“Wooden sword…”
“I’m sorry… I’m tired, so I’m going to head in first…!”
Having finished reporting on her trip to Korea to Lord Katsuhata, Emika rushed into her room and let down her tightly bound hair.
She delicately touched the translucent horn with her fingers, fearing it might fall off if she made any mistake.
Of course, this horn was an artificial organ created by gathering mana, similar to Aura Heart.
Tap tap—
Only vibrations were faintly transmitted to her head, while she felt nothing from the horn itself.
[Since this was made with a makeshift magic circuit, if you enter a place where mana is completely blocked or use a virtual reality capsule, the magic will cut off, and the horn will disappear too. To grow the horn, just find a quiet place and gather mana comfortably. Once the horn grows to the size of your thumb, you’ll be able to handle mana with it.]
Emika, sitting neatly in a meditative position, bowed her head in prayer.
After more than an hour of meditation with no signs of growth, she eventually reached out to Na-me again.
[Na-me: An hour?]
[Katsuhata Emika: Yeah. How much longer should I do this? It can’t be half a day.]
[Na-me: Well, if you focus, you could wrap it up in a day. How about 18 hours?]
[Katsuhata Emika: Ugh? That’s too much time…]
“No! My day off is today! I might stay up all night, but let’s try a little longer.”
Meditating allowed her to notice things she usually overlooked.
The mournful cries of evening cicadas echoed from all around, and the footsteps of the Katsuhata family thudded against the ceiling.
But the fun of discovering those things only lasted for a moment.
I’m so bored… I’m sleepy…
After winning her battle against boredom, heavy eyelids began to close.
You need to keep your eyes closed to meditate, but you mustn’t fall asleep.
Every time drowsiness invaded her, Emika pinched her thighs to stay awake.
Knock knock—
Meanwhile, out of sight behind the firmly shut door, Emika was battling herself, while those outside, unaware of her struggle, secretly worried about her well-being.
“Maybe she was really shocked by Korea?”
“She seemed fine until the plane…”
Sigh “Could it be that she’s hit puberty?”
“Puberty!? Our Lady Katsuhata is…!”
Since returning from her trip, the girl had shut herself in her room, refusing to eat.
Was the loss in Korea haunting her?
As preparations for breakfast were in full swing at the Katsuhata main residence, worries about the young heir being groomed as the next Lord filled the air.
“Summon Katsuhata. I need to speak with Emika about the autumn equinox event, so tell her if she’s late, she’ll be in trouble.”
An elderly man appeared and firmly issued the order.
From March to May, and September to November, retreat was mandatory for the Katsuhata Sect.
There were no exceptions, not even for heirs.
Rattle—
Almost turning into a high-risk recluse, Katsuhata Emika entered the dining room.
No matter how famous someone is, spending a long time together will lessen the thrill.
She might be viewed as a mysterious genius swordsman by the public, but to the Katsuhata family, she was merely their cute little sister Emika.
She came in looking more haggard than ever, rubbing her eyes with her arms and trudging along.
Huff!
“What… what’s that?”
“A headband?”
“Is it a devil cosplay?”
In utter confusion, her close senior Tachibana approached and placed a hand on her head.
“Emika, what the heck is this! Get some sense! You can’t walk around like this in front of everyone!”
Emika was 14 years old, the exact age for ‘chūnibyō’ (middle school second year syndrome).
It was hard to believe that this normally quiet girl would pull such antics in the famously conservative Katsuhata family.
“What on earth is this? Why can’t I get it off?”
“That’s my horn…”
“Huh?”
“It’s a horn that grows from my head.”
“Whaaaaaaat?”
Swish—
With both hands, Tachibana lifted Emika’s hair.
Of course, no plastic band or junction of the horn could be found.
Emika’s face turned as red as a beet.
As the Lord and senators entered the dining room, the noisy atmosphere settled down.
Yet still, burning gazes focused on one person.
Noticing today’s strange atmosphere, the old men furrowed their brows and began pointing fingers.
“Look! Look!”
“What a shameless child!”
“How dare you play such pranks here!”
“I can explain everything!”
Bursting from the dining table, Emika spun around to face the Lord.
“This isn’t a toy! It’s magic! I’m not suffering from chūnibyō! And it’s definitely not cosplay!”
With an average age of 45 and fifty-some people present, it took immense courage to confess the truth.
Katsuhata Emika swallowed hard and brought out the newly acquired wooden sword.
The dining room was the most iconic ‘Dissolution of Sword’ spot where swords should never be brought.
Seeing an heir not just being rude but breaking rules, the old men jumped to their feet, protesting loudly.
“Let’s calm down and listen to Emika. You all know she’s not usually like this, right?”
In the end, the Lord, seated at the center, stepped in and began to calm the crowd.
“Go ahead, Emika. But be prepared for punishment if you don’t have a valid reason for today’s commotion.”
“So… that’s…”
Emika shyly lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly.
She just needed to explain as she had heard from Na-me.
[For now, let’s call it the Demon King’s Horn, but the official name might change later. It’s a magic spell set to launch about a month from the Bio-Akashic, and you’re kind of a test subject for our new product. Go to those old senators and tell them this is an amazing spell, and ask if they’d like to invest. You can manage that, right?]
