NoveLight ™
Today, Arina was overwhelmed with one of the busiest days of her life.
Balancing her dual roles as the Grand Duchess of the North and an employee of the Arad Company was already demanding, but in an emergency like this, it left her utterly disoriented.
Hiiiiing—
After dismounting from the horse she had ridden earlier, Arina led it into the stable and took a moment to reassess her current state.
First, she checked the necklace around her neck. The magical necklace, which altered her appearance, voice, and even physique, was glowing faintly.
Then, she inspected the bag that Arad had gifted her, which she always carried at her waist. The beautiful and uniquely designed spatial bag was now layered with an additional, larger bag that Isabelle had meticulously prepared.
“Phew...”
After making sure her outfit was in order, she took a deep breath, swallowing nervously.
Knock, knock, knock.
She knocked on the first-floor door of the Arad Company building, like a guilty child awaiting punishment.
"…?"
Even after several knocks, there was no response from inside.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Finally, she carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
The first floor was empty, but she could hear faint noises coming from the basement.
Without hesitation, Arina made her way down to the basement, deliberately stomping her feet to make her presence known so as not to startle Arad.
“Sir…?”
“Ah, you’re here.”
“Apologies again for leaving so abruptly earlier.”
“It’s fine. I doubt it was because you wanted to.”
The basement workshop where Arad was working was chaotic, littered with magical device components whose purposes were unclear. A pile of black soil, likely from the greenhouse farm, was stacked in a corner.
“Perfect timing. From now on, Mary, you’re going to make this.”
Without delay, Arad handed Arina a freshly made detector.
“I… am going to make this?”
“It’s not that hard. Once you follow my steps a few times, you’ll get the hang of it. Come, just do as I do.”
“Yes, sir!”
And so, what began as a simple visit turned into an impromptu assembly line.
After demonstrating a few steps, Arad handed the process over to Arina. Before long, she managed to fumble through creating some of the detector’s components—cutting and fitting pieces of leather, wood, and bone into place. Oddly enough, she found it enjoyable, a feeling not unlike wielding a sword all day but with a subtle difference.
As Arad had said, making the detectors wasn’t difficult—just time-consuming.
“You’ve got quite the knack for this. Yes, just like that,” Arad complimented her.
“Thank you.”
Her spirits lifted at his praise, and she had to suppress a grin that kept threatening to break through.
“His precision is truly amazing.”
As she glanced at Arad, working with remarkable speed and accuracy, she couldn’t help but be impressed. Unlike her clumsy attempts, his work was sophisticated and meticulous, every movement deliberate and precise.
The way he etched magical circuits onto mana-stone-coated leather and wood with a silver awl almost seemed divine.
As Arina found herself staring blankly at Arad’s work, he suddenly spoke.
“How’s it going? Manageable?”
“Yes…!”
“Good. Then pick up the pace. No time for daydreaming.”
Perhaps because she had been caught zoning out, it was the first time Arad had scolded her.
“Ah, yes!”
Feeling a strange flutter in her chest at the rare rebuke, Arina quickly redoubled her efforts.
“We need to make 60 of these by tonight.”
“Didn’t you say there are only 26 locations to send them?”
“We need spares in case of malfunction or breakage. Each team will receive two detectors, plus we have to account for defective parts and failures.”
“Ah, I see.”
Surprised by the sheer workload, Arina picked up her pace.
“By the way, why haven’t you hired more staff?”
Curious, she finally voiced a question that had been on her mind. Despite receiving approval to establish his company, Arad hadn’t hired anyone else.
“Of course, I’d like to hire people. But I can’t do it recklessly. Her Grace specifically told me not to let my knowledge spread to the Empire.”
Surprisingly, Arad was open to the conversation.
“?!”
Hearing his answer, Arina was struck by a sudden realization.
“Ah… did he take my words too seriously?”
The conversation they had when he gifted her the "Arad’s Care" bag came rushing back to her.
“I was too careless in my words!”
It seemed her earlier remarks had been misinterpreted and blown out of proportion. While protecting trade secrets was important, she hadn’t meant for him to go to such extremes.
“Wait… so does this mean me sitting here making detectors is partially my fault?”
Was this karmic retribution? A wave of guilt washed over Arina.
“And Her Grace was right. Hiring just anyone when we’re short-staffed is risky. Industrial espionage is an infuriating liability.”
“Industrial… espionage?”
“Oh, it exists. They’ll go to unimaginable lengths to steal key information.”
Arad frowned as if recalling past experiences.
“He must be thinking about his time during the Golden Age. He probably ran a company or workshop back then.”
Seeing his expression, Arina dismissed her curiosity about his past.
“So what do you look for in employees, sir?”
“When I hire people, I look at their character.”
“Character?”
“Yes. Traits like responsibility, a sense of duty, and loyalty. Skills can improve with training, but character and trust can’t be bought with money or time.”
Arad continued, “Even if I pay them generously, spend years working with them, and treat them well, some people just can’t be trusted.”
“How can you tell if someone is trustworthy?”
