Chapter 98.2

But since I rarely attended royal court meetings, my seat was usually left vacant.

It wouldn’t make sense to reshuffle seating arrangements every time I attended.

Moreover, my ceremonial ranking in the High Tower was ambiguous, so my current position naturally became my default seat.

Surely, she doesn’t still have feelings for me, does she?

This thought was bolstered by the lack of direct discussions about marriage since the Abyss of the Demon Realm incident.

Arina hadn’t shown any signs of romantic interest in me for quite some time.

Maybe she thinks I’m avoiding marriage because of the Renslet family’s superstitions.

If that were true, I felt deeply sorry for her.

But it might be for the best.

After all, I was someone who would have to leave one day.

“Sir, I’ll stand at the back.”

My train of thought was interrupted by Mary’s voice.

“Call me if you need anything.”

As I took my seat, Mary leaned in to whisper something, then quietly moved to the side of the royal court hall, blending in with the other attendants standing by.

Among the aides to the ministers and officials, Mary joined them, standing in silence as they awaited further instructions.

Huh? What was I just thinking about?

Strangely, the fleeting thought I had earlier vanished as soon as I exchanged a few words with Mary.

“?”

For no particular reason, my gaze briefly landed on the necklace Mary wore around her neck, but I quickly dismissed it.

“Let’s begin the meeting,”

Arina declared, signaling the start.

Click. Snap. Whoosh—

All around the hall, ministers, mages, and knights began lighting up mana-infused smoking pipes as if it were second nature.

“Count Arad Jin.”

Despite the hall filling with faint wisps of mana smoke, Arina, the Grand Duchess herself, paid it no mind and called for me. She, notably, did not partake in the mana-smoking custom.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Since this meeting was convened at your request, you should take charge.”

“As you wish.”

Grateful for the benevolent and composed consideration of Her Highness, I rose from my seat, which I’d barely warmed, and surveyed the room.

“Thank you all for making the arduous journey to the High Tower.”

I met the expectant gazes of the ministers, especially those of the city mayors and provincial governors—soon to be formally titled “Governors.” Their eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“As many of you may have guessed, we plan to decentralize Arad Company’s businesses and factories, redistributing them across the North’s key cities and regions.”

I made the declaration they were waiting for, matching their long journey and hopeful expressions with something worth their while.

“Starting now, we will discuss which businesses and factories will be established in which cities and regions.”

Offering silent condolences to Chief Te and the company executives still slogging through organizational restructuring back at the industrial complex, I began my presentation.

“Mary.”

“….”

“Mary.”

“Oh! Yes?”

“Bring it out.”

“Right away!”

I called Mary, who had been absentmindedly puffing on a pipe.

She quickly put it away and retrieved a prepared stack of papers from her subspace bag.

“Here it is.”

She spread the bundle of paper—about the size of a newspaper—across the table.

It contained meticulously prepared maps, organizational charts, and various graphs of the North’s territories and businesses.

The issue was that the materials weren’t particularly convenient for everyone in the hall to view at once.

But who was I?

Who else but Jin Yuseong, once dubbed Korea’s Elon Musk, a genius young entrepreneur?

A top-tier CEO must always be prepared to captivate the audience, deliver gripping presentations, conduct provocative interviews, give emotionally charged speeches, and post clever tweets or Instagram stories.

That principle applied even in this otherworldly setting.

Mary pulled out another prepared item: a magical device.

She fiddled with it for a moment before securing it to the table.

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, beams of light shot out from the device.

Mary aimed one beam at the paper on the table and another at the large white wall of the hall.

“Whoa…”

“The wizard strikes again with her marvelous devices.”

The ministers’ jaws dropped in awe at the appearance of a magical tool akin to a beam projector.

“Recently, Arad Company has restructured all its businesses and factories into subsidiaries.”

Standing beneath the projected charts and graphs, I began my presentation.

Since many of the bureaucrats had attended my academy lectures, their reactions to the advanced visuals were somewhat subdued—they were already familiar with such formats.

“After dividing operations into subsidiaries, we will redistribute the factories and industries previously concentrated in the High Tower to the North’s various provinces and cities.”

With a signal, I prompted Mary, who was standing by, to flip to the next sheet.

“To date, Arad Company has operated 10 major businesses: Arad Ceramics, Mary’s Blessing, Medi-Kit, Chimera Prosthetics, Northern Arts, the Bluetooth series, and more…”

The screen displayed 17 subsidiaries, 13 of which were existing ventures, with four new ones in preparation:

Arad Ceramics: High Tower, Narvik, Shuen

Arad Entertainment: Haven

Arad Mana Logistics: Remm, Cardia

Arad Systems: High Tower, Remm, Cardia

Arad Bio: High Tower, Narvik, Shuen

Arad Medical: High Tower, Narvik, Shuen

Arad Construction: Cardia, Remm

Arad Fashion: Haven, High Tower

Arad Alchemist: High Tower

Arad Research: High Tower

Arad Defense: Remm, Cardia

Arad Steel: Remm, Cardia, Narvik

Arad Energy: Remm, Cardia

Arad Automatic: High Tower, Remm, Cardia

Arad Media: High Tower, Haven

Arad Capital: High Tower, Haven, Shuen

Arad Shipbuilding: Jin, Narvik

“Arad Ceramics will handle the North’s porcelain industry, while Entertainment will focus on producing goods associated with the Grand Duchy of the North.”

I provided a simple explanation for the more unfamiliar subsidiary names.

“Arad Systems will produce equipment like steam engines, printing presses, and looms. Arad Bio will manage artificial cultivation for ingredients like the weeds used in Arad Salt and the production of Mary’s Blessing.”

Although I framed the decisions as a collaborative discussion, the redistribution and restructuring had been finalized long ago.

In reality, it was more of a one-way announcement, but no one dared to object.

“Arad Energy will process minerals, including magic stones.”

The decentralization generally aligned with the character and resources of each region.

Moreover, this decentralization was voluntary, driven by the central government and the corporation—not something demanded by the provinces.

Anyone who complained would risk losing even what they had been granted.

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