Magic revolution of a Young Noblewoman Starting Over ~ The Executed Villainess restores her Ruined Family ~ Restraint? Prudence? I'm more interested in magic tools than that! - Chapter 91
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- Magic revolution of a Young Noblewoman Starting Over ~ The Executed Villainess restores her Ruined Family ~ Restraint? Prudence? I'm more interested in magic tools than that!
- Chapter 91 - Magic Photographic Machine (Camera)
Magic Photographic Machine (Camera)
☆
“That being said, where should we start?”
Seeing me pondering, Theo opened his mouth.
“For now, we should start with that.”
Saying so, he pointed to the cash register.
“I was thinking about this when I heard what was said earlier. Even a veteran could get confused when doing different reception and billing services at the same cash register. Since we’ve got a number of employees, it’d probably be better to separate the registers based on the details of the service.”
“Ah, I see. Certainly, if we did that then all the customers not here for photo shoots wouldn’t have to be kept waiting. ——— As expected of Theo, someone involved in the workings of a great company!”
I put on a sweet smile,
“W-, well, I guess,”
and Theo said that while scratching his cheek.
The effect of separating the cash registers was clearly visible.
There were 8 people in line.
One for purchasing a camera, one to discuss jewellery, two who wished to get photos printed, and the remaining four wished to make reservations for photo shoots.
For those purchasing cameras and discussing jewellery, an employee skilled in explaining the respective item was assigned to work in front of the showcase, and for those wishing to have photos printed, an additional cash register was added.
Due to these measures, the oppressive feeling in the register line was considerably reduced.
“Even so, that doesn’t mean the number of customers have decreased, huh.”
“That’s a lot just here for photo shoots.”
It’s just as Theo said.
As the time taken for each photo shoot hadn’t shortened, those waiting in the store for photo shoots were still piled up as before.
The processing speed for everything other than the photo shoots had decreased, so the time the patrons had to wait had abated, but the numerous people inside the store doesn’t seem to have changed much.
“I guess this is the limit.”
Lynette had on a troubled expression.
“Sigh, I guess the only thing left to do is something like hanging a 『Closed』 sign on the door.”
Theo shrugged his shoulders.
I thought for a bit as I looked at the congested interior, then eventually opened my mouth.
“——— alright. Let’s have the customers go home.”
““Huhhh???””
Hearing what I said, Theo and Lynette looked my way, startled.
——— have the customers go home.
Hearing just those words, my statement may have sounded eccentric.
However, it’s a realistic solution I came up with after much consideration.
Today, there are still 10 groups waiting for photo shoots.
It’ll be over four hours before all the photoshoots are done.
All the employees will end up working overtime.
Putting it the other way, the last of the groups of customers waiting here will still have to wait no less than 3 hours, is what that means.
For both the store and the customers, that’s quite an undesirable situation.
If their interests align, there’s a possibility of a compromise being agreed upon.
Meaning, this is what I thought of doing.
“What if we called out to the customers waiting for photo shoots, and tried suggesting 『If you transfer your reservation to tomorrow or later, we’ll give you an extra photo shoot pose for free』?”
““I see!!””
Theo and Lynette reacted exaggeratedly to my words.
“That’s a great idea! There’s nearly no demerits for the store, and I also think it’ll make it easy for the customers to change the day of their photo shoot!!”
“If they don’t like it, they don’t have to reschedule, so it’s worth suggesting.”
Lynette reacted with amazing tension, and Theo nodded his head, going 『yeah, yeah』.
“Then, let’s call out to them immediately.”
Thus, we split up and went around calling out to all the customers.
——— 30 minutes later.
The store’s interior, which had been so crowded with people, had now become about half of that, and the atmosphere was calm.
“We somehow managed, huh.”
Calling out to Theo beside me, he smiled fondly and looked at me.
“Letty’s amazing after all.”
“Huh?”
“Not only are you able to make magic tools, but you’ve also got good business talent.”
“That’s an over-exaggeration.”
Laughing as I said so, Theo let out a sigh.
“No, I really should have been the one to propose that we negotiate with them. Once I gave up, I was disqualified as a merchant.”
Saying so, Theo laughed self-deprecatingly.
Seeing him like that, I spoke to him.
“You came up with the idea to split the registers up, didn’t you? Because of what Theo did, I was able to think of what to do next. So, it’s fine to say 『we did our best together』. Right?”
Theo stared blankly for a moment after hearing my words, then eventually let out a huff of laughter.
“I guess so. It’s just as Letty said.”
