"Music composition, you?" Ivern's first reaction was disbelief.
But then he suddenly remembered: the reason his daughter had been inexplicably captivated by this kid seemed to be because she had heard some "unprecedentedly beautiful music" from his mind.
And Seraphine's aesthetic taste and professionalism in music were naturally beyond doubt.
Levi probably really did understand music, and his skill level wasn't low.
"But a person's talent has its limits," Ivern said.
"How many songs can you compose all by yourself? How can just a few good songs support such a massive business? I advise you to be a bit more realistic—"
"No, Mr. Ivern," Levi interrupted his doubts. "You can wait until you've heard it to judge whether this method will work or not."
With that, the blue bird shot Seraphine a glance. "Seraphine, I leave it to you."
"You got it!" Seraphine jumped up, eager to give it a try.
She walked over to the nearby piano with brisk, light steps, familiarly tucking the corners of her skirt as she sat up straight in front of the keys.
Seraphine rested her hands on the keys and closed her eyes to compose herself.
And then, the music began to play.
Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun...
Her slender, fair fingers danced like butterflies, fluttering up and down.
Sweet and cheerful notes flowed from her fingertips, lingering in the air and gradually drifting into their ears, capturing the hearts of the listeners.
At first, Ivern was a little angry that Levi was actually ordering his daughter around like a music player.
But after hearing the beautiful melody Seraphine played, he gradually forgot his frustration, forgot about the business, and forgot about everything else.
He became completely immersed in the music.
The warm, brisk, gentle, and affectionate rhythm deeply moved the soul.
This emotional touch did not come from any magic; it stemmed purely from the charm of the music itself.
Through the music, Ivern felt as if he could see a lively and agile young girl, see the composer's admiration and affection for her, and feel a beautiful longing for love.
This was absolutely a masterpiece!
It would definitely be a massive hit in the high societies of Piltover, Demacia, and Noxus! It might even become a timeless classic, allowing the composer's name to go down in history alongside the melody!
"What... what is this piece?" Ivern murmured.
"Für Elise," Levi answered.
"I have quite a few more piano pieces close to this level. As long as you are willing, I can have Seraphine play them for you one by one. Of course, if you want to hear songs of other genres, I have even more of those..."
"As long as we release a few hit songs like this every year, we won't have to worry about the sales of our Walkmans and music cassettes at all."
Levi was still pitching his music business.
But Ivern's expression suddenly changed.
His face flushed red, then turned green, who knew what he was thinking.
Then, he suddenly asked, "Who is Elise?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't you write this song for Elise? So who is Elise? Just how many girls have you hooked up with using this trick, you little punk?"
Levi was speechless.
"I'm not doing this business—"
"Stay the hell away from my daughter!"
The business deal was ultimately struck anyway.
Because Levi explained that he hadn't written those songs at all; Janna had told them to him.
He also planned to explain it this way to the public in the future.
As for how the Goddess Janna knew so many songs, and even knew gangsta rap and heavy metal rock... don't ask. If asked, the answer was simply that the Goddess was omniscient.
Ivern didn't believe it at first, but after Levi and Seraphine consecutively performed excerpts from dozens of famous songs across various genres... he had no choice but to believe it.
Walkman technology that was ahead of its time, combined with countless masterpieces worthy of being passed down through generations. With these, the entire massive cake—from music production, publishing, and distribution, to the manufacturing and sales of Walkmans and cassettes—could be swallowed whole.
In Levi's words:
"This is called aggressively targeting user pain points, finding leverage in niche segments, utilizing technological advantages to open up a brand new track, connecting upstream and downstream industry chains, achieving internal resource integration, and ultimately forming a positive feedback loop ecosystem to penetrate the users' minds and deliver a multidimensional strike to the market..."
"Mr. Ivern, do you understand?"
Ivern understood.
To sum it up in one sentence:
This project could indeed make money, and a lot of it.
Did he want to do it? Of course he did. Who wouldn't want to make money?
"Also, I said from the beginning that I can help Seraphine solve the problem of her talent spiraling out of control," Levi added.
"I am the Divine Selection of the Goddess Janna. I have the ability to teach Seraphine how to control her magic... and even train her to become a powerful mage."
Hearing this, Mrs. Ivern could no longer sit still.
