NOVPUBThe next place Violetta guided him to was the vast open lot where Kirkus had taken up residence.
It was once supposed to be the site of a towering building, but for some reason, the development had been scrapped, leaving behind nothing but an enormous, vacant plot of land.
Most likely, the cancellation had something to do with the surrounding shantytowns—hardly ideal conditions for new tenants.
Because of that, the city had practically abandoned the place, and Kirkus had claimed it for their own use.
At the center of the lot stood a large, shabby tent.
It was Kirkus’s pride and joy—their circus troupe.
Normally, the place would be dead, maybe a stray fly buzzing around, especially when there wasn’t a show. But today, it was unusually packed with people.
A song drifted out from inside.
“They’re trying out what you mentioned—a musical. It’s still early stages, but from what I’ve seen during the trial runs, people love it. We’re thinking of doing a few performances at the outdoor stage first, then opening a proper theater to pull in a real crowd.”
As they stepped inside the tent, the cheerful music hit him with full force.
On the stage in the middle of the tent, the circus performers were in action.
Gone were the bizarre costumes he’d seen before, replaced with neat, tidy outfits.
They sang and danced in perfect sync with the music, a dazzling performance that had the audience utterly captivated.
It was just a rehearsal, but the response was overwhelmingly positive.
“Finion’s really into it too. He’s having such a good time he even quit smoking, believe it or not.”
Finion, Kirkus’s ringmaster.
The man with dwarfism was up on the platform, singing his heart out.
Surprisingly, the guy had a hell of a voice.
“At first, he blew up, yelling what the hell is a ringmaster doing singing, but now he’s leading the damn thing. Guess he always wanted to do it deep down.”
“Didn’t expect him to be such a wholesome guy.”
“He just wasn’t honest with himself. Once this rehearsal wraps up, we’re moving to full-on ticket sales.”
“Got a theater in mind?”
“There’s this old place that’s been shut down for years—nobody went there, so it fell apart. Location’s not bad though. We spent big money and completely renovated it. Same for the surrounding streets. People are already starting to take notice.”
“I see.”
Ludger could now understand why something happening in the slums had managed to reach the ears of the upper class.
If they were going this big, it was only natural that people would pay attention.
“You think people will come?”
“Locals are loving it so far, but yeah, there’s still a lot who have no clue. That’s where the Old Kids come in. Come on, let’s move to the next place.”
Violetta took a step forward.
After leaving the circus tent, the two of them walked down a now-clean sidewalk and stopped in front of a building.
“This is the publishing house run by the Old Kids.”
The building, which used to be an illegal gambling den run by the Red Society, had been gutted and transformed into a proper office.
“You’re here?”
Mastella greeted them at the entrance with a smile.
As always, Deon stood next to her, still as a statue.
Violetta crossed her arms, eyeing the two with a look of mild annoyance.
“What the hell, Mastella. Weren’t you supposed to be working?”
“Our boss is here in person—you think we’d miss that? You need to check on the project’s progress, and who better to guide you than us?”
Their gazes clashed midair.
Violetta shrugged.
“Fine. Do whatever you want.”
Her job was just to show him around anyway. Mastella was probably better suited to explain what was going on inside.
With a bright smile, Mastella waved Ludger in.
“Please, come in, boss.”
“Sure.”
Ludger always found it strange to see Mastella acting so grown-up.
A tiny, doll-like girl managing a serious business and treating him like royalty—it was surreal.
It just showed how mature she was, but at the same time, it was sad, thinking about the kind of life that forced her to grow up like that.
Inside the building, machines were running non-stop.
Chrrrrrk!
Sheets of paper rushed along rails, fast as lightning.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out they were making thin books.
“We made what you told us about. You called it a magazine, right?”
Ludger picked up a finished copy and flipped through it silently.
Inside were all kinds of gossip pieces, the typical stuff you’d expect in a magazine.
He skimmed the contents and nodded.
“Not bad.”
