Chapter 48

The House of Takano. Originally a prestigious family of wind magic, the clan held considerable status in the Japanese Magic Empire. However, in recent times, the eldest son, while possessing powerful but crude wind magic abilities, also lacked business acumen. Furthermore, his arrogant attitude as a high-ranking noble alienated people, leading to a lack of connections and business losses, causing the family to decline. The eldest son’s wife and children also had a habit of overspending, which only worsened the situation.

Despite this, the old but still robust head of the family, Fudo, managed to keep the family afloat. They were in decline, but not yet fallen. It was better than being completely ruined, and it was rumored that if the eldest son took over, the family would surely fall.

Fudo, despite his advanced age, frowned and took a sip of the sake in his cup, finding the situation headache-inducing.

The maid in traditional Japanese attire, sitting against the wall, remained silent. They were in a tatami-floored living room. An old magic wood table, with its dignified and dull shine, gave a sense of history, while the Japanese paintings and flower arrangements exuded a refined atmosphere.

"Good sake. As expected of the Takano family. It’s not easy to find such sake. You must be using magic rice, right?"

The man sitting opposite him laughed heartily, holding his cup. Fudo glared at him and replied in a heavy voice.

"It’s sake made from ‘Yogen Senmai.’ This year, it was hardly produced. The rice grown in the dungeon this year suffered from many monster attacks, so the harvest was poor."

The deer scare outside the sliding door clattered, revealing the magnificent garden. The sky was darkening, transitioning from the twilight to the night.

"The transportation business is still thriving. It’s a fortunate thing to be in the black."

Fudo narrowed his eyes slightly at the teasing tone and pursed his lips in annoyance.

"The transportation business of the Takano family is unmatched by any other family."

The Takano family, a prestigious family of wind magic, secured the top position in the transportation industry by using their power. The reason was simple: they mass-produced the wind magic ‘Levitation’ using magic tools. Of course, this was not done by hand. The head of the family and others created large-scale magic arrays, which were then used by ordinary mages to mass-produce the magic.

This ‘Levitation’ was their competitive edge. Although it was a simple magic that lifted objects a few dozen centimeters, it significantly reduced the weight of the load, cutting the consumption of magic stones, which were the equivalent of gasoline in the previous world, to a fraction of the original amount. It wasn’t just for vehicles; airplanes with ‘Wind Infusion’ also reduced the consumption of magic stones. All of this made transportation more efficient.

Fuel costs accounted for a significant portion of transportation expenses. By reducing these costs, the Takano family could offer cheaper transportation fees, maintaining their advantage for generations.

"The transportation business is so easy that even a fool could run it if it belonged to the Takano family. But to use the black figures from the transportation business to cover the red figures of other companies, your son must have some talent."

Fudo clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was true.

"Ran has no talent for business."

The Takano family, at the top of the transportation industry, diversified their business, primarily in the food industry, such as restaurants and izakayas. They could deliver meat and vegetables from the source at a low cost, giving them another competitive edge.

While the quality of the food also mattered, the ability to deliver at a low cost ensured sales, though they were not at the top in this sector.

However, the low cost was the main selling point, and they would have been in the black if managed properly.

But Ran, the eldest son, somehow managed to run up continuous losses, closing chain stores one after another. They had no choice but to cover the losses with the profits from the transportation business, making it clear that he lacked talent.

In a way, he had a talent, a talent for turning profitable companies into losses. They had investigated whether he was doing it on purpose, but confirmed that he was not.

He was utterly incompetent. Fudo was serious when he said he would entrust the business to his second son, Horetsu, who would manage it better than Ran.

"An incompetent eldest son should have been made a figurehead head of the family and dedicated to making wind magic tools. Then, the second son could have taken over the real position of head of the family, and everything would have been fine."

The Takano family valued magical power above all. While this was true, a person who could make a profit was better than one who caused losses.

"Horetsu would have been fine if he had even a little magical power. But he never awakened to ‘Mana.’”

Fudo groaned in frustration. Despite having exiled Horetsu, he blamed him for the current situation.

"He should have inherited the position of head of the family. His daughter was a healer. All we needed to do was marry her to a branch family’s wind user, and even at the level of an ordinary mage, everyone would have respected him as head of the family. That fool!"

Fudo slammed his cup onto the table, revealing his dissatisfaction.

"Hey, hey, that’s harsh. You were the one who exiled him."

Suzu Koku Enraku, with his fiery red hair and eyes, and his rough appearance, was eating the food on the table.