“Right?”
“Yeah.”
Theo nodded.
Seeing as his cheerfulness returned, I spoke to him.
“Well then. Since the store has calmed down, let me explain to you the displayed camera and photos!”
“Yeah. Please do so.”
And then, I guided Theo around the inside of the store.
☆
We toured once around the store and studio.
Wherein, as expected, Theo became interested in the camera.
“What kind of mechanism does this have?”
He was so interested that I took apart the display just a bit and explained to him.
“The structure itself is relatively simple. With the small-sized magic stone for recording in the dead-centre, when you push the button, the shutter that’s in front of the lens opens for just an instant and the scene ahead is recorded on the magic stone.”
“I’ve never heard of magic stones being able to record scenes.”
“That’s our discovery and invention. We did various things that can’t easily be copied.”
As a matter of fact, the camera’s structure itself isn’t that different from that of the camera from Earth.
What’s different is that it uses for recording a small-sized magic stone that has been delicately stabilised using a special method.
The moment the shutter is released, the power source magic stone emits a high-pressure magic power onto the recording magic stone.
And, although a single recording magic stone can store 64 photos, that number is only due to the wavelength variation of the emitted magic power.[1]
That’s about it.
By the way, slime resin is attached to the inside of the camera, insulating it from external magic power.
And as for its outward appearance, it had a shape similar to that of the box cameras of the late 19th to early 20th century.
“Can I buy one of these cameras?”
“It’s been put up on sale, so of course I don’t mind, but… in order to print the shot photos, you realise you’ll need to send the recording magic stone all the way to this store, right?”
“That’s a bit much, huh.”
“It’s quite a lot.”
“But, I’ll still buy one. And then, it’ll be great if you opened a branch store in our country soon.”
“That’s still too ridiculous…”
“It’s not ridiculous. If our country starts buying magic rifles, we’d be troubled for maintenance if you didn’t open a new branch. It’ll happen sooner or later.”
“Ughh…”
Theo’s words are also reasonable.
It’s just that, in the current circumstances, it’ll be difficult to open a branch store if the distribution doesn’t improve.
This is because making our magic tools in a different country, even if it’s a friendly nation, is something we’d like to avoid.
“I’ll think about setting up a branch store. ——— So, do you want to take back a camera today?”
“Yeah. I’ll have it loaded up onto the carriage.”
“Got it. I’ll get it ready, so please wait a moment.”
——— and with that, one camera worth a royal capital citizen’s yearly income was sold.
☆
Having passed the time doing this and that, by the time we left the store, the central square was already beginning to be dyed in the colours of the evening glow.
“Woah, what’s this?!”
Theo, who had gone out ahead of me, raised a voice of surprise.
“?”
Curious, I followed Theo outside, and understood the reason he raised his voice.
“… that’s an amazing amount of people.”
The two of us stood motionless in a daze.
In front of us, tens of… no, more than hundreds of people were stirring about.
“What’s this? Is there a festival or something?”
“Who knows… I don’t think there were any events this time of year.”
“Then, is it an accident?”
“It doesn’t seem like it, but…”
Having said that much, I realised what it was.
The direction in which the gathered crowd all kept glancing.
And the thing that was at the end of their line of sight was ———
“Theo, let’s go.”
Saying so, I pulled his hand.
“Huh, what’s wrong, Letty?”
“I-, it’s fine, let’s just get on the carriage alread-”
I tugged on his arm again, and tried heading for the carriage stop.
It was at that time.
Gong, gong, gong, gong…
The clocktower bell rang out, notifying everyone that it was 5 PM.
And then, right as the bell’s ringing ended, orchestra music played out in the vicinity.
““OOooohh…!!””
The surrounding crowd made a commotion, and I reflexively turned back to face the photo studio’s show window.
A pure white screen affixed within the show window.
Projected there was a video, flying in the sky over a grassy field.
It was almost like an Earth movie.
“Letty, over there!!”
Theo shouted, and our feet came to a complete stop.
In the video projected on the screen, it flew over the plains, and eventually approached a certain hill.
Upon that hill, with her back to the camera, was a single girl.
The camera focused on the girl and stopped.
Thereupon, she spun around, and bashfully said these words.
“Hello everyone. I’m Leticia Ainsworth!”
(Nooooooooooo!!!!)
I let out a soundless scream.
TL Notes:
[1]Meaning, it could theoretically hold more photos if they just increase the wavelength variations. ↩
Sorry for the disappearance. Though that being said, I’m not entirely back just yet