TYSAFWCG 14

Chapter 14

The Magnus family had a system called “competitive bidding.”

It was a system where the various workshops within the family competed over requests brought into the family, and through that process, they could devour the shares of rival workshops.

The unique aspect of this system was that participating workshops could designate their opponent.

In other words, the system actively encouraged internal competition where one workshop could swallow another.

Because of this, the many workshops within Magnus were divided into factions, constantly keeping each other in check.

If a workshop failed to belong to any faction and became weak, it would simply be devoured.

‘You could call it a kind of survival of the fittest…’

Within a single family, it resembled something like Japan’s Sengoku period or post-Roman Europe—fragmented powers fighting for dominance.

And using that very system, Cassian and Laisha, the managers of Magnus Workshop 35, had applied for a competitive bid to devour Yujin and Magnus Workshop 43.

Compared to that, Workshop 35 was only putting up about 25% of its shares. Yujin, on the other hand, had to risk everything.

It was an extremely unfair match, but there was no helping it. Given the vast difference in scale between the two workshops, Yujin, being in the weaker position, had to bear the disadvantage.

And the theme of that competitive bid was—

‘A metal that does not rust… right?’

Normally, the way to prevent metal from rusting was to apply an enchantment that maintained its state.

If its state didn’t change, then it wouldn’t rust.

But—

‘…Enchantments lose effectiveness over time. Is that really a proper way to make a “non-rusting metal”?’

Since enchantments artificially imbued mana, once the mana diminished, the effect weakened—and eventually disappeared.

Rather than relying on such an imperfect method—

‘You could just make stainless steel. Why go through such a stupid approach?’

That was the question on Yujin’s mind.

“…Cassian hyung. I have a question. Don’t enchantments lose effectiveness over time? Then why are you trying to make a rust-proof metal using that method?”

Even though he didn’t want to talk much with those idiots, it was still necessary to understand the thinking of his opponents.

So Yujin decided to ask.

“That’s an amusing question, half-commoner. As you said, enchantments do lose effectiveness over time. Mana doesn’t last forever.”

“At least you know that much.”

“…What do you mean? Well, that’s not the important part. The goal of this competition isn’t to produce a perfect result—it’s to crush you and your workshop. And your workshop doesn’t even have the capability to prepare that level of enchantment, does it?”

Cassian sneered.

“Ah… well…”

Yujin roughly understood what he meant.

As Cassian said, Magnus Workshop 43 wasn’t doing typical alchemy workshop work like potion-making or enchantment.

Partly because Workshop 35 had taken all the necessary tools—

But also because Yujin had already decided to compete using metals and new materials, making those areas unnecessary.

And those two fools believed that since Yujin couldn’t use enchantments, he wouldn’t be able to create a rust-proof metal.

‘Come to think of it, stainless steel was invented relatively recently even on Earth…’

Stainless steel.

As the name suggested, it was steel that did not rust.

On Earth in his previous life, it had been developed in the early 20th century. It preserved the excellent properties of steel while adding corrosion resistance, and it was used across countless aspects of civilization.

From ships and spacecraft to precision medical instruments—even everyday items like spoons, chopsticks, pots, and frying pans.

There was no need to even mention its accessibility.

It had been one of the most common materials in his past life.

But now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen a single object made of stainless steel in this world.

Naturally, no one here even considered the possibility of creating a rust-proof metal without enchantments.

That was why Cassian and Laisha felt secure—they believed Yujin couldn’t win without using enchantments.

‘…Aren’t they complete idiots?’

He thought that inwardly, but didn’t show it.

There was no reason to break their complacency.

“What’s wrong, Yujin? Have you realized the end of your luck?”

“Uh… well… I’m a bit nervous.”

“If you lack confidence, you can surrender now and come under me. You’re not completely incompetent, so if you bow your head, I might grant you a position as an apprentice.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. I’m not suited to working under someone.”

“As always—no strength, just pride.”

Cassian frowned.

The biggest reason he disliked Yujin was that despite his poor background and lack of backing, Yujin almost never bowed to him.

“Thanks for the high praise, Cassian hyung.”

“…Annoying bastard. Walking straight into hell.”

Cassian spoke with clear irritation.

Anyway—

‘I think I’ve heard everything I need from these idiots.’

It would be better to hear the detailed request elsewhere. Continuing this conversation would just be a waste of time.

“Anyway, thanks for explaining.”