Over the past few years, Seraphine's talent had continued to grow stronger, and the pain brought by her uncontrollable abilities had become increasingly unbearable.
Watching her daughter's agonizing state when her powers went out of control, her heart ached so much as a mother that she had long been unable to bear it.
To help Seraphine solve this problem, Mrs. Ivern had even planned to sell the family factory to buy those priceless Raw Hextech Crystals.
Now, it was great; Levi alone could solve this problem.
Not only could he help their daughter avoid the pain, but he was even throwing in a free set of professional mage lessons. If she succeeded in her studies, the Ivern family might just gain an incredibly powerful, transcendent mage!
"Old man, what are you still waiting for?!"
Mrs. Ivern was already grumpily urging her husband to hurry up and make a decision.
"But..." Ivern still hesitated.
He looked at Levi for a moment, then at Seraphine, his expression complex and strange, unsure of what he was hesitating about.
"But our daughter seems to be with..." Ivern whispered to his wife.
"That's still better than watching her suffer to death!" Mrs. Ivern scolded grumpily, then sneaked a peek at Levi. "Besides, even if that's really the case..."
"Given this kid's current situation, our daughter isn't losing out."
"Nonsense, how is she not losing out! That little bastard was just a filthy wage worker yesterday... No, absolutely not!"
"Then why don't you sell the factory and buy our daughter a Raw Hextech Crystal! You old miser!"
"I..."
Levi was completely bewildered.
Janna waited on the side for a long time before finally delivering the latest news to him:
"We agree to this project."
"Once we meet Professor Viktor and see all the technical documents for the Walkman project, we can discuss signing the contract," Mr. Ivern huffed reluctantly.
"That's wonderful." Levi had the blue bird Janna nod in acknowledgment on his behalf. "I hope we have a pleasant cooperation in the future, Mr. Ivern."
"However, before that, I still have some conditions."
"What conditions?" Ivern frowned slightly.
He didn't like this way of doing business where additional clauses were brought up at the very end. It was very insincere.
"Please forgive me. I had to make you realize the value of this project first, otherwise you wouldn't agree to this condition."
"Oh?" Now he was intrigued.
At this moment, Levi spoke solemnly,
"My condition is—"
"I want the Zaunite apprentices to have the exact same treatment and benefits as the Piltovan workers, starting today."
"W-What did you say?!"
Ivern couldn't believe his ears.
"Give Zaunite apprentices the same treatment as Piltovans?"
What a joke!
Why did he hire Zaunite apprentices in the first place?
Wasn't it precisely because Zaunites were cheap!
Not only were they cheap, but they were also durable. If they broke down, he could just casually toss them back to Zaun and replace them with a new batch at any time.
Anyway, there was never a shortage of young Zaunites wanting to come to Piltover for work.
"Are you crazy?!" Ivern asked.
"I am not." Levi's tone was calm. "If you are hesitating because of money, then please don't worry."
"The increased labor costs resulting from this can all be deducted from the seventy percent dividend share belonging to Professor Viktor and me."
Ivern fell silent for a moment.
Then, with a complicated expression, he asked, "Are you serious?"
"I am serious."
"Why?"
"Because Professor Viktor and I are both Zaunites."
Ivern was speechless.
After another moment of silence, he said,
"But there are some things you can't just do because you want to."
"Do you know how other business owners will view us if we do this? We aren't the great Jayce Talis. If we rashly break the rules and make everyone resent us, then..."
"No... absolutely not... doing things this way won't work!"
Ivern muttered with a sigh.
But Levi didn't try to persuade him further, only saying to him,
"Mr. Ivern, the Goddess Janna told me that she saw you twenty years ago."
"You were still a Zaunite apprentice back then."
"She saw you hiding under your covers, crying alone because you couldn't scrape together the money for your girlfriend's medical treatment. You cried all night, then wiped your tears and went to the hospital with a smile to visit her..."
"I'm very sorry," the blue bird looked at Ivern, and then at his past girlfriend, the current Mrs. Ivern. "Janna didn't have the power to help you back then."
"You..." Ivern's pupils trembled.
"She was there... back then..."
The words caught in his throat. Tears, however, could not be suppressed and quietly welled up.
"Yes," Janna spoke.
Using her own voice: "I was there, my child."
Ivern stared blankly for a long time. Then, as if possessed, he answered,
"I... I agree."
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