Arina received a report she had most hoped for from Chief Administrative Officer Haitai.

“Arad requested access to the spoils warehouse?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Grant him access. Tell him he may take anything he wants. If anyone objects, tell them to invoke my name.”

She couldn’t sit still from the excitement bubbling inside her.

‘What will he create this time? What marvel will he conjure?’

In her heart, she wanted to transform into Mary and accompany him, unable to contain her curiosity about the next magical invention he would bring to life.

However, Arina had many pressing matters to attend to.

Even though the governance of the Grand Duchy in the North allowed for a relatively flexible approach, it didn’t mean she could ignore her duties altogether.

She needed to care for the returning expeditionary forces, manage honors and rewards, and plan for the next campaign.

“I personally hope it’s something that can help the injured soldiers and knights,” Haitai said.

“It likely will be. Why else would he request access to the warehouse immediately after leaving the barracks?”

Arina recalled the events of the previous day through her conversation with Isabelle.

‘It all ended up flowing this way unintentionally. Though, it’s something I would have asked for myself.’

Recently, Arina had felt the need to reinforce the alibi between Mary and herself.

• Milady, even if transformation magic includes mental interference, you mustn’t grow careless.

• Why?

• If someone uncovers solid evidence or makes an irrefutable guess, the magic won’t hold.

• !!

That was what Isabelle, the creator of the transformation magic necklace, had warned.

• Even if it feels like Mary is overshadowing Arina… it’s too late to mess this up now.

• Exactly! I’m not sure how things ended up like this, but if the truth gets out, it’ll complicate everything even more.

• I leave it to you, old woman!

• Trust me! I’ve developed a brand-new, fresh magic for this situation!

With Isabelle’s help, an illusion of Mary was created on the day of the banquet.

The effect was immediate. When Arad spotted Mary in the banquet hall, he left his seat to follow her. Arina readily allowed it, knowing it would serve her purpose.

Thus began the chase between Mary’s illusion and Arad.

However, even for a great witch like Isabelle, there were limits.

As the pursuit continued, the illusion’s range and duration rapidly approached their threshold, and the magic had dissolved near the barracks by sheer coincidence.

‘Is the founding ancestor truly watching over us?’

Arina raised her head and gazed at the ceiling.

Engraved on the ceiling of her office was a depiction of the first Grand Duke of Renslet, Rune Renslet, in battle.

It was a somewhat exaggerated depiction: a glowing blade in Rune’s hand, striking terror into the legendary white serpent Jörmungandr, the druidic barbarians of the Manus Mountains, and the Frost Orcs of the Frozen Sea.

‘Founding ancestor of Renslet, I pray to you. Grant our maimed soldiers and knights the hope they so desperately need.’

In the harsh North, barbaric cruelty was a daily occurrence. Many died, and just as many were left crippled.

For a long time, Arina had been deeply concerned about the wounded soldiers and knights. She worked tirelessly to provide them with support and care.

Beyond the policies from her mother’s time—offering monthly provisions and stipends to veterans—Arina had implemented a program to find employment for the disabled.

It was a groundbreaking initiative, unique across the continent.

Yet, its results were underwhelming.

Even able-bodied individuals struggled to find work in the North, let alone those who were disabled.

The stipends were also woefully inadequate.

The Renslet Duchy barely had the resources to provide minimal welfare. More than 70% of its finances were funneled into the war budget, and taxes were kept excessively low.

For this reason, most disabled soldiers met tragic ends within a few years or resorted to desperate measures.

‘Please, let another miracle happen on this land. Founding ancestor Rune Renslet, I owe them a debt far too great to repay.’

Arina had carried this weight on her heart for a very long time.

***

There were still five days left before Mary was set to return from her leave.

But the company couldn’t afford to grind to a halt during those five days, especially now with a new project underway.

“Are you sure you want to hire me? I’m missing an arm, after all,” Theo said, uncertainty clouding his voice.

“It’s fine. I’m not going to have you wield a sword,” I replied, brushing off his concern.

In the end, I decided it was necessary to hire another full-time employee.

Mary, despite being the future Great Witch of the Snowfields and an illegitimate child of Renslet, with outstanding skills in handiwork, accounting, and administration, was simply too unreliable as an employee.

Her frequent absences meant she couldn’t fulfill her role as a staff member.

To be fair, the only reason I kept her around was to maintain a connection with the future Great Witch.

“From now on, you’re the Head of Management Support.”

“Head of… What?”

“You’ll be recruiting staff, sourcing materials, securing locations, managing paperwork, and organizing the ledgers in my stead. Oh, and don’t worry about taxes—we’re a government-backed company. Hahaha!”

