Chapter 66 : There Is No Easy Business in the World
The one muttering while biting his nails was none other than Travis. With dark, sunken eyes, he glared at the bluebird gliding beyond the window.
The moment he thought he had gotten ahead of Aracila had been fleeting. Once again, she had brought forth another innovative invention, attempting to surpass him.
As he paced anxiously around the laboratory, someone suddenly burst through the door without even knocking.
“Travis!”
“Ah, Lord Fernando. This is…”
“Did you see what’s floating outside? Did you see that damned magical airship that Aracila made?”
At Fernando’s furious outburst, Travis hunched his shoulders and gave a small nod.
Fanning himself with his hand in frustration, Fernando spoke harshly.
“That thing looks far more successful than your ridiculous food storage box!”
“……”
“What are you planning to do about this?!”
Travis’s food storage box, which he had made using a temperature-regulating magic tool, had recently been receiving complaints due to various issues.
The main problem was that when the surrounding temperature became too high or too low, the magic tool would suddenly stop functioning and break down.
He was already on the verge of pulling his hair out trying to fix this issue, and now his competitor, Aracila, had suddenly swooped in, adding to his overwhelming stress.
And it wasn’t just Travis who was frustrated—his mentor and supporter, Fernando, felt the same.
“If you don’t become the next Tower Master, my reputation will be completely ruined! You haven’t forgotten who discovered and nurtured the talent of a lowly noble bastard like you, have you?”
“…No, I remember.”
Fernando grabbed the back of Travis’s neck and growled in a low voice.
“Then work harder! Do everything you can to make me the mentor of the next Tower Master and repay my kindness!”
“…Understood, Master.”
Even after that, Fernando continued to vent his anger for quite some time before finally leaving.
The junior researchers working in Travis’s lab held their breath and watched him carefully.
Fernando had always been the type to lash out at Travis in front of others, regardless of who was present, so the shame of dealing with the aftermath was entirely Travis’s burden.
Silently, Travis dismissed the juniors from the lab and fell deep into thought.
‘I have to ruin that thing somehow.’
His bloodshot eyes fixated on the bluebird floating leisurely in the sky.
No matter what, he had to bring that bird down.
Clenching his teeth, he and his subordinates began spreading strange rumors the very next day.
“Tsk, that Magic Tower airship… There’s actually a lot of concern about its safety within the Tower. Word is, it wasn’t properly tested.”
“The research that serves as the foundation for the airship’s invention hasn’t even been proven stable. That means the chances of it crashing are extremely high. If an accident were to happen, people would fall straight from the sky to the ground… and they would definitely die.”
“Why do you think they involved commoners in a noble-funded business? If they only put nobles on it and a major accident happened, it would be a serious problem. So, they’re loading it with commoners instead. It’s a clever and chilling scheme.”
The rumors Travis spread quickly traveled from mouth to mouth.
At first, people didn’t think much of them, but as time passed, unease began to spread.
Since magical airships were an unprecedented mode of transportation, there was already a foundation of skepticism, making it even easier for doubt to take hold.
Then, a newspaper picked up these circulating rumors and published an article, officially turning the “Bluebird” into a subject of controversy.
“Have you seen the paper? That airship thing—it’s incredibly dangerous! Cancel your application right away!”
“The Magic Tower itself admitted they couldn’t guarantee its safety 100%. How could they even think of putting such a thing on the market?”
“I was wondering why they were recruiting people regardless of status! Turns out, they just wanted to use commoners like us as test subjects for the nobles!”
Public sentiment turned ugly, affecting both nobles and commoners alike.
People swarmed the office, not to apply but to withdraw their applications.
Since no one could be forced to board against their will, the flood of withdrawals led to a complete cancellation of all applications.
Naturally, this dealt a severe blow to the magical airship business.
***
“Count Chepa has withdrawn his cooperation.”
Damian pulled out a letter from the count and spoke calmly.
“He said he couldn’t trust the project after hearing all the bad rumors about Bluebird and decided to back out.”
“Ha… Who the hell spread this nonsense?”
Aracila clenched her teeth, crushing the newspaper in her hands.
The magical airship business had been running smoothly, but three days ago, it suddenly plunged into crisis.
Baseless, absurd rumors had nearly destroyed it before it could even begin.
Even though they had conducted and verified all safety tests in advance, people still believed the airship was likely to crash and feared for their lives.
Aracila had urgently tried to clarify the facts through the newspapers, but it was useless in the face of widespread distrust.
Instead—
“Aren’t they just lying on purpose? Trying to make money by selling that Bluebird thing?”
“She’s a magician, so of course it’s safe for her. But what about ordinary people?”
“I used to think well of the Vandemir couple, but this is too much. Are they so blinded by money that they don’t care about people’s lives?”
