Chapter 24
“Boo, what are you bragging about when you copied the assignment?”
“Apologize before I report you to Karnarov!”
“S-sorry…”
“I was wrong.”
Now their spirits were crushed.
This incident might even turn them into diligent students!
If diligent students increase, I won't be able to use any tricks!
I looked at Robert.
Did he want to die?
“Mr. Robert?”
Did he want me to do this for several more weeks?
“Hahaha...”
Whatever.
I could just turn the tables.
I pulled my wand from my inventory.
“Casting...”
One thing I learned while doing the assignment.
—Bzzzz.
“BulletBulletBulletBulletBulletBullet.”
Once you cast a magic circle, the attack fires with just the first phrase afterward.
Of course, its power drops a little, but I can make up for that with mana.
“Disperse.”
“Aaaagh! The second-place student has gone crazy!!!”
“Ruuuuun!!!”
It was only at minimum power, so it would just sting even if it hit you, you idiots.
As I watched the students flee in terror, I spoke to Aris.
“Sigh. Let's go get something to eat.”
I supposed I could put up with a little more hardship.
It wasn't as if this was completely useless, anyway.
“Hmm. You must be embarrassed. You're not used to this kind of fame, are you?”
Robert interpreted my sudden actions however he pleased.
“Oh, right.”
“Here. Aris, Robert, take these. I bought them, but I don't really have anyone to give them to.”
I didn't want to give one to Karnarov.
I might have considered it if I hadn't been hit with that assignment bomb.
What I took out of my inventory was a thermos.
A fairly high-end one, too.
I bought the ones that looked most expensive at the supermarket.
Aris happily accepted it without even knowing what it was.
“Wow! Thank you!”
“There's hot tea inside, so be careful.”
I handed each of them a silver thermos.
They were the only people here I could call friends, at least.
Aris seemed to have made friends by wandering around here and there, but I had no particular reason to do that.
So these were the only two friends I had to give gifts to.
Though one of them was debatable as a friend.
“Hmph. I don't normally accept gifts from commoners, but I'll make a special exception.”
“Does it hurt to give an answer that isn't so predictable?”
“What does that mean?”
So he used that kind of tone without even realizing it.
That was scary in its own way.
I took out another thermos and explained its use roughly.
“Press here to open it, then drink straight from it. To clean it, just use water and detergent… Do we even have detergent here?”
“Hmm. It's a water bottle with a fascinating shape. The lid should make it convenient to carry around.”
Robert opened the lid and spoke.
It was designed so that releasing the lock and pressing the opening would make the hinged cap pop open.
“It's quite intricate… and it doesn't leak? Which blacksmith made this? You have a fascinating item.”
It was factory-made, you idiot.
If I had to name the manufacturer, it was Chuil Industries Co., Ltd.
“The tea inside is precious, too.”
It's green tea.
It was rather rare here.
“They sell a whole box for 5,000 won at the supermarket.”
“…5,000 won! That's an enormous number—5,000!”
Aris was astonished.
I should stop teasing her.
She was genuinely amazed.
Still, it was a pretty good product: ten tea bags for 5,000 won.
“Hmm. It certainly has a fascinating aroma.”
“Ow, hot…! I've never tasted tea like this before…! It smells wonderful, though! So that's what you were boiling in the morning!”
Aris took a sip of the tea and spoke.
“As expected, Yumia, you're amazing!”
“This could be marketed. It's impressive. Since it's hot, I suppose I should wait for it to cool before drinking it.”
“Be careful not to drink too much, or you won't be able to sleep at night.”
“…It even has a stimulating effect? Not bad.”
“It could even be used for military supplies! There are so many fascinating things in Yumia's food!”
Hmm.
The reaction was much better than I'd expected.
Should I bring coffee here later, too?
I'd once seen stimulant candy at the School Market.
It tasted awful, but people seemed to eat it because they needed it.
It would probably be quite popular with professors who often stayed up all night.
“I'm not particularly grateful, but I'll show more consideration for your convenience next time.”
Robert spoke like a tsundere and left.
He didn't even ask how to use it.
I should tell him now.
“Oh, and there's something special about this water bottle.”
“Pardon? Besides not leaking and having a lid that opens like this?”
Aris looked intrigued.
“Yes. If you put a drink or water in this bottle, it can keep it hot for more than two days.”
“…Whaaat!? Is that really true!?”
“Is it really that surprising?”
“Of course! A magic item of this kind would be worth at least a gold coin, wouldn't it? I can't accept something like this!”
Aris shook her head vigorously and tried to hand the thermos back to me.
I pushed away the thermos that had suddenly become an obscenely expensive magic item and said,
“No, this isn't a magic item.”
“But isn't it still expensive!?”
“No. It probably doesn't even cost as much as one meal at our school. Just accept it. Think of it as a gift from a friend.”
Aris didn't seem convinced, but she accepted it for the time being.
“Umm… all right. I don't know where you get things like this, but I'll treasure it.”
No, just throw it away if it breaks.
Just then, a voice came from behind us.
A beautiful voice reminiscent of a harp.
“You have something fascinating there. May I take a look too?”
Blue eyes and water-colored hair that flowed like waves.
It was Isabel, the Potionology professor.
“P-Professor!?”
“Oh, it's been a while.”
Isabel had taught me magic and given me mana potions before.
Unlike Karnarov, she was a good person.
“Are you on your way back from submitting your assignment?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“Yep.”
