"Quick Grandpa, let's read this book!" Lia commented excitedly as she looked at the beautiful book in her grandfather's hands.
William pulled his granddaughter to sit next to him at the small desk. The dim light of the late afternoon came in through the window, and the silence of the room helped to create a cozy atmosphere.
He carefully opened the book and felt a slight impact just looking at the first page.
Even though he had seen some of the drafts before, now it was different. The book was complete. The drawings, the layout, the details... everything seemed so much more detailed than anything he had ever seen in his life.
Lia stared.
"They're cute." she commented when she saw the first drawing of Hansel and Gretel.
William smiled. "They really are."
As soon as he started reading, something curious happened. Lia, who was usually quickly distracted, became completely focused. With each turn of the page, her eyes lit up as if she were living it right along with the characters.
The story was simple, but very well told, with a vocabulary that was easy to understand and dialogues that sounded as natural as the conversations of commoners.
It was unlike anything William had ever read before.
He was used to exaggerated stories, stories that tried to show how erudite the author was by the way he spoke and described everything. But this story was just about two children lost in the forest, trying to survive, and yet he found himself completely involved.
"Why did their stepmother do that?" Lia asked, with a sad expression as she watched the little siblings being thrown out of the house.
"Some people do bad things when they're scared." William replied, trying not to be too heavy-handed.
When they reached the candy house, Lia put her hand over her mouth in shock.
"Does that really exist, Grandpa?"
William laughed quietly. "I've never seen any magic based on sweets..."
She nodded without taking her eyes off the page.
When Gretel pushed the witch into the oven, Lia started laughing excitedly.
"Well done!" She said softly.
William nodded, surprised at how much Lia was understanding.
This was the first time he had seen his granddaughter so involved in a book.
At the end, when Hansel and Gretel found their father again and took the jewels home, Lia let out a long sigh.
"Is it over?" she asked, disappointed.
"It's over." William replied, carefully closing the book.
Lia sat in silence for a while, thinking.
"It was the best story I've ever seen." She said after a while, with a sincerity so simple that it left William speechless.
He looked down at the book in his hands.
The cover was beautiful, but that wasn't what made the book special, it was the way Raphael told the story.
As the book had pictures to represent everything that was happening, it was very easy for their imaginations to fill in the missing gaps.
Even though they had never seen a candy house, with the drawing of it the image was clear in their minds!
William leaned back in his chair and looked at Lia.
"Would you like to hear other stories like that?"
She nodded vigorously, smiling.
William smiled too.
When he closed the book, William turned to the last page and saw the back cover.
There was Raphael, drawn with a gentle smile on his face, sitting next to a pile of books, with an inkwell and quill in his hand.
The drawing was nice, not in the noble style where the person had to look as glamorous as possible, this drawing gave the impression that Raphael was a nice boy with great stories to tell over afternoon tea.
Underneath was a text he hadn't expected to find:
"For many years, I was a difficult person to deal with. Arrogant, inconsequential and lost in myself.
But now, writing stories like this, I realize how much I still have to learn.
I'm on a journey of change. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying.
If this story has brought you something good, that's a start."
- Raphael Von Kaelen
William read it silently, once, twice, then let out a short laugh.
Perhaps the fact that Raphael didn't try to paint himself as a hero, that he didn't apologize or try to justify himself, but just... acknowledged what he was, and said he wanted to change... was a much more sincere and convincing reaction.
And from what he had seen over the last few days, that change really did seem real.
Raphael hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since he started writing and drawing, nor had he sought out the town brothel or tried any advances on one of the maids.
It was as if the Young Master had had a vision and decided to change for the better.
William ran his hand slowly over the cover of the book, thoughtful.
'Even if it's just window dressing... it's already more than you would have done a year ago. He thought.
Lia looked at him, curious. "Are you mad, Grandpa?"
He shook his head. "No. Just... surprised."
Thinking about what this whole reading experience with Lia had been like, William took out a sheet of paper of inferior quality, and began to write down everything he had observed and felt while reading this story.
He even looked for something to criticize, but apart from how short the book was, he couldn't think of anything else!
So he just ignored the criticism and praised what should be praised.
What he didn't realize was that while the two of them were reading the story and immersed in that world, a small part of their Mana flew to the copy of [Hansel and Gretel] in their hand and was transported to the grimoire in Raphael's hand, increasing his total amount of Mana!
-
Raphael couldn't find the cause of the increase in his Mana, he only knew that the grimoire had increased his total Mana by 2%.
If before he had 100 units of Mana, now his total had risen to 102, which may not seem like much, but considering that in the last few days Raphael hadn't managed to increase it by even 1%, this was already a big step forward!