It wasn’t quite what he’d envisioned, but for a first edition, it was actually better than expected.
All the news in this world was monopolized by the newspapers.
If you wanted information, you had to rely on them. And if they didn’t report it, well, you just didn’t know.
Unless you had access to some underground black market for secrets.
Most newspapers only printed articles that served the upper class, so the middle and working classes didn’t even bother picking one up.
The class divide was crystal clear, even here.
And this magazine.
This was the key to bridging that gap.
The main goal was to make information accessible to the masses.
But stuffing it with nothing but news would make it boring, so they threw in some entertainment at the back.
Short stories designed to grab attention.
The so-called pulp fiction collections.
On Earth, pulp fiction meant cheap, serialized stories printed on crappy paper.
But you couldn’t dismiss them—they were the gateway to enjoying genre fiction.
Same here—mysteries, adventures, horror—all popular stuff.
But most people didn’t have the time or money to enjoy them.
That’s where the magazine’s pulp fiction came in.
“Looks like you managed to gather quite a few writers.”
“Writers who aren’t desperate for cash don’t exist.”
Most writers of this era, unless they’d hit it big, were flat broke, barely able to afford meals.
For them, getting their stories into this magazine was a way to survive.
And since they were throwing around serious money, writers flocked to them, eager for a chance to make ends meet. Now they had more content than they could print.
“This’ll be our landmark first issue, but if it takes off, we’re thinking of branching out into other areas too. If it gets popular, that is.”
“It will.”
Ludger spoke with absolute certainty.
Like someone who’d already seen the future.
“And even if it doesn’t, who cares? Don’t worry about it—just print as many copies as you can.”
At that, both Mastella and Deon’s eyes widened.
Most people would blame others for mistakes, even ones they caused themselves.
But not Ludger.
“There’s plenty of money to go around anyway.”
Even if it flopped, he had enough cash to cover the loss.
Mastella was speechless.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
A cold, unwavering statement.
How could he say something like that so easily?
And more than that, how could he actually back it up?
We’re the ones this city threw away.
The slums were a lost cause, even in Rederbelk.
All the city’s development was for the rich. This place, where the poor huddled together, was a no-man’s-land.
No one even looked this way.
No one cared.
—You think anyone’s gonna toss a coin to garbage like you?
Once in a while, someone would come along, pretending to offer help.
But in the end, they were just digging for a pearl in the muck, wearing a mask to hide it. 𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑝𝘶𝘣.𝑐𝘰𝘮
The second they realized there was nothing to gain, they’d show their true colors and run like hell.
No wonder they didn’t trust anyone.
No one had ever given them a reason to.
They’d been abandoned so many times, they didn’t even bother hoping anymore.
So when Ludger first showed them his vision, she had her doubts.
In exchange for his big ideas, all he wanted was their obedience.
She figured he was just another guy looking to use them.
But when she said yes, clinging to that one desperate hope of escaping this nightmare...
Mastella had no idea that this choice would become something she’d never regret.
Ludger got to work immediately.
Where he got the money, she didn’t know, but he threw it around like confetti, pouring it into the slums.
The mayor who claimed he’d fight for equality, the congressmen who spat on about supporting the poor...
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
When those politicians kept spewing the same promises for years without lifting a damn finger, Ludger managed to create jobs for the slum dwellers in just a matter of weeks—with cold, hard cash.
He showed them the way forward, gave them the means to walk it.
Not with empty words, but with action.
“We need to spread Issue No. 1 far and wide. Focus on getting it into as many hands as possible. If we build up recognition and hype, people will start pouring in.”
“I figured as much, so I’ve got the kids out in the streets spreading rumors.”
Kids weren’t just good at digging up gossip—they were just as good at spreading it.
If a kid dropped a casual comment to their parents, the parents would gossip among themselves, and so on. A chain reaction.
“I see. Then anything more from me would just be meddling. Looks like you’re doing a solid job. I’ll take my leave.”
“Goodbye, boss.”
