.

‘I picked the best of the best.’

There wasn’t a single person who failed. Even if they didn’t become exceptional in the future, they would become useful mages.

They had enough potential.

‘I just need to tap into that potential a little.’

Then they would become mages who do anything for Ethan, rather than prestigious ones.

“You came here because you believed in me, right?”

“Yes.”

“If I didn’t believe, I wouldn’t have come!”

“True.”

Mages were inherently sensitive about their magic.

Magic was entirely theirs. Even if they didn’t know what lies ahead, someone interfering with it touched their pride as a mage.

“I will help you all a bit.”

“Are you saying that you will meddle with the magic we are researching?”

Marakan’s words made Ethan nod.

“I’ll just offer some advice. Isn’t that magic entirely yours?”

Ethan first took out pouches from his subspace pouches. The pouches were filled with solid gold.

“This is the advance payment.”

Jingle.

The pouches were filled to the brim, astonishing the mages.

He discreetly opened one and found it filled with golden coins.

Money-like things were not important. Money was merely incidental to the completion of magic.

But he called it an advance payment.

It meant that the value attributed to their magic was worth this much gold. The moment they received it, the value of their own magic skyrocketed.

Ethan looked at their expressions.

It was a method possible because they were thirsty for recognition.

“May I offer some advice?”

“…Yes.”

* * *

“Oh, my goodness.”

In a small workshop.

Marakan was astonished as he watched flames flicker on the dagger.

He had just received advice from Ethan yesterday, and to be honest, he didn’t feel good about it.

Ethan wasn’t a mage. He was clearly a swordsman. Even if he had some knowledge about magic, it wasn’t specialized knowledge.

That’s why he couldn’t help but feel some resistance, even though Ethan reached out to them with a helping hand.

Still, he held back his emotions.

Ethan was someone who had acknowledged them, and he had asked them to give it a try, even if it meant deceiving themselves.

The act of deceiving oneself was truly important.

It allowed the mages to set aside their pride.

Thus, including Marakan, the mages listened to Ethan’s advice. After firmly remembering the advice, they began their magical research in the workshop this morning.

“I-I did it. I succeeded!”

The dagger flickered with flames. This magnificent flame dagger was exactly what Marakan had always yearned for.

He had merely followed Ethan’s advice with just a slight modification.

Just a tiny bit. But it was a success by simply accepting Ethan’s advice.

Marakan couldn’t believe the situation he was in.

“Uaaaahhhh!”

At that moment, they heard a strange sound of power from outside.

“Uaaaahh?”

And along with it, they heard a startled scream.

“No way, did all the other mages succeed too?”

The people who had come with Markaan had once received attention within the Magic Tower, but their research on magic was so obscure and impractical that they remained in the lower ranks.

Marakan himself had not gained recognition, but those individuals had made even less progress in magical research than Marakan.

“This can’t be true.”

This was unbelievable. It was truly… unbelievable.

* * *

“Sir Ethan.”

“You all seem lively since morning.”

Ethan could tell from their expressions alone.

‘They must have succeeded.’

They couldn’t have done anything else but succeed.

After all, Ethan’s advice was no different from looking at the answer sheet and telling them the solution.

“I mean, how did you…?”

“How did you know everything?”

“I’ve been researching for years, and it never worked for me!”

“I read it in books.”

The mages were bewildered by Ethan’s words. If Schudlen were here, he would probably have said “As expected of Young Master.”

“Have you all understood now? You are all capable individuals. You succeeded with just a little advice.”

Ethan humbly lowered his own achievements and simply lifted them up, saying it was all because they did well.

“Shall we start the business in earnest then? From now on, you will be selling magic. More specifically, it will be a business of weight reduction magic and enchanting the equipment with the magic you have long researched.”

“Weight reduction magic?”

“The one in charge of weight reduction magic will be Yerica here, and as you become familiar with it, you will be immediately put to work.”

As Ethan pointed to Yerica, she smiled at the mages.

“You’ll get used to it soon.”

She said as she gathered mana in her hand.

If they didn’t get used to it, she would make sure they did.