âDonât you have any more of those sticky notes?!â
A faint glint of madness flickered in the mageâs eyes.
âDid you say sticky notes? Now I canât do my magic formula revisions without them!â
âNo, thatâsâŠâŠ.â
âHow have I been living without that sticky note all this time? Oh, I can hardly imagine!â
Starting with him, the other mages rushed over to Melvin.
âMelvin!â
âGive us those sticky notes!â
âSticky notes! Sticky notes!â
In unison, they chanted for nothing but sticky notes. They were like drug addicts suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
Before he knew it, Melvin was surrounded by a circle of mages.
âAh, okay, everyone calm down, we donât have any right now, but weâll make some as soon as we canâŠâŠ!â
âWait a minute, what did you say?â
âWe donât have any?!â
Despair flashed across the magesâ faces.
âWhen is âas soon as you canâ?!â
âIâm saying I need it now!!!â
The momentum of the zombie-like rush of mages made Melvin shrink back in horror.
âJu-just wait a little longer! Got it?â
Bang!
Melvin stumbled back into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
He clutched his forehead and made a pained sound.
âHa, this is an all-nighterâŠâ
It looked like Melvin needed to start producing sticky notes immediately, for the sake of his own survival.
* * *
About a month later.
The townhouse was suddenly overrun with gifts.
âHey, whatâs all this?â
I stared at the gifts in disbelief.
They were all kinds of things. There was a teddy bear walking around on a string, all sorts of candy in glass jars, bouquets of flowers, and more.
Kirios smiled proudly as he burst in with the gifts.
âThese are from the mages who have fallen for the charms of my little kid.â
What? What does that mean?
I looked up at Kirios, dumbfounded.
âIâm beingâŠâŠ favored?â
âYou know, the sticky notes.â Kirios shrugged proudly. âThe sticky notes, the ones that you tear off and stick on? Theyâre very popular.â
âVery popularâ?â
âOh, didnât I tell you? Those tower guys, theyâre totally obsessed with it.â
No, wasnât that supposed to be almost a non-starter?
I was stunned.
I seem to recall that the mage in charge of the patent application was rather unimpressed.
Meanwhile, Kirios explained with a beaming smile.
âThe kidâs going to be so surprised when you come back to the tower; theyâre all over the desk, the walls, and everywhere.â
âWhat?â
âIâve used them to jot down ideas, and theyâre pretty efficient. You donât have to erase them; you just replace them.â
âWhat?â
âSeriously, I canât emphasize enough how much those guys love it. Maybe if you told them to crawl across the floor, theyâd do it?â
âWhat?â
Unable to keep up with the conversation, I just kept saying âWhat?â.
But Kirios wasnât done with his bombshell.
âSo, the sticky note â I patented it in your name.â
âA, a patent? You actually patented that?â
âYep. I canât let that breakthrough idea go to waste, not as a mage and certainly not as a dad.â
I honestly hoped Kirios was making a joke, but I guess not.
I never thought he could look so serious.
âIâve set up a transfer of patent royalties to the kidâs account, so check it out later.â
âŠâŠItâs a true skill to be able to tell such a huge story and make it sound so casual.
I found myself speechless.
And then.
âKirios!!!â
Siegfried, who should have been locked in his office by now, came running towards us, panting.
âTatianaâs account has suddenly received a large amount of money, what the hell is this?â Siegfried narrowed his eyes and looked at Kirios observantly. âI heard that you filed a patent application as Tatianaâs representative â is this a payment for the use of that patent?â
âThatâs right,â Kirios replied crisply.
And Siegfried looked back at himâŠâŠ.
âI see.â
The answer was neat and amenable.
I was a little taken aback.
I mean, normally, heâd try to eat Kirios up over the smallest of things.
Why was he so nonchalant about this?
As if sensing my question, Siegfried gave me a quick explanation.