“But… I’ve spent my whole life swinging a sword. I know how to handle basic arithmetic, but I’m no merchant or bureaucrat. I struggle with complex or large-scale calculations.”

That’s how Theo, the one-armed knight, came to be hired as my temporary employee.

He seemed sharp enough, and, more importantly, I had a good feeling about him (his connection as Loji’s brother certainly didn’t hurt). Without much hesitation, I brought him on as my second employee.

“Here, take this.”

I handed Theo a rectangular wooden object filled with small, round beads.

“What is this?”

“It’s called an abacus. It’s far more efficient than the crude calculators people use here.”

“An abacus?”

“Let me show you how to use it.”

I spent the entire morning teaching Theo how to use the abacus.

Thanks to his sharp mind, he picked it up quickly and even started applying it almost immediately.

“This is amazing! I can calculate numbers in the thousands with such ease!” he exclaimed, his enthusiasm palpable.

Now all that was left for him was to practice writing with his left hand.

But I didn’t press the issue—after all, he’d be writing with his right arm again soon enough.

“It seems you’ve gotten the hang of the abacus. Let’s move on to the next task.”

Still, I didn’t tell him to stop practicing with his left hand. I didn’t want to give him false hope if the outcome didn’t meet my expectations.

“Yes, leave it to me!”

Theo’s voice brimmed with confidence, likely fueled by his newfound ability to perform complex calculations.

“Your first task is to recruit people—individuals who can work with us.”

“You’re hiring more staff?”

“That’s right. Find people with good handiwork, as well as those who can read, write, and handle calculations.”

“How many should I recruit?”

“As many as you can, for now. Oh, and don’t worry if they’re disabled like you.”

“…!”

I noticed Theo’s eyes dart upward, as though recalling a group of people.

‘He’s probably thinking of his fellow wounded comrades,’ I thought, easily reading the expression on his face.

“And after recruiting people, you’ll need to secure a large plot of land on the outskirts of High Castle. That’s where we’ll build a factory.”

“A factory? What’s that?”

“Think of it as an enormous workshop.”

“Ah, I see. But… to buy land in High Castle, we’d need permission from Her Highness.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Why do you think Arad Company is government-backed? Take this official insignia of our trading company. Show it to anyone who questions you, and you’ll get instant approval.”

“I understand! I’ll get it done, no matter what!”

“Oh, and don’t think you have to finish everything today. Take your time—there’s no rush. Even if you find workers now, we won’t have immediate tasks for them. We’ll need a few days to prepare on our end as well.”

I added this to calm the fire of enthusiasm blazing in Theo’s eyes.

“Also, I’ll be working on something very important and requiring absolute concentration. So, once you’re done for the day, don’t come back here. Not even for a final report—it would only distract me.”

“Understood! I won’t let you down!”

Theo answered firmly and immediately headed out.

‘Considering he made it as a full-fledged knight of High Castle based purely on his skills, I’m sure he’ll do well. And Loji will probably help him behind the scenes, whether Theo realizes it or not.’

Though it might have seemed daunting, the tasks I assigned Theo were actually quite manageable.

In this era, there weren’t any complex administrative hurdles or paperwork like back on Earth.

And being a government-backed company meant that even the minimal bureaucracy in place could be bypassed entirely.

Into the Workshop

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Currently, the underground workshop was cluttered with materials I’d taken in the first haul from the spoils warehouse: monster hides, bones, tendons, muscles, carcasses, and intermediate mana stones.

These were the materials I’d chosen as substitutes for magical alloys in the automail.

Gulp.

I swallowed hard, nerves creeping in at the sight of the materials.

If we weren’t in the North, where the influence of religious orders and magic towers was weak, I wouldn’t even have dared to attempt this.

‘Who would’ve thought I’d end up using black magic like this?’

The automail design I envisioned revolved around the use of life magic, a branch of black magic. It was often referred to as the domain of forbidden chimeras.

But like any tool, its meaning and results depended on how it was used.

Even on Earth, wasn’t nuclear energy a similar case?

With that thought, I began my work, starting with the mana stones.

For this biological automail, I selected three intermediate mana stones, each with a unique purpose: electricity, telekinesis, and life.

‘Electric circuits can use brain-attributed mana stones. Telekinetic circuits are most compatible with neutral mana stones. The problem is the life circuit…’

The life attribute in magic wasn’t as pure as the name suggested—it essentially merged necromancy and chimera techniques.

After hours of meticulous enchantment and experimentation, I found that life circuits worked best with shadow and wood attributes.

‘Not bad for a start.’

Next came processing the monster byproducts—cutting the muscles, tendons, and bones into human-proportioned parts.

It was grueling, detailed work, but essential.

By the time I’d completed this stage, the sun had long set, and yet the lights in the underground workshop remained on, illuminating the start of something extraordinary.