episode_0137

As the demonstration ended successfully and Rupert was greeting each guest, three people began to approach him urgently.

“Rupert!”

“Amelia, what’s wrong?”

“Oh… , Oh! I really enjoyed this demonstration.”

“Thank you for your attention.”

At this, Iolin also quickly intervened in the conversation between the two.

“I was also very impressed.”

“I’m glad that Her Highness the Princess took good care of me.”

“I saw it too! Mr. Rupert!”

“Thank you, Xenia.”

Surrounded by three women who were thanking him, Rupert was too busy answering each and every one of them.

When Iolin spoke, the other two joined in as if they had been waiting for it, and they also started to fight as if they couldn’t stand to see one of them talking.

“Is that heaven or hell?”

“It’s hell disguised as heaven.”

Other men who saw the sight felt envious, but also glad they weren’t there.

It was a dreamlike situation where three beautiful women were rushing at one man, but I also knew that the ending wouldn’t be so good.

“If you only look at your appearance, you’re better than the professor.”

“Elsa alone is enough for me.”

“You crazy guy.”

Edric and Adrian were also watching the scene and talking to each other, and at this point they started to get curious.

It remains to be seen which of them will end up with Rupert.

***

“Forget everything~ Forget everything~!”

Recently, the sound of singing has been heard in the streets throughout the empire.

Because the song resonated from every home, every alley, and wherever there were children, even people who didn’t know the song before were able to hum it.

“No! Isn’t this too expensive?”

“Look, do you say that knowing how hard it is to get this Elsa dress and cane these days?”

Not only that, but the bookstore that buys and sells used Somerset goods was so overwhelmed by people trying to buy related goods that it was out of control.

The cause of all this was the new animation from Somerset Theatre, which opened simultaneously across the empire.

‘It was nice that the price was cheaper than I thought!’

‘That’s right, that’s right. If you take the kids there once and they’re happy, it’s worth paying the ticket price.’

‘That’s not all. When you watch animations, you get a variety of posters and postcards, so it’s not like you wasted money.’

At first, people came to see the animation out of curiosity, but as word of mouth began to spread, audiences gradually began to flock there.

It was now becoming difficult to get tickets.

Of course, there were adults in the audience, but the animation , which was especially popular among children, also caused headaches for parents.

‘My friends say that there is an Elsa dress and a cane!!!’

Children who cry, throw tantrums, and ask to buy goods for themselves after watching animation.

When the old comic book was released, people who bought the goods were literally hit the jackpot in an instant.

-Even so, it’s too expensive for a children’s toy.

Now, we know that not only the works Rupert creates, but also the goods he makes will increase in value over time, so they always sell out when they come out.

The merchandise that came out in the early days was expensive, so there weren’t many parents willing to buy it for their children.

As a result, fewer people than expected had goods, so the second-hand prices went through the roof.

“Are you glad you got this?”

However, to commemorate the release of the animation, Somerset Goods Shop is selling goods again.

It had a slightly different appearance from the existing goods, as Rupert had a special order that the same thing could not be sold.

So people called the goods that came out early the old version, and the goods that came out recently the new version.

Although the new edition was difficult to obtain due to shortages, obtaining the old edition was almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

A strange situation where even those who have it are unwilling to sell it, and there are only people trying to buy it, causing the price to rise.

“These days, if you have spare money, buying items from the Somerset Goods store is said to be a way for the rich to increase their wealth.”

“Well, I have a friend who bought a limited edition comic book last time, and he sold it for a whopping 10 gold.”

“10 gold? That guy is going to hit the ground and regret it now.”

“That’s right, you’re saying that you could easily get double that amount now, but you’re just drinking?”

The prices of Rupert’s works and goods have been skyrocketing since the incident a few months ago where the saintess said that Rupert was a being who had received revelations from the goddess.

And with the theatrical release of , people’s trust in things named Somerset has surpassed their belief in the goddess.

People were even more excited because these were items that anyone could purchase fairly, unlike items that could only be obtained through auctions or by the wealthy.

If you bought a limited edition fairy tale book or comic book, you could get a price tens or hundreds of times higher, and in the case of goods, if you bought them, the price would go up, not down.

Plus, if you were lucky enough to win a limited edition item that was only given away through a raffle, it was like finding a gold nugget on the street.

The Imperial Alchemist’s Pocket Watch from , of which only 12 were given away through a lottery, was once put up for auction.

A wealthy nobleman succeeded in purchasing it, achieving the highest bid at the auction that day.

And the words left by the nobleman became widely known throughout the empire.

-There will come a day when this will cost tens of times more than today’s price.

At the time, no matter how rare or desirable an item was, everyone laughed at it, saying, “Who would pay that much for a mere commodity?”

Since then, with the prices of books and goods rising by leaps and bounds, everyone has come to agree with the nobleman’s words.

