Chapter 14
“Ahem, ahem!”
Robert cleared his throat and went on.
“Is that all? Up to the various services of our merchant company, even the number-two seat in our faction. You'll become my most beloved subordinate!”
I reflexively perked up.
I, too, was a slave to capitalism.
To be honest, I had no intention of doing it for long.
But one month.
If I did just one month, 50 silver would be in my hands.
“Ahem.”
But Aris was staring at me with a smile on her face.
“…Aris?”
“You turned me down when I said I'd lend you money, remember? So my money isn't okay, but other people's money is?”
…That's a little scary.
Hmm.
Pride really is precious.
“…You think I'd be swayed by money like that?”
“You almost gave in earlier…”
“My pride can't be bought with money!”
I cried out, folding my arms.
Robert said, sounding wounded.
“…Fine. Just don't come crying later!”
I sent Robert on his way.
It was honestly very tempting, but I had no intention of doing it.
…My 50 silver.
If it had been an employment contract, it might have been fine….
'No. I never liked him in the first place.'
Mm-hm.
It was definitely an unfair contract.
***
Biology class began.
The professor came in pulling a very large cart covered with cloth.
“Hello, everyone. I'm Miriam, your biology professor.”
She had the warm, kindly look of a friendly middle-aged woman.
But there was a spark in her eyes that didn't suit her age.
“I live near the western forest, but it's dangerous there, so if you're looking for me, please come find me at the school.”
Hmm…
It didn't seem that dangerous to me.
If anything, it was easier to breathe there.
And I even had a reliable little brother.
Maybe I should clear about five floors and then go hunt some beasts.
Sounds doable.
“Since today's the first class, I'll keep it simple—just a short explanation and one assignment, then we'll wrap up quickly, okay?”
Miriam smiled with her eyes.
“Everyone, how much do you know about magical creatures? Shall we raise our hands and explain?”
Magical creatures? What's that?
I only know the ugly monsters that come out of gates.
But the other kids seemed to know.
Quite a few hands went up, and the fastest among them got the chance.
“Yes. Student Leila.”
“Magical creatures is a general term for animals that possess mana but aren't demonic beasts.”
“Excellent. I'll give you 1 point.”
Leila's face brightened at once.
I asked Aris,
“What's good about getting points?”
“They count toward your grades, and later, when you become an Imperial mage, people take notice if your points are high.”
“Huh. Then I don't need them.”
I didn't need to become an Imperial mage anyway.
I already had the job of hunter.
“…Huh?”
“Nothing.”
She wrote the Imperial-language term for magical creatures on the blackboard.
“Its etymology is 'mysterious living being.' That transformed into the noun magical creature.”
“Then you're probably wondering why you have to learn this?”
She pulled the cloth off the cart she had brought.
“Simple. Magical creatures can be a source of materials for us, a good friend, or even a lifelong partner. But…”
Cages were stacked up exactly for the number of students, and inside them were creatures that resembled Pomeranians.
The problem was that their teeth were sharp and their eyes were wild.
The students were horrified.
Leila, who had answered earlier, looked like she was about to faint.
“…If you don't know how to handle them properly, you could get hurt. This is your assignment.”
—Grrrrrr…
—Arururururu…
“Please take one each. They're safe until you open the cage, so don't worry.”
“H-how are we supposed to do this?”
“I-it's scary….”
I took a cage too, and wrote my name on the roster.
It seemed the cage number corresponded to my name.
After handing out the last cage, Miriam opened her own.
“This one's name is Caktarian. Its blood becomes an ingredient for potions, and the venom in its saliva becomes a catalyst for magic.”
“However, unless it has a bond with the person raising it, the ingredients won't contain mana.”
She lightly stroked the growling Caktarian, then slid her hand underneath and scooped it up.
With that very gentle touch, the Caktarian seemed not even to know what had happened.
It was still growling, but at least it wasn't biting.
It just kept flicking its tongue and wagging its tail.
Miriam pointed at the pattern on its belly with her finger.
“From this class until next week, check this Caktarian's belly and draw the pattern.”
There was a distinctive pattern drawn on its belly.
