However, Pablo resisted the urge to glance at the Tower Master. Being curious about him was no different from willingly stepping into the gates of hell.
Fortunately, Penelope entered the dining room shortly after.
Pablo quickly stood and greeted her.
"I heard you summoned me."
"It’s been a while. If you haven’t had breakfast, why don’t you join me?"
"I’m fine, thank you. I already ate."
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"Well then, let’s get straight to business. But surely, you can have a cup of tea?"
"Of course."
Pablo accepted her offer without hesitation and sat in the chair she indicated. The Tower Master glanced at him briefly before looking away as if he weren’t worth paying attention to.
"No need to glare like that, Tower Master. I’ll be gone soon enough," Pablo complained internally. Of course, keeping it to himself didn’t do much to soothe his unease.
Once a maid set a cup of tea before him, Penelope began speaking.
"I’m thinking of commissioning a craftsman to create a styling round brush. It should work in tandem with the hairdryer to make hair look fuller."
"A brush?"
A brush? As in, the kind used to comb hair? Pablo blinked and asked for clarification.
"Is there such a thing as a brush like that?"
A brush that could add volume to hair—just imagining it was enough to make him wonder what kind of extraordinary object it would be.
Penelope handed Pablo a clean white sheet of paper without much ceremony.
"Here are the schematics. If it’s made according to this, it’ll work. Ahwin failed once, but a skilled artisan shouldn’t have much trouble."
"...Huh."
Pablo examined the schematics closely, nearly pressing his nose against the paper. The fact that even the Tower Master had failed to make it only piqued his curiosity further.
Strangely enough, just looking at the design gave him a rough idea of how it might work. He couldn’t help but be impressed.
"A round brush! It’s such an incredibly innovative design."
"Right? When you use the brush with the hairdryer, you can shape the hair into soft waves. The heat from the dryer sets the hair in place."
"Ah...! Truly a brilliant idea. With the hairdryer entering full-scale production, the synergy will be remarkable!"
Pablo’s voice trembled with excitement.
As someone who used a hairdryer every morning, Pablo had never thought to change the shape of a brush. A fine-toothed comb could accomplish most tasks just fine.
But with this round brush, it would undoubtedly become easier to manage hair elegantly and voluminously.
"She’s truly remarkable."
Pablo felt a renewed sense of admiration for Penelope. Identifying subtle shortcomings in everyday life and developing inventions to address them was an extraordinary talent.
"I’d like the round brushes to be manufactured according to the design and distributed through the Halo store," Penelope instructed.
"Leave it to me. I’ll find a suitable artisan to craft the brushes."
Pablo responded confidently. With his extensive network, finding a craftsman wouldn’t be a problem.
Satisfied, Penelope smiled before moving on to her next point.
"Now, onto the next matter. I’m planning to create a hair essence to provide moisture and nourishment for damaged hair. It’ll be made by blending green herb extract and various oils. I’ve already made a prototype myself. I’ve written the recipe down in a notebook, so please use it as a reference for further development."
"...You made the hair essence yourself?" Pablo asked, his face blank with disbelief. He was starting to feel numb to surprises at this point. His superior was clearly a genius.
"Hmm. I think these items will primarily appeal to the nobility. Shall I handle the promotions? As the head of the merchant guild, I can personally reach out to high society ladies."
"Ah, yes. Promotion. I’ll leave that to you, Pablo."
"Understood."
While Pablo answered, Penelope’s expression turned contemplative.
"Promotion..." she murmured to herself, as though mulling over something. Pablo couldn’t help but wonder if she was about to come up with another brilliant idea.
"First, I need to handle the tasks assigned to me."
After carefully reviewing the schematics and prototypes Penelope handed him, Pablo packed them into his bag with precision.
"Do you have anything else to discuss, or should I take my leave? Seems like I’ll be busy again with all these new tasks," Pablo asked.
"Go ahead," Penelope replied, but then, as if something had just occurred to her, she added, "Ahwin has developed the hair iron—a tool for styling women’s hair. He upgraded it into a magical device. Professor Orlan has already taken the schematics and the prototype. Could you check on the progress? Once it’s completed, we’ll sell it through the Halo store."
"...Understood."
Pablo felt drained even agreeing at this point. Glancing sideways, he saw the Tower Master still frowning deeply at the impossibly thick book he was reading.
Ahwin always seemed to be yawning, appearing lazy and half-asleep, yet somehow he managed to develop magical devices. When did he even find the time?
"There’s no way I’ll lose to the Tower Master," Pablo thought, rising from his seat with newfound determination.
"I’ll be on my way, then."
Pablo efficiently carried out the tasks Penelope had assigned him.
He located a craftsman’s workshop and arranged for the production of the round brushes. At the same time, he oversaw the progress on the development of hair essence at the Halo soap workshop.
Meanwhile, Penelope focused on paperwork with her aide, Lucas. After consulting with her lawyer, she separated Halo’s ventures into two divisions: beauty products and household appliances.
This administrative change streamlined the accounting process by formally splitting the subsidiaries.
Finally, Halo’s soap shop began the full-scale sale of hair dryers.
Thanks to improvements in the magical engineering facilities, production output had skyrocketed, allowing them to meet the overwhelming demand.
To coincide with the hair dryer launch, the shop ambitiously introduced the round brush and hair essence.
(Though still named a soap shop, the Halo store had grown to sell nearly every product made under Penelope’s name.)
"Wow, the line at the Halo Soap Shop is insane today," one woman in line exclaimed.
"Of course! We can finally buy a hair dryer easily. I’ve been borrowing my friend’s here and there, and I can’t tell you how jealous I was of her being able to use it whenever she wanted."
"Me too! I can’t believe I’m finally going to own one. It’s like a dream!" another woman said, her voice filled with excitement. The energy in the line spread, and soon many others were flushed with enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Penelope, disguised as a customer in the back of the line, struggled to suppress her laughter, barely maintaining her composure.
"As expected, the customer response is explosive. At this rate, opening second and third stores will be no problem. I’ll be swimming in money...!"
Her mind already envisioned the success of Halo Soap Shop’s future locations, complete with scenes of clinking champagne glasses in celebration.
"Next customer, please come in," called the shop attendant.
Penelope barely stopped herself from giggling and cleared her throat before entering the shop.
Inside, the store was packed, buzzing with activity.
"Here, please ring this up."
"And this too!"
"I was here first!"
"Is there no more lavender soap in stock?"
"Please wait a moment, dear customers. I’ll assist you shortly," a clerk answered, clearly overwhelmed.
The staff was frantically attending to customers, who were snatching up products as fast as they appeared on the shelves. The stacks of hair dryers piled near the window were disappearing at an astonishing rate.
Penelope waded through the bustling crowd, basking in the chaos. She had personally joined the early morning line just to experience this moment of triumph firsthand.
"But why aren’t the round brushes and hair essence selling as well as I thought?"
Her gaze shifted to the display shelves for the two products.
While the hair dryers and other beauty items were flying off the shelves, the round brushes and hair essence seemed like isolated islands in a sea of demand.
Customers occasionally reached for the hair essence, but no one paid any attention to the round brushes. From their hesitant expressions, it was clear they didn’t even understand what the brushes were for.
"I guess the promotion wasn’t as effective as I’d hoped."
Despite Pablo’s efforts to introduce the products to noblewomen, the trend seemed to have fizzled out among a small circle of aristocrats.
"If only they understood how to use it, I’m sure it would sell in no time."