Cæ stirred, falling into thought at that description of him. He hadn't ever considered himself to be a commercial strategist, he was even confident that this wasn't even a widely recognized posting.
However, the description wasn't entirely wrong.
His contributions to Trinity Housings had all been in the form of strategy. Starting from when he did research and learned more about the market and the existing paradigms so that he could understand why they were deeply insufficient for the slums.
He had spent a lot of time coursing through economic data from the government documenting the economics of the slums and estimating the purchasing power of the top ten-percent of the people of the slums through that.
Additionally, he had his own early life in the slums to weigh that against, although at the time he had spent time fleshing out his idea to sell housing in the slums, it had already been seven years since he departed from the slums. Since then, things had changed economically. The food scarcity caused by the war between the Estroycia Federation and the Lenea Republic had caused inflation, which meant that most of his experience in the slums was entirely invalid when it came to estimating how much purchasing power they had in the modern era.
It took actual analysis and strategizing based on a variety of sources of information.
"Commercial strategist…" Cæ remarked with a hint of intrigue in his stoic tone. "I suppose there is some truth to it."
Leland, the old man, gazed at him with a piercing gaze.
"You… you're from the slums, aren't you?"
Cæ raised an eyebrow. "…Yes. Was it that evident?"
"Hah, the opposite," the man shook his head. "A lot of time must have passed since you resided in the slums. It's very hard to tell, and you have most of the mannerisms of someone who has lived in the inner city. But…"
His sharp elder eyes saw right through Cæ. "…There is an intensity to you that gave me the idea. It seems I was right."
Cæ shrugged lightly. "It has been almost nine years since I moved. Since then, I have spent most of my time in the inner city and have thoroughly gotten accustomed to it."
"Hmmm…" the man mused quietly as he studied Cæ more thoroughly. "It makes sense. It's no wonder. Only someone from the slums would have such an intimate understanding of exactly what the people of the slums need. Only someone from the slums would understand the depth of the problems caused by the shitty ticking time-bombs they call homes."
Rui's eyebrows furrowed as a realization dawned on him. "You are also…?"
"Yes," he confirmed with a light huff. "It's been many years since then, of course. I came to the inner city from the slums looking for work, and the previous owner of this manufacturing factory took pity on me and gave me a job. And well…"
He huffed, taking a seat on the sofa, gesturing to them to sit on the comfortable couch opposite him. "The rest is history."
Cæ and Seliphaz took seats opposite him, making themselves comfortable.
"I must say," Cæ remarked. "I am impressed that you try out every item that you contract to manufacture ahead of time. That is a level of dedication that I seldom see from any manufacturer. They all contract without even asking for samples, after all. The money made doesn't really change whether or not they put in the personal effort or not."
"You would be surprised," the man disagreed with a slight shake of his head. "There are many things you can learn simply by personally using and consuming a given product over a period of time. You can tell what kind of people the designers were. You can tell what kind of people their workers are. You can tell how much thought and emotional investment is put into even mass-produced products. Most of the time, they are doing it only for money. But every once in a while…"
He turned towards the haven unit with a hint of appreciation. "…I run into a product that has more to it than just monetary greed."
Cæ heaved a sigh inwardly that Seliphaz had been truly passionate about the project from the very start. It was surely thanks to her that she had managed to pass this fellow's tests, which seemed to be taking them in the direction of getting a quick contract with Marshall's Manufacturing.
"Can I ask you something?" Seliphaz asked with a flustered tone of curiosity.
"Hm?" the old man raised an eyebrow.
"…Why do you not have any enchantifiers in your factory?" she asked with a hint of hesitation. "Why do you not manufacture of enchanted items and products?"
It was a truly baffling notion not to have the most fundamental cornerstone of modern magitechnology and one of the origins of the Magindustrial Revolution. There was no way that this decision didn't have an enormously significant reason behind it.
Cæ suspected that there were some strategic considerations behind it. Given that the old man expressed some interest and appreciation for Cæ's labelled role as a commercial strategist, he had to admit that there was a good chance that the man was a strategic businessman himself.
The man scoffed. "I don't like enchanted items. That's all there is to it."
Both Cæ and Seliphaz frowned at the man with flummoxed expressions.
"That's it…?" Seliphaz asked with a stunned tone. "You don't like enchanted items and products, so you decided to get rid of them?"
The old man snorted. "Of course, why would I need any other reason?"
