While I was perplexed by Mircel’s letter, the outside beca noisy. It was probably Makdal and Ricks causing trouble again. I frowned and opened the door. Surprisingly, it wasn’t them but Limberton and Rockefeller, with Rockefeller shouting at Limberton.
“You’ve got so nerve, Limberton Bel Delsi, trying to send this letter to Lady Lulen.”
Rockefeller was reading aloud a letter, presumably written by Limberton, in a monotonous voice as if reciting from a book.
“Mom, this place is crazy. Please take away imdiately. The professors don’t care if students die. I’m digging a tunnel, so please send even a single horse. Limberton.”
People in the hallway ca out, stifling laughter at the spectacle.
“Oh, look, there are watermarks. Did you cry while writing this?”
“N-no, it’s not that, Professor.”
“I warned you already. All letters about the academy are subject to censorship.”
“P-please, just this once…”
Limberton was begging with his hands clasped together. Rockefeller, showing no sign of sympathy, pulled out another letter from his pocket and started reading it, this ti with added comntary.
“Hmm, ‘It’s too cold here. I need the scarf mom made for . I should have stayed ho as mom said. Why did I go to the dungeon? This one’s outright revealing everything.”
Rockefeller then cast a ‘Curse of Restraint’ on Limberton with his raised staff.
“Aaaaah!”
Limberton collapsed to the floor, foaming at the mouth. Watching this, I deduced the reason for Rockefeller’s visit. It was absurd for the top-ranked professor to personally co just to punish soone for breaching censorship. There was only one possible purpose.
“How have you been? Hersel Ben Tenest.”
He ca to pick a fight with .
“Do you have any business with ?”
I asked sharply, and Rockefeller approached with a smirk. His trembling lips and the vein bulging on his forehead made it obvious that his smile was forced. Why was he acting like this?
Hot… Could it be…
“Ah, I just wanted to talk about Mircel Ben Tenest—”
“Not interested.”
I cut him off and slamd the door shut.
Bang!
As expected, my bad feeling was right. The professors had read Mircel’s letter through their censorship. They must have urgently inford Rockefeller, causing him to co here. Even just Mircel expressing a desire to co here was enough to set off alarms. Considering Mircel is the top recruitnt target for other academies and even the royal family, it’s no wonder the professors were on edge. Ɍ
“No matter how talented the kid is, bringing such a young child here is insane…”
I blocked my ears and tried to sleep, ignoring Rockefeller’s persistent knocking until he gave up.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Hersel Ben Tenest! I need to talk to you for a mont!”
Keep knocking, I won’t open the door.
Although Rockefeller’s hour-long knocking disturbed my sleep, I managed to protect Mircel from these child abusers. What was the mistress doing while the kid was causing such trouble?
***
“I told you it wouldn’t work.”
These days, it’s normal for Mircel to reject everything.
Aol sighed deeply as he watched Ahille.
“The boy’s stubbornness is just like yours. Plus, he’s also like , always wanting to do what he’s told not to. You know this well.”
Caught in the middle, Aol was just frustrated. His wife was cold, and Mircel had been sulking, making excuses to avoid training. Occasionally, they would glare at him like cats from both sides. For the sake of peace, he needed to find a compromise.
“Besides, even if he’s still a child, he has two older brothers, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
“Here, he has his parents, so there’s even less to worry about.”
“If you keep refusing, he might rebel.”
“Didn’t Hersel also go astray because the Grand Duke spoiled him too much?”
“That boy was strange from the start.”
The energy-draining argunt continued. Ahille, tired of the aningless conversation, let her shoulders slump. She must have been exhausted, too. Despite her efforts to cheer Mircel up, she only received sullen responses in return.
“At this rate, our relationship with Mircel might be ruined forever. Think carefully.”
Eventually, Ahille sighed deeply and seed to give in.
“They say parents can’t win against their children. I never thought I’d experience it myself.”
Aol smiled inwardly at her positive response.
“But there’s a condition.”
“Condition?”
“If Mircel wants to co ho, make arrangents for him to return imdiately. You can handle that, right?”
Aol nodded. Although Frost Heart had no formal expulsion procedure, if the student was Mircel, it was a different story. If the academy refused the condition, he could just cancel the whole thing. If they changed their mind after admission, he could lead his knights to make trophies of Arkandrik and the professors in the basent.
‘Not that I’d mind filling the empty space left by the monster bird.’
But Ahille’s demands didn’t end there.
“Once a month, let Mircel visit ho, and send a personal maid. Also, I think Erucel should have a maid too.”
“Ahem, Erucel said he didn’t need one.”
“Forcing a maid on a child who doesn’t want one is not right, right?”
Suddenly, the mistress seed to have a bright idea and widened her eyes.
“And please stop keeping those creepy things in the basent. It’s not good to live above such things. It doesn’t look good to visiting guests either.”
Stop collecting trophies? Aol was about to say sothing when Ahille preemptively called out.
“Mircel? I know you’re eavesdropping. Co here.”
“Yes, mom.”
Mircel peeked out from behind the wall and ran to Ahille, hugging her. She stroked his head and looked at Aol.
“Your father has given up his precious hobby for you. What do you say?”
“Thank you, dad.”
Mircel looked up at him with expectant eyes. Reluctantly, Aol squeezed out words he didn’t an.
“…Alright. I’ll do that.”
Aol’s eyebrows twitched as he looked at Ahille and Mircel, who exchanged knowing glances.
“?!”