"Well, it’s a common thing, but I think it’s time to reconcile, don’t you think?"

"I agree. I’ve tried to help Horetsu in various ways over the past few years and have given many gifts to my granddaughter. …But Horetsu has refused everything."

Fudo’s face twisted in disgust at his second son’s stubborn attitude. He was offering him a return to the House of Takano and even hinted at passing the position of head of the family to him. What more could he want? It seemed he still harbored resentment over being exiled for not awakening to ‘Mana.’

"Lord Fudo seems to be quite disliked."

"In the world of nobles, it’s a common story. You would have exiled your son if he hadn’t awakened to ‘Mana,’ wouldn’t you, Lord Enraku?"

"Well, magic is the foundation of our nobility. There are too many people who don’t understand that. Whether it’s earning money or fighting monsters, magic is essential."

Enraku, who agreed with Fudo, laughed heartily. In their view, a person who didn’t awaken to ‘Mana’ was useless and could be exiled without any problem. In the past, it was even worse; those who didn’t awaken by the age of 15 often died of illness, so exile was a better fate.

Seeing that Enraku agreed, Fudo’s mood improved, and his attitude softened.

"Right? Exile is too lenient. Magic is the cornerstone of the current power structure and is essential for protecting humans from monsters. We can’t afford to reduce the number of mages. It’s a problem that many commoners don’t understand this."

Fudo shrugged. His words were partly true. In modern society, ‘magic technology’ was as indispensable as science and technology. ‘Magic technology,’ which only mages could use, was the foundation of society, and mages, who possessed ‘magic technology,’ were inevitably powerful.

Mages were essential to combat monsters, which used powers beyond the laws of physics. A simple punch with a force of 30 kilograms could penetrate thick steel armor, and some monsters could even absorb nuclear flames or remain unharmed by them.

Nuclear missiles were developed in the past, hoping to be a trump card against monsters. However, they were discontinued when the energy was absorbed by the monsters, making them more aggressive. Additionally, nuclear weapons were far more dangerous than magic stones in terms of radioactive contamination.

In the past, some countries tried to use mages as slaves and tools. This was during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, when guns had advanced to the point where anyone could easily kill with a single pull of the trigger.

With the development of mana drives, which extracted energy from magic stones, some countries tried to manage mages. They were managed like slaves, used to advance magic technology and as a trump card against monsters. The country claimed to be a democratic nation of all citizens.

When mages’ ‘Mana’ ran out, they were just humans and could not resist armed civilians. Therefore, mages complied. The common people welcomed them with open arms, cheering for the democratic nation.

The result was the collapse of the country.

Strong mages fled, and those who complied were weak and could not fight monsters.

The country tried to make it a long-term solution to make mages being slaves a common practice, thinking that strong mages would not question it.

However, people started to hide the fact that they were mages. No one wanted to be treated like a slave. As a result, the number of mages drastically decreased. The country suffered significant damage from the threat of monsters overflowing from dungeons and collapsed.

This famous history taught people the importance of mages and the folly of trying to manage them.

Moreover, many mages in that country married commoners who did not have ‘Mana,’ living in secret.

It was discovered that children born to commoners rarely awakened to ‘Mana.’

This led to a decrease in mages. To prevent national-level destruction, it was recommended that mages marry other mages. While it sounded good, it was essentially a tacit understanding and almost mandatory.

Mages were treated as something more than human, valued as protectors and users of ‘magic technology,’ leading to a mage-centric society.

If dungeons and the threat of monsters did not exist, the situation might have been different. However, the existence of monsters led to this outcome.

That said, in modern times, it was rare for families to exile members who did not awaken to ‘Mana.’ Most families, out of love, would have them help with the family business and remove them from noble society, but otherwise, they would be treated like normal family members. Exile was a rare and harsh measure.

After all, children who did not awaken to ‘Mana’ were almost non-existent, especially in high-ranking noble families.

"However, I never expected Horetsu’s daughter to be born without awakening to ‘Mana’…"

Fudo, reaffirming that exiling Horetsu was the right and common thing to do, muttered in confusion.

A person who did not awaken to ‘Mana,’ and whose spouse was a commoner. She was the daughter of a fairly large company, but there were no mages in her family.

Therefore, he had assumed that her daughter would not become a mage.

"I’ve heard that such a person is born once every 500 years. And, Lord Fudo, do you know the recent news?"

Fudo, intrigued by Enraku’s story, was taken aback and gasped in shock.