Arina listened intently. As the Grand Duchess, the topic was deeply relevant to her own responsibilities.
“After a while, you develop a sense for it. It’s not perfect, but I can usually tell when someone seems… off. Filtering out those types takes care of most of the problems.”
“A sense…?”
“Yes, a gut feeling. After a few conversations, you notice a certain vibe. Just avoiding those people makes a huge difference.”
Arina paused her work and looked at Arad.
His appearance suggested he was close to her age, but his skills and wisdom didn’t match his youthful looks. As an ancient from the Golden Age, was his aging slowed?
Though high-level mastery of swordsmanship and magic could delay aging, his case seemed exceptional.
“At first, I thought if I treated people with sincerity, they’d reciprocate. But… that wasn’t the case.”
As Arina observed him, Arad continued speaking.
“Those bastards! I treated them so well! One of them said they were about to lose everything to a housing scam, so I even dipped into company funds to help them. But then, just because I froze their salary once when the company was struggling, they left for a competitor?!”
Crunch!
As Arad spoke, he suddenly ground his teeth, lost in thought about the past.
“Haaaa…”
It didn’t take long for him to let out a deep sigh and regain his composure.
“...?”
Arina watched him, unable to comprehend half of what he had muttered to himself.
“So… do you think I’m trustworthy?”
Still, there was one question she couldn’t resist asking.
“Ah, of course I trust you.”
Arad responded without hesitation, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Wha—? Based on what?”
“Just a gut feeling. That’s why I hired you the moment we met.”
“...!”
Arad’s cool and straightforward response warmed her heart.
“So, don’t betray my gut feeling.”
“Of course not, sir!”
Watching her openly moved expression, Arad thought to himself:
“Honestly, if I didn’t know the original history, I would’ve dismissed her immediately. Even with Isabelle’s recommendation, there’s something… off about her.”
Despite his words, Arad’s internal assessment of Mary wasn’t all that favorable. But sometimes, a well-placed lie could be a kindness.
“Still, as expected of the future Great Witch, she’s quite sharp.”
Arad’s lips curled into a mischievous grin as he observed his assistant’s growing skill.
“The necklace around her neck and the bag at her waist aren’t ordinary. She’s undoubtedly a talented witch when it comes to crafting magic tools.”
From the moment he met her, his analytical eye had already scanned the magical items Mary carried.
“That necklace is clearly suppressing her power and abilities.”
His advanced eye-scanning technique was practically a magical version of a scouter.
“As for the bag, it seems enchanted in its own way, though the leather-wrapped design is a bit lacking.”
It wasn’t for nothing that Arad had pushed so hard to have Mary brought over from the Frostblade Knights.
“She’s a hard worker too. The calluses on her hands prove it.”
The more he thought about her, the more Arad’s evaluation of Mary improved. Apart from the unsettling vibe he got from her, her qualifications were nearly flawless.
“Um… Sir?”
Snapping him out of his thoughts, Mary suddenly called out to him.
“I’m done.”
“Huh…?”
To his surprise, she had already completed everything he had instructed her to do.
“Oh! You’ve actually finished?”
Astounded, Arad inspected the parts Mary had crafted. From the finishing touches to the overall quality, everything was nearly perfect. The defect rate was close to zero.
Thump!
Seeing this, Arad felt a strange warmth in his chest, as if he’d stumbled upon a fragment of destiny.
“If this kind of talent existed back on Earth, she’d have been immediately promoted to a full-time position.”
“Hmm… not bad. You’ve done well.”
Despite his inner excitement, Arad kept a calm exterior. Over-praising people could lead to them losing their focus, or worse, demanding higher pay and benefits before eventually leaving to start their own ventures.
“Want to try your hand at this next?”
And that’s when Arina made a critical mistake.
“If she does well, maybe I can offload the mana circuit etching onto her too!”
What Arina didn’t realize was that standing out in a company run by someone from Hell Joseon (a nickname for the harsh work culture of South Korea) often meant more work.
“She’s a witch, so she can handle it. Plus, the more I push her, the more her skills and knowledge will grow.”
Suppressing the dopamine rush of excitement and joy, Arad decided to delegate—no, teach—Mary the art of mana circuit etching.
“Look at how thrilled she is!”
Seeing how much Mary enjoyed learning and doing new tasks, Arad couldn’t help but feel satisfied.
“I’m so glad I spent time reading magical theory books.”
As a knight, Arina had always been drawn to understanding magic, a subject considered the opposite of her martial path. This habit had unexpectedly proven invaluable—not in battle, but in this entirely unforeseen situation.
“Is this how I should do it?”
“Exactly! Perfect!”
“This is quite easy. Hehehe.”
“Mary, you’re a genius. A prodigy!”
Arina, with the same passion and focus she had when honing her swordsmanship, absorbed and executed everything Arad taught her.
“...?!”
But after some time, Arina began to feel a sense of unease.
“Why does it feel harder, not easier, even though he’s praising my abilities?”
By the time she realized something was wrong, it was already too late.