“Isn’t this card a pirated copy?!”

“Damn it! Gotcha, gotcha!!!”

The recent hit also showed that anything with Somerset’s name attached can be profitable.

‘Oh my god, I opened 10 packs and there’s not a single super rare card!!!’

‘Please, I wish I could at least see the White-Eyed Azure Dragon Ultimate Rare card!!!’

‘It’s here!!! Now I’m rich!’

Recently, in front of Somerset Goods stores, you could easily see people holding cards and cheering and screaming, and this was because of the new goods product, the card pack.

When you open a card pack of goods, there are 10 cards inside.

And one of them was definitely a rare card, which was Rupert’s consideration to ensure that even the commoners could obtain the cards they wanted.

But that drove people mad.

‘Even among rare cards, the rarest rare cards have quite a high second-hand price!’

If you pulled out a particularly popular card from among the rares, you could resell it and make some money.

If a card of Super Rare or higher grade comes out, it can be sold for a high price, although it varies depending on the type.

Moreover, if you are really lucky and get an ultimate rare card, it is so popular that you can call it a price regardless of the type.

As a result, the number of people who were squandering their fortunes on card packs in hopes of making a fortune overnight increased to the point where it was necessary to take special measures such as imposing limits on individual purchases.

– Urgently looking for day laborers (10 people are being recruited on a first-come, first-served basis to act as proxy buyers for card packs at the Somerset Goods Store).

Of course, there were still people who used tricks to buy things even though there were purchase restrictions, but it did calm the madness a little.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

‘This will definitely make money!’

Illegal organizations existing in the shadows of the empire also sniffed out money and latched on.

They noticed that certain cards were being sold for extremely high prices, so they started to pirate the cards.

however

‘How on earth did they make this flash?’

‘There is no reaction to the duplicated card even if it is placed on the duel table!’

‘What the hell is this paper? I tried all the paper in the empire, but I couldn’t get this texture!’

Unfortunately for them, the technology used in the cards was so cutting-edge that even the Somerset workshops were unable to replicate it.

At first, there were people who were fooled by the cheap price, but as word spread, no one was fooled anymore.

‘For second-hand transactions, always go to Somerset!’

The Somerset Theater, which operates as a pub when not showing movies, and the Somerset Goods Shop, which sells merchandise, had dual tables set up.

The surest way to determine if a card was real or fake was to place it on a duel table.

In the case of the genuine article, the illustration of the card was summoned onto the table through the illusionary magic circle built into the table, but in the case of the fake article, there was no reaction.

“Devils guys! This time I’ll pull out your roots!!”

As the notoriety of the organization selling pirated copies spread, people began to call them the Devils, and when they were caught, they were punished for treason rather than simply selling illegal goods.

‘Why is this such a harsh punishment?’

‘You crazy bastard! Do you think you can survive by plagiarizing the work of Sir Rupert, who received a royal plaque of appreciation?!’

‘Isn’t this goods?’

‘Shut up! Even the imperial court has issued strict orders to punish you severely.’

The imperial plaque of appreciation that I received from Iolin in the past still plays a big role.

In fact, in the case of card goods, there were some parts that were difficult to view as works created directly by Rupert.

‘I don’t think it’s right for someone to torment the good citizens of the empire with such a crude copy of mine.’

As soon as Crown Prince Alex commented on the illegal copying incident, punishment was carried out at a rapid pace.

***

“Master, how did you like the manga manuscript you received this time?”

“Hmm… I think I should polish it up a little more. There’s still time.”

“These guys must be really disappointed.”

“But there’s nothing I can do about it. If it’s going to be serialized in Manapia, it has to be the best in the empire.”

Rupert returned the manuscripts in his hands back to Esteban and said.

Although Manapia is currently maintained at 6 episodes, Rupert plans to increase it to at least 10 episodes.

To do that, I have been consistently receiving manuscripts for the manga through the Yuren top.

Among them, we had already signed contracts with the authors whose works we thought were good.

And those writers would send their manuscripts to Rupert once a month for review, and if they passed, they would have a chance to serialize them.

However, Rupert still felt that something was lacking, so this time, no work passed.

‘But I think it does show some possibility.’

Rupert felt that if it was polished just a little more, it would be at a level that could be serialized.

“Van Helsing will soon enter its final chapter, and other authors’ works will also enter their latter half, so you should prepare.”

“Yes, I think Van Helsing will be finished within this year.”

“Oh, by the way, didn’t the King of Cards already enter Battle Island?”

“Yes.”

Rupert answered Esteban’s words.

“Then, now we need to start preparing for ‘that plan’… .”

Esteban’s voice trailed off, indicating a hint of impatience.

This was because it was time to make groundwork in order to proceed smoothly with one of the things I had planned and prepared for with Rupert and .

“I already got a call from the royal family.”

And then Rupert answered as if he had been waiting for it.