Chapter 1. Cafe Medici (1)

These days, there were many protagonists who wished to recover from the daily hustle or live comfortably in another world.

A relaxed and leisurely life, the complete opposite of 21st century Korea.

And I had lived such a life here for about 20 years.

Though the biggest problem was the lack of electricity.

"Is my leisurely life coming to an end now?"

Once I stepped through that door and heard the brief notice from father, my life would take a complete turn.

Still, I couldn't avoid it.

"Father, I'm coming in."

After knocking three times on the door, I entered the room.

The father of this body I had possessed looked at me with a serious gaze and instructed me to sit.

"This will be a long conversation. Take a seat."

"Yes."

"Sigh, your brother's official appointment ceremony ended yesterday. Therefore, I am no longer the head of the Medici baronial family."

Though he had stepped down from the position of family head, it was only half for appearance's sake.

My brother, the firstborn, was just a 30-year-old youngster who would still need a lot of father's help.

"According to our customs, now that you're an adult, you must leave this house. While I'm sure you're not aiming for your brother's title of baron... you never know what might happen in life."

"Yes, I understand."

Though it was sudden to be told to leave home, I couldn't particularly object to this.

If I resisted, I might be wrongly labeled as a family traitor aiming for the baron title and meet a suspicious death.

It felt strange to actually experience the common exile scene from web novels.

However, the father before me wasn't the kind of person who would thoughtlessly throw out his second son for lacking talent.

"Fabio, although you're the second son, you're still my precious child. So I, no, the Medici baronial family will support you as much as we can. If you wish to go to the academy, go to the academy. If you want to become a soldier, I'll open the path for you to become an officer. The family will also provide you with ample wealth."

When he said academy, it wasn't the kind usually seen in web novels, the ones with lots of beautiful girls.

It was a facility where all the students were male, and on graduating, you would gain a qualification equivalent to that of a level 5 civil servant in Korean terms.

This included appropriate donations needed for employment, as the qualification alone didn't guarantee you a job.

On the other hand, becoming an officer meant using family connections to secure a good position such as a lieutenant.

Of course it wasn't fair, but this was how competition for exams and employment worked in a fantasy world.

No matter which path was chosen, it would be a significant expense for the family, but unless they were terrible parents, this level of support was basic  for nobles.

Because rich fathers couldn't bear to see their children struggle without money.

"Which path do you wish to take? I'll fully support whatever your decision is."

Neither option particularly appealed to me.

It was because I knew all too well about the military and civil service paths of this era, where employment through family connections and money was normal rather than fair competition.

If a superior ordered it, you had to pay for entertainment including alcohol and women from your own pocket, and if you were beaten for nonsensical reasons, there was no one you could complain to.

No, rather, such things were quietly encouraged as benevolent education from seniors.

Me, with memories of my past life, entering such a hellish situation willingly?

I'd probably go insane within a few years.

"I wish to become a merchant like our family's founder, Cosimo."

"You want to become a lowly merchant? Well, let me hear your reasons."

Father's brows furrowed deeply as he said he'd listen to my reasons.

His clenched fist suggested he was probably trying to decide how many hits to give me after hearing my explanation.

It's not incomprehensible, after all, fantasy merchants were practically gangsters.

They formed guilds to divide up business among themselves and would send thugs to partially destroy any newcomer who started doing too well.

They sold good products to nobles but pushed cheap goods at high prices to commoners without backing, arranging "fist talks" if anyone complained.

Cutting throats at dawn was already part of daily life for these human trash.

Wise commoners tried to avoid buying from merchants if possible.

Who would be happy if their child said they wanted to become a mafioso?

"Though it might sound immature, I've often had thoughts about making and selling things since childhood. However, out of consideration for my brother and the family, I've kept these thoughts to myself until now."

Pulling out a business plan or something like that would serve no purpose here.

Even if our family's main business wasn't territory management but running a large scale merchant group.

"But now that I'm becoming independent, I'd like to give it a try."

Actually, since transmigrating to this world, it had been a dream of mine to try changing the world through business.

Though it's the kind of dream that only youngsters would have, isn't it cool?

A life of challenging how much I could change the world with 21st century technology, experience, and my abilities.

I had already succeeded in developing several world-shaking technologies, but I couldn't try anything until now because of my position as the second son of a baron's family.

If I showed up my competent older brother, the future baron, I could have been marked for elimination by father and the family with their enormous power.

"Please give me just one chance to prove myself."

As I said before, pulling out a business plan or something similar would serve no actual purpose.

Because I had no achievements to show as of now.

So I judged it would be better to appeal to emotions for the initial support.

Even showing the tiniest possibility would allow me to leverage for more support later.

Why hadn't anyone said something like this?

That creating 1 from 0 is thousands of times harder than creating 2 from 1.

"Fabio, since you, who have never given me trouble till date, say you really want to do this, I'll support you. However, there's one condition."

"Yes, father."

"Show me a possibility I can accept. If not, you'll have to either enter the academy or become an officer."

Though it was a declaration that he would exercise his veto power if I didn't produce amazing results...

"I will definitely bring good results."

Right now, my head was filled with countless successful outcomes filtered through the numerous failures of others.

Failure? Such a thing was impossible.

**

In this fantasy world, the Tuscan Empire, the need for political connections to do business was an absolute requirement.

From small bakery owners in rural corners to big merchants with dozens of shops.

Because if merchant rabble didn't offer respectful gifts to civil servants, they'd destroy their shops with ridiculous excuses.

In Korean history textbooks, a slightly more sophisticated form of this control was called 'Geumnanjeon-gwon'.

"Even if I create something innovative that could change the world, it's useless if high-ranking people mark me, so I should first create something that would please them."

Although I had the strong backing of the Medici baron family, they wouldn't provide any help until I proved I could succeed independently.

In Korean terms, getting into the academy or becoming a military officer was like being guaranteed admission to Seoul National University Medical School.

How could they look kindly upon a child who rejected that to become mere merchant rabble?

"In this world, luxury is a survival tool for nobles. Hence, creating new luxury items would be best."

Nobles as entities would be devoured if they didn't indulge in luxury.

If someone bragged about being frugal, other families would look down on them and start pointing their forks to get their share.

So they eagerly indulged in luxury with taxes collected from subjects for the family's dignity (showing off).

In fact, it was considered natural to indulge in luxury even while going into debt to merchants.

Therefore, leading new luxury trends meant more opportunities to become friendly with nobles.

"I need to show my potential by creating new luxury items. What should I make?"

Glass crafts were already everywhere, and if I tried spreading concepts of Rococo architecture or similar arts?

There would be a 99% chance of failure due to not matching current trends.

Art typically failed if it couldn't keep up with trends.

And those trends could only be led by high-ranking people like the Emperor or Grand Duke.

"In the end, there's no answer except for food that looks good and pretty."

True to being a fantasy empire, the nobles of this Tuscan Empire spent most of their time, aside from eating and sleeping, fighting for dominance at elaborate banquets...

Just introducing one new dish that made an impact at banquets would feel like a fresh change.

A food that's white, cloud-like and fluffy, sweet, and loved by countless women...

"Should I start by making a cake with whipped cream?"

A cake with colorful fruits at the white base would not only look good but would be the ultimate luxury item filled with sugar and fruits.

It would surely be well-received.

There was absolutely no way it could fail.