"…"
Cæ stared at the man with a dubious expression. "…Why do you not like enchanted items? That too, to the point of letting your dislike for it affect your business decisions?"
The man heaved a deep sigh. "…I grew up without them."
Cæ stirred with a softened expression.
Their common background gave them shared experiences.
"Even after I permanently moved to the city…" he continued with a solemn tone. "I never got used to them. No…"
His eyes sharpened. "I didn't want to get used to them…"
His tone grew more intense. "I harbored a deep resentment towards them due to the fact that I never had them for much of my early life. I was also simply a stubborn mule of a young man back in the day. Even to this day, you won't find too many enchanted items in my office, outside of the absolute bare minimum needed to function in the modern world. I prefer to minimize their presence in my life to the extent that I am able to pragmatically do so."
He turned, shifting his gaze to the magiputer and the magimobile at his table. Without the power of modern information magitechnology and communication technology, it was virtually impossible to participate in human civilization to the extent that one could. Certainly, to the extent that he did, he was still serving as an active, participating leader in his business.
"When the previous owner, Marshall, gave me ownership of the company shortly before he retired," the man's expression grew nostalgic as he thought about the past. "I had the opportunity to get rid of the enchantifiers. And, in order to minimize how much I needed to interact with enchanted products, I was able to get rid of the enchantifiers in my factory and replace them with other machinery. Of course, the machinery itself is, to my greatest regret, enchanted items themselves."
His tone was partially bitter.
"…That's a remarkable hatred for enchanted items," Cæ remarked with a careful tone. "I understand where you're coming from, but you're forsaking a lot of profits."
A confident smile emerged on his face. "That's where you're wrong."
Cæ raised a surprised eyebrow.
"There are more people than you'd think who sell non-enchanted items," the man continued with an informative tone. "They sell crafts, products, and items made up of mana-rich substances and even use alchemy in their production to produce a truly remarkable outcome."
He directed a pointed gaze to Cæ and Seliphaz. "You fellows would fall into that category. These kinds of producers are always searching for factories that don't have a heavy lean on enchantment magitechnology, and I can assure you we are among the very few manufacturers of our scale who focus on non-enchanted products. And none go as far as we do."
These contract manufacturers were among the most desired by these subset of producers who sought factories that didn't have an overwhelming slant towards for the enchanted magitechnology.
Cæ's eyes lit up with a hint of interest.
He knew that there had to be a reason why the man was able to remain afloat and not only maintain such a large factory to remain so spotless but also rake in substantial profits. There were a lot of things that he found to be fascinating about the old man, but what really surprised him was how much he was able to thrive in manufacturing despite being such a stubborn luddite.
"It's not that I deny the utility or the power of enchanted items," the man remarked. "After all, these products contain the imbued probably of a mage in them, allowing the user to be able to trigger magic. However…"
His expression darkened. "It consumes too much energy. Far too much, far too frequently. And without magical energy to sustain its enchantments, it will wither away and become entirely useless. It is a fickle paradigm of technology,y and I much prefer non-enchant magitechnology over it, primitive, limited, and weak as it is."
Seliphaz's eyes lit up as she realized she had found a kindred soul.
One of the reasons that she had chosen to pursue alchemy and structural engineering was to develop non-enchant magitechnology precisely because she didn't want to contribute to the growing hunger for magical energy that grew with each year as more and more enchantment magitechnology proliferated through human civilization.
She had faced an enormous amount of pushback and contempt for her decision, but she had stood steadfast to her path and didn't let cease to believe in herself. It had only made her more determined to prove that her work was very beneficial to the good of mankind so that she could prove to herself that she was right for choosing her path and sticking with it.
She also wanted to make a positive impact on the world.
That was why she had accepted Cæ's offer to join his business venture almost immediately after their discussion. While Feidin had mulled over the decision over the span of a week, she had immediately accepted his offer, for she saw the potential for good by accepting Cæ's offer.
She couldn't think of a more noble application of her skill and power to help the people of the slums gain more stable and safe housing so that they could go to sleep at night without wondering whether the roof of the building would collapse on them.
"The reason that I wanted to speak with you folks was to express my appreciation for the fact that you have chosen to pursue such a noble goal without relying on enchanted magitechnology so that the people of the slums could afford it and so I would have the honor of mass-manufacturing the remarkable haven units that you folks have produced," the old man smiled with an uncharacteristic softness.