With the Old Kids also running like a well-oiled machine, Ludger left the building alongside Violetta.
At this point, he’d confirmed that the Women of the Black Rose, the Old Kids, and Kirkus were all steadily executing the business plans he’d laid out for them.
It’s still early, and a lot of capital is going into this, but once everything gets rolling, the profits will outweigh the investment.
Ludger wasn’t some charity case.
He invested in the slums because he was damn sure he’d make even more in return.
Now that everything was running smoothly—better than expected, in fact—Ludger could focus on his own next steps.
“So, where to now? Looks like you’ve checked everything you came to see.”
“Now? I’m going to meet someone.”
“Someone?”
“Think of it as recruiting a new teammate.”
Originally, he’d planned to do this alone. But if it was Violetta, he figured it’d be fine to bring her along.
Their dynamic flipped—this time, it was Ludger leading the way, not her.
He brought her to the bustling Grandchapel district.
“Why here?”
“There are a lot of women.”
“...Excuse me?”
Violetta gave him a skeptical side-eye.
This wasn’t the kind of guy to say something like that... right?
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“Huh? N-no, I wasn’t thinking anything weird!”
“The target isn’t me. Look over there. Just in time.”
Ludger raised a hand and pointed. Curious, she looked in that direction—and spotted a man chatting with a woman.
A rather unusual man.
His sharp suit wasn’t out of place in the area, but what stood out was his skin tone—deep brown, like he’d stepped out of a southern kingdom. His tightly curled hair gleamed like spun gold thread.
“Who’s that?”
“A colleague.”
Ludger answered ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) as he calmly approached the man with the golden curls.
Even as Ludger walked up, the man kept laying it on thick, sweet-talking the lady with lines soaked in honey.
“My most radiant lady—might I be so blessed as to share dinner with you this evening?”
“Oh, my... that’s... I shouldn’t...”
The woman, who had initially turned him down, was clearly beginning to melt under his charming pressure.
That was when Ludger stepped in.
“That’s enough chatting.”
“Hmm? And who might you be?”
The woman looked annoyed at the interruption, but her expression shifted the moment she saw Ludger’s face.
The brown-skinned man glanced at Ludger and gave an awkward laugh.
“Haha, Leader. You’re early! Our meeting wasn’t for a while yet, was it?”
“Figured if I didn’t come get you myself, you’d be late again. Sorry to interrupt, miss. This guy’s with me—I’ll be taking him now.”
“O-oh, sure.”
With a polite bow, Ludger defused the situation. The woman waved them off, saying it was no problem.
Then he grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him back to where Violetta stood.
“Oh! Another gorgeous lady? Rederbelk’s really something!”
The man’s grin spread as soon as he saw Violetta. His white teeth gleamed under the sun.
“...This guy is really your colleague?”
“Yeah. He’s a damn clown, but he’s the real deal when it counts.”
“So, Leader—if you brought me all the way to this city, that must mean adventure’s about to knock! Will today’s treasure be a stunning beauty or piles of gold?”
“...You sure he’s actually competent?”
Ludger finally let go of the man’s collar and spoke.
“Let me introduce you. This is Alex. He’ll be working with us.”
“Pleasure’s mine, my lovely rose. I may not look it, but I hail from the noble class of the southern Fatima Dynasty. Let’s get along, shall we?”
“Noble?!”
Violetta blinked in disbelief.
Ludger immediately cut in.
“Don’t let him fool you. His profession is con artist.”
Con artist?
Violetta turned a horrified look toward Alex, who was still grinning like an idiot.
So he just lied to her face the moment they met?!
As she reeled from the audacity, Alex asked, “Anyway, Leader. What’s the deal? Why’d you bring me here all of a sudden?”
“It’s time to settle down. For real.”
“Oh? Are we finally putting an end to our long, wandering journey? So what do you need me to do here?”
“What you always do best.”
Ludger lowered his voice so no passersby could overhear.
“We’re going to hit the Kunst Auction House.”