Probably every Caktarian has a different belly pattern.
“I'll make that the assignment. And I'll give 10 points to the student who becomes closest to the Caktarian.”
Points, huh... I wish they'd give money instead.
“You can share methods for getting close. If it bites you, it'll swell up a little.”
In the seat beside me, Aris was trying to build rapport.
“Good girl... good girl...?”
Aris opened the cage and
with a snap, it tried to bite her finger.
“Yikes!?”
But somehow she managed to get her hand on its head, and without getting bitten, she patted it.
“I've managed this much... now what do I do?”
To observe the pattern, she'd have to lift the thing up.
Aris's Caktarian still growled even as it was being petted.
“Grrrrr... yip-yip-yip!”
“Aaaaah! My hand!”
The first brave sacrifice jumped up.
His hand had grown slightly bigger.
If he got bitten a few more times, he looked like he'd turn into Doraemon.
“W-what are we supposed to do with this!”
It was the same everywhere else.
Still, there were students who, despite risking getting bitten, forced theirs up and managed to draw the pattern somehow.
But looking at the way they drew it, they probably wouldn't get a very good score.
“Next week, we'll hold class in the eastern forest! Come there!”
...There didn't seem to be any students actually listening.
I calmly watched this chaos and opened the cage door.
The Caktarian sprang out the moment I opened the cage door and glared viciously.
—Arurururu…
And then it met my eyes.
“Ah, tickles.”
It rubbed its face against my hand and licked my fingers.
Its eyes were open as innocently as a meerkat's, and its teeth were tucked away.
In that state, it waited for my action.
“Bam.”
—Myaa!
It flopped over completely.
“…Heh.”
...I thought, looking at the pomeranian-like thing whining as it licked my fingers.
[Nature Affinity] trait.
As long as they're not demonic beasts, all animals are friendly toward me.
It's an insanely broken trait.
I looked around.
I saw a group of boys.
One of them was thrashing, trying to pry his hand loose from a Caktarian bite.
Another was trying desperately to shove a fleeing Caktarian back into the cage somehow.
Hmm.
'This smells like money.'
The smell of money.
“Why is this thing so ferocious!”
“Should I give up on this assignment...? I still have Professor Karnarov's too, and if I have to do this one as well, it looks like I'll be up all night.”
I walked over to them.
“Hey.”
“…What! I'm busy, so scram... agh.”
“Having trouble?”
I tried my best to speak as kindly as possible.
The basics of sales are kindness.
I looked at the name tag on the cloak.
“So, Edgar-kun? If you're having trouble, I think I could help.”
When I said his name while looking him in the eye, his face turned slightly red.
Hmm. So this face still works here too.
“Ah, no. This thing just won't listen.”
He was trying his best to look at the belly of the thing that had its teeth clamped around his hand.
I grabbed the Caktarian by the nape and lifted it up.
“Need help?”
“H-how did you do that!?”
“I'm kind of built for this. So... you need me, right?”
“You're really helping me!?”
“Of course. We're first-years together.”
“Thanks! Honestly, I thought you were some weird guy... but you're actually a nice one?”
He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.
“If you don't mind, maybe I could treat you to a meal later...”
“1 silver.”
“Huh?”
“Pay 1 silver and I'll help.”
Guh.
I could almost hear the sound effect.
I felt like I'd crushed the boy's innocence, but it couldn't be helped.
I'm short on money.
“So, are you not going to use it?”
“Urgh... I'll use it. 1 silver, right?”
In the end, these guys were noble kids too.
They'd probably be willing to pay 1 silver for an assignment.
A silver coin dropped into my hand.
“M-me too!”
“I'll pay 1 silver too! I'll pay, so!”
Boys and girls alike fell for my sales pitch.
“Ahem, I have plenty of hands here, so take your time. No, wait. Just bring them all over. Have them lie down.”
Jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle.
Silver coins poured in.
The corners of my mouth rose too.
I lay down on top of all their Caktarians.
Anyway, the cages had labels on them, so even if they got mixed up, I could still tell them apart.
“Now, now. Slowly, slowly.”
I took the silver and had the Caktarians show their bellies.
