Game Opportunities Become Reality Episode 129
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Game Opportunities Become Reality Episode 129
32. The Madman Appears (4)
[Princess Sia Rin, who has solidified her position as the next King, visited Allen, a southern mining town, for an official event. Everyone was puzzled by the unexpected move, but it turned out that this town had helped the Princess escape when she was being pursued by Grand Marquis Dal.]
[During that process, one person died, and many villagers were tortured. The Princess arranged for the injured to receive treatment from the Royal Palace mages, granted compensation to all villagers, and promised to provide positions in the Royal Palace.]
[In addition, the man who died helping the Princess escape was posthumously awarded the Order of Great Honor alongside a honorary Title of Marquis... *hiss* *hiiiiss*...]
"This damn radio is acting up again."
Ophelia Island, floating on the vast silent sea.
Ophelia Island's area is comparable to Jeju Island, but its resident population is only about three thousand people.
Teleport gates have been installed by the Kingdom of Roberto, so travel to the mainland isn't difficult, but the distance is so great that the usage fees are very expensive.
Because of this, most residents have never once left the island in their entire lives, and manufactured goods from the mainland are so expensive that the island's civilization level lags behind by over a century.
Since all logistics depend on teleportation, mainland manufactured goods cost three to five times their regular price.
Thanks to that, holographic broadcast devices, which are precious to begin with, were beyond even dreaming of, and even if one somehow got hold of one, signals wouldn't be received properly, causing many problems in use.
So radio was nearly their only means of staying in constant touch with outside information.
"It's got its own charm, doesn't it?"
I passed by an old general store with the radio blaring and headed toward the center of the most populous town on the island.
Unlike other cities of Rondel, which exude a sci-fi atmosphere, Ophelia Island had a warm, familiar scenery reminiscent of rural Korea in the 1980s.
Perhaps it's because the people of the Kingdom of Roberto resemble East Asians to begin with.
"It's such a poor place that even communication signals don't come through properly, and personal terminals can't be used without connecting a separate receiver. Will a place like this really be of help?"
I nodded at the words of the Ophelia Island administrator assigned by Princess Sia.
"It was the minerals on this island that interested me in the first place."
Once I begin full-scale development, various equipment and facilities will inevitably come into this island.
Unexpectedly, I'll be gifting the residents with jobs and the benefits of civilization.
"A harbor and teleport gates for cargo transport will be installed. Also, we'll need to set up signal amplifiers."
Originally, communication systems based on the Hollywood System are known to require no relay towers or amplifiers.
That's because signals are transmitted using the mana in the air as a medium.
But even so, if it's this far from the mainland, there's nothing to be done.
"I wonder if it'll be profitable..."
I waved my hand dismissively at the worried administrator and said,
"That's my concern to handle."
"I-I apologize."
Above all, I really like this closed-off environment.
Here, I can do so many things without being noticed by outside eyes.
This remote island's very existence was little different from a natural fortress.
"I should also deploy a few Heaven-Piercing Fortresses."
At my muttering, the administrator from the Kingdom of Roberto showed a confused reaction, wondering if they had misjudged this island's value.
"Let's head to the mine."
"Yes."
Following that, I was guided by him to the tourmaline mine, the island's main source of income.
"Huh?"
I arrived at the mine not far from the town, receiving wary glances from the residents, and there I saw an unexpected sight.
"What is this?"
"It seems that because logistics costs are so high, they're only mining the valuable types of tourmaline rubellite, verdelite, and parti-colored."
I let out a hollow laugh at the black and brown tourmalines piled up like mountains around the mine, too poor in quality to be used as gems.
Even just selling that pile as-is would fetch a decent sum as alchemy material, but they say the transport costs make it not worth the profitability.
Rubellite is a red tourmaline commonly used by commoners as a substitute for ruby, verdelite is a green tourmaline used as a substitute for emerald, and parti-colored refers to stones with two or more colors forming layers.
Parti-colored tourmaline, green on one side and red on the other, is also called watermelon stone.
"No other minerals come out?"
"No, only tourmaline comes out. However, it seems nearly every color appears."
No matter how much it's used as a gem substitute, tourmaline can never become a true gemstone.
Even selling large quantities of the expensive colored tourmalines, Ophelia Island could hardly become wealthy.
At least the waters around the island are rich in fish and the land is fertile, so there's no trouble making a living.
"Ah, there he is."
And the administrator introduced someone to me.
"This man is the mine manager and also the village head of the town you just visited."
A burly, muscular man.
Perhaps because he'd lived a life cut off from the outside world?
Even facing a top-ranking noble, he acted with confidence.
"Kang Hoan."
The surname Kang and the name too carried quite a Korean vibe.
I extended my hand to him and said.
"Duke Adrian El Lawrence."
"A-ah, a pleasure."
But he probably never expected me to offer a handshake, did he?
He fumbled in surprise before cautiously taking my hand.
I said to the administrator.
"You may return now. I'll discuss the rest with the local manager here."
At that, the administrator dispatched from the Royal Palace hesitated, then swallowed dryly under the gaze of Arcia and Gregory, who had been following me, and backed away.
"You roughly know the situation, right?"
"Yes. You're to own this place for fifty years."
Trading land where people live sounds absurd, but both our Kingdom of Rhinehearts and the Kingdom of Roberto are feudal states, so there's nothing unusual about it.