As Yujin stood up, his eyes briefly caught the aluminum bracelet on Laisha’s wrist.

“That’s a nice bracelet, noona.”

“…What? Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“Just an honest thought. I’ll get going now. See you both later.”

Even if he disliked them, they were still technically clients—so Yujin didn’t forget basic courtesy.

“Seems even a half-commoner can recognize something beautiful. Heh.”

Laisha replied with a smug smile.

After leaving the café, Yujin returned straight to the main house and met the butler, Jeffrey.

“I’ve been expecting you, young master.”

Jeffrey spoke as if he had known Yujin would come.

“…Did I inform you beforehand?”

“No, not particularly, Young Master Yujin.”

“Then how…?”

“It is the duty of a butler to manage the household.”

“…”

As expected, there was something unsettling about this man.

“…Then I assume you also know why I’m here.”

“I believe you came to learn the details of the competitive bid request.”

Jeffrey took something out and handed it to him.

“Then please read this first.”

It was an envelope with an elegant seal.

‘The Belmore family…?’

The seal bore the name Belmore.

As far as Yujin knew, they were a family operating resorts and shipping businesses along the southern coast of the empire.

[To Lord Isaac Magnus. This is Edmond of the Belmore family…]

The letter explained the situation.

Because they lived by the coast, the Belmore family relied heavily on desalinating seawater for daily use.

There was no groundwater source nearby, and rainfall alone was insufficient.

Fortunately, the flat coastal land allowed them to build desalination facilities, and the strong southern sunlight provided ample heat.

Their method was simple—boiling seawater and distilling it.

They used two main methods for heating:

Concentrating sunlight using precision lenses

Using magic tools to boil water directly

Though both methods were costly, their territory was a famous luxury resort, so tourism revenue covered the expenses.

However—

A problem arose.

The pipes that drew seawater into the facility began to fail.

The empire typically used bronze (copper + tin) for pipes.

Bronze was corrosion-resistant and strong, making it suitable for long-term use.

But—

Living by the sea meant exposure to extreme weather.

Typhoons struck several times a year.

While the territory itself could recover, the problem was the seawater intake pipes.

Each typhoon weakened the pipes, and afterward, strong waves would smash rocks into them, causing them to break.

When the pipes broke, the desalination facility stopped functioning—and the people suffered from water shortages.

And so—

Edmond Belmore requested the Magnus family to develop a better material for the pipes.

‘…Cassian and Laisha really are idiots.’

Yujin thought after understanding the request.

Enchantments degrade over time, and maintaining underwater pipes would require constant reapplication—an inefficient and impractical solution.

“There, I’ve finished reading.”

“Do you understand the request, Young Master?”

“Yes, more or less.”

“And this time, the family head himself will judge the competition.”

“…The family head?”

Yujin was surprised.

Isaac Magnus rarely involved himself directly unless the matter was extremely important.

And this didn’t seem that significant.

“…Do you know why?”

“I would not dare speculate.”

“…Right.”

Yujin shrugged it off.

“Well, it’s not my concern. People’s lives are at stake, so maybe that’s why. Though if that’s the case, he could just fix it himself…”

Jeffrey gave him a meaningful look—but said nothing.

“…Anyway, I’ll just focus on winning.”

“Then I wish you success, Young Master.”

After Jeffrey left—

‘He wishes me success? That’s unusual…’

Back at the workshop, Yujin organized his plan.

‘The goal is to produce stainless steel…’

Specifically, austenitic stainless steel.

The target:

304 stainless steel (iron + chromium + nickel)

It had high corrosion resistance and was even used in kitchenware.

While not perfect for seawater, it was vastly superior to bronze in both corrosion resistance and strength.

‘Ideally, 316 stainless steel…’

But that required molybdenum, a rare material—making it difficult.

‘So first, I need chromium and nickel.’

Steel was easy to obtain, but chromium and nickel were not common.

They didn’t exist in pure form, only as ores.

‘I need to identify candidate ores and refine them.’

Unlike aluminum, he had no prior knowledge of which ores to use in this world.

So he would need to analyze their properties and find matches.

‘…This is tricky. I don’t have time to visit mines…’

Then—

His eyes landed on a display case.

A collection of ores from across the empire—gifted by the Cartier family.

‘Right… I have this.’

Among them, he could find what he needed.

It would take time—but Yujin was the workshop manager.

He had people he could use.

‘Time to start automated grinding.’

It was time to use his authority.