âWell, when it comes to patents, thereâs no one better than Kirios.â
âIs that so?â
âYes. Heâs probably the most famous patent holder in the Empire.â
Then he glanced back at Kirios.
Well, listen.
Somehow, I think thereâs a glint of madness in Siegfriedâs golden eyes.
âŠâŠIs it my imagination orâŠ?
âSo where can I buy some of that sticky note paper?â
âWhat?â
âMy vassals are clamoring to buy it now,â Siegfried said grimly. âTheyâre telling me Iâm going to be so much more efficient with my paperwork if I have sticky notesâŠâ
âWell, why donât you put in an order for it first? The magic tower is in charge of the production of those sticky notes.â
Kirios gave me a mischievous glare.
âThough you might have to wait a while.â
âWhat? And why?â
âBecause youâre late. Cesar got his order placed first.â
âNo, I mean, how much does that guy even use sticky notes anyway?â
Siegfried frowned.
And then.
âSiegfried, as the head of your family, I cannot condone that statement.â
A cheerful voice rang out.
It was Cesar.
Striding over, he gave Siegfried a stern look.
âDo you have any idea how much paperwork there is in the Great Temple? Itâs basically budgeting for everything.â
âThird Dad!â I squealed and ran to Cesar.
âMiss Tati!â
Cesar swept me into his arms. Unlike the way heâd treated Siegfried, he was as warm as a ray of spring sunshine.
âI hear youâve patented a new type of notepaper, which is wonderful.â
âI didnât do that, that was my second dadâs job.â
âBut the basic idea was yours, wasnât it, Miss Tati?â Cesar replied without raising an eyebrow.
âKirios was just a mere handyman, so itâs Miss Tati whoâs the brilliant one.â
No, can you really be this harsh towards Kirios?
I squinted at him, feeling uncomfortable.
But.
âThatâs right, thatâs right. It was all the kidâs doing.â
If anything, Kirios was nodding enthusiasticallyâŠâŠ.
âIâve heard that the imperial palace has also placed an order.â
âThatâs right, my kid seems to have a knack for business!â Kirios raised his voice in excitement.
Well, itâs not like I was selling sticky notes to the imperial palace and got an order, you know?
I felt the protest rise to the top of my throat.
âI canât believe you had such a revolutionary idea.â
âIâm not just saying that because sheâs my daughter; Tatiana is a genius.â
Before I knew it, Cesar and Siegfried were chiming in as wellâŠâŠ.
Honestly, I was dying of embarrassment.
No, I hadnât done anything. I was just simply swallowing what Kirios was feeding me.
Suddenly, sparks flew at me.
âSo, little kid, you wanted to make some money, didnât you?â
âWhat? We-Well, sort of.â
I merely blinked at Kiriosâs question.
My original plan was to set up an investment fund, and then use that as a springboard for independent funding.
But it looks like Iâve earned all the money I needed. Shouldnât I be able to just sit back, take the patent money, and enjoy the ride?
âSo, is there anything else youâd like to do?â
Huh?
I blinked, dumbfounded.
What was that?
This feeling that somehow Kirios was more motivated than I wasâŠâŠ.
âI thought you wanted to experience making money.â
âNo, thatâsâŠâŠ.â
Oh, my gosh, the excuse Iâd given Nora had come back to bite me in the ass!
I cursed inwardly.
âWell, the patent fees will keep coming in, and that should be enough to fund the investment.â
âWell, thatâs true. But I might run out of money andâŠâŠ.â
âWhy worry about all that? If you donât have enough, weâll back you up. Right?â
Kirios glanced back at Siegfried and Cesar for agreement.
They nodded as if it were a given.
Kirios spoke again.
âI donât mind if it fails, I just want the kid to have a variety of experiences.â
âI couldnât agree more.â
âIf you ever need any help, just let me know.â
For a moment, I felt speechless.
He truly wanted me to have a variety of experiences to help me grow up without lacking anything.
Maybe thatâs why.
Before I knew it, my mouth was moving of its own accord.