Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World

29 - This is Fine... Really

Author's Note:

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Ethan stood near a window of his manor, peering through the curtains at the scene unfolding outside.

The once-quiet streets of his estate were now filled with angry voices and raised fists. A sea of townspeople had gathered, their faces contorted with rage and most importantly, fear.

Shouts like "NO MORE LIES!" and "RETURN OUR AURUMS!" drowned everything.

He let the curtain fall back into place, shutting out the accusatory glares. When Leto had informed him the situation was bad, and it needed his attention, he hadn't expected it to be this bad.

He'd quickly made his way from the soap factory, then rounded the manor, hidden, and entered through the back.

Still, that hardly mattered.

What mattered was that the people were suffering. Whether it was his fault or not, half the town was sick, a few already dead, and people were looking for someone to blame.

He knew that. His shoulders slumped regardless. Just why? This was not how things were supposed to go. Everything was going perfectly. Well, not perfectly, but it had been going as well as it could.

His soap was meant to do something the people of the town needed. Desperately. A cure of the Blight. It was salvation for these people. Instead, it had become the focus of their ire. So much so that they finally stood up and rallied in front of his manor—which was something they hadn't done often. The only time they'd done it was when Theo had raised taxes multiple times. The people had starved that month, and their hunger had led them to doing just this.

It's understandable. They never believed in Theodore. Never. Not even after I took over. Now, when they finally started to do that due to me, this happens... So, yes, it's very understandable.

Ethan paced the length of his study, his mind racing.

What was happening was horrible. How had it all gone so wrong? The soap worked against the Blight; he was certain of that. But this new illness... it was an unknown variable.

One that threatened to undo everything he had built.

He stopped at his desk, absently running his fingers over the smooth wood. What were his options? He could try to reason with the crowd, explain that this new sickness was not the Blight. But would they listen? In their fear and anger, would they be open to logic? Unlikely.

He could order his guards to disperse the crowd, but that would only fan the flames of their discontent.

Violence was not the answer here; it would only serve to paint him as the tyrant they already believed him to be.

Perhaps he could offer refunds, as they demanded. But that would be an admission of guilt, wouldn't it? An acknowledgment that his soap had failed, even though he knew it hadn't. And practically speaking, did he even want to refund everyone? He needed to pay taxes, for fuck's sake. He had debt, and knowing the soap's success, the damn Merchants Guild would be upon him with one of their representatives.

It was fortunate that a high-ranking member of the Merchants' Guild, Bertram, embezzled a massive amount of money by manipulating accounts and forging documents. It was even more lucky for Ethan that the [Merchant Lord] then disappeared with the stolen funds. At that time, it'd made the Guild very cautious about lending money, especially to those already in debt like Theo. But, most importantly, it had left them with so many headaches, paper work, and internal investigations that they had little time to focus on smaller debtors.