—her attempts only backfired, making public opinion even worse.
Money, time, dedication, effort—everything she had poured into the business was about to go to waste.
Gripping her head, Aracila groaned in frustration.
Across from her, Damian also sat with a heavy shadow over his face.
The two had gathered in Aracila’s laboratory to discuss how to resolve the current crisis.
For Damian, stepping inside the Magic Tower as a knight for the first time should have been an unforgettable experience, but the urgency of the situation had completely overshadowed that thought.
“What should we do, Damian? Even when we try to explain, people refuse to listen…”
“Right now, no matter what we say, they’ll just consider it a lie. It will take some time for people to regain their rationality and start listening.”
“How much time are we talking about? If it takes too long, it’s as good as ruined. And even if they eventually listen, will people still want to board the magic airship?”
There was no flaw in Aracila’s argument, so Damian remained silent.
As their first joint business venture was on the verge of collapsing so absurdly, Aracila let out a deep sigh.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have involved you.”
She had been so sure of success when she proposed the partnership, but now that things had turned out like this, it was only natural for such thoughts to arise.
“No, it’s not like you pointed a staff at me and forced me into it. I made the decision to become your business partner on my own.”
He meant it. Even if the business failed, Damian had no intention of blaming Aracila.
From the start, he had seen strong potential for success and willingly joined in. Now that things were falling apart, blaming her would be absurd.
“What I mean is, you don’t have to bear all the responsibility alone.”
“……”
“I have to take responsibility too.”
Aracila was touched by Damian’s loyalty—sticking by her side instead of backing out at a critical moment.
But showing such emotions outright felt embarrassing, so she simply ran a hand through her hair.
“Anyway, let’s keep running ads with statements clarifying Bluebird’s safety…”
“Senior! We have a huge problem!”
Ludi suddenly burst through the door. The fact that he didn’t even knock, despite knowing Damian was inside, meant that something truly urgent had happened.
“What? What happened?”
“People are throwing stones and objects at Bluebird, calling it an omen of misfortune! Because of that, the Imperial Office has ordered an immediate halt to all operations.”
Another disaster on top of an already disastrous situation. Aracila pressed her fingers against her forehead, while Damian shut his eyes tightly.
“…Bluebird—did it take a lot of hits?”
“No, it was flying too high, so nothing actually hit it.”
“And yet, the Office still shut it down?”
“Yes… They said with people constantly throwing things, there’s no telling when it might fall into civilian areas. Plus, it’s causing widespread anxiety, so they decided to put a stop to it.”
The Imperial Office had made a perfectly rational and expected decision.
Because of that, neither Aracila nor Damian could find any grounds for protest, leaving them only able to move their lips soundlessly.
“Where is Bluebird now?”
After a long pause, Aracila finally asked.
Ludi answered immediately.
“Sally moved it to the storage facility.”
“Good. Leave it there for now… We’ll talk about it later. You and Sally should head home, Ludi.”
She decided to send her subordinates home first. She couldn’t let them suffer along with her through this mess.
Ludi hesitated, about to refuse, but upon noticing Damian’s presence, he simply stepped back without another word.
As soon as he left, silence filled the research lab, where only Aracila and Damian remained.
After a while, Damian let out a sigh and spoke.
“For now, it would be best to take a step back and find a way to turn things around.”
Aracila nodded without resistance. At the moment, she had no other solutions either.
The only way to overturn the negative public opinion was to show, with undeniable proof, that Bluebird was safe—but right now, no one was willing to see it for themselves.
In the end, the two had no choice but to halt all operations entirely and wait for the public uproar to settle.
With the Imperial Office having forcibly suspended even simple test flights, there was nothing else they could do.
And so, time passed—slow and suffocating.
***
“Madam, aren’t you going to your room?”
It was Audrey who stopped Aracila as she naturally started walking toward Damian’s office after work.
Audrey had previously been instructed to clean up the desk since there was no longer any need to use the office, and she had done just that.
But now, seeing Aracila heading there upon returning home, she looked confused and held her back.
“You’re going to the master’s office? I already put away all the pens and paper, so should I bring them back—”
“No, Audrey. Let’s go to my room.”
Aracila waved a hand and abruptly turned around.
Only now did she remember that since the business had been completely suspended, there was no longer a need to share the office space, which was why she had given that order in the first place.
‘People form habits so easily.’
She had only shared the office for a few weeks, yet it had already become routine to head there after work.
So this is why they say habits are scary.
Back in her bedroom, she changed into her indoor dress and sat on the sofa while Audrey brushed her hair.
Meanwhile, Damian also returned home.
But unlike Aracila, no one stopped him as he naturally made his way to the office.
He knocked three times, then opened the door.
Subconsciously, he had assumed Aracila would be there.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───
