"Wait... What the... What?!"
That was my grandfather's exact reaction when I explained the rune system to him.
He stood up from his chair. Sat back down. Got up again. Then finally sat one last time, placing one hand over his mouth, the other on his forehead. His white hair created a nice contrast against his rapidly draining face.
"Careful now. You're about to express-deliver this old man into his next life," Mnex whispered helpfully.
Apparently, what Grandpa was currently experiencing statistically increased the chance of a heart attack.
"We need to tell Richard. Immediately," he blurted, leaping from his chair. He was walking, but the urgency in his pace made it feel more like running.
"Follow me!" he barked, not even looking back.
My father was in his office at the administrative wing of the mansion, as usual. William was there too.
"The Council of Elders has assembled," Mnex quipped in mock reverence.
Once everyone was seated, I repeated the discovery, leaving Mnex's existence out, of course. I explained how I'd improved upon the rune system, originally learned from Uncle Philip, by expanding two rune combos into triplets… and then beyond. Eventually, I'd developed a pattern that made them viable for agriculture.
I called it the Mana Infused Organism.
They tried to stay quiet, but the occasional "huh?", "ow!", and "wow!" slipped through, accompanied by increasingly colorful facial expressions.
"For the love of the gods, Henry!" my father managed.
"My Lord… please, let me retire," William said to no one in particular, staring into the distance. "It's time I moved to a quiet village with my family... somewhere without magic. Or poultry."
To be honest, I couldn't understand why they were reacting so dramatically. I looked at them like, what's the big deal?
Apparently my father understood the look and sighed.
"Henry, do you know the most common cause of war?"
What kind of question is that? Greedy kings and selfish nobles, obviously. But I didn't say that aloud, I just kept staring.
He took a deep breath, rubbing his temples.
"Listen carefully," he began. "Not long ago, you set up that poultry farm. We brought in ten thousand chickens, basically every bird in the city. It was winter, during a food crisis. We used them to fight the famine. Slaughtered many, distributed their eggs."
I nodded. That was the plan, after all.
"And do you know how many chickens are there now?"
I hadn't visited the farm in a while… maybe a few thousand?
"Fourteen thousand. And growing."
Mnex? Did he mess up the numbers?
"No, Henry. When I explained the plan, I assumed the math would go over your head. So I kept it to myself."
Turns out… hens lay eggs daily. Our incubators worked flawlessly. Eggs hatched in three weeks. Then, after another three weeks, the chicks matured into new hens.
On top of that, I'd been constantly funding food supply through soap profits. Combined with what our family borrowed to feed the city, we'd actually managed the crisis better than I thought. And now that the poison in the soil was fading and crop yields were rising again… egg and meat production had barely slowed down.
Which meant…
Godfrey's Cross might soon become the most food-rich region on the entire continent.
And if the MIO system worked and we could pull off three harvests per year instead of one...
"Now do you understand, Henry?" my father said quietly. "We are a county. Barely a mid tier noble house. Yes, Godfrey's Cross is large for a county, but militarily and politically, we don't stand out. Our strength comes from trade and fertile land because we're lucky enough to be in the kingdom's western breadbasket."
And now, it all made sense.
Someone had tried to break us with poisoned soil. Someone wanted us on our knees.
But we'd endured. We'd paid off our debts. And now… we had food to spare.
Sooner or later, everyone would start looking our way.
"So… what are we going to do?" I asked.
If it were up to me, I honestly wouldn't have cared. I'd just install the MIO system and use the profits to raise a small army.
"I don't know," the three of them said in unison.
"I have an idea," Mnex chimed in, breaking the silence.
"What if we only install the MIO system on lands owned by farmers we trust? While we're at it, we set up a few more granaries. That way, production increases gradually and doesn't raise suspicion."
It was the only idea on the table but even if we had a dozen, it probably would've been the best one anyway.
I relayed Mnex's suggestion word for word. The others sat in thought for a while before launching into a long, quiet discussion that lasted until noon.
While I sat listening, my mind drifted to the new agricultural tools we'd designed using Mnex's updates. Tilda had already started building the prototypes. If we introduced them to the market now, we could credit the rise in food production to them. Traveling merchants would love the novelty and spread them to other regions. That way, even if output increased, people would assume it was the tools and not some secret magic system buried beneath the soil.
"Eventually, they'll catch on. But by then, we'll be untouchable." Mnex's future vision was on point.
More profits for me, and less attention on the MIO.
