Silent Witch

The young Count Barney Jones, who had just inherited his territory last month, was an extremely busy man.

There were so many things he had to learn, and people to greet, and he could hardly spare any time to rest. The only time he left his office was to inspect the town.

The territory he ruled had many craftsmen, and its income from industrial and magic tool development was among the top three in the country.

While the Empire focused on medical magic, the Ridill Kingdom focused on magic tool development. However, even in Ridill, there weren't many workshops that handled large-scale industrial magic tools.

The territory with the most industrial magic tool workshops was Anvard County.

The workshop Barney was heading to was one that produced special magic tools.

Going back a few days earlier

Monica Everett, the Silent Witch and one of the Seven Sages who was Barney's lifelong rival, had suddenly barged into Barney's mansion and demanded to borrow a magic tool workshop.

Apparently, she wanted to make something top secret, and borrowing an entire workshop was no small matter.

Still, as Count Anvard, Barney couldn't refuse Monica's, the Seven Sages' request, though he did demand proper compensation, as it irked him to help for free.

What Monica was trying to make was no simple amulet with a magic formula embedded in a gemstone. It was an extremely advanced magic tool that required specialized equipment.

As one responsible for part of Ridill's magic tool industry, Barney was naturally very interested in this fascinating magic tool.

So it was only natural for Barney to visit out of curiosity, as the lord of the territory.

It's only right that I visit the workshop as the lord. And I brought pastries made by our renowned chef as a token of my appreciation for the workers. It's just what a benevolent lord would do Of course, there was no deeper meaning behind it.

Convincing himself of this, Barney opened the workshop door.

"Good day, Lady Everett. Is the development going smoothly? By the way, knowing you, you've probably been so engrossed in your research that you've forgotten to eat and sleep again. Luckily, I happen to have some pastries here, so let's take a break and have some tea"

"Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? That face looks kinda familiar"

Inside the workshop, Monica was hunched over a desk, furiously scribbling with a quill, while a red-haired man across from her was mixing chemicals. It was this man who responded to Barney.

It seemed to take Monica a few seconds to notice Barney, as she looked up from her papers.

"Ah, Barney, good aft"

"Monica, come here for a moment."

Barney wordlessly beckoned Monica over with an expressionless face.

Monica put down her quill, walked over to Barney, and tilted her head slightly. "What's wrong?"

Nothing was wrong, of course.

"Why is THAT Senior Dee here?!"

"Um, I asked him to help make the magic tool Could it be that Barney doesn't like Senior Dee?"

"No one at Minerva likes that guy."

Hubert Dee, the nephew of the Artillery Magician of the Seven Sages, was infamous for randomly challenging students and teachers to magic duels.

Back then, even Barney, a prodigy at Minerva, had been dragged into these duels and suffered on multiple occasions.

Adjusting his askew glasses, Barney whispered to Monica.

"Besides, you didn't like that guy either, did you?"

"W-well, yes, but when it comes to making magic tools, Senior Dee is truly amazing."

It was true that Hubert Dee's genius in magic tool creation was well-known even when they were at Minerva.

If even Monica, one of the Seven Sages, acknowledged his skills, then his abilities must far surpass those of ordinary craftsmen.

However, hearing Monica candidly praise Hubert did not sit well with Barney. To him, Monica was his rival.

She should be crying "Barney, help me!" while relying on him, and then laughing happily "Thank you, Barney!" after he helped her!

As Barney inwardly seethed, Monica frowned slightly and smiled wryly.

"But I'm glad you came, Barney You see, there's something I need your help with."

"Well, of course, as a busy Count, I can't lend a hand in actually making the magic tool, but I'd be happy to offer my wisdom in handling the necessary procedures for manufacturing and patenting"

"I need your blood, Barney." (f)reenovelkiss

Barney's glasses slid askew.

"What did you just say?"

"Well, you see, I need blood samples from various people, and I've already asked everyone in the workshop But the more mana a person has, the easier it is to extract the mana particles from their blood. So I'd like some of your blood since you have a lot of mana."

""

"I've already thoroughly examined mine and Senior Dee's blood samples"

Barney raised his hand, intending to straighten his tilted glasses.

But before he could, a long arm reached from behind and firmly gripped his neck.

The unpleasant, humming voice in his ear belonged to none other than Hubert.

"mm-hmm, mm-hmm, blood sample donor secured."

"Gah!?"

Grinning widely, Hubert ensnared Barney in a tight bear hug, his abnormally long arms and legs coiling around Barney like serpents, refusing to let go.

In front of the pale-faced Barney, Monica began heating a thin knife over a flame to draw blood.

"Um, Barney, don't move, okay? It'll just sting a little, and I'll squeeze out some blood."

"Gyaaaaaaahhhhh!!"

After having the tip of his left index finger sliced open by the dangerously clumsy Monica and having his blood extracted, an indignant Barney was applying a coagulating ointment to his wound.

"Really, since I provided my blood, you absolutely must complete that magic tool."

Despite Barney's gruff demand, neither Monica nor Hubert paid him much heed.

"As expected, it's faster to get results from someone with a lot of mana."

"Mm-hmm, we gotta be able to extract mana particles even from tiny amounts of mana, or this won't be of any use."

"Yes, I'll work on improving the testing accuracy from here."

Monica and Hubert seemed busy recording the test results of the blood-mixed chemical reagents.

The disgruntled Barney snorted and glanced over the scattered documents on the table.

While not an expert on magic tools, Barney had studied the basics at Minerva.

About 60% of the magic tools in circulation were "amulets" with magic formulas embedded in gemstones, mainly used by nobles as defensive talismans.

However, with industrialization progressing, it had become common to incorporate magic tool technology into machinery and ships. In fact, Ridill was ahead of other countries in this field.

And what Monica was trying to create would undoubtedly become a new trend in the magic tool industry.

However, as the one providing the facilities, Barney had a few points to raise.

"This magic tool its original purpose is to extract mana particles from blood, analyze them to study genetics, and establish early detection and treatment methods for hereditary diseases, is it not? Its current application seems to deviate somewhat from its original purpose."

Without stopping her work, Monica responded to Barney's remark.

"Yeah, I want to delve into the original purpose too, but there's not enough time for that in just two weeks so right now, I just want to complete the most essential part."

Monica was trying to create a tool to prove blood relations by applying this magic tool.

However the way the test results would be presented did not sit well with Barney.

"This design is too wasteful, isn't it? Shouldn't the test results be displayed numerically? Why this method of"

In response to Barney's complaints, Hubert spoke up without stopping his work.

"It's to make the test results understandable even to idiots. Heheh, old folks especially will appreciate this kind of spectacle."

"Senior Dee's wording might be a bit crass, but yes, I think presentation is important."

Barney was surprised by her words.

Monica had always focused on the substance of her research, disliking flowery language or flashy presentations.

Moreover, even without embellishments, Monica's solid research had always been well-received.

"Emphasizing presentation' is quite unlike you."

Amused by Monica's change, Barney spoke in a slightly barbed tone, prompting a wry smile from her.

"Yeah, you may be right But it's fine. This isn't for an academic conference."

It seemed her time at Serendia Academy had changed Monica.

Instead of simply conveying results plainly, she had likely learned that sometimes one must present their arguments skillfully to sway the masses. f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com

"Um, what do they call it ah yes, exaggeration. Exaggerating in front of a large audience."

Saying this, Monica smiled a little shyly.

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