For some reason, they listened better than usual.
“Me too...”
Robert slipped in quietly.
“Ah, for you it's 10 silver. You're loaded, after all.”
“…What? That's different from the others!”
“Is it? Then don't use me.”
What are you going to do if I gouge you?
***
Robert was dumbfounded.
“Here. 10 silver. Hand it over.”
He looked at Yumia, who was sprawled out in front of him with a Pomeranian on her shoulder.
She casually brushed back her white hair and stretched out flat on the floor, looking utterly relaxed.
'This girl's not ordinary...!'
Instead, she was making a deal.
He saw something in Yumia's beautiful appearance.
Her looks were dazzlingly beautiful, but what he saw was...
the image of a vicious merchant who bows and scrapes before those above her, but flips her attitude 180 degrees toward those below her...!
Damn it.
In the end, he paid and entrusted his Caktarian to her.
The Caktarian that had been growling and hissing at every touch from him calmed down the instant it got into Yumia's hands.
“I admit it. In skill alone, you're better than this Robert.”
Whether he liked it or not, Yumia kept focusing on lining up the Caktarians.
And so, with everyone gathered, a group formed around drawing the patterns.
Just as they were nearly done and the situation was almost over...
Someone tapped Robert on the back.
“Uh... the student affairs office says Professor Karnarov wants you to come?”
“Huh?”
“Eh.”
“Robert and Yumia. You two.”
***
“I don't know where to start explaining this.”
We were dragged to the faculty office and stood before Karnarov, exchanging glances.
“But where's the department head? When they disciplined me before, the department head was there too.”
“This discipline is decided at the professor's discretion. Since I'm the one in charge of first-years, I'm the one who decides.”
“…Can't you go easy on us?”
“I was already planning to. It's customary to just issue a warning and call it a day. This happens every time.”
...What?
'Yahoo!'
I thought for sure I'd be cleaning bathrooms.
“Of course, if you're caught again, you'll have to prepare for discipline. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then I will now collect the money. Hand over all the silver you earned.”
What?
“…Are you short on silver?”
Why is he trying to take my silver?
This is money I earned fairly and squarely.
I hugged the silver coins tightly.
Robert stared at me from the side like he was looking at a lunatic.
I didn't care at all.
“Hahaha. Hahaha, ahahahaha!”
Karnarov broke into a low laugh.
And he grinned at me.
It was a smile that somehow looked tired.
“This is common knowledge to everyone in the Empire, but since you seem not to know, I'll tell you.”
He pulled out his staff and pointed at empty space.
An entrance of some kind appeared.
Inside, treasure was piled up endlessly.
“Even if you take just one bottle of liquor from Karnarov's vault, you could lavishly feed a thousand commoners for a month.”
Karnarov sighed.
“As it is, that guy called the King of Wings recently emptied the vault of all its liquor, and I'm exhausted because of it...”
The King of Wings?
I've heard that somewhere before.... Ah.
“The liquor?”
“Yes. I was trying to entertain an honored guest from the desert kingdom, but I didn't have any premium stuff. It really cracked Karnarov's pride. Do you perhaps know anything...”
“I don't know.”
“Well, there'd be no way you—”
“I don't know.”
“No.”
I know nothing about it.
Really.
I handed over the silver and came out as if fleeing.
This wouldn't have anything to do with me, right?
No way, right?
***
Robert left the guidance office and said magnanimously.
“Sigh. Let's go.”
“Where to?”
“The student cafeteria.”
“What does that mean?”
“They didn't take everything. I'll at least buy you a proper meal.”
“Really?”
“Hmph. Be grateful for the fact that I'm treating you at all.”
He was a merchant to the bone.
I had personally suffered something I didn't like.
That wasn't important for forming connections.
Yumia's ability was tremendous both objectively and subjectively.
She had what it took to be this Carter's friend...
“But they didn't take all my money, though?”
“…Huh?”
“Why give all of it? Karnarov doesn't know anyway.”
“No, earlier it wasn't in your hand...”
“There's a way to do everything.”
Silver coins poured from her slender hand.
There were far too many silver coins to fit in that hand.