After that, I explained everything to the four of them and made phones for Ethefelis and Alice as well. We all registered each other as contacts.
I also turned the remaining glass panels into phones, making seven in total.
I had already decided who they should go to. First would be Lina and Lani, then Dex and Sally, and the rest could be given out depending on the situation.
I also tried silently saying other people's names while injecting mana into a magic core, just to see if it was possible to create a communication magic core with a fake name.
The result was nothing.
The magic core didn't react at all.
I tried several other names, but none of them worked. It seemed the system could recognize a person's true identity, so fake names simply wouldn't work.
After that, I handed the instruction sheet for the communication magic core and the phone design diagram to Jacob. After all, phones were meant to make people's lives more convenient, so naturally they should be mass-produced and sold.
"Jacob, a new business. Want it?"
Jacob accepted the two sheets of paper with both hands and said to me,
"If you're willing to give my family's merchant guild the rights to manufacture and sell them, of course I want it. So how much of the profit do you want?"
Was Jacob speaking to me now as a merchant?
He had mentioned the manufacturing and sales rights. Since I was the inventor, I am entitled to a share of the profits.
And the manufacturing rights were important.
The method for making the phone itself was very simple, and the communication magic core was created personally by the buyer. There were no real trade secrets.
But if I authorized Jacob's merchant guild now, then if other merchant guilds started producing them, I could sue them. At that point, I could collect compensation.
Still, I had never really thought about taking a share of the profits. I already had more money than I could spend in a lifetime.
Should I just say I didn't need anything?
But Jacob was discussing this with a clear separation between business and personal matters. If I refused to take a share, it might actually be disrespectful.
Then again, I didn't need much money.
Ten percent should be enough.
So I raised one finger and answered him.
"Ten percent."
"Only ten percent? It should be at least thirty."
"It's enough. Besides, it wasn't much effort for me."
"Alright then. But you can't regret it later."
"Relax. Do we need to write a contract?"
"Of course we do. But before that, we need to apply for a patent."
"A patent? Where do we apply?"
"The World Patent Technology Association, or WPTA for short. The headquarters are in the economic nation Dorklawar."
I pulled out a map and started looking for Dorklawar. I still hadn't memorized all the countries and their locations.
"Dorklawar... that's far!"
Dorklawar was located in the upper-left corner of the map. It was a western country, but it sat on another continent, meaning we would need to travel by ship.
I should probably explain the geography of this world.
There are three continents in total.
Of course, there are many islands around each continent. Some belong to major nations, while others have become independent small countries. But since we were mainly concerned with countries that had dungeons, those smaller islands weren't very relevant.
First was the Elyea Continent, the largest of the three. On the map, it stretched from the far right side to slightly left of the center.
Major nations on Elyea included Aimebisalon, Butnashso, Asrangari, Bartletis, Migareled, Fenkulidra, and Ashabisht. There were also the Dwarves' Refining Peaks and the Beastmen's Plains of Fury.
However, I didn't see the Merfolk's Enchanted Sea on the map.
Had it not been discovered yet?
Henry(Allen)—hadn't written down its exact location. Did that mean I'd have to find it myself? Since Asrangari was the easternmost nation, it was probably somewhere near there.
Next was the Osred Continent, the smallest continent. On the map, it was located in the lower-right corner.
There was only one country there: Dilibrash.
It could be said that Dilibrash had the largest land area of any nation in the world.
Finally, there was the Flandra Continent, the second largest. It occupied two-thirds of the left side of the map.
Major nations there included Fenkulidra, Mekidebush, Dorklawar, the Elves' Misty Jungle, and the Demon Kingdom Mostraja.
But one country was particularly special.
It existed on both Elyea Continent and Flandra Continent.
That country is Fenkulidra.
Fenkulidra's capital is on the Flandra Continent, but it wasn't connected to the mainland. Instead, it was located on an island to the north—a cold snow-covered kingdom.
Due to geography, the farther north you went, the colder it became. This resulted in very limited habitable land.
But the founding king was the First Brave.
The leaders of the nations had once been companions and friends, so they granted the northern lands of the Elyea Continent to Fenkulidra.
Now, back to Dorklawar.
Its neighboring country was Mostraja, the northwesternmost nation.
Its territory wasn't especially large, but it wasn't small either.
What surprised me was that its neighbor was the Demon Kingdom, yet Dorklawar had still become the world's economic powerhouse.
Just how capable was that king at governing his country?
Or was the Demon King simply terrible at ruling?
However, since our final destination was Mostraja, applying for a patent might take several months.
Wait a minute.
"Jacob, if there's a headquarters, that means there should be branches too, right? Where are they?"
"There is one in Dilibrash, but the headquarters still needs to review everything. I don't know how long it will take—maybe a month, maybe even three. We can't stay in one place for that long."
I knew that patent applications weren't approved instantly, but I didn't expect that major figures at headquarters had to review and approve them.
Waiting two or three days was acceptable.
But longer than that wasn't.
Right now we were in a hurry because of the fake Brave, so we didn't have time to wait for approval.
"You're right… then does our country have one?"
"Yes, but it's even farther from the headquarters. It would take even longer."
All I needed to hear was whether it existed or not. The rest didn't matter.
"That's fine. As long as someone can receive it on my behalf."
"...Are you planning to have Miss Lina handle it?"
Jacob paused for a moment before understanding what I meant.
"Yes. Lina will become one of the inventors of this patent."
I planned to list Lina as one of the inventors. No one would really care about the truth anyway.
But Jacob shook his head.
"That probably won't work. The patent certificate requires two signatures."
When the patent was issued, we would receive a certificate, and the WPTA would keep a copy as proof.
It was like a receipt: the buyer kept one copy, and the seller kept another for their records.
But if two people applied for the patent and only one signature appeared on the certificate, that obviously wouldn't work.
Of course, we could simply register the patent under Lina alone, which would eliminate the need for my signature.
But I hated being left out.
It was my invention, yet it wouldn't require my permission.
Still, I couldn't think of a better solution.
"...Forget it. We'll figure it out later."
I gave up thinking about it.
The matter of the fake Brave was more important than the patent application. We could deal with it later.
After that, I copied the communication magic core instructions and the phone design diagram for Jacob. I kept the originals myself—they would probably be useful again.
At 11 a.m., we finally set off for the capital to find Laje Turin.
Hopefully, he would actually be home this time.