Market Research

The second day of being three years old, Paia just finished her daily lessons from Raine today. If Aunt Raine was a teacher at school, Paia would have graduated and moved up two levels a long while ago.

She learned a lot during the past month. She is already capable of having a conversation with an adult using this continent's language, Tera. Tera is the name of the continent their city is situated on, and it is also the official name of the language for their citizens.

It wasn't just the language her teacher has been teaching. History, culture, and even the proper etiquette were a part of their lessons.

It's not just a father's exaggeration when he told Paia is a genius. She is more than capable of normal kids twice her age.

"You want to start learning magic?"

"Uhum~ Auntie Raine told Big Sister Risa is the best at it."

"You're giving me too much praise."

After the class from teacher Raine, Paia went to her newly added subject led by the fifth oldest sibling of the wolf family.

Paia is with her best friend, Rina, while they tried to persuade Risa to teach them the basics of magic. They each had their own small wands that were given by the loving Raine.

The reason why two adorable kids of different races were asking to be taught is because Paia convinced Rina that it would be fun playing with birds made of mana like how the weird uncle did during her birthday party.

"Alright, I can teach you the basics. But I want both of you to promise me you'll be careful. Magic is not simply a toy you play with."

"Thank you, Big Sister Rina!" Two kids nodded fervently.

They went to their backyard to begin the first step of feeling the mana around them. Since they were still very young, it was the best time for them to build their foundation.

That is why Risa happily accepted them as her students not only because they were her family, but also because she wants to see how her sister and Paia would grow up following her footsteps.

"Listen well kids. The first thing you need to know when starting with magic is that everything is made out of mana."

"What's mana?"

Expecting that question, Risa continued, "So you can understand, let me show you a little bit of something."

She knows using technical terms will be useless for these growing kids. It is best if she show a demonstration to let them visualize what she is talking about. And the way she would be able to do that is by putting them in a state where they would be able to see the threads of mana.

No parent should be worried about this because what she would be doing is safe even for infants.

"Close your eyes, and only open them if I tell you so."

Risa went behind the two who are sitting on the chair. Seeing they have followed her instruction, she put the tip of her index finger on the back of their heads.

From the perception of Paia, it wasn't darkness what she saw when keeping her eyes closed. Feeling the touch of Risa on her hair, colorful threads of light burst out from the world where light should not be present.

It opened a beautiful world. A world where only the chosen ones can see and enter.

However, Paia doesn't know all of that. All she thinks at the moment is how amazing it would be if she can show this scenery to her father.

This state of theirs didn't last long. After a dozen breaths, they came back to reality where Risa is waiting for them with a wand in her hand.

"Were you able to see what is mana?"

"Those pretty lights?"

"Yep, and I want you to remember how you feel during that short time you were able to see those things. We'll be doing the same thing until you can see them without my help."

With the help of her wooden carved wand, Risa created what she thinks they saw when she put them in that state. Maybe not created because mana is always present around them. All she was doing is making them visible through the naked eye.

Although unlike what Paia saw, the light Risa created was paler and had lesser variety in color. She doesn't know what that entails, but she's still too amazed to think about it. She was just too excited to step into the world of magic that she was more focused on what their teacher is teaching them.

*******

Meanwhile far away from where his daughter was learning magic, the father visited a grand-looking building located in District 1.

It wasn't the Auction House which is the second-largest architecture before the King's castle. However, this place appears grander compared to those two. There was a reason for it, and that reason is that the audience this place receives is mostly from those who are from the upper part of the society.

That means Brian who isn't part of it doesn't have the ability to enter and was stuck staring at a corner where the bodyguards of the establishment cannot trouble him.

He tried going in, but he just got pushed off after he cannot provide them with a letter of recommendation. So now he's drinking tea at a shop just across where this high-class place named Fantasia is seen.

Fantasia or from what he heard is supposed to be an establishment that provides service only adults can enter. Although it's not anything he would highly avoid talking about it to Paia.

"How do I get a letter of recommendation for Fantasia?" Brian asked the server that brought his tea.

"It's impossible for us unless you have connections with a noble. But if you do have one, it's easy from there."

"Hmm… Is watching people fight really that entertaining?"

Yes, Fantasia as magical it sounds, is a fighting arena entertainment establishment where people can bet to guess which contestant would win.

The reason why only high-class people can enter it is because of one thing, and that is thing is money. A decent blacksmith owner with a decent amount of money like him would still vomit when he heard how much the minimum is for every bet.

"Can I just put it on the list? Looks like this gambling house earns tons of Royal Coins."

<System: Rejected. Assumptions are not research>

Brian already had two names of the lucrative business in Soliel he knows and is confident is right. And weapon/armor selling was one of them. Naturally, this includes his blacksmith.

It is a given when one of the main livelihoods of the citizens living here is to hunt Pest and such. Adventurer Guild is probably the get-to-go place for people who are planning to earn money. And earning a bag of gold can only be possible with good equipment.

The next thing he wrote is surprisingly the Church. There were tons of Gods people believed here, but two Gods are more prominent compared to others. It is also only the believers of these Gods did the King permit them to create their church in the city.

Protegenus, the Giver of Life.

And Apolaki, God of War.

None of these names rang inside the head of Brian. The Gods people here in Tera believed in a different set of Gods compared to what they had in Auzeweth. And as a man coming from Earth, it made him fearful of what to believe because these Gods were real and gave their blessing to the people.

But that is for the bigger picture… What made these churches so profitable is because they also act as the hospital here in Soliel. It's a common sight to find people with healing magic especially in the Church of Protegenus.

That alone makes the churches the most visited places here.

However, like hospitals, it doesn't cure everything and costs a lot just to heal the littlest complication a man can have. It's just through faith why people look at the Church first before any other things when a problem arises from their lives.

These two businesses were very different from each other, but one thing is interrelated between them- And that is the fact it all relates to fighting. And it seems to keep going because he ended up here in front of Fantasia.

"I'm seeing a pattern here… Maybe if the Guilds weren't intensely regulated by the King, then the Adventure Guild could become a part of my list."

Finishing his tea, he left to find a way how he can enter the third candidate for his list.