King Faust had been subdued, marking the end of the operation.

  Most of the pace soldiers remained unaware of what had transpired; everything had been swiftly resolved.

  Erza Knightwalker led Nate toward her personal quarters within the pace, dismissing any soldiers who approached with a few choice words.

  Soon, the two arrived at her private storage room.

  Inside, Nate received a chest filled with gold bars.

  “I’m not sure how much this gold is worth in your world,” Erza remarked thoughtfully. “Here, it’s valued at about 300 million J.”

  “If it’s less than expected, I’ll personally cover any shortfall,” she added.

  Since the production cost of a single ring was under 10,000 J, even accounting for materials and the cost of the embedded crima, the rings yielded over 200% profit—a true windfall.

  “As agreed, you’ll receive a quarter of the profits…” Nate began, but Knightwalker shook her head.

  “I’m not interested in money,” she said firmly. “Your Internet Magic is a tremendous asset to Edos. I’d rather secure a rger supply of rings, if possible.”

  Spoken like a future queen, already beyond material wealth?

  Nate considered this for a moment and decided that colborating directly with her might be a viable option.

  According to Jude’s projections, next month’s production target was one million rings. This was only an estimate, of course, and actual output could vary.

  The Kingdom of Fioré could easily absorb this amount, so there was no surplus to send to Knightwalker. Fioré had a popution of around 17 million, and it was just a single, neutral nation on the southern tip of East Continent Ishgar. Ishgar itself was home to numerous other countries, and beyond it y the West, North, and South Continents.

  Nate wasn’t sure of the total popution of Earth Land, but with production capped at one million rings per month, it would take years to satisfy demand. Additionally, the rings weren’t designed to st more than a year and a half with regur use.

  What a shrewd businessman! Nate mentally criticized Lucy’s father as he turned to the future Queen Erza.

  “I don’t have any extra rings to sell you,” he said, “but here’s a thought: why don’t you set up your own production?”

  Queen Erza looked surprised. “Produce them ourselves?”

  “It’s actually quite simple,” he replied, giving her a brief overview of the production process.

  The Queen’s eyes sparkled. If Edos could manufacture its own rings, costs would be significantly reduced.

  In Edos, where people cked innate magic power, they relied entirely on magic items to perform magical feats. This reliance had fostered a highly advanced magic item industry, with countless skilled artisans and workshops.

  Based on Nate’s description, the only challenging material needed to produce the rings was crimas, which could be imported from Earth Land. But now that Edos had access to the internet, crima imports were no longer an issue.

  “So, Your Radiance, are you interested in a partnership?” Nate asked with a smile. “Profits would be split the same way I’ve arranged with my other partner—fifty-fifty. And there’s one additional condition.”

  “What did you call me? Your Radiance?”

  A faint smile flickered in Erza’s eyes; she was beginning to understand why her counterpart in the other world was so fond of him.

  “I’m not yet this country’s queen…” she protested lightly, then nodded. “I’m interested in colborating with you. What’s the additional condition?”

  “It’s simple, Queen Born of Stars,” Nate said, switching to another title. “I want the rings you produce to be listed on the upcoming [Magic Net Marketpce] so people in Earth Land can purchase them as well.”

  Erza finally couldn’t help but ugh. “Queen Born of Stars? What’s that?”

  “There’s a world called Azeroth,” Nate expined. “In that world, there’s a queen named Azshara. Her beauty is so radiant that she’s known as the Light of Lights.”

  Is that so?

  Azeroth, Queen Azshara? Edos, Queen Erza?

  Erza’s look held a hint of suspicion—she wondered if Nate was just toying with her by fttering her beauty.

  “You don’t believe me?” Nate chuckled.

  “I do! Thank you for the compliment!” She sighed, conceding pyfully, “Now, let’s get back to business.”

  Nate hid his grin. This Erza did have a slightly different personality. If it were Erza Scarlet, her reaction would likely be different.

  “What exactly is the [Magic Net Marketpce]?” she inquired.

  “It’s a feature in the next update…” Nate expined, briefly describing the pnned updates and the purpose of the [Magic Net Marketpce].

  Her eyes widened in surprise as she listened. “You mean the Magic Net isn’t even fully developed yet?”

  To her, the Magic Net was already an incredible magical invention. But here Nate was, saying it was far from complete and would only become more powerful over time.

  “Save your surprise for ter; this is just the beginning.” Nate appreciated her stunned expression. “In any case, I need you to agree to list the rings on the [Magic Net Marketpce]. That’s a condition for our partnership.”

  “Agreed!” Queen Erza extended her hand seriously to seal the deal. “Nate-san, you are the true Light of Lights, bringing hope to Edos!”

  “No need for titles like ‘-san.’ And definitely not ‘Light of Lights.’ That’s usually used to describe women…” Nate replied with a hint of exasperation. Was she teasing him now? Very Erza-like indeed.

  He recalled once telling Erza Scarlet to “stand here and don’t move” just to mess with her, and she’d quickly caught on, teasing him back. These two Erzas shared the same quick wit.

  Erza hid a small smile, then turned to leave. “I’ll fetch the ceremonial attire for your speech. Please wait here.”

  After a short while, she returned with a richly decorated outfit.

  Nate took it, and with a touch of magic, changed into it instantly.

  “Do you have a prepared speech?” he asked.

  “A speech?” She shook her head. “Feel free to improvise. Just say you’re a visitor from another world who brought the [Magic Net] to ours and resolved the crisis of magic depletion!”

  Nate mused. Should he really be blunt? “Your former king committed terrible crimes, so he’s been dethroned?”

  Probably not ideal.

  As he pondered, his ring fshed with a message from Mystogan.

  Mystogan: “We’ve secured the pace. Please come to the Privy Council chambers.”

  Nate: “What about the king?”

  Mystogan: “He’s still unconscious. I’m hoping he’ll abdicate voluntarily and crown the new queen himself.”

  Mystogan: “Bring Erza as well; she should have a say in this.”

  Nate closed the message and, remembering something, took out a stack of cards and handed them to Queen Erza.

  “These are your comrades—the soldiers from the 2nd and 4th Magic War Divisions. I’m returning them to you.”

  Bleam