"Those were some of the best pastries I've ever had." I stepped out of the café with Mary, who was in a great mood after satisfying her sweet tooth.
"I know, right? You sure you don't want some for your dorm?" She turned to face me, holding up the fancy takeout box and dangling it before my eyes.
"Maybe… when I can afford them." Each of those pastries cost over 100 G-coins. Our bill alone was more than Crayon's combined yearly salary from his regular and part time jobs. That amount of money was what he used to pay rent, put his brother through school, and still manage two meals a day for both of them, along with daily expenses for an entire year. The wealth gap was insane.
What was shocking was that this amount was nothing to Grimmyth researchers. Mary was actually being modest. These researchers received funding from the F.O.E., their city, and private investors interested in their projects. In other words, as long as their research was promising they were backed by both the government and the private sector. Not to mention the monthly stiffened from the institute these researchers were employed by. These people were practically swimming in money.
The craziest part was that both the public and private investors were prepared for net losses. That meant researchers weren't held accountable if their work led nowhere, even after burning through a fortune. Of course, most didn't take that lightly. Failure still hurt their credibility and made it harder to secure funding for future research.
Still, they had complete freedom in how they allocated their funds. Some even spent over half of it on a lavish lifestyle. Compared to that, Mary's spending was nothing. Then again, she came from a wealthy family. She'd already had and grown bored of the things other researchers splurged on.
The most shocking part was that these researchers didn't have to pay taxes and there were no copyright or patent laws for those funded by the public entities. All the research technically belonged to the F.O.E. So why were private entities still pouring money into it?
Because if a project succeeded, those investors got first dibs. For example, if a researcher developed a new gion weapon and the F.O.E. decided to arm its military with it, the private entity that funded the research would get priority on the production and distribution contracts.
As for the researchers, they benefited too. If their work showed promise, they received additional funding to refine it, along with a one-time payout of an insanely large sum, completely tax-free, scaled to the scope of their research.
In a way, everyone involved walked away a winner.
With perks like that, everyone wanted to be a Grimmyth researcher, but the competition was brutal. Unless you were brilliant enough to secure a scholarship or came from a wealthy family, becoming one was little more than a pipe dream. Most had to settle for being card crafters, working off card recipes, gion tattoos, and formation arrays developed by these researchers.
Still, it wasn't a bad fallback. Card crafters were the second safest and most lucrative profession after Grimmyth researchers, ranking just above grimlock medics. There was even a saying: all researchers were card crafters, but not all card crafters were researchers.
Now that I'd entered the city's Grimmyth Research Institute, I planned to use the opportunity and connections to become a full-fledged card crafter myself. Six months probably wouldn't be enough, but Mary had mentioned the institute was open to extending my contract. That could wait. For now, I needed to start moving toward my goal.
"Mary, I want to start learning card crafting. I'll still take the exam for a medical license, but my goal is to become a card crafter," I said, finally voicing what had been on my mind.
"Alright, tell me, which beginner-level grim card recipe are you interested in practicing card craft with?" Mary asked as there were simply too many copyright-free, beginner-level card recipes available for someone just starting out in card craft.
"I want to begin with Napcoon cards made using Duskcoon silk as the primary ingredient," I replied immediately as I had already made my plans for quite some time now, but I kept a few alternatives in mind in case Mary had reservations about Napcoon cards.
Based on my research, not only were the ingredients for this recipe inexpensive, but the card also had a strong market, as it was highly effective for inducing proper sleep regardless of the environment.
"It's a splendid choice, considering its mild difficulty for beginners and strong market, especially if you plan to sell the cards you create later," Mary said. "But the ingredients aren't cheap."
"I'm not talking about extracted and processed Duskcoon silk," I corrected her. "I want the raw cocoons collected after a Duskcoon evolves to Duskmoth. I plan to craft the Napcoon cards from scratch."
"Aren't you being a bit too ambitious?" Mary said, knowing the process of extracting and processing silk from a Duskmoth's cocoon was notoriously complex and tedious. It was like slaughtering an entire pig just to make bacon, when you could simply buy it at the mall.
"I believe I can do it," I said confidently, a broad smile spreading across my face as we hailed a cab back to the institute.
Mary was momentarily stunned, finding the smile unexpectedly charming. Then she shook her head and relented. "Fine. Napcoon it is."
Returning to the institute, Mary led me to the market section of its vast campus. "I'll lend you the money. Let's get you started on your first step to becoming a card crafter," she said.
All the merchants and vendors there were verified and recommended by the institute and offered some of the best rates for any resource a researcher might need. The place itself was mostly empty as most researchers already had standing arrangements for procuring materials, so the market mainly served as a backup for emergencies.
Still, the vendors treated it as an opportunity. By maintaining a presence there, they could get closer to the researchers, hoping to be chosen for future projects or at least recommended within their circles.
With Mary's reputation, we quickly procured all the ingredients needed for crafting the Napcoon card at a cheaper price. After that, she led me to her personal lab as I needed a proper space and equipment to practice card crafting and my cramped dorm had neither.