<ol start="57"><li><ol start="57"><li> The Listener of the North (3)</li></ol></li></ol>


    ‘The color isn’t white porcin.’


    As I pulled the pottery directly from the kiln, I stared at it with eyes full of amazement.


    ‘This is… cdon!’


    What emerged from the kiln was a stunning blue-green ceramic.


    ‘But how? I didn’t add saltpeter.’


    Of course, cdon exists on Earth too. Goryeo cdon, to be specific.


    ‘But it’s a little different from Goryeo cdon.’


    This wasn’t the same as Goryeo cdon. After all, Earth doesn’t have magic stones. This had to be nothing more than a coincidence.


    ‘Did it happen because I mixed in that ck soil from the old greenhouse farm?’Just as white porcin from this world differs in luster and color from the white porcin of Earth, the same could be said of this cdon.


    The cdon from the North, made using powdered magic stones, had a lighter hue than Earth’s cdon.


    ‘Was it like this in the game too?’


    Even as a seasoned veteran of Silver Age 1, I hadn’t paid much attention to pottery production.


    Despite being a jack-of-all-trades max-level character, all I remembered was vague knowledge like, “Do it like this, and you’ll get a pretty vase.” I didn’t have any detailed information about cdon or white porcin.


    “This is the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen in my life.”


    “It’s even more beautiful than Eastern white porcin! I mean it!”


    Once all the ceramics were pulled from the kiln, Mary and Teo gazed at them with trembling eyes, admiring each and every piece.


    ‘This is strange. I used all kinds of different magic stones, so why do they all have the same blue color?’


    As I examined the cdon pottery, I tilted my head in confusion.


    I didn’t know the reason, but I didn’t feel the need to investigate it further.


    What mattered was that the result was good, and I had plenty of other things to handle.


    Thus, the first-ever production of cdon in the North and all of Arcadia had ended in sess.


    But there was still one more step for me.


    ‘Quality testing.’


    I picked up a finished cdon piece and tapped it with my finger.


    Tang, tang, tang.


    A clean, clear ringing sound echoed—like the chime heard from high-quality white porcin.


    ‘Hmm…?’


    I picked up the vase that Teo had made and examined it.


    ‘There’s a small w.’


    On the side of Teo’s vase, there was a tiny pinhole-sized defect.


    I shot a nce at Teo to gauge his reaction.


    ‘It’s for personal use anyway, so I’ll let it slide.’


    ording to quality control standards, a piece with even a minor w like this would normally be smashed without hesitation.


    But since it wasn’t for sale, I decided to let it pass.


    I didn’t want to risk souring my rtionship with the employees over something like this.


    “Boss! We did it! We did it! Ourpany’s going to be rich! No, the entire North and Renslet will be rich!”


    Completely oblivious to the fact that his vase had a w, Teo shouted with delight, practically bouncing in ce.


    ‘If I think back to the Arad Salt days, it’s a bit regrettable.’


    I gazed at him with a hint of nostalgia.


    ‘Sure, Arad Salt opened up a path for Northern merchants, low-rank adventurers, andmoners to make a living. That was no small feat. But that’s all it aplished. When I think about it, I and the High Tower didn’t really gain much, did we?’


    Back when Arad Salt first began production, even Her Highness, the Northern Grand Duchess Arina, had likely been unaware of the true consequences. She might even have secretly regretted it.


    ‘But it’s different this time. This cdon can only be made by Arad Company!’


    And the merchants allowed to sell this cdon would be limited to the High Tower’s official merchant guilds.


    In Renslet, there were two official guilds. One was the long-established Rune Merchant Guild, and the other was my very own Arad Company.


    ‘We’ll handle the development and production, while the Rune Merchant Guild will handle distribution and sales.’


    Of course, I could have let Arad Company take care of distribution too.


    But greed invites disaster.


    “Boss, this time we have to make sure Imperial merchants don’t steal all the profit. Even if they do, we should only let the ones that benefit us get involved.”