Seeing their exchanged looks, a feeling of unease crept over him. The suspicion that they might have been plotting this all along crossed his mind. Perhaps Ahille had always intended to send Mircel and saw this as an opportunity to get what she wanted. She might have made a secret agreent with Mircel, promising to send him if certain conditions were t, including making Aol stop his trophy collection.
‘No, surely it can’t be…’
***
Yesterday, I lost so sleep due to the black devil’s knocking. But surely, Mircel wouldn’t co here so young. Feeling relieved, I headed to the first-floor lobby for class. I was chatting with the two knights from the club when Limberton asked.
“Club? Is there one you want to join?”
“I don’t plan to join. I’m just looking to invest from a business perspective.”
“Invest?”
There are various clubs, from alchemy to clothing production, and many are essentially groups that generate profit from students. Due to the nature of their business, developing and producing items incurs significant costs, and many fail even when they launch products. For them, investnt is sothing to welco with open arms.
“If you invest money, you get dividends. It’s better than just sitting on the coins I’ve saved.”
“Oh… that sounds interesting.”
“If you’re interested, co with after class. The quality of their goods is decent enough to be worth a look.”
For student-made items, the quality wasn’t too bad. The clubs passed down the knowledge from their seniors like a legacy, and the wisdom of their supervising professors was deeply ingrained.
Aslay, also interested, opened his Imperial language dictionary. His finger pointed to the word ‘investnt.’
“Investnt ans earning.”
“That’s right, investnt. It ans you put in money to get more back.”
Then he pointed to the word ‘loss.’
“Loss ans losing.”
“Correct. If you’re not careful, you can lose money. You have to be cautious when choosing where to invest.”
Aslay nodded in understanding. I felt a bit proud of him. Such a diligent student.
***
The club building was inside the fortress. The academy had dedicated two entire floors to club activities, and the scale was almost like a market. As soon as we entered the first floor, Limberton looked at the rows of signs and questioned.
“I ca here once before, but why are there so many clothing clubs?”
“There are at least seven clothing production clubs.”
“Seven? How is that allowed?”
“The academy permits clubs with overlapping thes, especially those like clothing production that require few mbers.”
The minimum number of mbers needed to start a club was three. After clothing production, food-related clubs were likely the next most nurous.
“I want to get a suit made, but I don’t know which one to go to…”
As Limberton said this, the mbers of the clothing clubs’ eyes lit up. They looked at us like predators eyeing prey, silently pleading for us to choose their club. Limberton approached the booth with the most won.
“Hey, you three. New students?”
“Wow, look at the long legs on that blonde freshman. Mind if I take your asurents?”
Two won sward Limberton, who winked and made a crude joke.
“Can you take my asurents instead? Not that size, though. Haha!”
The won recoiled as if they’d seen a cockroach, eventually being replaced by a male mber, causing Limberton to sigh deeply.
“I’ll take your asurents, shorty.”
“Yes…”
Since we were here to buy clothes, I decided to get Aslay fitted for a suit as well. I couldn’t have him walking around in animal skins forever.
“Aslay, you should get a suit too. If the environnt changes, you need appropriate attire.”
“Hmm.”
Aslay nodded and took the asuring tape. He flinched at its unfamiliar texture, making the won laugh softly.
“Wow, look at those muscles.”
“Hey, you’re touching too much.”
Limberton’s eyes grew teary watching this scene. While the two got their suits fitted, I decided to find a club to invest in.
“I’ll be upstairs for a bit. See you later.”
Saying this, I climbed the stairs. The clothing of the people on the second floor looked expensive, even the fabrics. The booths were decorated with sophisticated wood and signs, almost blindingly bright. The second floor was for those with money, where poor students from Schlaphe couldn’t dream of going. But I had over 13,000 coins. I was the wealthiest first-year, having converted so of my coins into black coins worth 1,000 each.
Now, let’s invest.
…Let’s see, I have so ideas. The alchemy club? It has the lowest risk but also the smallest returns. Still, it’s the best choice.
Food clubs are too high-risk, high-reward. Trends change too quickly, and any hygiene issue could ruin them.
Clubs making school supplies or fancy items have moderate risk. There’s always a steady demand.
With so many clubs, it’s hard to rember where I invested each ti I restarted at Frost Heart. The nas are all similar, so I need to check them directly.
As I walked, reading the signs, I occasionally felt sharp gazes. Passersby chuckled at my attire, and the vendors seed to hope I wouldn’t approach. It was understandable. With the freshn having just arrived, my unfamiliar face and first-year status were obvious.
Naturally, they thought, ‘What’s a first-year doing here without money?’
Except for the Adella Hall students, who were already known as future big spenders by the club mbers.
Ignoring them, I continued until sothing caught my eye.
[Nille’s Alchemy Workshop]
It was a shop with windows, not just a booth. A premium spot. I was surprised to see the ice beast hide I had once captured hanging there.
Why is that here in an alchemy club?
Selly had told she sold it to a textile club. As I looked on, a familiar face popped out.
“Welco.”
My eyes widened in recognition. This was the very alchemy club I had invested in each ti I started at Frost Heart. The most stable and highest-paying of all the alchemy clubs.
“Hmm? A freshman?”
She scrutinized my appearance, raising an eyebrow. I nodded in response.
Then she asked again.
“Which hall are you from?”
“Schlaphe.”
She smiled brightly but her words were harsh.
“Get lost.”
Clearly, she regarded as one of those worthless Schlaphe scum. Little did she know how much money I had.
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