episode_0105

silence.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes looked me up and down.

The developer of this game they enjoy.

“Uh… Hello?”

I waved my hand awkwardly.

“That’s right. This is Funforge director Coleman Cantor.

I came all the way to Billingham because I wanted to see how you were enjoying it.”

Quiet applause.

There is no enthusiastic response like that from the Academy.

Does that mean hostility? I don’t think so.

The crowd’s emotions right now… tension.

“After coming here, it seems that many people are not enjoying the game well due to the excessive synergy between the special hit rule and the critical hit rule.

This combo is not what Funforge intended, and we promise that it will be resolved through a financial amendment in a week.

Also, we will be more careful in releasing new models in the future.”

Applause again.

There was no cheering this time, but the atmosphere seemed to have calmed down a lot.

“Over there, over there. Direct… Tunim?”

“Yes?”

When I turned around, a young girl who looked no older than 10 years old was looking at me.

“My friend got hurt while playing with a model, so his parents banned him from going to the game room.”

“I see.”

I looked at the models around me.

I didn’t know it until now, but some models had overly sharp and angular shapes.

“First of all, Age of Romance is a game played by people at least 15 years old.

For younger players, please be sure to get help from a guardian.

We will make sure to put warnings on products that will be released in the future.

Also, unless absolutely necessary, trim away any excessive irregularities.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as the little boy opened his eyes, all kinds of people started coming to me.

From an ordinary student my age to a serious old gentleman.

It seems like everyone had a lot of questions they wanted to ask.

“Can people other than academy students apply for modeling?”

“Sorry, but not available at the moment.”

“I also want to open a gaming center, can I get official approval from Funforge?”

“Oh. good idea. We will announce the official partnership policy with the gaming center later.”

“Are you planning on creating additional camps?”

“I think 10 factions are enough for now, but depending on the situation, more may be released.”

While I was receiving answers here and there-

“Hey, are you really dating Her Highness the Crown Princess?”

Eyes pouring down on me once again.

The girls who asked the question had their eyes shining brightly.

Here-

“I will not be answering questions about my personal life.”

A disappointed sigh.

I waved my hand with an embarrassed expression on my face.

“Now, now. It seems like everyone is having trouble concentrating on the game because of me.

I’ll stop then… ”

“Mr. Coleman Cantor.”

A voice that stops me in my tracks.

I have heard this voice before.

A festival of romance, an elf who intervened in the conversation between my brother and me.

Cleo Macariel’s father, Daeb Macariel, smiled as if he was happy to see me.

“It is an honor to meet you.”

“… yes. I also thought I would visit you sometime soon.”

—————————————————————————————————————

Daeb led me to a small office inside the gaming hall.

Seeing my puzzled expression, he smiled and explained.

“It’s a quiet place, but it’s a gaming center I run.”

“Ah. I see.”

“That said, considering that I borrowed money and received investments here and there to open this one thing, it’s really hard to call it my own store. Haha!”

As I nodded and looked around the office, I came across a wad of paper lying on the desk.

When I took a quick look, it seemed like it was not a business document, but an unedited copy of a newspaper or magazine.

Daeb must have noticed my gaze and gently pushed it towards me.

“Monthly Romance Gentlemen, these are the manuscripts for next month. If you’re curious, you can read it.”

“Oh, no.”

“There is nothing to decline.”

At his recommendation, I opened the manuscript and looked at it.

Moderately humorous yet professional.

Looking at the contributors, I found that Carl Knizia, a famous Blue Dragon player, is also contributing.

But what caught my eye was-

“Chaos 6 months after launch: Balance collapse, who is responsible?”

“Haha. It appears that an external writer wrote an overly exaggerated editorial.”

The main point is to point out the deceptiveness of the gunfighter combo, but it doesn’t stop there.

The column shifted the target of its offensive to the entire militia of Romelo Village.

The main question is whether it is too cheap when viewed by the standards of the romantic era balance.

Quite a bit. Has it been revealed that I gave some preferential treatment to the militia camp?

What follows is an attack on the production team using creative metaphors and biting sarcasm.