    At that moment, Mary spoke up from the side.


    “Exactly. That’s why I asked you to petition Her Highness the other day.”


    Her words were sudden, but I knew exactly what she meant, so I nodded in agreement.


    “How’s that going, by the way?”


    “They say it’s in progress at Sris in the mid-northern part of the Empire.”


    “Is that so? I hope Sir Balzac and the Frost Knights handle it well.”


    “They will, especially if they see this cdon.”N?v(el)B\\jnn


    “Indeed. Merchants are driven by profit, after all.”


    “Um, but… isn’t Count Entir one of those nobles known for being an opportunist? Will he really oppose the Empire and the Imperial family? Especially when his wife is…”


    “Trust me. I can guarantee he’s currently the man who despises the Crown Prince the most in the entire Empire.”


    “Well, if you say so, Boss, then it must be true.”


    When Arad Salt was first produced, it was the Imperial merchants who profited the most.


    The North only shares a border with the Empire, while the sea route is blocked by icebergs and frozen waters.


    As a result, we could only sell Arad Salt to Imperial merchants.


    ‘We have to simplify the distribution structure as much as possible.’


    Imperial merchants would buy Arad Salt cheaply from the North, then resell it in the central and southern Empire, and even as far as the capital of the Royal Alliance, Bardenheim.


    They marked up the price tenfold.


    Despite this, Arad Salt was still cheaper than the imported Eastern spices, and its vor was better. The demand was so high that they couldn’t stock it fast enough.


    ‘We do all the work, and the Empire makes all the money. It’s infuriating.’


    The thought of those people, with whom we already had a strained rtionship, profiting off of us was intolerable to the typical Northern mindset.


    ‘But we can’t personally sell directly in the Empire either…’


    The North is subject to discrimination and contempt even when ites to its mercenaries and adventurers. It’s the same story for merchants.


    One of the most infamous examples was the “20 Northerners Law”, aw dating back to the Empire’s past.


    “No more than 20 Northerners may gather outside of the North.”


    “Only Northerners with special permits from the Emperor may gather inrger numbers.”


    Thisw, born from fears of past invasions by Northerners, was now an anachronism.


    Due to thisw, Northern merchants faced significant disadvantages when conducting trade within the Empire.


    I refocused on reality and spoke.


    “Anyway, you both did well.”


    I praised Mary and Teo, who had spent two days making pottery with me.


    “Now, I’m going to make something clear here and now.”


    After briefly acknowledging their hard work, I turned back to the cdon.


    I still had something left to do.


    If the cdon pieces I, Arad, made had any defects, I wouldn’t be able to stand it.


    “Quality control!”


    I picked up a stew bowl that caught my eye. Its edge was slightly chipped.


    CRASH!


    Without hesitation, I threw it on the ground.


    “Aaaah!”


    “Hngk!”


    Mary let out a loud scream, and Teo sucked in a sharp breath.


    “…Hmm?”


    But I tilted my head in confusion.


    “Why didn’t it break?”


    The cdon, despite being thrown with full force, was perfectly intact.


    “Arad Company’s first rule is…”


    I picked up the blue bowl again.


    “QUALITY CONTROL!”


    I threw it even harder this time.


    CLANG!


    The bowl still didn’t break.


    No matter how many times I threw it, the ceramic wouldn’t break.


    The only thing that echoed throughout the factory floor was the clear, crisp chime of porcin.


    ng!


    “Quality!”


    ng!


    “Control!”


    Even after several attempts, the bowl remained perfectly intact.


    “No way…”


    At this point, I couldn’t help but feel something was off.


    I picked up a different piece of cdon and threw it at the ground as well.


    ng!


    Still unbroken.


    “……?”


    “……!”


    Mary and Teo had already clutched their own cdon creations tightly to their chests, trembling as if I might seize them next.


    They looked at me like squirrels guarding theirst stash of nuts for winter.


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