“Then what kind of magic is it? Hurry up and explain, Katsuhata Emika.”
“The Demon King’s Horn…”
“Demon King? Are you saying you’ve turned into the Demon King or something?”
“N-No… um, that’s not exactly it. I’m not sure, but it seems kind of like it…”
Haah.
“That’s not how I wanted to say it… Sob… Waahhh! Why won’t you let me finish my story!”
In the end, Emika was the first to burst into tears.
*
“Wow, Na-me, this is amazing! How did you manage to gather such rare guests?”
“Wait a minute. Did you order this correctly?”
I stopped Baek Ho-chan from trying to sit next to me in the café.
Then he took a deep breath.
“Caramel Frappuccino with whole Java chips added. Espresso whipped cream, mocha syrup, and caramel drizzle. Right?”
“Pass.”
“They say drinking too much caffeine at your age isn’t good for you… But anyway, look at this article.”
[Global News) Halloween is still a month away… but is there a Demon King cosplay craze in Japan?]
As I slowly stroked my chin, I watched Emika’s active role with keen eyes.
In Japan, the autumn equinox is recognized as a national holiday.
Especially for a historic family like Katsuhata, they held their own grave-visiting events.
The educational policy direction set by the Katsuhata Sect would be communicated through her.
In a speech encouraging and wishing for the growth of young Japanese wizards, Emika mentioned the ‘Adela’ magic, previewing a shift in swordsmanship.
“Just announcing it isn’t enough! You mentioned our company during the magic demonstration!”
“Yeah, I told you to do that.”
“You know this type of marketing can’t be bought for tens of billions, right? Ah, I’m so proud of you, Na-me.”
“Can you please back off? Just let me watch, please.”
Sadly, it seems Emika did not reach the level to destroy the ‘Inherited Sword.’
Instead, she showcased the level 1 Adela magic by herself, leaving many theoretical magic researchers in despair.
Having proven she could cast magic just with existing spells, she instantly became the focus of media spotlight.
However, the public was paying attention to something a bit different than I expected.
Rather than praising the potential of the magic, people focused even more on the cute Emika wearing a horn.
Trends are like a virus.
And in a capitalist society, companies have an uncanny knack for sniffing out money.
Toy companies and hairband manufacturers rushed to produce the ‘Demon King’s Horn: Emika Edition,’ engaging in a seasonal business.
It was practically free advertising for Bio-Akashic’s magic, so we had no reason to stop it.
“Magic requires tons of expenses for labor and advertising.”
“How far has the multiple sclerosis treatment progressed?”
“Last week, it passed preclinical trials and is moving straight into clinical phase 1.”
“Still?”
“That’s pretty fast, you know? Preclinical tests usually take 2 or 3 years, and we managed it in just 2 months.”
“No, that’s still slow… If we skip directly to phase 2, how long would it take?”
“Skipping phase 2? That’s nearly impossible, but if we receive approval, it’ll still take at least 3 years to get FDA approval.”
Three years is too long.
Vaccines can get emergency approval in just ten months, so why can’t treatments?
“So, speaking of which, Na-me, we can set the selling price at $10,000 a year. You know economics, so take inflation into account…”
“Absolutely below $3,000. There’s no room for negotiation here, so don’t even dream about it.”
“Aren’t fake drugs that do almost nothing selling for like 50,000 or 100,000? Sigh Okay, I got it.”
“Anyway, the shorter the development period, the easier it is to recoup costs. So get on it, Baek Ho-chan, make it quick.”
And I’d basically given my knowledge from my past life for free.
“Outsourcing costs for clinical trials are no joke! The support fund from the country is leaking!”
In the end, money was the issue, rolling back and forth.
To solve problems, you need money, and even the process to earn money requires money.
I softly closed my eyes and clasped my hands together.
While sipping frappuccino, I dove deep into my thoughts.
“Let’s delay the launch of the Demon King’s Horn.”
“Why delay it again? We need to quickly create a cash cow to keep the business afloat!”
“Investments will soon be flowing into the Katsuhata Sect. I don’t know how much it’ll be, but at least we can survive for a month, right?”
“What’s the reason for the delay?”
“Let’s create two versions and put them on the market. One in a level 3 simplified version, the other the original level 5. We can sell the latter at a high price and make a lot of money, right?”
“How would we do that? Based on the performance you described, it doesn’t seem that attractive.”
Of course, since the Demon King’s Horn was tailored for demons, humans would see little effect, a fatal drawback.
The ability to purify mana was hardly practical, except in the Middle East or at a magic power plant; the ability to detect mana streams required immense effort.
“I heard someone say that companies that make what people want to buy are second-rate.”
“…?”
“The truly first-rate companies are the ones that stir a desire to buy, even in people who typically have no thoughts on purchasing.”
“Eh? I think I’ve heard that somewhere.”
“Let me handle the marketing this time.”
[Reply: Sephiron Foundation]
[Your entry to the Academy Competition is permitted.]
There were no height regulations for the middle school division.
There had never been a middle school student below 120 cm at Sephiron Academy.
Considering the hasty rules made due to someone’s injury, it was predictable they would be documented only in the elementary division.
Upon inquiring with the foundation, it seemed somewhat forced, but I was able to participate in the Academy Competition as a middle school student.