In the evening, over dinner, William took out a piece of paper and began to explain to Raphael what the experience of reading that book had been like.
Having lived as a poorly educated commoner for most of his life, William felt that the book was made for people like him.
The only flaw he realized after a lot of thought was that perhaps this simpler style of writing wouldn't be very pleasant for nobles, but that the quality of the art used on each page would easily compensate for this.
Raphael listened very carefully, really wanting to understand every point about the story's target audience in this world.
When William talked about the nobles not being very interested, he agreed, but didn't worry too much, now that the production cost for each such book would only be based on Mana, Raphael didn't worry about not being able to sell it, even if the price was low, he would still make a profit, so even if he only depended on poor commoners, there would still be room for profit.
When he had finished eating, Raphael wiped the corners of his mouth with a delicate cloth, maintaining the noble etiquette, and asked seriously. "What price do you consider to be ideal for this book, William?"
William was thoughtful as he looked at the book in his hand.
"As it's your first book and you're not yet a renowned author, I'd suggest between 50 and 100 silver coins, but considering how beautiful the book's illustrations are, even if the price goes up to 2 or 3 gold coins, there will still be people willing to pay." William replied sincerely.
Raphael nodded and closed his eyes, feeling his Mana.
After eating, the speed of his Mana recovery skyrocketed, and considering how much he had recovered in the rest of the day, Raphael now had more than 40% of his Mana available, which unlocked the chance to learn a skill from the grimoire!
Pretending to look at the book [Hansel and Gretel], Raphael opened the grimoire and learned [Reading the Price], quickly draining all the Mana he had accumulated.
During the process, Raphael had to control himself very tightly so as not to frown in pain at the amount of information pouring into his mind.
It was as if he had lived through Laufrey's experiences that had led her to learn this skill.
When he opened his eyes again, looking at [Hansel and Gretel] in his hands, Raphael could focus his intention and price that book much more accurately.
Knowing that he could make a book a day, and that the cost of production was low, it was better to focus on reaching a larger number of people with a low price, than to raise the price too high and only have a few sales a month.
Perhaps in the future he could develop a luxury version, but for now he felt it would be much better to price the book at 12 silver coins.
But to make sure that this ability was correct, he decided to test it with William one more time. "William, if I say that now that I've got used to producing this book, I'll be able to produce a book a day of the same quality as this copy, what price would you recommend?"
Hearing this, William's eyes widened.
"Is this serious, Young Master? When I first saw you doing this, it seemed so complicated, how could you make such beautiful art in such a short time?" He asked confusedly.
Smiling, Raphael didn't answer and got up, walking back to his room.
William quickly followed behind, curious about what the young master wanted to show him.
When they arrived in Raphael's room, he opened a drawer and took out a perfect copy of [Hansel and Gretel], and handed them both to William.
Shocked by what he was seeing, William put the two books side by side and compared everything.
All the illustrations were completely identical, as if... as if Raphael had used the water control magic that wizards use to copy books!
This shocked William even more.
It was common knowledge in the family that Raphael had no talent for magic, but there was no other explanation for this.
"Young Master, if we tell the family about your..." But before William could finish, Raphael shook his head in denial.
"William, you don't have to worry so much about the family, let's just keep this secret between us. I think living here for a while will be better." Raphael explained calmly, surprising William even more.
'Doesn't the young master want to go back to the main family mansion?' William asked confusedly.
But seeing that Raphael didn't want to dwell on the subject, he turned his attention to the two identical books in his hand and thought again.
"Considering the costs of all the materials and ensuring a good profit margin, with a copying speed like this, selling this book for a lower price will be much better for your image and will make it easier to start negotiations while you don't yet have a famous name. Perhaps 15 to 30 pieces of silver would be ideal." William explained seriously.
Listening to his explanation, Raphael was pleased that the price his skill suggested was close to what he had imagined, especially since William didn't know that the cost of the copies was literally zero, so even if he lowered the price of the book from 15 to 12 silver coins, Raphael wouldn't stop making a profit, and he could even boost the book's popularity even more.
"Very well, let's set the starting price at 12 silver coins, if necessary, we can increase this in the future. But before we start selling, we need to work out a better sales strategy." Raphael then began to explain how he planned to sell the books and the best ways of promoting them to attract as many people as possible.
William was increasingly shocked that the "Useless Young Master" who everyone thought knew nothing was actually coming up with such innovative and interesting ideas to promote his book!
Unbeknownst to the people of Valenford, the new Lord of the City was preparing a big surprise for everyone.