I enjoyed reading this when I was a gamer in my past life, but it was bittersweet to be in the position of being attacked.

Perhaps the best part is that he didn’t mention his real name?

“That part will be extensively revised.”

“No, there’s no need to edit it… ”

“Because the content is no longer valid. Didn’t you declare a balance patch?”

Daeb smiles kindly.

Just from the way I speak, it seems like I’m dealing with a nimble dwarf rather than a slim elf.

I gently put down the manuscript and looked straight at him.

“Your attitude has completely changed since the last time I met you.”

“What are you talking about… ”

“When I came to the social festival, my wife asked me to keep Cleo from being too absorbed in business.

They said it was a game played by kids in the student council.”

“Oops, my wife made a mistake with her words.”

Daeb looked apologetic.

“Please forgive me.

As you know… We elves are a bit insensitive to change.

I would say this is a disadvantage of the long-lived Jang Myeong-jong.

and… ”

A pause for a moment.

“There is no change in Cleo’s desire to continue the family business after graduation.

This isn’t because we ignore Funforge, it’s the affection we have as parents.”

“… Why don’t you put down your mask?

I am well aware of the thousands of gold you paid to the Director of Intelligence through the Prophecy Workshop.”

His expression hardened.

“What are you talking about… ”

“I even looked at the ledger and you’re going to turn it around? great. Let’s take a look at the other side.

ruler. Let’s summarize what Mr. Daeb has done to our Funforge so far.”

I started counting on my fingers.

“I continued to urge Cleo not to take Funforge seriously.

Next, they set up a prophecy workshop and blatantly sold plagiarized models.

And now they are pretending to be a partner company by setting up a magazine and a gaming center?

Don’t you think it’s too drastic a change?”

“Didn’t you tell me? I got to think again.”

“Really? Isn’t this too drastic a change for an elven businessman who has lived for hundreds of years?

So I just thought of a hypothesis.”

A gesture telling me to say something.

“Former Intelligence Director Hermann Jorowicz offered you a reward.

However, the existing business alone was not enough to pay the down payment, so I put aside my pride and entered a new business.

We want to take advantage of the romantic era craze created by Funforge.”

“Ha.”

Daeb laughed as if he was shocked.

“As expected, you are a beginner in business. Mr. Coleman Cantor.

Did you know that money circulation is that easy?

It will take two more years for both the magazine and the game room to recoup their investment and turn a profit.

Rather, these projects were supported with money from there-”

He closed his mouth with an expression that said, “Oops.”

“… What did you say just now? The intelligence chief actually gave you money?

To create a romantic era game room and magazine?”

“I didn’t say anything.

… I think it’s time for you to leave.”

I glared at him for a moment, then left, closing the door.

——————————————————————————————————————

“Are you going already? Wasn’t there going to be one more day?”

“… There is no need for that anymore.”

“I don’t think you called me to say goodbye or anything.”

A quiet tea house on the outskirts of Billingham.

My brother was drinking tea and waiting for my answer.

“… The Director of Intelligence found out where the funds were used.”

“What?”

“Macariel Company. To be exact, it is a gaming center for the romantic era newly created by Sanghoe.”

Even though I said it, this is a bit absurd.

Brother Alistair also frowned and asked back.

“Are you sure? Is there any basis?”

“Daeb Macariel made a mistake while talking with me.

know. That’s not any evidence. But at least you know where to dig, right?”

“Would you like me to investigate there?”

“Investigation, lobbying, operations… It doesn’t matter what you do. Attack the Macariel Company.

brother. The biggest threat to the empire right now is the Director of Intelligence. You know it too.”

My brother was silent, but did not offer a counterargument.

“Please.”

“… Macariel Company has a long history. I don’t think anything will come out of me wandering around with nothing.”

“Take it.”

A bill of 2,000 gold.

“It’s the work money. If you need more, let me know.”

“Coleman. This… ”

“Then let’s go. Please work as much as you get paid.”

So I left the teahouse.

Not as the director of Funforge, but as the great warrior of the Crown Princess.