Once the plan was agreed upon, my father and Theo personally met with a handful of trustworthy farmers. I sent word to Raymond, who then had the new tools delivered to them, escorted by a few soldiers. Among the wagons were crates containing the wooden rods and iron cubes engraved with the MIO runes, carefully concealed.
A few days later, I rode out with Doyle to oversee the installations. My job was to lead the process. With the help of the farmers, Doyle, and a small team of guards, we began installing the system piece by piece. I had to travel out to the fields frequently, making that stretch of time especially exhausting. But by the end of a few weeks, everything was done. The new granaries and administrative steps were left to my father and William thankfully, not my problem.
With the system in place, there was only one thing left to do is wait.
And so, we did.
While waiting, I sent Charles and Raymond a list of supplies. It included,
animal fats, olive oil, honey, rosewater, chamomile and lavender water, egg whites (which were now the most common item in Godfrey's Cross thanks to our chicken situation), white clay, rosemary, sage, and resin from specific tree types. All collected discreetly, piece by piece, from merchants outside Remy's network.
The next product line was ready.
The formulas had already been sent. Renovations on the new production buildings were nearly complete. With the MIO project off my desk, it was finally time to shift gears and dive into skincare.
By the time the harvest season arrived, the farms with MIO installed had already completed a second round of crops. We'd hidden those fields by surrounding them with ones not connected to the system, keeping everything neatly out of sight.
No one noticed a thing.
Meanwhile, Charles had finished gathering the materials and started production.
The process itself was simple, but I still had to show him the steps firsthand.
Three parts olive oil, one part beeswax, one part honey.
3:1:1 ratio, olive oil, beeswax, and honey. That was the base. A simple, functional face cream.
But this wasn't just about function. Mnex and I had bigger plans.
We infused dried chamomile and sage, first soaked in water, then steeped in oil to enhance the mixture. Some batches had honey and lavender water added for extra moisture. For the premium versions, we enriched the blend with tree resins. Another variant used white clay as a base to create a cleansing cream. And the most expensive formula of all, the night balm, used nearly every ingredient in the list.
Of course, I wasn't a fraud. Every product passed through Mnex's quality control before being cleared for sale. I was going to make a fortune, but I intended to do it honestly. Or… at least as honestly as I reasonably could.
After all, I knew I'd be getting paid either way.
Once the production was complete, it was time to visit my treacherous business partner.
I didn't waste time. I gathered the goods and headed straight to The Fugger, Remy's domain. As always, he greeted me with an oversized smile, arms open, voice warm, dripping with joy.
Wait for it, Remy.
Laugh all you want.
I won't just have the last laugh… I'll turn it into your worst nightmare.
Before I break you, I'll raise you. All the way to the top…
So when you fall, you'll have farther to scream.
"Oh, young lord," he said, eyeing the basket beside me as I sat down. "What might these be? New products, perhaps?"
"Indeed, Remy," I said, carefully pulling each item from the basket. "Meet the Phoenix Golden Touch. Our newest line."
His eyes sparkled as he picked up each jar and vial, inspecting them.
"I've never seen anything like these. They smell… delightful. Are they edible?"
I laughed warmly, as best I could.
Silly snake.
"No, Remy. These are what we call skincare products."
I went over the details one by one…
The basic cream, the herbal moisturizer, the clay cleanser, the resin-rich luxury formula, and of course, the full size night balm.
I explained the synergy between them, how each supported the next, how used together they'd deliver visible results in just three weeks. Firmer skin. Brighter tone. A youthful glow.
Halfway through the pitch, I almost felt like a professional salesman. Almost.
"If what you say is true," he said after a moment, "then these will make us a fortune.
However…"
He paused, theatrically. Thinking over his next words, no doubt pre-scripted.
"…You understand, I can't sell these blindly just because you say so. Would it trouble you if I tested them first?"
"Not at all."
I left without complaint. Three weeks wasn't long.
Time passed quickly. There were always things to do, plans to sharpen, systems to tweak.
Mnex kept me busy. He was teaching me politics and finance now. On the side, we continued our work on runes and spells.
Then, three weeks later, word came back.
Remy was pleased. Sales began.
For the first year, I agreed not to request upfront payment. Let them see the value first.
But next year?
Prepayment would be the norm.
Our estimates suggested a return between 250,000 and 290,000 Solmar from skincare alone.
The chickens were multiplying.
The soaps and dental kits were still selling strong.
The skincare products had officially launched.
The famine was behind us, and production was on the rise.
And me?
I was just a four year old.
But the only thing on my mind… was growth.
Growth.
And more growth.