However, Princess Shia of the Kingdom of Roberto cherishes her people dearly, even commoners, so she said that if the locals refuse to comply, she would grant them land elsewhere and relocate them.
"Yes, a great deal of capital will be poured in. Naturally, the town will grow, jobs will multiply, and new culture will flow in. I'm sorry to those who've lived close to nature, but I intend to develop this place."
At my words, he gave an unexpected response with a simple, honest smile.
"Live close to nature, you say. We just live like this because we have nothing. If the Lord will let us eat well and live well, what regret could we have?"
"R-right. Let's do our best together."
It seems I don't need to worry about relocating these people.
Guided by him, I entered the mine.
The mineral tourmaline exists on Earth too.
But Rondel's tourmaline mine presented a sight rarely seen on Earth.
"Oh...."
The tourmaline reacts with mana, and you can see it sparkling like LEDs here and there.
Of course, that property fades once the stone is quarried and cut, but it was proof that tourmaline reacts with mana.
"How large are the reserves?"
"Just consider the whole island as sitting on top of a tourmaline mine. No matter how much you dig, there's no end to it."
Truly, an island with the world's largest tourmaline reserves.
If opal had been found here as well, like in the tourmaline mine leased from the Prius Republic, the Kingdom of Roberto's finances would have been in slightly better shape.
Having toured the mine, I came out with a deeply satisfied expression, and Village Head Kang Hoan cautiously asked.
"If it's not too rude, may I ask what you intend to do with this tourmaline?"
Everyone was wondering the same thing.
Aside from me, Arcia, and Opportunity administrator Chester, no one knew what I was planning.
Not even Blue Moon.
So I didn't answer his question, but I curled my lips into a smile, telling him to look forward to it.
"A way for everyone on this island to become rich."
"Is… that so?"
"I can't give you the answer right now, but you'll find out soon enough."
At that, the village head tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Development will begin starting today. Any objections?"
"We only follow the Lord who has become the new owner of this land."
"Good."
And so began the development of Ophelia Island, which would anchor one pillar of my wealth.
* * *
Vanguard, and the Heaven-Piercing Fortress.
These two simple yet overwhelming armed systems are currently the core fighting power that forms the backbone of Rondel.
Compared to Earth, Vanguard plays the role of a tank on land and a fighter jet when riding a Hoverboard, while the Heaven-Piercing Fortress can be considered a flying warship and tactical bomber.
These two weapons, which look completely different, surprisingly share a similar mechanism namely, that the Force Engine, an Aura amplification device, serves as their core.
Of course, a Knight can't keep acting as a battery forever, so the Heaven-Piercing Fortress is additionally equipped with a Mana engine, but what determines combat power is clearly the Force Engine.
And while one set of Vanguard equipment costs 50 billion, and no matter how heavy the armor, the main reason a single Heaven-Piercing Fortress costs over 10 trillion is also this Force Engine.
"Is this really possible?"
"Don't you trust me?"
"But every time an experiment fails, that's 10 billion flying away..."
"Think of it as an investment. If it succeeds, the value will be beyond words."
The reason the Force Engine is expensive can be said to be because it's difficult to process, but the biggest reason is that the core material is expensive.
The core material of the Force Engine is none other than diamond.
Furthermore, between 500 and 1,000 diamonds of one carat or more are required.
The cost of the diamonds alone used to manufacture Vanguard equipment is about half the manufacturing cost, so of course it was expensive.
Therefore, no matter how outstanding the technology, there was a limit to cost reduction.
"Then we shall begin."
In the end, to lower the cost of the Force Engine, a material to replace diamond had to be found, and that was the reason I had recently been so fixated on tourmaline.
The experiment to substitute diamond with tourmaline.
For that purpose, I and the Mage Tower's core Mages gathered in the secret research lab of the Lawrence Mage Tower, within Duke Lawrence's domain.
-Ziiiiing!
-KWAANG!
"Ahhh, heavens, 10 billion gone in an instant..."
The first experiment failed spectacularly.
Watching dozens of high-quality diamonds of 5 carats or more, each worth billions, shatter, the Mages of the Mage Tower let out sighs.
For reference, diamond cannot be completely excluded from the Force Engine.
However, Grand Duke Lucas discovered that its usage could be drastically reduced, and if this technology could be commercialized, I would be sitting on a fortune overnight.
That's why I participated in the Mage Tower's research with more enthusiasm than ever.
"Your Highness, perhaps you should reconsider..."
"Never mind that. Keep going."
Yet the Mages of the Mage Tower looked at me with concern.
The reason they reacted this way despite my having explained the theory and drawn out the possibility is simple.
Because no one knew how much it would cost until the development of the improved Force Engine succeeded.
'What matters is the ratio of diamond to tourmaline.'
Following my instructions, the Mages conducted experiment after experiment.
And so one day passed, then two days, then three days...
-Zing! KWAANG!
-Zing! KWAANG!
Watching hundreds of billions melt away each day, the Mages suffered severe stress on my behalf, even losing hair.
Just when nearly 2 trillion had been thrown into thin air.
-Ziiiiing!
-Wiiiiing!
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
The research began to bear fruit.
"Ooooh!"
The researchers, unable to contain their excitement, didn't even go home and ran experiment after experiment.
They brought me the news of success.
"It's a success!"
"210 carats of diamond! 852 carats of tourmaline!"
A standard-output Force Engine was created, slashing the cost to a mere 20% of the original,