Chapter 198: Magic Wind Fan!

"Eat human flesh? And prefer magician's flesh… eat them alive, piece by piece? For ten days or even half a month?!" Wood's face turned green with terror, forgetting all about recounting his past hardships and bitterness.

"Alas, Lord Wood, you lived in the capital and know nothing of the dangers and hardships here on the frontier—I, Gervas, have felt them deeply!"

"Of course, there's no need to fear these barbarians too much—what I said has some probability, but it's not guaranteed!"

"Rather, be wary of bandits—if they find out you're a magician, they'll imprison you forever to make magical trinkets for them."

"Or, once and for all, sell you straight to slave traders—though the outcome is the same: eternal imprisonment with no hope of freedom…"

"Hmm, let's go, Lord Wood—we'll head to the castle first…"

Dazed and distracted, Wood didn't even remember how he reached the castle.

Even when delicacies were placed before him, he felt no appetite.

Seeing this, Gervas's eyes sparkled with amusement.

He'd done all this, said all this—just to make Wood afraid.

After all, magicians are always arrogant.

Wizards like Isabella are rare indeed.

So if Gervas had rushed forward, sweet-talking and inviting him to join, perhaps Wood would have accepted.

But if he then clung to his status, putting on a haughty mage persona, he'd be in for trouble.

Gervas wanted a magician he could control—not a lord he had to pamper in his castle.

Now, the timing was ripe; Gervas would waste no more time.

"Lord Wood, I just heard your description of your ingenious invention—I believe it's highly practical. Though it consumes too much energy, why haven't you improved it further?"

"If you succeed, you'll recoup your costs!"

Wood, still lost in fear of the wasteland, shook his head absently. "Lord Gervas, I've tried."

"But I found—the greater the power, the greater the energy required. It's like a curse, unchangeable!"

"So if you truly want to reduce energy use, you can only reduce the magical device's power."

"But then my invention becomes useless—those massive ships need enough wind to move!"

Good grief, this otherworldly magician is almost summarizing the law of conservation of energy!

"Lord Wood, let me ask—if you reduce the wind power to its minimum, how low can it go? What's the energy cost?"

"At minimum, it could be like a gentle breeze—just a pea-sized wind crystal could sustain it for two years!"

"Oh?" Gervas's eyes lit up. "Lord Wood, have you considered that if the wind power is reduced and energy use so low, why not repurpose this magical device for other uses?"

"Other uses? What could they be? Maybe just blowing paper boats for children?" Wood looked confused.

Originally, he'd seen the huge market in maritime trade and wanted to make money from noble sailors—so he'd risked creating the device, with no other thoughts in mind.

Mostly, though—he just wanted to know: could it make money in other ways?

Too narrow-minded!

This mindset is far too small!

Gervas shook his head.

"Lord Wood, I have a good idea… but before that, have you ever been tormented by summer heat?"

"Well… yes, of course. Though I was born into the Viscount Yü family, in the capital, honorific viscounts are everywhere—so getting me into the Mage Academy was already my family's limit!"

"Other great nobles enjoy ice in summer, but I've never had any… but how does this relate to what we just discussed?"

"Of course it does, Lord Wood—if nobles feel the heat without ice, how do they cool down?"

"Have servants fan them…" Wood's eyes widened suddenly. "Lord Gervas, are you saying…"

"Exactly! Since this magical device is too powerful and too costly to run, why not use a weakened version to fan people and cool them off?"

"I don't know the exact cost of making magical devices, but I assume reducing power would lower material requirements too?"

"A pigeon-egg-sized magic crystal costs about fifty gold coins—but if you cut it into ten pea-sized pieces, each one is only five gold coins!"

"One such crystal lasts two years. If used only during the hot season, it could last seven, eight, even ten years—would nobles still complain about the energy cost?"

"No, never!" Wood's eyes gleamed with growing excitement. "And Lord Gervas, if we make the lowest-power vortex device as you say, the cost would be just around one gold coin!"

"Because the only expensive part is the special silver-infused paint—everything else, whether iron or brass, is perfectly fine!"

Wood understood the spending power of capital nobles well—several gold coins meant nothing to them.

Sometimes, just to show off, great nobles in the capital would spend dozens or even hundreds of gold coins on a single banquet.

Lesser nobles spent less, but many still spent several or even dozens of gold coins.

"A cooling magic fan costs only six gold coins to make—even for nobles who already own wind crystals, they'd only need to buy the fan itself!"

"If we sell each fan for two gold coins, that's not expensive, right? If the customer needs the magic crystal too, we can make less profit—just charge ten or so silver coins for cutting it to size."

"Lord Gervas, wouldn't that be too cheap? I think even five gold coins would be acceptable to nobles in the capital for just the magic fan alone!"

Good grief! Gervas mentally exclaimed.

You really are a magician who's fallen headfirst into a money pit!

Otherwise, you wouldn't have ended up with that neck full of debt!

Of course, Gervas didn't mind.

Sometimes, having ambition drives motivation.

"Wood, this fan can only be sold for two gold coins!"

"Why?" Wood frowned. If it's about making money, shouldn't you aim to earn as much as possible?

"Because the target buyers aren't just capital nobles—they're all nobles!"

"To nobles in the capital, five gold coins mean nothing—but here on the frontier, five gold coins is no small sum!"

"So a starting price of two gold coins is essential. Think about it—how many nobles are there in the capital? And how many across the entire kingdom, even neighboring duchies?"

Wood thought for a moment, then nodded silently. "Lord Gervas is right—the capital has at most a few thousand nobles, but the entire kingdom has at least hundreds of thousands."