“Form 1, huh. Karnarov really goes all out when he becomes a year supervisor.”
“Huh?”
“It seems he gave you and the top student an assignment on the level of a bomb. Even the battle-mage specialization course doesn't assign this much…”
“This is a lot, right?”
As expected.
The assignment really was a bit excessive.
It was even more when I included the magic-circle practice problems.
“Normally, no one besides me gives you assignments as extensive as that one.”
“Pardon?”
I had been betrayed.
Of course, there seemed to be a reason for it.
“I tend to assign a lot so that you can do a lot and improve! Of course, I don't expect you to finish all of it!”
Was this how Karnarov assigned work, too?
And I had actually finished all of it?
“Still, there are occasionally students who do finish everything, and those students tend to get high scores on their exams.”
“Those students…”
“Hmm? Some of them are in my laboratory. This place is better than most magic towers, you know. Especially while Karnarov and I are here.”
For some reason, a chill ran down my back.
Why?
Isabel turned her deep blue eyes toward me.
She examined me carefully, then opened her mouth in apparent amazement.
“Oh, your mana has increased quite a bit. Your mana was so low that I gave you that potion on purpose. I wonder if it helped.”
“It helped a lot.”
It really had helped enormously.
The first floor was easy, but without that mana, I definitely would have had to fight in close combat.
Then I wouldn't have been able to meet the speedrun conditions.
Come to think of it, I had gotten my inventory as a speedrun reward.
Isabel was essentially the mother of my inventory.
“Then could I have one of those thermoses too? I'm personally curious about it.”
“Of course. I was going to give you one anyway.”
I had actually been looking for someone to give it to.
I handed her the thermos I'd been using for demonstrations.
It was new, too, so I didn't mind.
Her eyes lit up.
“Oh. What an unusual structure. It's quite complicated… and there are so many materials I don't recognize.”
Her mana flared, so she seemed to have used some kind of magic.
Someone at a professor's level could use magic without words or a wand.
Incantationless casting was impressive.
“So this prevents heat from entering or escaping?”
“You figured that out incredibly quickly.”
“We have something similar. Of course, for insulation, we use a mana-infused material that blocks heat completely.”
“Then isn't this unnecessary?”
“Not exactly. That material is incredibly expensive. It's impossible to carry around, too, and I've always wanted something like this. I'll put it to good use.”
Isabel spoke while looking through her potion bag.
Then she picked out several potions and handed them to me.
There were five of them.
“I can't just accept something like this for free. Here, take these. They're quite precious.”
They shone much bluer than the ones I'd received last time, and they were smaller.
“Your mana capacity isn't very large, so I couldn't give you anything beyond the lowest grade.”
She touched the area around my solar plexus.
Then she drew a small circle.
It was quite small even compared to my body.
“It's grown this much now, so you should be able to handle lower-mid-grade potions. Don't take more than three a day.”
“What happens if I take more than three?”
“They also have a doping effect, so… wouldn't that strain your heart? It might burst.”
“Then I won't take them.”
“Don't worry. Three won't be nearly enough to cause that.”
“Then that's fine.”
She rummaged through her bag.
“Hmm… I don't have anything else to give you. I used all my elixirs this time…”
She seemed disappointed that she couldn't give me anything more.
“I don't carry cash, so I couldn't give you much spending money last time. Still, I'm glad you seem to be earning and spending money on your own.”
“Not right now, though.”
“Well, you'll have a way to earn money now, so don't worry.”
“Pardon?”
Money?
Money??
“You know Potionology starts this Friday, right?”
“Yep.”
You needed to have learned a certain amount about herbs before you could make potions.
So I'd heard it began several weeks later than Herbology.
Isabel spoke cheerfully.
“The potions you make in class can be sold at the School Market!”
“Huh?”
“That's why some students work day jobs to earn a bit of money before enrolling.”
“Then they use that money to survive until Potionology starts and earn more from it. They improve their skills and make money—a two-for-one deal.”
What…!
Could I make a living selling potions?
“Of course, only potions that are made well enough to pass inspection can be sold.”
Isabel paused to think.
She seemed to be wondering whether I could pass the inspection.
“Still, with talent like yours, you'll be able to make them right away! It would be even better if you had a feel for natural mana!”
“Natural mana, you say.”
I was confident in that regard.
I remembered the bean Shila had given me in the Eastern Forest.
I should practice growing it diligently.
As they say, true money-making starts with hard work.
“Oh, no! I'll be late for my meeting! Work hard!!!”
Isabel glanced at the clock and ran off.
We decided to return to the dormitory too.
Other than Karnarov's math class later, I had no other classes.
I'd just sleep afterward.
“By the way, it's unusual for you to give a gift to a friend.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. He's a friend, at least.”
“At least?”
Aris put on a questioning expression.
“But shouldn't you tell him how to use it? At this rate, he'll drink the hot tea…”
“Huh? Why should I tell him? He left without listening.”
“Pardon?”
This was my petty revenge.
Savor it.
***
“Aaaah, hot!!!”
A little while after math class ended, Robert's scream rang out through the A-rank dormitory.
You let your guard down, comrade.
Did you think it would have cooled by then?
“Uh, uhh…”
“The proper way to use it is to slam it against your body.”
Why bother telling him?
He'd figure it out on his own anyway.
Ah.
I should tell him about its cold-retention function.
That would be difficult for him to figure out by himself.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Professor Karnarov is looking for you.”